A high-entropy lanthanoid oxide catalyst overcomes the challenges associated with oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), revealed Institute of Science Tokyo scientists. Using lanthanoid acetates and aspartic acid, they developed a high-entropy lanthanoid oxide, (LaSmEuGdDy)₀.₄O₃, via a sol–gel method. The high entropy catalyst was characterized by enhanced durability. The catalyst lowered OCM onset temperature and improved C2 hydrocarbon yield. Going beyond conventional catalysts, this finding may open a new avenue for selective heterogeneous catalysis.

Alka Sapat, Ph.D., professor and director of the School of Public Administration within FAU's Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, has been named a 2026 Fellow of the prestigious National Academy of Public Administration, one of the nation’s highest honors for scholars and practitioners whose work has made significant and continuing contributions to public administration and public policy.

In the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and their co-workers used multi-material 4D bioprinting to assemble magnetically responsive, mineral-seeding "microrobots". Printed as flat constructs, these adaptive devices automatically curl upon contact with bodily fluids to fit complex joint contours, coaxing host cells to rebuild hard bone below and slick cartilage above.

Researchers have developed a deterministic IFC-based workflow that evaluates whole-building material choices for both embodied carbon and circularity. In a reference building, 150 wall-floor-roof configurations were reduced to 12 non-dominated candidate scenarios, with stable results across weighting, threshold and uncertainty checks.

A novel nanovesicle-based platform developed at Institute of Science Tokyo can measure hydrostatic pressure by converting pressure-induced molecular changes into fluorescence signals. The researchers developed pyrene-modified polyionic complex vesicles and demonstrated that variations in the vesicles’ membrane stiffness regulate their pressure sensitivity. Softer vesicles showed strong sensitivity in the 0.1–50 MPa range, while stiffer vesicles showed pressure-dependent changes in fluorescence lifetime. These findings enable the investigation of hydrostatic pressure-dependent phenomena in diverse inaccessible environments.

Pitting corrosion can threaten the durability of aluminum components. Researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, used interpretable machine learning to reveal a critical shift in how surface morphology affects steam-coated aluminum. The model identified a thickness-dependent change in this interaction near 2,200 nm, or 2.2 µm, within a specific roughness range. The findings suggest directions for coating design and further experimental validation.

Wearable sensors that measure sodium and potassium in sweat could help monitor people working or exercising in hot environments. However, printed reference electrodes often need a long conditioning time before giving stable readings. Against this backdrop, researchers developed an wristwatch-type sensor that pairs a quick-settling printed reference electrode with ion-selective electrodes, a fabric-based sample transport layer, and wireless electronics. Their design demonstrates the feasibility of a wearable sweat-monitoring system with potential for low-cost mass production.