Scheduling agile earth observation satellites is a complex optimization challenge. To tackle this, researchers developed a novel co-evolutionary framework where Large Language Models (LLMs) learn from expert-designed algorithms to automatically design superior scheduling strategies. This pioneering approach, which bridges the LLM's knowledge gap in this specialized domain, resulted in an average imaging profit improvement of 8.48% compared to state-of-the-art methods, demonstrating a new path for AI-driven algorithm design.

In a paper published in ENGINEERING Management, researchers from Shanghai University and Tsinghua University propose a cross-city transfer learning framework that enables rapid planning of shared e-scooter parking stations in new cities without requiring local operational data. Using operational data from 25 European cities and multi-source open-space data, the study demonstrates that a multi-dimensional urban similarity matching strategy, integrating socio-economic, POI distribution, and spatial structure features, achieves more stable and generalizable predictions than conventional geographic or economic grouping methods, with the TOP-3 similarity match yielding the best overall performance.

A new review in ENGINEERING Management shows how the inverse Gaussian process has developed into an important probabilistic tool for degradation modeling, remaining useful life prediction, and maintenance decision-making in prognostics and health management. It also explores how artificial intelligence can be combined with interpretable statistical models to support more reliable and scalable intelligent maintenance.

Drought creates increasing challenges for agriculture: as well as affecting the growth of crops, it also affects interactions with pests. A research team at the University of Göttingen has investigated how different levels of drought affect the susceptibility of sugar beet to damage caused by the beet leaf miner (Pegomya cunicularia) – a fly whose larvae create visible tunnels inside the leaves. The study shows that moderate drought actually promotes the development of the larvae, whilst severe drought has an adverse effect on both plants and pests. The findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Botany.

The dramatic expansion of data volumes has placed high demands and challenges on optical information technology, and thus the reliable luminescence materials, especially their fatigue resistance during the storage and erasure process are highly considered. Solvent-driven switchable photoluminescence in Sc(DMSO)₆SbCl₆ exhibits promising potential for storing information, which offers a new route in the development of hybrid bimetallic halides for erasable information storage.

A new review in Nano Research systematically details the latest advances in quantum dot (QD) technology for point-of-care testing (POCT). Through precise material engineering strategies, QDs can advance the development of various high-sensitivity sensing technologies. Although challenges remain in biosafety and device integration, the coordinated development of "greening, intellectualization, and integration" is driving quantum dot technology from the laboratory toward practical application.

Understanding how crystal facets dictate the adsorption mechanisms of multifunctional oxides is crucial for designing selective materials for fluorine-containing contaminants.

Researchers at Southern University of Science and Technology established the structure–facet–function correlation in CeO₂, unveiling dual active-site mechanisms that differentiate inorganic and organic fluorine adsorption and offering mechanistic insights for rational design of advanced fluorine-selective materials.