Researchers have demonstrated a novel approach to hydrogel tensile testing that transcends traditional single stress-strain curves by mapping strain localization in real time. The study employed the UniVert device to apply controlled tensile loading in a hydrated, temperature-controlled environment, while Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technology converted surface motion into evolving strain fields. A neural network was subsequently trained to forecast strain patterns one step ahead based on experimentally measured data. The dataset comprised 120 strain maps, though specimen independence and training methodology details remain unclear, with an 80:20 training-validation split used but no separate test set reported. The research focused on a single architected hydrogel design, leaving questions about generalizability across different geometries, formulations, or loading rates. Despite these limitations, the workflow represents a significant advance in soft materials testing by establishing a direct connection between predictive modeling and real mechanical experimentation, enabling measured strain fields to serve as training data for material modeling while maintaining grounding in experimental validation.

Chronic inflammation underlies numerous diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma, typically managed with NSAIDs, corticosteroids, or DMARDs. However, conventional drug delivery suffers from poor site specificity, high systemic clearance, and frequent dosing requirements. Thermosensitive hydrogels represent a promising alternative, leveraging their high water content, biocompatibility, and capacity to encapsulate diverse therapeutics. These injectable systems undergo reversible sol-to-gel transformation at physiological temperature, forming depot matrices that enable localized, controlled drug release with improved patient compliance. Common materials include poloxamers, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), chitosan, methylcellulose, and poly(ethylene glycol)-based copolymers, offering tunable gelation temperatures, biodegradability, and mechanical properties. These systems show significant promise for delivering anti-inflammatory agents via topical, intra-articular, ocular, transdermal, and injectable routes. Despite encouraging preclinical results, clinical translation remains hindered by challenges including poor mechanical stability, premature drug release, limited drug loading capacity for hydrophobic compounds, variable drug-gelation interactions, and sterilization and scale-up difficulties.

Researchers have developed an advanced metasurface platform enabling unprecedented pixel-level control of thermal emissivity simultaneously across both mid-wave infrared (MWIR, 3–5 μm) and long-wave infrared (LWIR, 8–14 μm) bands. The technology utilizes a cavity-coupled metal-insulator-metal architecture that supports two independent infrared resonances, whose spectral positions and strengths can be orthogonally controlled through geometric design parameters. Using systematic design exploration, the team created a broad emissivity palette and validated it through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) alongside calibrated MWIR and LWIR thermal imaging. This capability enables encoding of spatial thermal patterns that are either correlated or distinct between the two bands, demonstrating applications including dual-band thermal camouflage and decoupled thermal image multiplexing on a single chip. The metasurface exhibits polarization-insensitivity and maintains robust performance across wide temperature and viewing angle ranges. This breakthrough establishes a scalable approach for multi-band image-level thermal emission control, with significant implications for thermal imaging, security systems, and infrared information encoding technologies.

Smart and stimuli-responsive hydrogels represent a significant advancement in bone tissue engineering by enabling controlled exosome delivery. Unlike traditional passive carriers, these intelligent therapeutic platforms respond to specific environmental triggers such as pH, temperature, and mechanical stress to release therapeutic molecules precisely when needed. The review examines how hydrogel technology transforms exosome delivery from simple cargo transport to sophisticated treatment systems that enhance bone regeneration and repair. By integrating stimuli-responsive mechanisms, these hydrogels can optimize therapeutic timing and dosage, reducing side effects while maximizing efficacy. The article, published in Cell and Tissue Banking in July 2026, synthesizes current research demonstrating how hydrogel-exosome combinations improve osteogenic differentiation and bone formation. This evolution from passive to intelligent platforms matters because it addresses critical challenges in bone tissue engineering, including inadequate vascularization and insufficient cellular differentiation. The approach offers promising clinical applications for orthopedic injuries, degenerative bone diseases, and reconstructive surgery, potentially revolutionizing regenerative medicine practices.

Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a novel mechanism to improve nanoparticle-based chemotherapy delivery through gut microbiome modulation. While nanomedicines were designed to enhance drug targeting, Kupffer cells—liver-resident macrophages—efficiently capture circulating nanoparticles, preventing adequate tumor drug accumulation. Traditionally, scientists addressed this challenge by engineering superior particles. However, a new Nature Materials study reveals that the host's biology, particularly the gut microbiome, is equally critical as particle design. The research demonstrates that the gut microbiome regulates Kupffer cell activity and clearance rates of nanomedicines from circulation. Using mouse models, researchers employed metronidazole, an antibiotic with antiprotozoal properties, to reshape the gut microbiome and enhance nanomedicine delivery. This finding represents a paradigm shift, establishing a microbiome-dependent lever for tumor drug delivery and expanding understanding of microbiome effects beyond immunotherapy to pharmacokinetic pathways. The discovery suggests that optimizing patient microbiota composition could substantially improve nanomedicine efficacy without requiring extensive particle reformulation.

