The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

Efficient and durable ultra-thin solar cells

Ultra-thin, flexible, organic solar cells that degrade less than 5 percent after 3,000 hours and an energy conversion ratio of 13%.

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Gut bacteria in babies predict childhood food allergies

Scientists found that one-month-old infants with certain gut bacteria were less likely to develop food sensitivities and food allergies later in childhood.

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Hibernation-like state can protect kidneys during heart surgery

Activating Q-neurons in the mouse brain led to a hibernation-like state that protected kidneys during heart surgery.

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Ethanol pretreated soil protects plants from drought

Pretreating soil with ethanol protected plants, including wheat and rice, from the adverse effects of water deprivation.

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Memories are made of this ? ? – (Part 1)

Brain science ’round midnight episode 8: Thomas McHugh from the RIKEN Center for Brain Science discusses memories and the brain

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Diagnosing fetal heart disease benefits from explanatory AI

Diagnosis accuracy improved when doctors used explanatory AI to help diagnose congenital heart disease from fetal ultrasound videos.

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Topics

Latest research animations

Self-assembly of spider silk

This gut microbe might protect against diabetes and reduce insulin resistance

NEW: One-way hydrogel guides motion of tiny worms!

Latest Posts

Sep

Engineering crop immunity from a receptor in pomelo fruit

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Synthetic receptors derived from the pomelo fruit can help crops become immune to thousands of pathogens.

Aug

Smoker gut bacteria reduce bowel inflammation in ulcerative colitis

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Mouth bacteria that settle in the guts of smokers activate helper T-cells that counter inflammation in ulcerative colitis.

Aug

Eco-friendly method yields more hydrogen storage, more ammonia

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Eco-friendly way to double the amount of hydrogen stored in perovskite powder and more ammonia production.

Jul

Meeting robots with hearts and minds of their own at the Osaka Expo

by Yu Kikuchi | What's Up With Us

Yu Kikuchi talks about the RIKEN robots she recently befriended in Osaka Japan.

Jul

Millions of years of galaxy evolution simulated in mere months with the help of AI

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

When a machine learning AI was asked to help simulate galaxy evolution, processing time went from years to months.

Jul

Winter Hackathon and SupercomputingAsia

by Akiko Mizukoshi and Machiko Matsusue from R-CCS | News

Find out what RIKEN R-CCS has been up to!

Jun

How group size affects cooperation: Insights from brain science

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Using the prisoners dilemma game, brain scientists showed that larger group size reduces cooperation.

May

Strong emotions plus non-REM sleep equals longer-lasting perceptual memories

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Perceptual memories linked to positive emotions, such as joy or happiness, are strengthened during sleep, specifically during periods of deep non-REM sleep.

Feb

Gut bacteria in babies predict childhood food allergies

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists found that one-month-old infants with certain gut bacteria were less likely to develop food sensitivities and food allergies later in childhood.

Jan

Bye-bye microplastics: new plastic is fully ocean-degradable

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A new bioplastic that dissolves in saltwater — no more pesky microplastics!

Dec

Scientists develop new and improved quantum gates

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

High-fidelity, low error quantum gates allow more reliable and accurate quantum computations, making the future of quantum computers more promising.

Dec

Nanopores in deep-sea hydrothermal vents and the origin of life

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

“Naturally occurring selective nanopore ion channels in deep-sea hydrothermal vents are similar to ion channels found in cells and could help explain the origin of life.

Dec

Albumin drops medicine off at cancer site then leaves the body

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

By changing albumin’s identity, drugs can carried to their targets and then removed from the body after being used.

Oct

Protein antigens in meat, milk, and other foods suppress gut tumors

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Food antigens were found to prevent small intestinal tumors in gut-tumor prone mice by making ensuring we have enough T cells for defense.

Oct

Stem cell exhaustion and proliferation: An aging fly’s tale

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Blocking the gene ced-6 led to stem cell exhaustion in aging fruit flies and prevented repair of damaged intestines.

Aug

Chromosome copying errors pinpointed in developing embryos

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

The DNA duplication process changes during embryogenesis and chromosome copying errors increase during the transition.

Aug

Predictive grid cells help self navigation in the brain

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have discovered grid cells in the brain that map an animal’s (or human’s) future position in space.

Aug

Dopamine reduces beta-amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Increasing dopamine in the brains of AD model mice led to increased neprilysin, which broke down amyloid-beta plaques and improved memory.

Jul

RIKEN discovers new T cells related to immune disorders

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Immune-related diseases like multiple sclerosis associated with genetic variation in newly discovered, rare T cells.

Jul

Will the “love hormone” ever be used to treat a rare genetic disease?

by masataka sasabe | Drop of science, What's Up With Us

One of the pitfalls of researching an extremely rare disease: getting enough data to support clinical trials could be impossible.

Jun

Purple biomass makes a good crop fertilizer

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Biomass made from purple marine bacteria provides more than enough nitrogen to plants without harming the environment

Jun

Atlas of the aging lipidome highlights kidneys and gut bacteria

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

The atlas revealed sex differences in the aging kidney lipidome and lipid byproducts of gut bacteria that accumulate throughout the body.

May

Root growth improved in soil contaminated with cesium

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Overactivating the ABA signaling pathway in plants prevented cesium in soil from blocking root growth in plants.

May

Japanese people are a mixture of three separate ancestral groups

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

A new study shows that the current Japanese population is derived from 3 ancestral groups, one of which brought Denisovan DNA to the party.

