POSTECH researchers develop a bio-implant with virtually no immune response at the cellular and tissue level.

Soil science is undergoing a profound transformation, evolving from its traditional focus on agriculture to a multidimensional discipline addressing some of the most urgent challenges of our time. 

Researchers at Sultan Qaboos University identified the best water conditions for improving the survival of scalloped spiny lobster (Panulirus homarus) larvae, a major challenge in lobster aquaculture. The study found that larvae survived longest — up to 15 days — in cooler water (24°C) with moderate salinity (33 ppt), while warmer and saltier conditions caused rapid mortality. The findings provide practical guidance for hatcheries and could help support sustainable lobster farming while reducing pressure on wild stocks.

Researchers have demonstrated that inherent alkali and alkaline earth metals (AAEMs) play the dominant catalytic role in the CO₂ gasification of biochar derived from the energy crop Arundo donax. Even though acid washing created a more disordered carbon structure – which typically enhances reactivity – the removal of AAEMs significantly reduced gasification reactivity. Kinetic analysis showed that the average activation energy increased from 164.30 kJ·mol⁻¹ to 210.85 kJ·mol⁻¹ after AAEM removal. Temperature‑programmed desorption confirmed that AAEMs promote the formation of carbon‑oxygen surface complexes, acting as catalytic active centers that sustain a continuous reaction cycle. These findings highlight that AAEMs, rather than carbon structural order, are the key factor governing gasification efficiency.

When robots perform complex tasks, the pose accuracy of the end-effector is critical. However, errors from individual joints tend to accumulate along the kinematic chain, making it challenging to guarantee high pose precision at the end-effector. To address this issue, this study proposes a virtual-constraints-based end-effector pose compensator (VEPC). The method treats the actual angles of specific joints as known inputs and automatically adjusts the remaining joint angles in real time, effectively eliminating the pose errors of the end-effector caused by the joints. Experimental results demonstrate that the method can reduce the maximum end-effector position error by over 75%. Moreover, the method requires no additional sensors, offering low cost and high compatibility.

POSTECH Professor Seung-Ki Min’s Research Team Compares Future Extreme Fire Weather Under ‘Net-Zero’ vs. ‘Net-Negative’ Emission Scenarios.