In a YouTube video on Chinese Mainland’s global talent push amid a tightening immigration and research policies in the US, Prof. SU Hui, Chair Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Ocean Science, and Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), stated that after working for two decades in the US, she returned and joined HKUST in 2022 to conduct climate change and extreme weather research with tangible societal impacts. At HKUST, her team led the development and May launch of the MUSICO, which is designed to detect and measure carbon dioxide and methane emissions from space. PHYS IAS Prof. Haruki WATANABE after spending ten years at the University of Tokyo relocated to HKUST in March. Prof. Watanabe was drawn by HKUST's ambition, research environment, and substantial startup support, allowing him to recruit a post-doctoral research team.

Prof. SU Hui, Chair Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Ocean Science, and Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), and CIVL graduate Homer were interviewed on the RTHK program “HK Connection”. Prof. Su's team has developed MUSICO to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from the Earth's surface from space, and combined satellite data with AI to predict extreme weather and assist power plants in determining electricity generation. Inspired by this work, Homer joined the research team to participate in the development of a wind power prediction system.

Prof. Stuart GIETEL-BASTEN, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Science (Research) in the Office of the Dean of Humanities & Social Science, Professor in the Division of Public Policy and Division of Social Science, predicted that secondary schools and even universities in certain regions might close and be repurposed as China's population continues to age. His assessment comes as Primary schools and kindergartens on the mainland are being converted into elderly care facilities due to falling birth rates and a shrinking youth population.

A column article by Prof. Erwin HUANG, Adjunct Professor in the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD), exploring how different user interfaces and AI tools shape human thought processes rather than merely speeding up productivity. He stressed that the essential skill in the AI era is not just achieving faster input speed or prompt mastery but developing a "strategic pause"—knowing when to let ideas expand via voice, converge via text, reorganize via visuals, and pause to evaluate whether a conclusion is truly well-formed.

In an interview with CNN creator Matias GREZ, Prof. Stuart GIETEL-BASTEN, Professor in the Division of Public Policy (PPOL) and Division of Social Science, discussed how sperm racing events raise awareness about sperm health and male fertility. Prof. Gietel-Basten explained that male fertility is closely linked to factors like sperm motility, density and morphology.

MUSICO, developed by HKUST research team, has been deployed aboard the China Space Station and operated by HK astronaut Dr. LAI Ka-Ying. In a media interview, Prof. SU Hui, Chair Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Ocean Science, and Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), stated that the project achieved a complete closed loop of manufacturing and operation in HK, demonstrating HK's scientific research capabilities. Encouraging HK youth to bravely pursue their scientific aspirations, she noted that supportive policies for the aerospace industry set under the Government’s five-year plan and Policy Address send a positive signal for building a robust aerospace ecosystem. She added that HK can leverage its strengths in insurance, financial service and legal system to develop the aerospace economy.

The MUSICO arrived at Tiangong Space Station aboard the Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft. Prof. SU Hui, Chair Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Ocean Science, and Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), who leads the MUSICO project, stated that HK's first astronaut Dr. LAI Ka-Ying operated a robotic arm to install MUSICO outside the Mengtian lab module of the Tiangong space station. With the camera designed to monitor greenhouse gas distributions from space, Prof. Su described it as an "eye” in the sky capable of capturing 1,000 pictures daily across 250,000 emission sources to help reduce emissions, with future applications planned for broader environmental pollutant tracking.

Prof. Christine LOH, Chief Development Strategist in the Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), stated that HK must take a long-term perspective on global shifts over the next 10 to 20 years, strategically planning the infrastructure and talent needed to prepare for future challenges.

A column article by Prof. Erwin HUANG, Adjunct Professor in the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD), on the market expectations and user experience challenges of Apple’s first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo analyzes whether the tech giant can once again turn an existing niche technology into a mainstream daily necessity under new CEO John Ternus.

A column article by Prof. Erwin HUANG, Adjunct Professor in the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD), on the true innovation of Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, argues that Apple’s success has always relied on reassembling existing technologies into intuitive user experiences rather than inventing hardware from scratch. He noted that iPhone Duo’s success hinges on whether Apple can seamlessly integrate dual-screen multitasking and cross-application AI personal agency into daily usage.