On November 11, 2024, Professor Thorsten Bach from the Technical University of Munich delivered an insightful presentation at the 168th Science Lecture hosted by the College of Science at SUSTech. His lecture, titled “Catalytic Photochemical Deracemization Reactions”, showcased groundbreaking advancements in photochemical stereochemistry.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers, with a five-year survival rate below 10% and a median survival time of less than six months. By 2024, PDAC has become the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality. The lack of reliable early diagnostic biomarkers and tenacious resistance to almost all existing therapies are major causes of poor prognosis.

During the Late Mesozoic to Early Cenozoic (~65 Ma), the convergence rate between India and Eurasia abruptly increased from ~8 cm/yr to ~18 cm/yr. This dramatic change in plate motion, known as a plate reorganization event, remains an unresolved phenomenon in plate tectonic theory (Fig. 1c). Accompanying this puzzle is the significant, decades-long debate regarding the timing and process of India-Eurasia collision, which has greatly hindered our understanding of the most significant orogenic event since the Phanerozoic—the Tibetan-Himalayan orogeny—and its impact on the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment of Asia.

The ongoing rise in sea levels poses substantial social and economic challenges for coastal regions worldwide. Currently, the Greenland Ice Sheet is the largest single contributor to the rise of the global mean sea level over the past fifty years. If it were to melt completely, it could lead to a global sea level increase of approximately seven meters. Despite decades of research on the melting mechanisms of the Greenland Ice Sheet, the critical scientific question of how meltwater flows inside the ice sheet remains unresolved.

Active fold-thrust belts are located at the front of highly deformed orogenic regions, such as the Apennines, the Zagros Mountains, the Himalayas, the Rocky Mountains, and the Andes. These areas are densely populated and industrially concentrated, posing significant earthquake hazards with the potential to greatly impact human civilization. Understanding the complex relationships among fault slip, fold growth, and earthquakes would benefit earthquake risk assessment in these regions.

The American Physical Society (APS) recently announced its 2024 class of APS Fellows.