diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 0f0309d..3defbaa 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ ISR endpoint at `GET /api/revalidate?secret=<SECRET>&slug=/blog/<slug>`. Secret
   - `‡` (principal investigator) — `principalInvestigator: true` on the author. Shows when **2+ authors** AND at least one is PI.
   - `¹ ² ³` (affiliation indices) — derived from `affiliations: [...]` on each author. Shows when **2+ affiliations** exist on the entry.
 
-  Marker order on each author follows academic convention: `*†‡` then numeric indices. The affiliation legend below the author line drops its leading `<sup>` under the same `showAffSup` rule. Single-author / single-affiliation entries collapse to clean text — no orphan markers. Each `<sup>` has `cursor-help` + a native `title` tooltip (affiliation index sups resolve to the full affiliation name; symbol sups resolve to their caption text). A combined caption line appears below the affiliation row when any symbol marker is shown — e.g. `*Corresponding author · †Equal contribution · ‡Principal investigator` — joined by ` · `.
+  Marker order on each author follows academic convention: `*†‡` then numeric indices. The affiliation legend below the author line drops its leading `<sup>` under the same `showAffSup` rule. Single-author / single-affiliation entries collapse to clean text — no orphan markers. Each `<sup>` has `cursor-help` + a native `title` tooltip (affiliation index sups resolve to the full affiliation name; symbol sups resolve to their caption text). A combined caption line appears below the affiliation row when any symbol marker is shown — e.g. `*Corresponding author · †Equal contribution · ‡Principal investigator` — joined by `·`.
 
 ## Indexing Helper
 
diff --git a/src/components/content/blog/HeadingContent.tsx b/src/components/content/blog/HeadingContent.tsx
index 95eb3bc..f052864 100644
--- a/src/components/content/blog/HeadingContent.tsx
+++ b/src/components/content/blog/HeadingContent.tsx
@@ -41,29 +41,14 @@ export const HeadingContent: React.FunctionComponent<HeadingContentProps> = (pro
 
   return (
     <section className='mx-auto flex w-full max-w-2xl flex-col items-center'>
-      {/* Hero thumbnail. Rendering the same image that BlogItem uses on /blog
-          gives the post detail page a strong claim as the canonical landing
-          for that image — Google Images links should resolve to the post
-          rather than the list page. */}
-      {props.thumbnail && (
-        <figure className='mt-10 mb-6 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-lg bg-gray-100 dark:bg-gray-800/40'>
-          <WrappedImage
-            src={props.thumbnail}
-            alt={props.title}
-            width={1200}
-            height={630}
-            sizes='(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px'
-            priority
-            className='h-auto w-full object-cover'
-          />
-        </figure>
-      )}
-
-      {/* Title */}
+      {/* Title — the thumbnail in frontmatter feeds Open Graph + Twitter cards
+          (social previews) and BlogItem listing thumbnails. Intentionally NOT
+          rendered as an in-page hero: on narrow viewports it dominated the
+          fold and pushed the headline below the scroll, and the post detail
+          page already has a strong canonical claim via JSON-LD primaryImage. */}
       <h1
         className={twclsx(
-          'mb-4 text-center text-4xl leading-tight font-extrabold tracking-tight text-gray-900 md:text-5xl dark:text-white',
-          !props.thumbnail && 'mt-10'
+          'mt-10 mb-4 text-center text-4xl leading-tight font-extrabold tracking-tight text-gray-900 md:text-5xl dark:text-white'
         )}
       >
         {props.title}
diff --git a/src/components/content/research/ResearchItem.tsx b/src/components/content/research/ResearchItem.tsx
index 3ea3fbd..09cc0a7 100644
--- a/src/components/content/research/ResearchItem.tsx
+++ b/src/components/content/research/ResearchItem.tsx
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import { twclsx } from '@/libs/twclsx'
 import { ComingSoonImage } from './ComingSoonImage'
 
 import type { Research } from 'me'
-import NextImage from 'next/image'
 import { Fragment } from 'react'
 
 type ResearchItemProps = Research & { priority?: boolean }
@@ -59,22 +58,32 @@ export const ResearchItem: React.FunctionComponent<ResearchItemProps> = (props)
 
