The ability to conduct heat is one of the most fundamental properties of matter, crucial for engineering applications. Scientists know well how conventional materials, such as metals and insulators, conduct heat. However, things are not as straightforward under extreme conditions such as temperatures close to absolute zero combined with strong magnetic fields, where strange quantum effects begin to dominate. This is particularly true in the realm of quantum materials. Researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), University of Bonn, and Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) now exposed the semimetal zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe₅) to high magnetic fields and very low temperatures. They found dramatically enhanced heat oscillations caused by a novel mechanism. This finding challenges the widely held belief that magnetic quantum oscillations should not be detectable in the heat transport of semimetals, as the scientists report in the journal PNAS (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2408546122).

Singapore is now the first country to have an art installation 7,000 metres beneath the ocean. It comprises three metal cubes designed by Singaporean artist Ms Lakshmi Mohanbabu, the first Singaporean to send her artwork into space on the International Space Station in 2022.

A research team led by SUTD has developed an acoustic method using empirical mode decomposition to detect stones hidden among coffee beans, preventing costly grinder damage in cafés and factories.

POSTECH develops an innovative platform that replicates pancreatic functions, transforming diabetes therapy.

Researchers injected CO₂ gas into seawater while applying an electrical current. The process transformed dissolved ions, minerals in seawater into clusters of solid particles. The clusters hold over half their weight in CO₂ to become a carbon sink. Material could replace sand in concrete and be used in other construction materials while trapping CO₂.

The research conducted by South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB), Heinz Maier Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), and Soongsil University has been published in Nature Communications on February 27, 2025. This advancement can be applied to develop sustainable isotope separation technologies using existing LNG cryogenic infrastructure.