In the next 75 years, surface sea temperatures may rise by up to 4°C, with increasingly frequent short-term marine heatwaves also predicted. This could cause significant damage to our essential marine ecosystems, for example with corals widely known to be vulnerable to bleaching. But how will fish fare in these changing climates? In iScience, researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) describe the metabolic and molecular changes that can support young clownfish to adapt to climate change and warming seas. Through genomic and transcriptomic studies across multiple tissues within young clownfish, the team identified the biological processes affected by rising water temperatures. And the outlook is more positive than we may have thought.

Farmed fish are increasingly replacing wild fish to meet consumer demand in China, as well as Australia – and barramundi is a popular choice.

 

Aquaculture research led by Flinders University and experts in China continues to examine the benefits – and possible side effects – of improving fishmeal for farmed fish, with a new study investigating the potential of herbal additives to improve fish immunity in more sustainable future production systems.

A recent review in International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing highlights advances in fabricating compositionally heterogeneous and gradient structures, exploring methods, equipment, and strategies to control interfacial defects. It also showcases innovative designs and potential applications, from Z-direction gradients to fully three-dimensional heterogeneous structures. The authors conclude with perspectives on future research directions, offering a roadmap for integrating functionality and performance in next-generation manufacturing.

With rising risk to the environment and human health, the race for biodegradable plastics is gaining pace – with several projects under way at Flinders University in South Australia.

 

Published in Polymers, one of the latest experiments finds researchers combining calcium caseinate – a commercially available derivative of casein, the main protein in milk – with modified starch and bentonite nanoclay into a thin film, adding glycerol and polyvinyl alcohol to improve its strength and plasticity.

Recently, Prof. Jian LU's team (City University of Hong Kong, CityU HK) has engineered breakthrough 3D-printed artificial bone scaffolds. These superelastic scaffolds achieve a high recoverable strain (6% – 7%) and feature on-demand tuning of modulus, strength, permeability, and more. This advancement enables site-specific adaptive solutions for complex bone defects while offering valuable inspirations for multifunctional metamaterials across engineering fields.

Flexible electronic skin (E-skin) sensors offer innovative solutions for detecting human body signals, enabling human–machine interactions and advancing the development of intelligent robotics. Electrospun nanofibers are particularly well-suited for E-skin applications due to their exceptional mechanical properties, tunable breathability, and lightweight nature. Nanofiber-based composite materials consist of three-dimensional structures that integrate one-dimensional polymer nanofibers with other functional materials, enabling efficient signal conversion and positioning them as an ideal platform for next-generation intelligent electronics. Here, this review begins with an overview of electrospinning technology, including far-field electrospinning, near-field electrospinning, and melt electrospinning. It also discusses the diverse morphologies of electrospun nanofibers, such as core–shell, porous, hollow, bead, Janus, and ribbon structure, as well as strategies for incorporating functional materials to enhance nanofiber performance. Following this, the article provides a detailed introduction to electrospun nanofiber-based composite materials (i.e., nanofiber/hydrogel, nanofiber/aerogel, nanofiber/metal), emphasizing their recent advancements in monitoring physical, physiological, body fluid, and multi-signal in human signal detection. Meanwhile, the review explores the development of multimodal sensors capable of responding to diverse stimuli, focusing on innovative strategies for decoupling multiple signals and their state-of-the-art advancements. Finally, current challenges are analyzed, while future prospects for electrospun nanofiber-based composite sensors are outlined. This review aims to advance the design and application of next-generation flexible electronics, fostering breakthroughs in multifunctional sensing and health monitoring technologies.

AI Predicts More "Super Floods" and "Extreme Droughts" for Pakistan.