Advanced Science

A new twist on an old technique helps researchers identify proteins with a regulatory ‘death sentence’

A group of Japanese scientists including former RIKEN researcher Toshiyuki Nakagaki were among this year’s winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes, recognized for their discovery that a unicellular amoeboid organism can figure out the shortest distance in a maze.

A novel numerical technique permits researchers to study the interaction between elementary particles within a material without approximations

The Casimir force between objects in a vacuum shows a complex dependence on temperature

Computing based on photons rather than electrons, on the other hand, promises significantly faster computation and information processing. An international team of researchers has now developed a theoretical system that would allow single photons to be controlled reliably.

Waseda University was the first private university to be selected by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for the "Super Centre of Excellence" program. This is a review article for the program which ends in 2009.

Structural and electronic rearrangements discovered in the new oxide LiRh2O4 provide hints for improving electricity generation from heat

The complex arrangement of spins in a magnetic oxide gives rise to a magneto-electric effect

The search for improved ‘multiferroic’ materials may benefit from a new discovery in an iron-based oxide compound

A new large high-precision mirror is capable of focusing x-ray radiation to spot sizes of just a few nanometers

The origin of superconductivity in iron-based materials can now be studied using a basic theoretical model

The discovery of an inhibitor of the production of bone-resorptive cells opens new possibilities for regulating bone loss.The work is important because an excess of osteoclasts has been implicated in diseases like osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and bone cancer.

The first integrated database of terahertz data in the world opened on September 15 at RIKEN and the Next Generation Network Center at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)

Terahertz (THz) radiation is currently attracting considerable interest for imaging and sensing applications, because it has the potential to supersede x-rays that are more damaging. A new near-field design for terahertz radiation detection promises high-resolution imaging devices on a chip

Electrons underpin the functioning of devices used in personal computers, mobile phones, and digital cameras. Chief scientist Kato and members of the laboratory are taking advantage of molecular compounds made mainly of organic materials to create new superconductors and materials for electronic devices.

In September 2008, the "dreamlike" LHC (Large Hadron Collider) was finally started after a 14-year construction process directed by high energy physicists. Like a science fiction fantasy, researchers re-created a state of the universe 0.000000000001 of a second after the universe was born.

A RIKEN-led team has designed and constructed a high-resolution, computed tomography (CT) system that can visualize the motion and deformation of the heart, coronary arteries and small airways of live rats and mice, the animals most often used as models for human disease.

Japanese plant biologists have provided the first molecular evidence that when plants are in combat with environmental stressors they are less able to battle invading pathogens.

RIKEN scientists have developed a method for trapping and manipulating antimatter that could be key to solving one of the universe’s biggest mysteries.

Substrate-induced strain can be used to switch an organic superconductor into an insulator that responds to the application of a voltage

Two RIKEN researchers, Yasunobu Nakamura and Jaw-Shen Tsai, have jointly won the prestigious 2008 Simon Memorial Prize for their ground-breaking contributions to the development of low-temperature physics, in particular quantum computing.

Ripples in the structure of graphene could be the key to understanding its unusual characteristics

Chemical biology is a study that uses chemistry to explore life phenomena. This article reports on what is happening at the forefront of chemical genetics and chemical genomics, which are currently hot topics for both basic and applied research.

Researchers in Japan have developed a design concept for a device that allows imaging at scales previously impossible for optical instruments.

New man-made materials could produce unique chaotic motion in electron beams

Members of the press are invited to the Press Conference on Occasion of the Signing of a Cooperative Agreement between UNESCO and Keio University on June 26.

The two universities conduct collaborative researches in a broad range of fields, including organ transplantation, regenerative medicine, medical robotics, and genetic diagnosis technology.

The RIKEN Plant Science Center in Yokohama hosted an international symposium on November 20 that focused on the use of African plant resources. The symposium was held under the auspices of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

The National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines (UP) has miniaturized the Oblation (UP’s trademark) as part of its project on micro-fabrication of functional micro-devices using non-linear multi-photon absorption. The research project aims to use micro-structures as components in an integrated miniaturized laboratory.

Research on detection of microscopic defects in integrated circuits at the National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines has been selected by Optical Society of America as one of the most exciting to emerge in 2006.