Far-Field Excitation of a Photonic Flat Band via a Tailored Anapole Mode.

The photonic flat band, defined by minimal dispersion and near-zero group velocity, has facilitated significant advances in optical technologies. The practical applications of flat bands, such as enhanced light-matter interactions, require efficient coupling to far-field radiation. However, achieving controlled coupling between flat bands and their corresponding localized modes with far-field radiation remains challenging and elusive.

Essay: Photonic Crystals as a Platform to Explore New Physics.

Photonic crystals are artificial materials characterized by a photonic band structure that governs the propagation of light waves. The photonic gap was originally introduced to inhibit spontaneous emission and facilitate photon localization. In this essay, I will highlight how, despite the established understanding of photonic crystals, they remain highly relevant today.

Planar Optical Antenna-Driven Brightness Enhancement of Interface-Confined Hexagonal Boron Nitride Single-Photon Arrays for Scalable Room-Temperature Quantum Chips.

While hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) hosts promising room-temperature quantum emitters for hybrid quantum photonic circuits, scalable deterministic integration and insufficient brightness alongside low photon collection and coupling efficiencies remain unresolved challenges. We present a femtosecond laser nanoengineering platform that enables the site-specific generation of hBN single-photon source (SPS) arrays. First-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations and polarization-resolved spectroscopy confirm the atomic origin of emission as interfacial defects at hBN/SiO heterojunctions.

Regioselective Dual Gold/Silver-Catalyzed C3-H Alkynylation of Triazolopyridazines.

A regioselective C3-H alkynylation of triazolopyridazines has been achieved via dual gold/silver catalysis employing hypervalent iodine(III) reagents. The transformation proceeds through an alkynyl Au(III) intermediate and a silver-assisted C-H activation pathway, delivering a broad range of 3-alkynylated triazolopyridazines in good to excellent yields. Mechanistic studies, including H/D exchange experiments, reveal that the silver species plays a crucial role in facilitating C-H activation.

Choral harmony: the role of collective singing in ritual, cultural identity and cognitive-affective synchronisation in the age of AI.

This study examines how choral singing functions as a mechanism for sustaining ritual practice and reinforcing cultural identity. By integrating perspectives from musicology, social psychology, and cognitive science, it explores how collective vocal performance supports emotional attunement, group cohesion, and symbolic memory in culturally diverse contexts. A mixed-methods approach was applied, combining ethnographic observation, survey-based data, and cognitive measures with AI-informed frameworks such as voice emotion recognition and neural synchrony modeling.

Observing a robot peer's failures facilitates students' classroom learning.

According to productive failure (PF) theory, experiencing failure during problem-solving can enhance students' knowledge acquisition in subsequent instruction. However, challenging students with problems beyond their current capabilities may strain their skills, prior knowledge, and emotional well-being. To address this, we designed a social robot-assisted teaching activity in which students observed a robot's unsuccessful problem-solving attempts, offering a PF-like preparatory effect without requiring direct failure.

Van der Waals Epitaxy of CsPbI/MoS Heterojunction Phototransistors for Neuromorphic Computing.

The optoelectronic properties of perovskite/two-dimensional (2D) material van der Waals heterojunctions provide greater potential for innovative neuromorphic devices. However, the traditional growth of heterojunctions still relies on strict lattice matching and high-temperature processes, which hinder high-quality interface construction and efficient carrier transport. Here, the 2D CsPbI/MoS heterojunction is realized via the van der Waals epitaxy process, overcoming lattice matching limitations.

Modulating Molecular Microheterogeneity within Electrolytes Controls Macroscopic Battery Performance.

Narrow electrochemical windows and high reactivity of aqueous solutions remain critical bottlenecks for the practical application of aqueous batteries. However, the mechanisms for tuning microscopic reactivity of HO molecules in aqueous electrolytes remain elusive. This study employs six ether molecules with distinct structures and solvation powers to regulate the microstructure of aqueous solutions.

