The past decades have witnessed a lot of progress in gravitational lensing with two main targets: stars and galaxies (with active galactic nuclei). The success is partially attributed to the continuous luminescence of these sources making the detection and monitoring relatively easy. With the running of ongoing and upcoming large facilities/surveys in various electromagnetic and gravitational-wave bands, the era of time-domain surveys would guarantee constant detection of strongly lensed explosive transient events, for example, supernovae in all types, gamma ray bursts with afterglows in all bands, fast radio bursts, and even gravitational waves. Lensed transients have many advantages over the traditional targets in studying the Universe, and magnification effect helps to understand the transients themselves at high redshifts. In this review article, on base of the recent achievements in literature, we summarize the methods of searching for different kinds of lensed transient signals, the latest results on detection and their applications in fundamental physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. At the same time, we give supplementary comments as well as prospects of this emerging research direction that may help readers who are interested in entering this field.

Using various latest cosmological datasets including type-Ia supernovae, cosmic microwave background radiation, baryon acoustic oscillations, and estimations of the Hubble parameter, we test some dark-energy models with parameterized equations of state and try to distinguish or select observation-preferred models. We obtain the best fitting results of the six models and calculate their values of the Akaike information criteria and Bayes information criterion. We can distinguish these dark energy models from each other by using these two information criterions. However, the $\varLambda $CDM model remains the best fit model. Furthermore, we perform geometric diagnostics including statefinder and $Om$ diagnostics to understand the geometric behavior of the dark energy models. We find that the six dark-energy models can be distinguished from each other and from $\varLambda $CDM, Chaplygin gas, quintessence models after the statefinder and $Om$ diagnostics are performed. Finally, we consider the growth factor of the dark-energy models with comparison to the $\varLambda $CDM model. Still, we find the models can be distinguished from each other and from the $\varLambda $CDM model through the growth factor approximation.

A simple extension of the standard model (SM) with a $\mu$-flavored vector-like lepton (VLL) doublet and a real singlet scalar can have an interesting implication to the $h \to\mu^+\mu^-$ decay while offering the simplest possible explanation for the dark matter (DM) phenomenology. Assuming the real singlet scalar to be a viable DM candidate, it has been shown that the muon Yukawa coupling can have a negative contribution at the one-loop order if the $2^{\rm nd}$ generation SM leptons are allowed to couple with the VLL doublet. The stringent direct detection bounds corresponding to a real singlet scalar DM can easily be relaxed if the SM quark sector was augmented with a dimension-6 operator at some new physics (NP) scale $\varLambda_{\scriptscriptstyle{\rm NP}}$. Thus, this model presents a significant phenomenological study where the muon Yukawa coupling can be corrected within a real singlet scalar DM framework. The considered parameter space can be tested/constrained through the high luminosity run of the LHC (HL-LHC) and future direct detection experiments.

Among several dark matter candidates, bosonic ultra-light (sub-meV) dark matter is well motivated because it could couple to the Standard Model and induce new forces. Previous MICROSCOPE and Eöt–Wash torsion experiments have achieved high accuracy in the sub-1 Hz region. However, at higher frequencies there is still a lack of relevant experimental research. We propose an experimental scheme based on the diamagnetic levitated micromechanical oscillator, one of the most sensitive sensors for acceleration sensitivity below the kilohertz scale. In order to improve the measurement range, we utilize a sensor whose resonance frequency $\omega_0$ could be adjusted from 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz. The limits of the coupling constant $g_{\scriptscriptstyle B-L}$ are improved by more than 10 times compared to previous reports, and it may be possible to achieve higher accuracy by using the array of sensors in the future.

Very high energy (VHE) photons may have a higher survival rate than that expected in standard-model physics, as suggested by the recently reported gamma ray burst GRB221009A. While a photon-axion like particle (ALP) oscillation can boost the survival rate of the VHE photons, current works have not been based on concrete particle models, leaving the identity of the corresponding ALP unclear. Here, we show that the required ALP scenario is consistent with the electroweak axion with an anomaly free $Z_{10}$ Froggatt–Nielsen symmetry.

We report the results of a search for radio pulsars in five supernova remnants (SNRs) with the FAST telescope. The observations were made using the 19-beam receiver in “snapshot” mode. The integration time for each pointing was 10 min. We discovered a new pulsar, PSR J1845–0306, which has a spin period of 983.6 ms and a dispersion measure of 444.6 $\pm$ 2.0 cm$^{-3}$$\cdot$pc, in observations of SNR G29.6+0.1. To judge the association between the pulsar and the SNR, further verification is needed. We also re-detected some known pulsars in the data from SNRs G29.6+0.1 and G29.7–0.3. No pulsars were detected in the observations of the other three SNRs.

There have been several studies on sulfur depletion in dense cores like TMC-1 (Taurus Molecular Cloud 1), employing updated reaction networks for sulfur species to explain the missing sulfur in the gas within dense clouds. Most of these studies used a C/O ratio of 0.7 or lower. We present NSRT (NanShan 26m Radio Telescope) observations of TMC-1 alongside results from time-dependent chemical simulations using an updated chemical network. Our findings highlight the impact of the C/O ratio on the gas-phase evolution of C$_2$S and C$_3$S. The simulation results show that the C/O ratio is an important parameter, playing a fundamental role in determining the gas-phase abundances of sulfur species in dense cores.