Browse Articles

Identification of receptor-binding domains of Bacteroidales antibacterial pore-forming toxins

Water Management Using Massively Produced Calcium Carbonate for Pilot‐Scale CO ₂ Electrolysis

ABSTRACT The performance of scalable, catholyte‐free membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) is restricted by insufficient interfacial water and proton supply. Here, we present a general strategy for constructing an ideal proton‐feeding microenvironment based on calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), an earth‐abundant mineral. Using in situ spectroscopy and theoretical simulations, we reveal that the uniquely hydrophilic surface of CaCO 3 selectively enriches and stabilizes the more mobile and reactive liquid‐like water molecules (2‐HB·H 2 O), thereby establishing an efficient proton highway near the electrode. This enables metal‐loaded CaCO 3 (M/CaCO 3 , M = Zn, and Cu) catalysts to achieve exceptional performance at industrial‐relevant current densities. Crucially, we demonstrate that the catalyst can be synthesized on a kilogram scale directly from unpurified cement plant flue gas. This catalyst enables high‐rate CO 2 conversion to C 2+ (FE C2+ 77.97%) or syngas (19 L h − 1 ; the CO/H 2 ratio ∼2) in a 100 cm 2 electrolyzer stack. This work establishes a general paradigm for using natural minerals to manipulate interfacial water dynamics for industrial electrocatalysis.

Low‐Energy Consumed Switchable Windows with Ultralong Optical Memory via Semiconductor‐Enabled Reversible Zinc Electrodeposition

ABSTRACT Electro‐response switchable windows (ERSWs) can dynamically control light transmission on demand, which showed great application potential for construction of zero‐energy buildings. However, ERSWs' poor bistability compromises their energy efficiency, and the solar heat absorption in dark colored state leads to undesirable parasitic heat re‐emission, thereby diminishing their effectiveness in thermal management. In this work, a bistable reflectance‐modulated electroreflective device based on reversible zinc electrodeposition (ZERD) is designed and prepared to achieve ultra‐low‐power heat management. A dynamic balancing strategy with highly matched potential for the Zn 2 ⁺/Zn redox reaction on both side electrodes gave ZERD excellent bistability (28 days), fast switching (4 s for colored and 8 s for bleached). The reflectance‐modulated property gave ZERD high R sol (64.25%) and low SHGC (0.066), which meant it can reduce parasitic heat re‐emission significantly. Outdoor tests demonstrated reflectance‐modulated ZERD provided enhanced cooling performance compared to transmittance‐modulated ERSW (a maximum temperature reduction of up to 8.4°C). Energy consumption calculations indicated ZERD required only needed to consume up to 0.8% of the total energy savings, while enabling substantial annual energy savings (up to 57.9% in worldwide). The ultralow‐power bistable reflectance‐modulated ZERD offered a valuable strategy for designing high‐performance ERSW and supported progress toward zero‐energy buildings.

Polymers for Biomedical Applications: the Quest for Treating Cardiovascular Diseases

Abstract Cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death worldwide. Current treatments using balloon angioplasty, stents, and bypass grafts still suffer from significant risks of restenosis and thrombosis. This review outlines key research areas where polymers are used in treatments for cardiovascular diseases, highlighting developments from the last decade. Designed to serve both experts and non‐experts in the field, it requires little prior knowledge of the subject. A description of the cardiovascular system, cardiovascular diseases, current treatments, and their limitations are first introduced. After providing a detailed overview of the basic and advanced requirements for new treatments, recent advances in key research fields where polymers are applied to achieve these goals are highlighted. While surface modifications aim to improve endothelialization and/or prevent neointimal proliferation, shape memory polymer stents are intended to reduce damage to the arterial wall upon expansion. Research has also focused on developing biodegradable polymer stents to avoid any remaining material in the artery after healing. Finally, various advanced processing methods enable the production of polymeric personalized stents. By addressing various research areas in a single review, the interplay among them is highlighted, demonstrating that their convergence is essential for optimizing treatments and improving human quality of life.

