Metals, semiconductors and insulators are fundamental components of modern electronics. However, efforts to improve device performance have largely focused on semiconductor quality, while metal crystallinity has received far less attention. As transistor dimensions continue to shrink, though, structural disorder in metals and at metal-semiconductor interfaces increasingly impedes carrier injection
Research#Chinese Academy of Sciences#Research News
As residents' daily living standards continue to improve, the demand for high-quality protein in farming and other fields has increased significantly, and the supply is insufficient. At the same time, urban food waste production is large, and traditional disposal processes have high carbon emissions, low resource conversion efficiency, and high energy consumption. The protein supply gap and the problem of food waste disposal are superimposed, and there is an urgent need to build efficient and coordinated resource solutions.
Two-dimensional transition metal borides have broad application prospects in the field of electrochemical energy storage due to their unique electronic structure, high conductivity and rich surface chemical properties. Molybdenum boride (MoB) can be obtained by selectively etching away the aluminum (Al) layer in layered molybdenum aluminum boron (MoAlB). However, this method often faces problems such as incomplete removal of Al and re-stacking of MoB layers after etching, making it difficult to fully peel off the two-dimensional nanosheets. This will reduce the available surface area of the material and prevent electrolyte ions from entering the interlayer active sites, thus restricting the performance of MoB in high-rate energy storage devices.
Soil salinization poses a serious threat to global rice production. At present, the natural‑variation‑based genetic basis of rice salt tolerance remains poorly understood, and only a handful of major genes related to salt tolerance have been functionally characterized. It is critical to identify key gene modules in salt signaling pathways. In a study published in Developmental Cell on August 28, a
Life SciencesSustainable Development#Chinese Academy of Sciences#Research News#Sustainable Development#genomics#biology
The first cell fate decision of a fertilized mammalian egg is a core scientific issue in developmental biology and is also relevant to embryo quality assessment in assisted reproduction. Although previous studies have revealed that the two-cell stage non-coding RNA LincGET mediates fate bias, the key protein factors that regulate this process have not yet been identified.
Recently, the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has conducted research on the problem of determining the surface geometric parameters of the coronal magnetic field source. It analyzed the forward and inverse problems of the potential field source surface model (PFSS) from the perspective of free boundary problems and shape optimization, and combined with the near-solar in-situ observations of the PSP satellite to construct a source surface radius optimization algorithm. This study used ACE satellite observations for independent verification to reveal the overall trend of optimal source surface radius changes with solar activity and the trade-off relationship between different observation indicators.
Recently, the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has made progress in the research of high-performance molybdenum alloys. By designing a solid-state reaction, the research team used HfB 2 to react with impurity oxygen in molybdenum powder to form high-density, highly thermally stable and evenly distributed nano-Hf particles inside the molybdenum grains. This solved the problem of traditional dispersed particles being prone to agglomeration and coarsening, and achieved a synergistic improvement in the strength, plasticity and high-temperature stability of molybdenum alloys.
A research team led by Prof. REN Wencai from the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has achieved the wafer-scale epitaxial growth of monolayer MoSi 2 N 4 single crystals, a high-performance p-type two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor. Their findings, published on July 8 in Nature Materials , mark a significant step toward realizing complementary metal-oxide-semicond
Chemical Engineering#Chinese Academy of Sciences#Research News#Chemical Engineering
The Euphorbia section Monadenium comprises approximately 90 species that are restricted to tropical Africa, with the greatest diversity found in East Africa. Members of this section range from geophytes and perennial herbs to succulent shrubs and small trees, many of which are endemic to arid or seasonally dry habitats. However, their evolutionary and biogeographical history remains poorly underst
Biodiversity#Chinese Academy of Sciences#Research News#biodiversity
Balsa wood is one of the world's fastest-growing and most commercially valuable tropical timber species. Renowned as the lightest commercial timber, it has experienced soaring global demand. However, traditional propagation techniques, such as tissue culture and cuttings, have proven difficult due to the species' abundant leaf hairs and mucilage secretion. This makes controlled hybridization the m
Biodiversity#Chinese Academy of Sciences#Research News#biodiversity
The establishment of complex terrestrial ecosystems is a milestone in the history of the evolution of life on Earth. It marks the complete escape of life from the constraints of the ocean and opens a new stage in the evolution of terrestrial biodiversity. Molecular clock estimates, trace fossils, and evidence from specific buried biota indicate that the evolutionary process of arthropod landings can be traced back to the Cambrian-Ordovician period, much earlier than recognized by traditional fossil records. As the animal group with the highest species diversity on Earth, there has been a long-standing research gap in the early origins and landing evolution history of insects.
A research team has recently published a systematic reference framework for advancing Spray-Induced Gene Silencing (SIGS) from proof-of-concept toward industrialization. Led by Prof. ZHANG Tao from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Germplasm Resources and Biotechnology under the T
Life SciencesEnvironment & ClimateBioengineering#Chinese Academy of Sciences#Research News#Bioengineering#genomics#biology#climate#decarbonization
Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are sugar-containing membrane lipids that help organize cell surfaces and regulate signaling, immune recognition, differentiation and neuronal function. Human cells produce several hundred GSL species through stepwise modification of their sugar groups, and this diversity begins with a single committed reaction, in which uridine diphosphate glucose (UDP-glucose) ceramide
Medical ResearchHealth#Chinese Academy of Sciences#Research News#Health#medical research#clinical research
Methane emissions from cattle and sheep contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions and reflect a loss of dietary energy that could otherwise support animal growth and productivity, which is a major challenge for sustainable livestock production. M ost existing approaches to reduce methane emissions focus primarily on suppressing methanogenesis. In a study published in The Innovation , a researc
Life SciencesEnvironment & ClimateSustainable Development#Chinese Academy of Sciences#Research News#Sustainable Development#Pollutants#genomics#biology#climate#decarbonization
Precise manipulation of large genomic fragments is a critical need in crop breeding and synthetic biology. In crop genomes, superior traits are often associated with structural variations. However, existing large-fragment editing tools such as CRISPR-Cas systems and site-specific recombinases have limitations. In 2024, the development of the bridge RNA-guided IS110-family recombinase system provid
Medical ResearchLife Sciences#Chinese Academy of Sciences#Research News#medical research#clinical research#genomics#biology
