Astronomers have confirmed that the binary star system TIC 197757000 is tidally synchronized, with its two components orbiting each other every 2.2 days. Located 467 light-years away, the system features a δ Scuti pulsating star whose rhythm is shaped by the gravitational pull of its companion, according to research published in Research in Astronomy and … Read more
Researchers at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Xiamen University have identified a critical hole density threshold that unlocks higher efficiency in artificial photosynthesis. By observing water oxidation at the nanoscale, the team discovered that catalyst surfaces dynamically reconfigure their reaction pathways once a density of … Read more
Researchers have constructed the first three-dimensional, single-cell atlas of a lamprey brain, revealing that the common ancestor of all vertebrates possessed a complex, well-organized neural structure. Published in the journal Science, the study led by SU Bing of the Kunming Institute of Zoology demonstrates that despite 450 million years of evolutionary divergence, lamprey gene-expression patterns … Read more
Water vapor can reshape metal surfaces through weak van der Waals interactions, according to researchers at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP). The study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, demonstrates that these physical forces drive the rapid migration and coalescence of gold (Au) nanoislands on Au(111) surfaces, even in the … Read more
Super-Earths and mini-Neptunes followed distinct evolutionary paths shaped by their unique orbital histories, according to a study published in the journal Science. Researchers from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed large-sample data from the LAMOST telescope, the Gaia satellite, and the Kepler space telescope to determine that these two classes … Read more
The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) has begun its mission to determine neutrino mass ordering, operating 700 meters underground with a 20,000-ton liquid-scintillator detector. According to the JUNO Collaboration, the facility reached its first major physics milestones in 2026, establishing a new precision standard for measuring neutrino mixing parameters and setting the stage for long-term … Read more
A new study led by Professor LIU Lijun at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has identified a unified deep-Earth mechanism that explains the global distribution of seamounts. Published in Nature Geoscience on June 10, the research demonstrates that asthenospheric thermal anomalies, fueled by mantle plumes originating … Read more
Researchers aboard China’s Tiangong space station have concluded a seven-day experiment aimed at identifying how microgravity influences liver cell metabolism. By studying hepatocytes under spaceflight conditions, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) aim to uncover new pathways for treating fatty liver disease, a condition often driven by mechanical stress changes in the liver’s … Read more
Deep-sea supergiant isopods survive more than five years without food by utilizing a bacterial gene called ND1 to regulate their metabolism. According to research led by the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) and published in the journal Cell, this “hijacked” gene acts as a temperature-sensitive switch that boosts starvation endurance … Read more
The Dawn of Synthetic Biology: Engineering Life from the Bottom Up For decades, the concept of “artificial life” was confined to the pages of science fiction. However, recent breakthroughs in synthetic biology—specifically the ability to mimic asymmetric cell division—are shifting the paradigm from theory to laboratory reality. By successfully creating artificial cells that can autonomously … Read more