Field‐Free Superconducting Diode Enabled by Geometric Asymmetry and Perpendicular Magnetization

Abstract The superconducting diode effect (SDE), which manifests as directional, dissipationless supercurrents, is pivotal for realizing energy‐efficient superconducting logic and memory technologies. However, achieving high‐efficiency SDE without external magnetic fields remains a fundamental challenge. In this study, a strongly enhanced, field‐free SDE in Pt/Co/Nb heterostructures are proposed, enabled by the interplay of engineered geometric asymmetry and stray fields from a perpendicularly magnetized Co layer. This configuration promotes directional vortex entry and spatially selective pinning, yielding diode efficiencies that exceed all previously reported field‐free values in ferromagnet/superconductor multilayers. Temperature‐ and field‐dependent transport measurements, supported by micromagnetic simulations, reveal that the enhanced nonreciprocity results from three cooperative mechanisms: asymmetric vortex entry, localized magnetic pinning, and Lorentz‐force imbalance. These findings establish a CMOS‐compatible platform for high‐performance superconducting rectifiers, offering new opportunities for cryogenic spintronics and quantum electronics.

A high diversity naïve variable new antigen receptor, vNAR, phage library for rapid nanobody discovery across diverse antigens

Supramolecular Interlocking Produces Mechanically Anisotropic, Robust, and Tough Biomimetic Ionogels

ABSTRACT Ionogels have garnered significant attention in various cutting‐edge fields due to their tunable mechanical properties and remarkable multifunctionality. However, current ionogels still struggle to achieve a combination of mechanical robustness and tissue‐like anisotropy, hindering their application in next‐generation intelligent biomimetic materials. Inspired by the anisotropic structure of tendons, we have embedded parallel‐aligned rigid fiber bundles within a flexible ionogel to establish a tight interfacial bonding through supramolecular interlocking. This design enables the dispersion of stress and dissipation of energy through shear deformation of the ionogel in the parallel direction while maintaining high flexibility and stretchability in the perpendicular direction. Thus, tough anisotropic composite ionogels (ACIGs) can be constructed, which exhibit high strength, high modulus, as well as pronounced strength and stiffness anisotropies. The mechanical properties and anisotropies far surpass those of current anisotropic gel materials. Additionally, ACIG demonstrates excellent crack resistance, a wide operational temperature range, and high adhesiveness. It can serve as a biomimetic ligament to secure artificial joints, maintaining stability even after 10 000 bending cycles. Moreover, the conductive properties enable ACIG to function as a sensor for detecting joint movements and transmitting information, holding significant application potential in fields such as intelligent equipment and wearable devices.

Dispersion‐Engineered Terahertz Spoof Plasmonic Neural Network for Parallel Computing and On‐Chip Communication

ABSTRACT Diffractive neural networks offer a novel physical implementation for optical computing to achieve parallelism, low power consumption, and light‐speed processing. However, their limited dispersion engineering necessitates increasingly complex architectures for tasks such as spectrum recognition and simultaneous multi‐class classification, which in turn leads to increased energy demands. Here, we propose a spoof plasmonic neural network (SPNN) comprising cross‐cascaded spoof surface plasmonic waveguides with strong engineered dispersion properties designed for operation in the terahertz regime. This compact platform efficiently separates spectral components from a broadband input signal, achieving a data rate of 22 Gbit/s across two separated spectral channels. We experimentally show that the SPNN can simultaneously classify multiple inputs from Fashion‐MNIST+MNIST or Fashion‐MNIST+EMNIST datasets, achieving classification accuracies of 98.3% and 97.4% or 97.4% and 93.8%, respectively. For multi‐color CIFAR‐10 dataset classification, the network architecture incorporating multiple cascaded SPNNs realizes over 10% higher accuracy than single‐color‐channel methods by leveraging distinct color channels mapped to respective spectrum channels. These findings highlight the potential of SPNNs for machine learning applications and lay the groundwork for future terahertz chip integration.

CDC123 is an ATPase that modulates mRNA translation and the integrated stress response by regulating eIF2 complex assembly

The global epidemiology of acute myeloid leukaemia

(Liquid) Metallic Photoresist for Monolithic Microlithography of Elastic Electronics

ABSTRACT By offering mechanical compliance similar to biological tissue, elastic electronics show great potential in wearable and implanted electronics, interactive robots, and neural interfaces. Miniaturization of elastic electronics through advanced microfabrication is essential to increase device density for high‐quality and comprehensive information processing. Cleanroom photolithography is conventionally used for micropatterning photoresists, whose patterns are then transferred to rigid metal or semiconductor materials through lift‐off or etching processes. However, such delicate processes are exclusive and cannot be directly translated to fabricate elastic electronics, which are usually based on unconventional materials. Here, we developed a metallic photoresist, based on ligand‐encapsulated eutectic gallium‐indium liquid metal nanoparticles, and an associated microfabrication process that enables direct, single‐step liquid metal microlithography across wafer‐scale areas. By leveraging tunable covalent and noncovalent interactions at liquid metal nanoparticles interfaces, this method achieves 2 µm resolution, bulk‐level conductivity, and 3D topology matching of liquid metal patterns, while maintaining over 750% stretchability. We demonstrate the versatility of this approach by fabricating multi‐scale elastic electronics, from high‐resolution liquid metal grid transparent electrodes and ECoG neural electrodes to large‐area flexible printed circuit boards.

