Science

An accelerator of the highest-energy protons in our galaxy has been identified; it could help scientists better understand the nature of these fast-moving particles that fill the space between stars.

A conventional robotic hand is equipped with multiple motors or peripheral devices for grasping a wide variety of objects. This study presents a robotic hand equipped with multiple grippers that are driven by a single motor with the transmission of motor power switched via a mechanism using gravity (Magnetic and Gravity-based Driving mechanism). Thus, it provides design guidelines for a new robotic hand capable of accommodating diverse grasping actions while maintaining a relatively simple structure.

Graphene revolutionized materials science after its discovery in 2004. Its list of potential applications is long, but its use in high-temperature superconductors has been stymied by weak electron interactions. Researchers from Tohoku University have recently created a stable version of boron graphene on the surface of a three-dimensional crystal, potentially overcoming this limitation and opening a pathway toward more energy-efficient electronic devices.

You are what you eat! Researchers discovered that a small change to the diet of silkworms improves the quality of silk they produce.

Researchers from the University of Osaka found that localization of the CLK1 kinase to nuclear stress bodies during thermal stress and recovery is regulated by PP1-mediated dephosphorylation and RIOK2-mediated rephosphorylation. This mechanism, which controls pre-mRNA splicing under stress conditions, could provide new insight into stress-related diseases.

Researchers at Tohoku University have made an interesting discovery that provides a boost to the immune system of birds. They found that B-cell development, which forms part of the immune system, occurs outside the bursa of Fabricius, the organ where scientists previously thought B-cell development exclusively occurred. The findings paint a clearer picture of the birds’ immune system at a time when antimicrobial resistance has affected livestock and poultry production across the globe.

A preliminary mouse study suggests that mimecan helps regulate how tendons gain strength and stiffness during maturation.

Early rice gets the flower, Exercising against cancer, Efficient artificial photosynthesis, New “living pink rocks”, Unlocking megathrust earthquakes, Longevity protein demystified and Death gene paradox. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.

Using a simple physical model, researchers at the University of Osaka, The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), RIKEN, and the Institute of Science Tokyo revealed how superionic conduction emerges when mobile ions undergo sublattice melting while the surrounding crystal framework remains intact. Near this transition, ions move cooperatively in spatially heterogeneous, string-like patterns, aided by anharmonic lattice motion. The findings identify general physical principles connecting lattice softness and collective transport, potentially guiding more efficient development of solid electrolytes for batteries and energy-conversion technologies.

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo have developed ultrathin wearable sensors that blend seamlessly into skin, reducing discomfort and distraction

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo reveal how crystal symmetry determines whether hydrogen follows the rules of quantum or classical physics

Researchers at Kanazawa University report the blood-based gene expression tests may enable early pancreatic cancer screening and improve long-term survival.

Prof Song Yongduan, Dean of the School of Data Science and Henry Y. W. Fong Chair Professor of Industrial Data Science at Lingnan University, attended the induction ceremony for International Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in Beijing on 9 July, where he officially received his member plaque. The professor is one of five scientists with Hong Kong affiliations among the recently elected International Members of the CAE.

- Development Foundation Chair Choong Kon Lee throws the ceremonial first pitch, while Student Council President Chowoo Seo delivers the ceremonial first hit, underscoring the spirit of shared growth between the university and its foundation

- DGIST secured one Science Research Center (SRC) project and three Basic Research Laboratory (BRL) projects, taking the lead in addressing national challenges in science and technology - DGIST reaffirms its world-class convergence research capabilities spanning AI, robotics, and advanced biotechnology

Atenean chemist and Wiley editor David Peralta champions science communication to help research reach people and make a real-world impact.

Catalysts are everywhere—from fertilizer production to clean energy—but making them more active without sacrificing stability has remained a major challenge. Researchers have now engineered a gold-platinum nanocluster catalyst that can be activated at lower temperatures while maintaining its precise atomic structure, boosting low-temperature carbon monoxide oxidation performance. Yet a clever ligand design could pave the way for more efficient and durable catalysts.

