Ceria nanotubes with extended cavities can be obtained by a facile oxidation−coordination-assisted dissolution process of the partially oxidized one-dimensional Ce(OH)3. Moreover, the ceria nanotubes with large cavities and thin walls exhibit excellent reducibility and high oxygen storage capacity, indicating they are potential novel catalytic materials.

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An inside job: Porous hollow carbonaceous microspheres can be easily fabricated by hydrothermal treatment of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. An amphiphilic surface and porous shell structure endow these microspheres with phase‐transfer features and the ability to enrich proteins inside their hollow interiors. These characteristics will enable their application in drug delivery, active ingredients encapsulation, adsorption, and separation techniques.

We present the first results from the ongoing, intensive, multiwavelength monitoring program of the luminous Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 817. While this active galactic nucleus was, in part, selected for its historically unobscured nature, we discovered that the X-ray spectrum is highly absorbed, and there are new blueshifted, broad, and narrow UV absorption lines, which suggest that a dust-free, ionized obscurer located at the inner broad-line region partially covers the central source. Despite the obscuration, we measure UV and optical continuum reverberation lags consistent with a centrally illuminated Shakura–Sunyaev thin accretion disk, and measure reverberation lags associated with the optical broad-line region, as expected. However, in the first 55 days of the campaign, when the obscuration was becoming most extreme, we observe a de-coupling of the UV continuum and the UV broad emission-line variability. The correlation recovered in the next 42 days of the campaign, as Mrk 817 entered a less obscured state. The short C iv and Lyα lags suggest that the accretion disk extends beyond the UV broad-line region.

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Single-crystalline CeO2 nanocubes were synthesized through a hydrothermal treatment. By varying reaction temperature and the NaOH concentration, the size control of CeO2 nanocubes has been achieved, which produces the nanocubes with a controllable edge length in the regime of 20–360 nm. HRTEM studies reveal that the CeO2 nanocubes expose their high energy {001} planes. Consequently, it is demonstrated that the CeO2 nanocubes exhibit excellent reducibility and high oxygen storage capacity, indicating they are potential novel catalytic materials.

Predictions from climate simulation models suggest that by 2050 mean temperatures on the Loess Plateau of China will increase by 2.5 to 3.75°C, while those in the cropping region of south-west Australia will increase by 1.25 to 1.75°C. By 2050, rainfall is not expected to change on the Loess Plateau of China, while in south-west Australia rainfall is predicted to decrease by 20 to 60 mm. The frequency of heat waves and dry spells is predicted to increase in both regions. The implications of rising temperatures are an acceleration of crop phenology and a reduction in crop yields, greater risk of reproductive failure from extreme temperatures, and greater risk of crop failure. The reduction in yield from increased phenological development can be countered by selecting longer-season cultivars and taking advantage of warmer minimum temperatures and reduced frost risk to plant earlier than with current temperatures. Breeding for tolerance of extreme temperatures will be necessary to counter the increased frequency of extreme temperatures, while a greater emphasis on breeding for increased drought resistance and precipitation-use efficiency will lessen the impact of reduced rainfall. Management options likely to be adopted in south-west Australia include the introduction of drought-tolerant perennial fodder species and shifting cropping to higher-rainfall areas. On the Loess Plateau of China, food security is paramount so that an increased area of heat-tolerant and high-yielding maize, mulching with residues and plastic film, better weed and pest control and strategic use of supplemental irrigation to improve rainfall-use efficiency are likely to be adopted.

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