Japan

Researchers at The University of Tokyo demonstrate the theoretically optimal search method for organisms that employ the “run-and-tumble” technique, and find that it conforms with observations of chemotaxis by E. coli, which may help automate drones

Through numerical simulations, a researcher details the discovery of a new isolated skyrmion with a half-integer topological quantum number in the ferromagnetic phase of the magnetic quantum fluid Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). The new skyrmion is generated by applying a spin current to a magnetic domain wall and it has an eccentric (off-center) spin singularity inside it.

Better understanding of regeneration in hemichordates may eventually lead to advances in reparative medicine

Research by Japanese scientists at Hiroshima University reveals a way to make ammonia from its constituent molecules of nitrogen and hydrogen at ambient pressure.

Advancement in cell lines capable of producing Hepatitis B’s many genotypes can reveal much about the unique virological features and treatment responses eluding researchers of this virus that has been infecting humans as far back as the Bronze Age.

A large-scale study has found that simulation-based surgical training produced an increase of surgeons’ skills for more complex surgeries.

Rice has long been a staple food for more than half the global population. The United Nations even declared 2004 the International Year of Rice to raise awareness and encourage action to protect and advance the crop for a rapidly growing population. The genetic guidance rice uses to grow and reproduce, however, is still not fully understood. Now, a research team based in Japan is learning more, including how critical one gene is for the plant to develop grains of rice, which serve as both seeds and food.

Wastewater-based epidemiological tracking of COVID-19 in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic village showed that SARS-CoV-2 was present in areas without diagnosed individuals.

Researchers from Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo find that the occurrence of red snow is closely tied to the length of the snow melt season and new snowfall events

A new study provides a theoretical basis for the influence of learning from ancestors on the acceleration of natural selection using Fisher’s fundamental theorem

Garden soil houses a variety of bacteria and their natural byproducts — including one that may help halt tumor growth. Lankacidins are molecules that can be isolated from Strepomyces rochei, a common bacterium in soil. In addition to antimicrobial properties, a type of lankacidins, called lankacidin C, can inhibit tumor activity in various cancer cell lines, including leukemia, melanoma, ovarian and breast cancers. Lankacidin C offers a potential foundation on which to design anticancer drugs, but its structure is complicated and difficult to manipulate, according to an international research group. The same group recently identified where antitumor activity is housed on the molecule and has now used that information to simplify lankacidin as a potential starting point to engineer treatments.

Kavli IPMU and UC Berkeley's Hitoshi Murayama has been named a new fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Congratulations!

Researchers have developed an innovative catalyst for the synthesis of propylene, which has potential benefits for the chemical industry and carbon recycling.

An international research group demonstrated that the Kondo effect can have a significant impact on transition metal oxide compound, which has unique and desirable properties to realize wide range of quantum phenomena. The findings have provided more evidence in a decade long debate.

Despite ongoing antagonism between the peoples of China, Japan and South Korea, support for regional cooperation on issues such as climate, pandemics and pollution exists if such cooperation mechanisms are mutually managed rather than dominated by any one nation.

An international team has developed an alumina short-wavelength absorber patterned with moth eye-like structures. These new anti-reflective structures will improve the performance of telescopes studying radiation from the Big Bang.

Studying the sensory organs of a 100-million-year-old cockroach offers new insights into how the species may have lived.

Researchers from Hokkaido University have proposed a framework to assist in the demarcation between genetically modified organisms and genome-edited organisms, taking into account both scientific and socio-ethical considerations.

Broccoli may contain advantages beyond nutrition. A molecule found in broccoli, cabbage and more digests down into DIM, a compound with brighter benefits than the name implies, such as inducing cell death in breast, prostate and colon cancer. Now, researchers are beginning to understand the mechanism underpinning this molecular behavior — information that could help elucidate future anti-cancer treatments.

COW and GEP are new types of exploding stars. Researchers have succeeded in explaining the features of a new type of supernova which appears ten to a hundred times brighter at its peak, and with a much faster rise toward the peak compared to an ordinary supernova.

A new method for creating a highly useful chemical subunit eliminates the need for precious metals, potentially leading to the sustainable production of pharmaceuticals and electronics.

Predator species may buffer the negative impacts of climate change by mitigating against the loss of biodiversity, according to new research led by scientists in Trinity College Dublin and joined by scientists at Hokkaido University

A team of researchers including Kavli IPMU's Valeri Vardanyan and Misao Sasaki have theorized that in addition to the gravitational waves originating from vacuum fluctuations during inflation, a large amount of gravitational waves can be sourced by the quantum vacuum fluctuations of additional fields during inflation.

A collaborative team led by researchers from Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo uses a single water molecule in a C60 cage to probe quantum mechanics

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Applied Physics Letters the design of an ultrafast amplitude detector for use in high-speed atomic force microscopy. The detector will enable the real-time recording of fast dynamical processes of biomolecules.

Researchers from Osaka City University have shown in mice models of Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies, that the intranasal administration of rifampicin and resveratrol in combination is safer and improves cognitive function more than rifampicin alone. The research results are expected to lead to the development of safe and effective nasal spray for the prevention of dementia.

By searching for the protein transglutaminase 1 (TGM1) among patients with various autoimmune skin diseases, researchers have successfully identified a separate disease that can be linked to autoimmunity against TGM1. This backward method demonstrates a new way of identifying autoantigens as markers for various diseases. By letting autoantigens point to the disease, diagnosis and treatment can be facilitated, according to the study now published in PNAS.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles researchers from Kanazawa University have visualized structural changes on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 that enable it to enter human cells.

Scientists predict that continued global warming under current trends could lead to an elevation of the sea level by as much as five meters by the year 3000 CE.

We have succeeded in establishing a mouse model that develops gastric cancer closely resembling advanced human gastric cancer. Using this model, we have discovered gastric cancer stem cells, i.e. Lgr5+ gastric cancer cells, essential for the development, maintenance, and metastasis of cancer. Our study provides an experimental system that enables detailed analysis of highly malignant gastric cancer and is expected to lead to the development of a breakthrough treatment for advanced human gastric cancer.