On-Demand Nanoliter Delivering Platform via Electrical-Activated Microdroplet Assembling.

Precise delivery of nanoliter-scale reagents is essential for high-throughput biochemical assays, yet existing platforms often lack real-time control and selective content fusion. Conventional methods rely on passive encapsulation or stochastic pairing, limiting both throughput and biochemical specificity. Here, we introduce an on-demand nanoliter delivery platform that seamlessly integrates electrical sensing, triggered droplet merging, and passive sorting in a single continuous flow.

Topological Understanding of the Narrow Emission Band of β-Ca(PO):Eu-Type Phosphors: The Importance of Pinwheel Structural Units.

In whitlockite-type compounds, the Eu ion can emit in a wide region from blue to yellow, but its luminescent mechanism remains unclear. Here, we performed a topological crystallography analysis of the whitlockite structure and first clarified the origin of the blue narrow emission band. Specifically, close-packing theory was used to reveal the topological character of β-Ca(PO) and describe its evolution from (PO) ( = Ba, Sr).

Active control of flexible spacecraft in orbit based on partial differential equations.

Flexible spacecraft possess the ability to adapt to complex environments and use energy more efficiently, offering enhanced flexibility and stability in space missions, particularly in tasks with significant external disturbances such as deep space exploration and satellite attitude control. However, vibration suppression in flexible spacecraft remains a critical challenge. This study addresses the problem of vibration suppression in flexible spacecraft systems under external disturbances and input constraints.

Geospatial patterns in terrestrial organic matter reactivity across four shelf seas spanning the Eurasian Arctic.

Organic matter stored in Arctic permafrost represents a key component of the carbon cycle, yet its reactivity across heterogeneous continent-scale permafrost regions remains poorly understood. Here, we leverage the four shelf seas of the Eurasian Arctic as integrative receptor systems to evaluate terrestrial organic matter reactivity, assessed by examining organic carbon preservation as a function of C-constrained cross-shelf transport time. Our findings reveal higher reactivity of terrestrial organic matter released to the Laptev Sea and the eastern East Siberian Sea, lower reactivity in the western East Siberian Sea, and no deducible degradation in the Kara Sea.

Rational assembly of 3D network materials and electronics through tensile buckling.

Bioinspired network designs are widely exploited in biointegrated electronics and tissue engineering because of their high stretchability, imperfection insensitivity, high permeability, and biomimetic J-shaped stress-strain responses. However, the fabrication of three-dimensionally (3D) architected electronic devices with ordered constructions of network microstructures remains challenging. Here, we introduce the tensile buckling of stacked multilayer precursors as a unique route to 3D network materials with regularly distributed 3D microstructures.

The OsbZIP35-COR1-OsTCP19 module modulates cell proliferation to regulate grain length and weight in rice.

Grain size substantially influences rice quality and yield. In this study, we identified (), a quantitative trait locus encoding an F-box protein that enhances grain length by promoting cell proliferation. The transcription factor OsbZIP35 represses expression, while COR1 interacts with OsTCP19, leading to its degradation.

Acute REM sleep deprivation alleviated depression-like behavior mediated by inhibiting VIP neurons in the mPFC.

Acute sleep deprivation (SD) rapidly alleviates depression, addressing a critical gap in mood disorder treatment. Rapid eye movement SD (REM SD) modulates the excitability of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) neurons, influencing the synaptic plasticity of pyramidal neurons. However, the precise mechanism remains undefined.

Magnetic field-enhanced vertical integration enables embodied intelligence in untethered soft robots.

Embodied intelligence in soft robotics offers unprecedented capabilities for operating in uncertain, confined, and fragile environments that challenge conventional technologies. However, achieving true embodied intelligence-which requires continuous environmental sensing, real-time control, and autonomous decision-making-faces challenges in energy management and system integration. We developed deformation-resilient flexible batteries with enhanced performance under magnetic fields inherently present in magnetically actuated soft robots, with capacity retention after 200 cycles improved from 31.

