A study of nickel mining in Kanaky New Caledonia examines the growing role of corporate social-responsibility officers. It argues that these officers help negotiate development and compensation while reshaping the boundaries and arenas of mining disputes.
Researchers generated quantum entanglement between a levitated silica nanosphere and a propagating optical field at room temperature. The result suggests that levitated mechanical systems could connect stationary objects with light for quantum communication and tests of macroscopic quantum physics.
A system called ARC converted large requirement documents containing hundreds of scenarios into runnable web and Android software. Across two benchmarks, the systems passed more automated interface tests than other tested AI-based programming systems, while also producing designs, tests and links between requirements and code.
A system called IntentionTest generates software tests from a developer’s description of what a function should do in a particular situation. Across 3,680 test cases from 12 open-source projects, it outperformed four other test-generation methods on measures of relevance, coverage and successful execution.
A 315-day gas-hydrate production test on Alaska’s North Slope produced gas at a higher-than-expected ratio to water. During about two months of continuous production, the gas rate showed no clear increase or decline, while monitoring detected changes linked to hydrate breakdown underground.
A study comparing mitochondrial proteins across the tree of life reconstructed the mitochondrion of the last eukaryotic common ancestor. The analysis suggests this early complex mitochondrion could support both oxygen-based and anaerobic metabolism.
A study in The Astrophysical Journal examines how black holes in isolated pairs could acquire spins that are tilted relative to their orbit or point in the opposite direction. The results suggest these features are not necessarily evidence that a pair formed through close encounters in a dense stellar environment.
A study maps 1,122 proteins in the mitochondria of Acanthamoeba castellanii, a microbe that can cause infectious blindness. It also shows that oxygen changes the organelle’s energy machinery and that Acanthamoeba produces hydrogen gas in oxygen-free conditions using an oxygen-sensitive enzyme.
Researchers introduced a benchmark and an AI-based framework for testing and improving the security of generated Python code. Across multiple language-model systems, the framework improved both first-attempt functional success and resistance to targeted security tests compared with existing approaches.
Researchers developed a portable, one-tube test for African swine fever virus that uses a smartphone-connected analyzer to read fluorescence. The assay detected a viral DNA standard at low concentrations and correctly classified simulated positive and negative serum samples.
A study of 13 researchers informed an AI-augmented dashboard for monitoring long-running passive sensing studies. Tests of the prototype found promise for daily monitoring and decision-making, while highlighting concerns about transparency and researchers’ expectations of AI.
A study of 584 Israeli adult generative-AI users found that 29.3 percent had turned to these systems for emotional support, coping advice or mental-health assistance. Use was more common among people reporting severe distress, reaching 47.0 percent, prompting calls to evaluate safety and crisis responses.
A study of haddock from the Georges Bank–Gulf of Maine region used DNA methylation patterns in fin tissue to estimate age. The final model used 109 sites and had a reported mean absolute error of 0.17 years.
A study of records from China, Taiwan, the United States and the former Soviet Union examines why the Chinese Communist Party’s plans to attack Taiwan in 1949–50 were never carried out. It argues that the Korean War was part of a broader Soviet shift that stopped indirect support for the operation and prompted the United States to change its policy toward Taiwan.
A regional climate model projects that Mediterranean cyclones could become about one-third less frequent by the end of the 21st century under RCP8.5. Even so, extreme winds are projected to intensify across the western and eastern Mediterranean, while extreme cyclone-related rainfall increases in the west.