Sacrificing Knight for Pawn‐Queen Promotion: Sonosensitive Nano‐Xanthiums Orchestrate NO to Retain H ₂ O ₂ for Antibiofilm Therapy

ABSTRACT Biofilm infections present escalating clinical challenges due to their intrinsic resistance to conventional treatments, underscoring the urgent need for innovative therapeutic strategies. Here, we show a pioneering approach that leverages sacrificial nitric oxide (NO) to enhance hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) retention for antibiofilm therapy. H 2 O 2 has the ability to produce hydroxyl radicals (•OH), the most potent oxidants in nature, but it is often neutralized by H 2 O 2 scavengers before •OH formation. Our design utilizes ultrasound irradiation to release NO from the biofilm‐anchoring nano‐xanthiums (G‐B@NXs), which subsequently interact with biofilm‐associated H 2 O 2 scavengers, including catalase and glutathione, to suppress the decomposition ability toward H 2 O 2 . Additionally, glucose oxidase on the surface of G‐B@NXs supplements H 2 O 2 production, facilitates its conversion into •OH, and exhibits effective biofilm sterilization in different infection models. Our strategy not only shows the promise for advancing antibiofilm applications but also provides novel insights into the development of NO‐assisted biomaterials.

Flow‐Regime‐Controlled Fabrication of CNT‐Bridged Vertically Aligned rGO/MXene Fibers for High‐Performance Fiber Supercapacitors

Abstract The directional construction of electrode frameworks aligned with the transport pathways of ions/electron is critical for electrochemical processes. However, conventional fabrication strategies suffer from bottlenecks such as complex processes, and difficulty in scaling up production. In this work, a flow‐driven wet‐spinning strategy is developed to fabricate carbon nanotube (CNT)‐bridged vertically aligned reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/MXene fibers (CNT‐VA‐GMFs). Enabled by precisely regulating of flow regimes, the vertical aligned rGO/MXene nanosheets and CNT‐bridged structure collaboratively establish open porous channels for rapid ion transport, continuous conductive networks for efficient electron transfer, and abundant accessible active sites for enhanced charge storage. Consequently, the CNT‐VA‐GMF electrode exhibits improved ion transport, exceptional specific capacitance (740 F g −1 ), and outstanding long‐term cycling stability (98% retention after 30 000 cycles) in H 2 SO 4 electrolyte. The assembled flexible asymmetric supercapacitor achieves a remarkable energy density of 224 Wh kg −1 (at 1200 W kg −1 ) while maintaining robust mechanical flexibility.

Physical Intelligence in Small‐Scale Robots and Machines

Abstract Intelligent living organisms—from unicellular entities to plants—rely on body physical intelligence (PI) to autonomously adapt and thrive in dynamic and complex environments, bypassing neural processing. The paradigm of PI has become a pivotal framework for small‐scale mobile robots and machines, where they have limited onboard powering, actuation, perception, computation, and control. However, the emerging PI capabilities remain rudimentary compared to biological counterparts in adaptability, multifunctionality, and evolvability. Here, the review systematically examines PI in small‐scale mobile robots and machines, highlight the importance of PI in extreme environments, elucidate hierarchical PI manifestations, identify current challenges and future opportunities for further promoting the evolution of PI. Notably, Current research emphasizes that the human body, featuring confined spaces, active and uncertain fluid and organ movements, immunological reactions, and heterogeneous physicochemical conditions, can be an ultimate testing ground for the next‐generation small‐scale robotic systems with more advanced PI. Looking forward, the rapid evolution of PI benefits from the convergence of multiple disciplines, such as robotics, mechanics, materials, chemistry, biology, and medicine, toward creating autonomous intelligent machines for real‐world applications.