Optical metasurfaces show significant potential for creating compact, multifunctional optical devices, but their widespread adoption faces substantial manufacturing obstacles. Traditional fabrication methods using electron-beam lithography and etching are expensive and incompatible with flexible substrates, limiting scalability. This research presents a breakthrough approach using nanoparticle-embedded resin (nanoPER), a printable high-index composite material that overcomes these limitations. By embedding high-index titanium dioxide nanoparticles into a curable resin matrix, the team achieved an effective refractive index exceeding 1.8, enabling single-step replication of functional nanostructures through nanoimprint lithography. This technique supports fabrication on diverse substrates, including flexible and curved surfaces, with the entire process completable within one to two days. The protocol provides comprehensive guidance on resin formulation, process parameters, and optical characterization. This development has substantial implications for real-world applications including light detection and ranging systems, compact imaging devices, and integrated photonics, potentially democratizing metasurface production and accelerating their commercial deployment.

OpenAI’s hardware story started well before the strange doughnut-shaped speaker that dominated the news this week. Sam Altman and Jony Ive began working together around 2023, initially exploring what a computer designed around modern AI should actually look like. By 2024, Ive had created io with former Apple executives and engineers including Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. In May 2025, OpenAI announced that io would merge into OpenAI, while Ive’s LoveFrom would take a major design role across the company. Reuters valued the transaction at about $6.5 billion.

Blockchain technology enables newly emerging business models with polyadic relationships. Novel business models in Web 3.0 environments involve multiple use values and exchange value determinants. NFT Technology affordances identified in terms of utility, social, financial, and legal affordances. The emerging ecosystem is characterized by sources of generativity, mixed-side network effects, and convergence.

Materials scientists are revolutionizing soft robotics by developing advanced polymer artificial muscles that overcome traditional manufacturing limitations. Two key approaches—electromechanical and thermomechanical—enable flexible, autonomous actuation systems that replace rigid conventional hardware. The first technique employs polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gel muscles activated by electric fields between 400 and 800 volts, which causes PVC molecules to migrate toward the anode, generating Maxwell forces that induce precise deformation. The formulation combines PVC, dibutyl adipate plasticizer, and tetrahydrofuran solvent in a 1:7:12 mass ratio. When the field deactivates, the gel's inherent elasticity returns the muscle to its original shape. Alternatively, shape-memory polymers (SMPs) utilize entropic recovery, with engineered architectures containing molecular switches and stable net points that allow polymers to transition from temporary high-energy states to thermodynamically preferred shapes when exposed to thermal triggers. By tailoring polymer formulations, developers can precisely control activation temperatures for specific applications. These 3D-printed artificial muscles eliminate labor-intensive manual casting and enable manufacturers to create sophisticated, programmable soft robotic systems suitable for diverse industrial and medical applications.

Fabric-based microfluidic fuel cells represent an emerging technology that integrates textile substrates with advanced electrochemical systems to generate power from liquid fuels. This review, published in the Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry in August 2026, examines recent developments in this field, focusing on three critical areas: textile substrate selection and optimization, catalyst development and performance, and comprehensive electrochemical analysis. The integration of fabric materials as platforms for microfluidic fuel cells offers significant advantages, including flexibility, portability, and potential for wearable applications. By leveraging textile substrates combined with innovative catalyst materials, researchers have achieved improved electrochemical performance and enhanced fuel cell efficiency. These advances are particularly significant for developing next-generation power sources for portable electronics, medical devices, and wearable technology, where conventional rigid fuel cells prove impractical. The synthesis of textile engineering with electrochemistry addresses growing demands for sustainable, lightweight energy solutions in applications requiring flexible and adaptable power systems.

Researchers at Yunnan University have developed a quantum dissipative assembly (QDA) framework that explains how polymorphism in organic semiconductors is governed by quantum coherence rather than classical thermodynamics. Their symmetry-resolved open quantum system formulation treats molecular assembly units as vibronic wavepackets classified by molecular point group representations, with the carrier gas acting as a structured dissipative bath. Using this theory to manipulate the reactor environment—adjusting geometry, flow velocity, and precursor concentration—the team selectively synthesized a previously unreported polar polymorph of copper phthalocyanine (ω-CuPc) with space group P2, featuring a dimerized bilayer superstructure and an extreme Davydov splitting of 154 nm. Structural refinement with a four-molecule modulated supercell model resolved discrepancies between powder X-ray diffraction and energy calculations. The framework consistently explains formation windows of different CuPc polymorphs and their distinct morphologies, establishing a symmetry-guided polymorph engineering strategy where the carrier-gas atmosphere functions as an active dissipative medium rather than an inert thermal bath, advancing understanding of quantum coherence in macromolecular systems.

