Saitama University research team has developed a defect-state engineering strategy that transforms waste polyamide into carbon quantum dots with continuously tunable photoluminescence. By systematically changing surface chemistry through oxidation and boron-, nitrogen-, sulfur-, and phosphorus-containing modifications, the researchers shifted emission from ultraviolet at 308 nm to yellow-green at 552 nm using the same polymer precursor, while establishing a quantitative framework for understanding how engineered defect states control light emission.

A research team from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), in collaboration with Arizona State University (ASU) and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), has developed a sustainable integrated seawater-to-hydrogen system that can produce hydrogen directly from seawater while converting waste heat from electrolysis into a resource for producing the purified water required for hydrogen production. By integrating hydrogen production, water generation, and thermal management into a single system, the technology could help reduce the reliance of green hydrogen production on freshwater resources and offer a new approach for sustainable hydrogen development in water-scarce regions.

A new review in National Science Review unveils anti-visual perception as a cross-disciplinary arms race spanning biomimetics, spectral physics, and AI. From snow leopards and dazzle camouflage to UV-to-microwave signature control and adversarial attacks on machine vision, it reveals how every advance in seeing drives new ways of hiding—offering a roadmap for next-generation camouflage, stealth, robust sensing, and trustworthy AI.

In a paper published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, a team led by Academician Fahu Chen from Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, reconstructed Holocene precipitation changes across the East Asian monsoon region of eastern China. The study shows that precipitation varied between northern and southern China in an alternating pattern, which may have supported the parallel development of early agricultural societies and later contributed to the rise of the Central Plains and the formation of the pluralistic and integrated Chinese civilization.

In a paper published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, a research team conducted a comprehensive analysis of mineralogical and geochemical records, along with carbon consumption fluxes, from sediments at Site CSDP-1 in the South Yellow Sea obtained by the Chinese Continental Shelf Drilling Program. They quantitatively reconstructed the 600,000 year evolutionary history of silicate weathering and its carbon consumption rates in the Yellow River basin-shelf system. The study proposes that the mid-latitude shelf region was an underestimated active silicate weathering carbon sink during glacial periods. It thus provides a novel perspective for understanding the mechanisms of glacial-interglacial climate evolution on Earth.

A paper published in National Science Review brings together evidence on how plastics are produced, released, transported and transformed, and how they affect ecosystems, human health and Earth-system processes. It argues that lasting solutions must address the full plastics life cycle, with upstream prevention and safer design supported by reuse, recycling, pollution control, monitoring, and coordinated global governance.