   return (
     <article className='group w-full py-8'>
-      <div className='flex flex-row items-start gap-5 md:gap-7'>
+      <div className='flex flex-col gap-5 md:flex-row md:items-start md:gap-7'>
         <UnstyledLink
           href={urlPost}
-          className='relative block aspect-[5/4] w-32 flex-shrink-0 overflow-hidden rounded-md bg-gray-100 shadow-sm ring-1 ring-gray-200 sm:w-36 md:w-44 dark:bg-gray-800 dark:ring-gray-800'
+          className={twclsx(
+            'relative block w-full flex-shrink-0 overflow-hidden rounded-md bg-gray-100 shadow-sm ring-1 ring-gray-200 md:w-44 dark:bg-gray-800 dark:ring-gray-800',
+            // ComingSoon needs an explicit aspect-ratio (the placeholder is a
+            // styled div with no intrinsic dimensions). Real images render at
+            // their natural ratio so the card height tracks the image.
+            props.comingSoon && 'aspect-[5/4]'
+          )}
         >
           {props.comingSoon ? (
             <ComingSoonImage className='transition-transform duration-300 group-hover:scale-[1.03]' />
           ) : (
-            <NextImage
+            // Native <img> instead of next/image: next/image with `fill`
+            // requires a fixed-aspect parent and would either crop
+            // (object-cover) or letterbox (object-contain) — neither matches
+            // "card adopts the image's natural aspect ratio". ImageKit URLs
+            // already include the right width transform via resolveListingImage.
+            // eslint-disable-next-line @next/next/no-img-element
+            <img
               src={imageSrc}
               alt={props.title}
-              fill
-              sizes='(max-width: 640px) 128px, (max-width: 768px) 144px, 176px'
-              quality={90}
-              className='object-cover transition-transform duration-300 group-hover:scale-[1.03]'
-              priority={props.priority ?? false}
+              loading={props.priority ? 'eager' : 'lazy'}
+              decoding='async'
+              className='block h-auto w-full transition-transform duration-300 group-hover:scale-[1.03]'
             />
           )}
         </UnstyledLink>
@@ -107,7 +116,7 @@ export const ResearchItem: React.FunctionComponent<ResearchItemProps> = (props)
           )}
 
           {venueLine && (
-            <div className='mb-2.5 text-sm leading-snug font-bold text-gray-900 dark:text-gray-200'>[{venueLine}]</div>
+            <div className='mb-2.5 text-sm leading-snug text-gray-700 italic dark:text-gray-400'>{venueLine}</div>
           )}
 
           {actions.length > 0 && (
diff --git a/src/components/content/research/ResearchTeaser.tsx b/src/components/content/research/ResearchTeaser.tsx
index 71c2e94..f2671c6 100644
--- a/src/components/content/research/ResearchTeaser.tsx
+++ b/src/components/content/research/ResearchTeaser.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-import { WrappedImage } from '@/components/site/images'
-
 import { twclsx } from '@/libs/twclsx'
 
+import NextImage from 'next/image'
+
 type ResearchTeaserProps = {
   src: string
   alt: string
@@ -9,17 +9,28 @@ type ResearchTeaserProps = {
   priority?: boolean
 }
 
+/**
+ * Hero figure on the research detail page. Uses a 16:9 aspect-ratio box with
+ * `object-contain` so the entire scientific figure is visible at every viewport
+ * width — research teasers usually have important content (axes, labels,
+ * sub-panels) edge-to-edge that can't be cropped by `object-cover`. The bg
+ * tile shows behind the image only when the source aspect ratio mismatches.
+ */
 export const ResearchTeaser: React.FunctionComponent<ResearchTeaserProps> = ({ src, alt, caption, priority }) => {
   return (
     <figure className={twclsx('not-prose my-4')}>
-      <WrappedImage
-        src={src}
-        alt={alt}
-        fill
-        priority={priority ?? true}
-        parentStyle='w-full h-72 sm:h-96 md:h-[28rem]'
-        className={twclsx('rounded-lg object-cover')}
-      />
+      <div
+        className={twclsx('relative aspect-video w-full overflow-hidden rounded-lg', 'bg-gray-100 dark:bg-gray-800/40')}
+      >
+        <NextImage
+          src={src}
+          alt={alt}
+          fill
+          priority={priority ?? true}
+          sizes='(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px'
+          className='object-contain'
+        />
+      </div>
       {caption && (
         <figcaption
           className={twclsx('text-center text-sm text-gray-500 dark:text-gray-400', 'mx-auto mt-3 max-w-2xl italic')}
diff --git a/src/components/site/links/UnstyledLink.tsx b/src/components/site/links/UnstyledLink.tsx
index e88f591..80583d5 100644
--- a/src/components/site/links/UnstyledLink.tsx
+++ b/src/components/site/links/UnstyledLink.tsx
@@ -17,8 +17,11 @@ export const UnstyledLink = forwardRef<HTMLAnchorElement, UnstyledLinkProps>(({
     )
   }
 
+  // Default Next.js scroll behavior: scroll-to-top on a new path, hash-aware
+  // for in-page anchors. The previous `scroll={false}` blocked both, leaving
+  // readers stranded mid-page when navigating between posts.
   return (
-    <NextLink href={href} scroll={false} {...props} ref={ref}>
+    <NextLink href={href} {...props} ref={ref}>
       {children}
     </NextLink>
   )