Global energy storage innovation is advancing rapidly through diverse alternative battery technologies beyond traditional lithium-ion systems. The United Arab Emirates is developing the world's largest battery scheme, combining 5.2GW of solar capacity with 19GWh of storage to power approximately 500,000 homes overnight. Simultaneously, researchers at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory are creating micro-batteries to track young salmon and eels. These alternative solutions address critical concerns surrounding lithium-ion batteries, including dependency on finite mineral resources like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which raise environmental and ethical issues. Unlike conventional batteries with limited charge cycles, many emerging technologies offer indefinite reusability and recyclability across their 20-year lifespan. Innovative approaches include cryobatteries, such as Highview Power's Carrington project at a former Manchester coal plant, which stores renewable energy as liquid air for hours, days, or weeks. Additionally, developers are exploring molten salt and sweat-based battery technologies. These diverse energy storage solutions promise to support applications ranging from wearable devices to industrial heating networks, enabling more sustainable and equitable renewable energy systems without depleting critical mineral resources.

Supramolecular systems leverage reversible interactions to create sophisticated molecular architectures that mirror the complexity of natural assemblies such as enzymes, nucleic acids, and membranes. This review examines how multiple types of reversible interactions—including dynamic-covalent bonds, metal-coordination, hydrogen bonding, σ-hole interactions, and π-interactions—can be deployed individually or in combination to program equilibrium assembly of intricate structures. The work emphasizes strategies for generating discrete, low-symmetry systems with precise structural control, including receptors, capsules, cages, interlocked architectures, and foldamers. By layering orthogonal interactions that operate independently yet in parallel, researchers can achieve the advanced functional control demonstrated in biological systems. This approach enables the rational design of artificial supramolecular structures with unprecedented complexity and specificity, advancing applications in functional materials, responsive polymers, and metal-organic frameworks where programmable molecular assembly is essential for achieving desired properties and performance.

Smart hydrogel systems with stimuli-responsive properties are increasingly combined with advanced additive manufacturing techniques, particularly 3D and 4D printing, to develop scaffolds for targeted drug delivery and wound healing applications in regenerative medicine. However, clinical translation of these technologies remains limited by challenges in material performance, design complexity, and manufacturing scalability. This comprehensive review examines recent developments in smart hydrogel design and 4D-printed scaffolds, focusing on programmable and stimuli-responsive architectures that enable spatiotemporal control of drug release and dynamic scaffold behavior. The analysis evaluates hydrogel structure-property relationships, 3D/4D printing strategies, and demonstrated performance in drug delivery and wound healing applications. Critical limitations are identified, including reproducibility issues, mechanical stability concerns, long-term performance uncertainties, and the significant gap between experimental studies and clinical implementation. The review addresses definitional and practical challenges in implementing 4D printing within biomedical contexts and synthesizes emerging trends in printed hydrogel scaffolds. By identifying current design trade-offs and outlining priorities for improving reliability and translational potential, this work provides essential guidance for advancing precision drug delivery and regenerative wound therapy through engineered biomaterial solutions.

Researchers have developed an innovative infrared-transparent flexible glass material based on S₆₀Se₄₀ chalcogenide glass with a dual-network architecture that addresses a longstanding challenge in adaptive optics and photonics. The material combines an inorganic glass network with dynamic covalent cross-links, achieving broadband infrared transparency up to 21 micrometers while maintaining exceptional mechanical flexibility, including an ultralow Young's modulus of approximately 0.0037 GPa, extreme tensile strain of 650 percent, and high elastic recovery of 80 percent. The composite additionally demonstrates autonomous self-healing and shape-memory capabilities at room temperature. The researchers demonstrated practical applications by developing infrared deformable lenses with tunable focal lengths and real-time aberration correction for adaptive imaging and wavefront control. This breakthrough material platform bridges the performance gap between rigid glass and flexible polymers, offering significant potential for soft infrared photonics, reconfigurable optical systems, adaptive imaging, steerable biosensing, and dynamic industrial metrology applications. The work represents a critical advancement in merging glass-like optical performance with polymer-like mechanical properties.