Researchers at The University of Osaka have developed an improved technique called “tapping-mode scanning probe electrospray ionization” (t-SPESI), allowing the analysis of regions within individual cells with greater sensitivity and stability. Through device miniaturization and molecular modification of the probe surface, the team achieved higher sensitivity and long-term stability, successfully visualizing lipid distributions in mouse brain tissue at a pixel size of 5 µm.

Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University, Institute for Molecular Science and SOKENDAI have uncovered the hidden mechanism behind a molecular switch—a molecule that can change between different structural states in response to a chemical signal. Their study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, reveals how molecules can gradually switch between alternative states, a process that could help scientists design future molecular machines, smart materials, and molecular information technologies. To make the discovery, Shigehisa Akine and colleagues created a specially designed molecular cage that changes shape unusually slowly. This allowed them to observe, for the first time, the sequence of molecular events that occurs after the molecule receives a chemical input. The study provides one of the clearest views yet of how molecular recognition triggers structural change and demonstrates that the response speed of a molecular system can itself be engineered through molecular design.

Researchers break a fundamental rule to create a new concept: heat that can be directed and “programmed”. In most materials, heat absorption and heat emission are linked, meaning a surface that absorbs thermal radiation well from a particular direction will also emit it in the same way. A team from OMU in Japan has designed a reconfigurable device that breaks this symmetry, enabling heat to be absorbed and emitted differently depending on the direction of absorption. This technology could eventually lead to smarter thermal-management systems and infrared sensors.

Researchers at the University of Osaka developed a light-driven method for synthesizing Davis reagents that generates the hazardous oxidant mCPBA only on demand and consumes it immediately. Kinetic analysis showed no detectable accumulation of the oxidant, improving process safety. The reaction proceeds at room temperature in non-halogenated solvents and can use sunlight or LEDs, offering a safer, greener, and scalable alternative for pharmaceutical-related synthesis.

Researchers at the University of Osaka have used machine learning to develop a systematic framework for structural descriptors in supercooled water. A neural network model was used to quantitatively assess the performance of 16 structural descriptors in differentiating between two states of water, a high-density liquid and a low-density liquid. The framework could be used to further our understanding of the anomalous behavior of water.

Researchers at Tohoku University have discovered a promising strategy that converts harmful carbon dioxide into valuable fuels and chemicals by precisely altering nanoclusters made of copper.

The abundance of sulfur not only makes lithium-sulfur batteries cheaper to manufacture, but they also boast superior energy-storage capacity to current lithium-ion technologies. But one problem preventing practical deployment is polysulfide shuttling—when polysulfides formed during battery cycling escape the cathode and drift into unwanted areas and cause the battery to erode. Now, a group of researchers from Tohoku University has solved this problem with a molecularly designed covalent organic framework (COF)–graphene interlayer. Like a security checkpoint that both identifies threats and efficiently streams people where they need to go, the interlayer combines chemical trapping, rapid charge transport, and sulfur-conversion promotion.

Magnets can store data – but there is a limit. To improve the data density of memory devices, researchers at Tohoku University delved into ways to exert precise control over a unique material called metallic helimagnets.

An international team including Professor Meng GU of the Hong Kong Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (HKIAA) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has directly measured the mass of an inactive supermassive black hole in the early Universe for the first time.

Located 1,000 meters underground in Japan, the Super-Kamiokande observatory strains to detect the faintest of signals amongst all sorts of noise: ghost-like neutrino particles. A recent analysis of 5,000 days of data provides an exciting, world-first indication of a flux of neutrinos called Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background (DSNB) – emitted by supernovae over cosmic history.

- Promoting technology transfer and commercialization of DGIST’s outstanding intellectual property - Advancing practical collaboration through intellectual property information sharing, identification of prospective companies, and professional training

Oxidative addition is often carried out using transition metals and is challenging to perform at centers of more abundant main-group elements, particularly group 13 elements. Researchers at The University of Osaka, led by Takuya Kodama, achieved oxidative addition of an aryl iodide to a group 13 (gallium) center. The reaction is initiated by visible light. The reaction proceeds via a novel mechanism, photoinduced disproportionation, whereby photoexcited gallium exchanges electrons with ground-state gallium.

The end of colored plastic downgrading could be near with new approach