Researchers have discovered how tiny organisms break the laws of physics to swim faster — such secrets of mesoscale physics and fluid dynamics can offer entirely new pathways for engineering and medicine.

Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology publishes studies that examine the environmental chemistry (distribution, dynamics and fate) of pollutants, the biologic and toxic effects of man-made chemical pollutants on ecotoxicological animal models and plants.

For autonomous driving, UAV tracking and beyond, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is a core 3D imaging technology. Recently, scientists in China developed a LiDAR architecture integrating an astigmatic metalens (AML) with spectral-acoustic coordinated scanning, achieving 36.6 MHz frame-wise point acquisition rate, 102° wide FOV, and 0.37° angular resolution simultaneously. This breakthrough redefines LiDAR’s potential for ultra-high-speed, high-precision perception, enhancing applications such as autonomous driving with improved obstacle detection and safety at high speeds.

Scientists from the UK and China have developed a lateral-graded multilayer grating that addresses a key challenge in tender X-ray RIXS technique. Demonstrated at the I21 beamline in Diamond Light Source, the new optics increases photon flux by a factor of 12 to 25 compared to the conventional single-layer gratings while maintaining the energy resolution. This enables the world’s first tender RIXS spectrometer based on the multilayer grating technology.

A team led by researchers at Tohoku University have taken the first step toward developing antiferromagnetic technology. They detected a liquid-crystal phase that may change the game for spintronic devices.