Chaque année, le Salon des Maires et des Collectivités Locales constitue un point focal des innovations en matière d’équipements et de solutions pour construire l’avenir des territoires. En parallèle de l’exposition et des espaces de prise de parole, le Salon organise les Prix de l’Innovation Territoriale, qui mettent à l’honneur celles et ceux qui conçoivent et déploient des solutions transformant concrètement les territoires. Ouverts à toute structure, qu’elle soit exposante ou non, les Prix s’inscrivent dans une dynamique collective. Exposants, visiteurs, partenaires ou élus-jurés : tous contribuent à faire de ce temps fort un lieu d’échange, de reconnaissance et de valorisation des coopérations les plus prometteuses entre collectivités, entreprises et associations. Vitrine de l’innovation, ce concours distingue des solutions qui font avancer les territoires. Produits, services, technologies, projets ou initiatives : toutes les innovations portées par des acteurs publics, privés ou associatifs peuvent être récompensées, dès lors qu’elles apportent des réponses concrètes et ambitieuses aux grands enjeux d’aujourd’hui et de demain.

Researchers led by Li et al. have developed an innovative plasmonic metasurface based on anisotropic aluminum nanopillar arrays that enables independent control of hue, saturation, and brightness—a significant advancement in dynamic structural color tuning. Unlike existing approaches that rely on external thermal or electrical stimuli, their polarization-based technique achieves full-color modulation by simply rotating polarizer and analyzer angles, eliminating the need for heating, electric fields, or mechanical modifications. The team demonstrated the metasurface's capabilities through full-color image printing and three-dimensional displays, including kaleidoscopic patterns and artwork renditions. Geometric parameters control hue and saturation while nanopillar rotation independently adjusts brightness. This technology holds substantial promise for advanced display applications, data storage, and information encryption. The researchers plan to integrate liquid crystal layers for electrically tunable brightness and real-time HSB modulation, with future applications potentially including full-color holographic displays, active steganography, and scalable manufacturing for dynamic visual systems.

Researchers are advancing circular bioeconomy approaches to transform food waste into valuable materials. At a recent conference session, scientists presented innovations in seafood waste valorization and natural colorant production. Francesca Kerton's team at Memorial University developed an industrially scalable method to extract hydroxyapatite (HAP) from Atlantic salmon processing waste using protease and lipase enzymes in tap water. They successfully isolated over 100 grams of HAP from just 15 salmon frames and further converted it into nanoparticles (nHAP) through mechanochemistry and ultrasound treatment, achieving 32-nanometer particles. A life cycle assessment revealed their mechanochemical-sonochemical approach reduces CO₂ emissions by 97 percent compared to traditional bio-derived nHAP production methods. Separately, Texas Tech University research addresses the "Make America Healthy Again" initiative by developing high-anthocyanin corn hybrids from the Texas A&M AgriLife Corn Breeding Program as a sustainable source of natural colorants, replacing petroleum-derived FD&C dyes. These initiatives demonstrate how food processing byproducts can be economically converted into valuable biochemicals while significantly reducing environmental impact.

Entre 2014 et 2024, l’État a mobilisé près de 19 Md€ de financements directs en faveur de la recherche partenariale, soit 1,7 Md€ par an en moyenne, avec un point haut de 3 Md€ en 2024. L’évaluation par la Cour de ce soutien public a mis en évidence, à l’échelle des entreprises, une corrélation entre le recours à ces partenariats, le niveau des dépenses de R&D et, dans certains cas, l’emploi. Il en ressort toutefois également que leur effet sur l’effort global de recherche des entreprises n’est pas perceptible à ce stade. La Cour constate par ailleurs que les dispositifs de soutien, nombreux et complexes, ne s’inscrivent pas dans une stratégie cohérente et restent insuffisamment évalués. Elle recommande de mieux diriger les financements vers un nombre limité de priorités nationales, d’améliorer la coordination et la qualité du service rendu aux chercheurs et aux entreprises et d’adapter les règles de gestion des carrières, des rémunérations et des activités de conseil des chercheurs afin de favoriser davantage leur engagement auprès du monde économique.

The global bioeconomy, valued between $4 trillion and $5 trillion, faces a critical inflection point despite biological innovations potentially reshaping 60% of physical material production. Currently, bio-based materials represent only 1-2% of global output, with even the most mature option, polylactic acid, comprising less than 1% of plastic production. Three persistent barriers—high costs, performance limitations, and absent closed-loop ecosystems—have impeded commercialization for decades. The core challenge extends beyond technical obstacles to systemic coordination failures throughout the value chain. Recognizing China's unique position as an industrial-scale testbed, supported by its 14th Five-Year Plan for Bioeconomic Development and an integrated industrial ecosystem, China Merchants Group and Cathay Biotech have developed a technology-industry-finance synergy framework. This approach combines industrial scale with synthetic biology expertise to address critical bottlenecks in feedstock supply, production efficiency, and market adoption. Early applications, including bio-based polyamide formwork for real estate projects, demonstrate how this coordinated ecosystem model can successfully transition laboratory innovations to commercial markets at scale.