Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics report a photocatalytic route converting ethane to acetic acid with >80% selectivity at 25–70°C. The team found gold plasmonic resonance enhances photoelectron transfer and secondary excitation, biasing oxygen reduction toward superoxide rather than hydroxyl radicals and enabling selective oxidation under mild conditions. Results published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on military and civilian infrastructure in Gulf states and Jordan while deliberately avoiding US naval assets near its coast and attacks on Israel proper. Analysts say the pattern is designed to apply pressure on US President Trump while minimizing the risk of a broader war. Retired Lebanese brigadier-general Elias Hanna warned that striking US naval forces would invite devastating US retaliation and noted such targets are heavily defended and technically difficult to hit. Tehran University political-science professor Atifeh Tajiani said the US is leveraging Gulf partners, notably Kuwait, and US naval positioning to target or pressure Iranian civilian infrastructure, a dynamic that raises regional tensions and complicates Iran’s response calculus.

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