The biosynthesis of N-acylated tryptazolone in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and related bacteria

The development of CAR T cells for patients with CNS malignancies

Ultra‐Low Electric Field Induced Volatile Resistive Switching in Hole‐Doped MgTi ₂ O ₄

ABSTRACT The intriguing concept of electric‐field‐induced resistive breakdown in Mott insulators offers promising opportunities for Mottronics devices and memristors while serving as a unique platform to explore non‐equilibrium phenomena and underlying microscopic mechanisms. However, achieving resistive switching with a low threshold field is rare in transition metal spinel oxides. Here, a reversible resistive breakdown under the application of DC current as well as DC electric‐field in hole doped MgTi 2 O 4 is reported. A remarkably low threshold field of approximately 60 V/cm at 40 K is observed. Additionally, the resistive transition around 260 K observed in stoichiometric system, is suppressed in Mg‐deficient samples. The electric field induced low‐resistance state is meta‐stable, reverting to the insulating phase once the field is removed, indicating a volatile resistive switching (VRS). Interestingly, these systems demonstrate forming‐free, stable threshold switching with minimal cycle‐to‐cycle variation in switching voltages. Experimental results suggest polaronic hopping and collective charge excitation triggered by applied electric field, with subsequent polaronic filament formation as the driving mechanism for the resistive transition. Further, the neuronal functionalities, particularly the leaky‐integrate‐fire behavior of an artificial neuron, are showcased in a single‐component device using these systems as switching layer, suggesting their potential applicability in low‐threshold neuromorphic circuits.

Correlated Dual‐Gradient Electrodes Enabling Spatially Synchronized Sulfur Redox in High‐Mass‐Loading Li–S Batteries Under High Current Densities

ABSTRACT The practical deployment of Li–S batteries is hindered by sluggish redox kinetics and poor ion transport in high‐mass‐loading sulfur cathodes, especially under fast‐charging and high‐power‐density conditions. Conventional electrocatalyst‐based strategies partially mitigate electrochemical polarization by lowering reaction energy barriers but fail to address concentration and ohmic polarization, which become more pronounced in thick electrodes. Here, a coupled material‐architecture approach is demonstrated by integrating electrocatalysts into a low‐tortuosity, correlated dual‐gradient electrode, fabricated via programmable high‐resolution stereolithography and pyrolysis‐induced carbonization. The microscale pore gradient is deliberately correlated with the active‐material gradient to spatially synchronize redox progression across electrode depth, thereby homogenizing cathode utilization and alleviating concentration polarization. Pyrolysis generates additional nanoscale pores, establishing a hierarchical structure and transforming polymer‐salt precursors into a conductive carbon framework embedding Li 2 S@Fe 2 O 3 /Fe‐N‐C, enhancing ion accessibility and minimizing ohmic polarization, while Fe 2 O 3 /Fe‐N‐C accelerates polysulfide conversion, reducing electrochemical polarization. Benefiting from this synergy, the Li 2 S@Fe 2 O 3 /Fe‐N‐C electrode delivers high‐areal‐capacities of 22.7 mAh cm −2 (1048 mAh g −1 ) at 0.1 C, 15.7 mAh cm −2 (725 mAh g −1 ) at 5 C, and retains 82% capacity over 1100 cycles at 4 C. A single‐layer pouch cell achieves a specific energy of 403 Wh kg −1 , demonstrating the promise of this dual‐gradient strategy for real‐world high‐energy and high‐power Li–S batteries.

GRK phosphorylation drives β-arrestin–independent internalization of chemokine receptor CXCR5

Multifunctional Interfacial Molecular Bridge for Highly Efficient and Mechanically Robust Flexible Blue Perovskite Light‐Emitting Diodes

ABSTRACT Metal halide perovskites have emerged as promising candidates for flexible optoelectronics, yet the development of efficient blue‐emitting devices remains hindered by low charge utilization and poor mechanical durability. Herein, we propose a multifunctional molecular bridging strategy using trifluoroacetate (TFA − )‐based molecule to construct efficient and mechanically robust flexible blue perovskite light‐emitting diodes (PeLEDs). The TFA − bridge enhances interfacial adhesion and creates a stress‐redistributing network at the interface, effectively dissipating bending‐induced strain. Concurrently, this molecular bridge effectively modulates the crystallization of low‐dimensional perovskites through competitive coordination and hydrogen bond‐guided phase reorganization, facilitating efficient exciton confinement and energy transfer. The resulting flexible blue PeLEDs achieve an external quantum efficiency of 20.05% and outstanding bending durability, maintaining over 90% of their initial performance after 2000 cycles at a 5 mm radius. This work demonstrates the dual role of biomimetic molecular bridges in simultaneously stabilizing the bulk perovskite phase and the device interface, providing a generalizable route toward high‐performance and mechanically robust flexible optoelectronics.