The world’s soils represent a vast reservoir for organic carbon, a critical component in mitigating climate change. Scientists Yalan Chen and Ke Sun from Beijing Normal University, alongside an international team, introduce a novel framework: the Biochar Carbon Pump (BCP). This new concept describes how biochar, a charcoal-like substance made from plant material, can significantly amplify the soil's natural capacity to store carbon. Their perspective, published in Carbon Research, describes how BCP bridges two existing mechanisms—the microbial carbon pump (MCP) and the mineral carbon pump (MnCP)—to drive more effective and long-lasting carbon sequestration.

Finely dispersed particulate matter with a diameter of ≤2.5 μm (PM_2.5) poses a significant health- and climate-risk, yet tracking its chemical composition remains a challenge. Now, researchers have developed a deep-learning model that accurately estimates hourly concentrations of five key PM_2.5 chemical components, without chemical analysis. Using air-quality and meteorological data, the model achieved high accuracy outperforming existing methods, and may strengthen air-pollution monitoring, fill data gaps, and support targeted emission control strategies worldwide.

Hundreds of international experts in gambling addiction are urging a more coordinated approach to enhance interventions and therapies, while aligning research priorities to tackle the escalating problem.   

Gambling is now a legal activity in 80% of countries and has expanded considerably in the past decade.  While a very small minority of people who gamble meet the diagnostic criteria of a gambling disorder, the wider harms from gambling include financial, emotional, relationship and other harms, decreased work performance, and criminality.