Living with temperature changes: Salicylic acid at the crossroads of plant immunity and temperature resilience.

Salicylic acid (SA) is a key defense hormone shaped by temperature. High temperatures suppress, while low temperatures enhance, SA biosynthesis and signaling, thereby influencing plant immunity and temperature resilience. This review synthesizes current understanding of how temperature modulates SA pathways and their cross-talk with other hormones to balance growth and defense.

Magnitude uncertainty dominates intermodel spread in zonal-mean precipitation response to anthropogenic aerosol increase.

Anthropogenic aerosols are an important driver of historical climate change but the climate response is not fully understood and the climate model simulations suffer large uncertainties. On the basis of a multimodel ensemble of historical aerosol forcing simulation for a period of global aerosol increase during 1965 to 1989, here, we show that the precipitation response shares a common southward displacement of tropical rain bands but the magnitude differs markedly among models, accounting for 76% of the intermodel uncertainty in zonal-mean precipitation change. Our analysis of atmospheric energetics further reveals key mechanisms for magnitude uncertainty: aerosol radiative forcing drives, cloud radiative feedback amplifies, and ocean circulation damps the intermodel uncertainty in cross-equatorial atmospheric energy transport change and the meridional shift of tropical rain bands.

Cicada rib-inspired tough films through nanoconfined crystallization for use in acoustic transducers.

Acoustic transducers require films that demonstrate both toughness and fatigue resistance, presenting notable challenges when achieved through conventional nanoscale reinforcing strategies. Here, we found that the rib structure of a cicada's tymbal exhibits exceptional toughness and fatigue resistance, attributed to its unique architecture composed of alternating soft and stiff polymer layers. Inspired by this rib structure, we developed a robust artificial rib film (ARF) using a nanoconfined crystallization strategy that involves the deposition of soft polyethylene oxide and stiff phenol formaldehyde.

A compact cassette tape for DNA-based data storage.

DNA with high storage density can serve as an alternative storage medium to respond to the global explosion of data growth and become a powerful personal storage memory if an integrated compact device can store and handle large-scale data. Here, we incorporate a DNA cassette tape with 5.5 × 10 addressable data partitions (addressing rate up to 1570 partitions per second), a DNA loading capacity of 28.

Rapid moving by liquid-amplified electrostatic rolling.

Mobile robots that simultaneously have fast speeds, sufficient load-carrying capabilities, and multiple locomotive functions have always been challenging to develop. Here, we introduce a liquid-amplified electrostatic rolling (LAER) mechanism, which elegantly integrates actuation and adhesion into a streamline single-degree-of-freedom structure. Based on this, we developed a rigid tethered LAER roller (0.

Locusts adopt IP as a second messenger for olfactory signal transduction.

Insects, unlike vertebrates, use heteromeric complexes of odorant receptors and co-receptors for olfactory signal transduction. However, the secondary messengers involved in this process are largely unknown. Here, we use the olfactory signal transduction of the aggregation pheromone 4-vinylanisole (4VA) as a model to address this question.

Skin-adaptive focused flexible micromachined ultrasound transducers for wearable cardiovascular health monitoring.

Continuous monitoring of cardiovascular vital signs can reduce the incidence and mortality of cardiovascular diseases, yet cannot be implemented by current technologies because of device bulkiness and rigidity. Here, we report self-adhesive and skin-conformal ultrasonic transducer arrays that enable wearable monitoring of multiple hemodynamic parameters without interfering with daily activities. A skin-adaptive focused ultrasound method with rational array design is proposed to implement measurement under wide ranges of skin curvatures and depths with improved sensing performances.

Printed sensing human-machine interface with individualized adaptive machine learning.

Developing intelligent robots with integrated sensing capabilities is critical for advanced manufacturing, medical robots, and embodied intelligence. Existing robotic sensing technologies are limited to recording of acceleration, driving torque, pressure feedback, and so on. Expanding and integrating with the multimodal sensors to mimic and even surpass the human feeling is substantially underdeveloped.