Forests play a crucial role in mitigating climate change by acting as carbon sinks. However, accurately tracking the carbon dynamics of forests, especially in rapidly urbanizing regions, remains a challenge. A recent study published in Forest Ecosystems offers new insights into the carbon effects of continuous forest change in China’s Yangtze River Delta (YRD) from 2000 to 2020, using advanced monitoring techniques.

A pioneering study has demonstrated the remarkable potential of visual feedback technology to assist profoundly deaf individuals in developing oral speech. By translating speech sounds into visual patterns, the technology enables users to "see" their vocal efforts and adjust them to match reference models. Early trials with 72 participants have shown significant progress, with many learning up to 18 phonetic sounds within six months. This groundbreaking approach could revolutionize speech rehabilitation, offering a viable alternative to traditional methods like sign language and cochlear implants, particularly for those without early auditory interventions.

High-entropy materials (HEMs) have emerged as a promising frontier in electrochemical energy storage systems due to their unique compositional versatility and tunable physicochemical properties. By incorporating multiple principal elements with distinct chemical functionalities, HEMs exhibit tailored electronic/ionic configurations, enabling unprecedented structural adaptability and application potential. This review systematically analyzes the fundamental principles underpinning the entropy-driven optimization of electrochemical performance in battery materials, with a focus on the interplay between compositional disorder and functional enhancements. For the first time, recent advances in NASICON-type HEMs spanning cathodes, solid-state electrolytes, and anodes were comprehensively reviewed. Through investigations, the profound impact of high-entropy strategies on critical material parameters were elucidate, including lattice strain modulation, interfacial stability reinforcement, charge-transfer kinetics optimization, and ion transport pathway regulation. Furthermore, the current challenges in high-entropy NASICON-type battery design are evaluated, and actionable strategies for advancing next-generation high-entropy battery systems are proposed, with emphasis placed on rational compositional screening, entropy-stabilized interface design, and machine learning-assisted property prediction.

Developing emitter materials with excellent selective emission performance is the key to improving the energy conversion efficiency of Radioisotope Thermophotovoltaic Systems. Rare earth tantalate ceramics have excellent temperature resistance and have the potential to be applied in the field of Radioisotope Thermophotovoltaic selective emitters. Although there are many reports on rare earth tantalate ceramics in the field of thermal barrier coatings, they have not yet been studied in the field of selective emitters. It is imperative to fill this research gap, as rare earth tantalates have been neglected in the field of thermoluminescence for decades.

A study published in Forest Ecosystems reveals Douglas-fir introduction have limited biodiversity impacts, showing no significant effect in 78.6% of cases, with only 9.4% negative outcomes. While canopy spiders benefit from its dense structure, arthropod diversity is reduced due to the distinct bark structure. Based on the limited studies retrieved by the review, it is reported that Douglas-fir inclusion has non-significant or neutral effects. Key knowledge gaps remain regarding bat populations and long-term soil impacts. The findings position this North American species as a viable climate-resilient option for European forestry, pending further research to establish safe implementation thresholds.

Prototheca wickerhamii (P. wickerhamii), an opportunistic pathogen affecting both humans and animals, is widely distributed in the environment, including soil, mud, and water sources such as rivers. However, human infections caused by this genus are rare. Unfortunately, due to the nonspecific clinical manifestations and limited awareness among clinicians, protothecosis is often underestimated and misdiagnosed. P. wickerhamii has been shown to exhibit low cytotoxicity to macrophages, potentially allowing it to evade immune clearance. Currently, the high-quality genome offers insights into the evolution and pathogenicity of Prototheca, while also serving as a genomic resource for improved diagnosis. In this study, we combined traditional culturing methods with microbiome sequencing techniques to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the microbial diversity in infected skin.

To answer this question: How do different operating schemes affect urban rail transit resilience? researchers at Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corporation Ltd., The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Dalian University of Technology, constructed a passenger-train coupled network percolation model to investigate the impact of different operating schemes on urban rail transit system.

In a paper published in Mycology, an international team of scientists mainly reported the isolation, structural elucidation, and biological evaluations of two new pairs of enantiomers, acresorcinols A and B (1a/1b and 2a/2b), and three orsellinic aldehydes, acresorcinols C−F (3−5), from the deep-sea-derived fungus Acremonium sclerotigenum LW14.

Scholars from Chongqing University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Tsinghua University, and State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Research Institute in China has developed a novel approach to prepared ultrahigh voltage-gradient ZnO-based varistor ceramics through a hybrid cold sintering/spark plasma sintering (CSP-SPS) and post-annealing process.

A study published in Circular Economy reveals how integrated anaerobic digestion of agricultural waste in China’s Hengshui City has achieved a 64% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while producing renewable energy and organic fertilizers. The research, led by Tsinghua University scientists and collaborators, underscores the transformative potential of circular economy models in aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).