May

Space Café Tokyo explains sus sci-fi media

by kelly | What's Up With Us

Our very own Kelly writes about how much fun she had at Space Café Tokyo. Softcore science and beer.

May

Recipe for hydrogen: sprinkle manganese oxide with iridium atoms, add water

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A few iridium atoms also go a long way. When sprinkled on manganese oxide, hydrogen is produced with 95% less iridium!

May

Stable green hydrogen production in a PEM electrolyzer

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A little structurally manipulated manganese goes a long way when using a PEM electrolyzer to make hydrogen from water.

Apr

Brainless memory makes the spinal cord smarter than previously thought

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

The spinal cord learns how to direct limb muscles to avoid aversive sensations and recalls the memories using separate neural circuitry. Oh, and without a brain!

Apr

Eco-friendly ammonia production for fertilizers and alternative fuel

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A new process that allows ammonia to be produced using much less energy than the standard methods.

Apr

Cubes of brain tissue allow drug discovery without animals

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Modeling the blood-brain-barrier with brains-in-a-cube allows drug testing without the need for animals.

Apr

Gut bacteria could help overcome milk allergy

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Analysis shows that some gut bacteria could help improve oral immunotherapy against milk allergy.

Apr

Detecting pathogens: the evolution of plant immunity

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Scientists find recognition receptors for plant growth and plant immunity that share a common evolutionary origin.

Mar

Genomic “butterfly effect” involving TADs explains risk for autism

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

De novo mutations in three-dimensional structures in the genome containing known ASD genes were found to be associated with ASD risk.

Mar

Heat used to transform antiskyrmions to skyrmions and back

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists discover a way to transform antiskyrmions to skyrmions and back using heat and magnetic fields.

Jan

Real webshooters? Synthetic spider silk spun from artificial gland

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists create a microfluidic device that spins artificial spider silk from spidroins proteins, duplicating silk’s complex molecular structure.

Jan

Omics Omics Omics: Analysis predicts ovarian cancer-treating drug

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Multi-omics analysis prediction: drugs that inhibit Ras signaling will help prevent tumor formation in serous ovarian cancer.

Dec

First hydride-ion battery that works at room temperature

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Researchers develop a new solid electrolyte that can conduct hydride ions, thus allowing better hydrogen-based batteries and fuel cells.

Nov

Plants to the rescue: cleaning up our dirty soil

by adam phillips | Drop of science

A brief review of phytoremediation and research into how plants can be used to clean the environment.

Nov

Stolen genes used for parasitic mind control

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Parasitic horsehair worms evolved to control their praying mantis hosts by stealing their genes (horizontal gene transfer).

Melatonin in mice, circadian rhythms, and daily torpor

A new breed of lab mouse allows the study of naturally occurring melatonin. These mice will adjust better to jetlag than regular lab mice and experience daily torpor.

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Award-winning 3D images of living cells

An interview with Yuko Kiyosue, discussing the 3D images of living cells that gained her and her colleagues a recent award.

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Microbial infections are a parasitic plant’s dream

Parasitic plants use quinones produced by their host to attack. Now we know that crops produce quinones as an immune response against microbial infection. How can we protect crops from both kinds of attack?

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Memories are made of this ? ? – (Part 1)

Brain science ’round midnight episode 8: Thomas McHugh from the RIKEN Center for Brain Science discusses memories and the brain

Read on

Toward human hibernation: cold-resistant mouse stem cells

Cold-resistant stem cells from “deep torpor” mice are a big step toward understanding why tissue survives hibernation.

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RIKEN Research Summer issue

A quick post to let you know that the Summer issue of RIKEN Research Magazine came out towards the end of June. This issue covers brain evolution, regenerating skin, super-clear synapses, and much much more! Enjoy!

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Sep

Engineering crop immunity from a receptor in pomelo fruit

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Synthetic receptors derived from the pomelo fruit can help crops become immune to thousands of pathogens.

Aug

Smoker gut bacteria reduce bowel inflammation in ulcerative colitis

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Mouth bacteria that settle in the guts of smokers activate helper T-cells that counter inflammation in ulcerative colitis.

Aug

Eco-friendly method yields more hydrogen storage, more ammonia

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Eco-friendly way to double the amount of hydrogen stored in perovskite powder and more ammonia production.

Jul

Meeting robots with hearts and minds of their own at the Osaka Expo

by Yu Kikuchi | What's Up With Us

Yu Kikuchi talks about the RIKEN robots she recently befriended in Osaka Japan.

Jul

Millions of years of galaxy evolution simulated in mere months with the help of AI

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

When a machine learning AI was asked to help simulate galaxy evolution, processing time went from years to months.

Jul

Winter Hackathon and SupercomputingAsia

by Akiko Mizukoshi and Machiko Matsusue from R-CCS | News

Find out what RIKEN R-CCS has been up to!

Jun

How group size affects cooperation: Insights from brain science

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Using the prisoners dilemma game, brain scientists showed that larger group size reduces cooperation.

May

Strong emotions plus non-REM sleep equals longer-lasting perceptual memories

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Perceptual memories linked to positive emotions, such as joy or happiness, are strengthened during sleep, specifically during periods of deep non-REM sleep.

Feb

Gut bacteria in babies predict childhood food allergies

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists found that one-month-old infants with certain gut bacteria were less likely to develop food sensitivities and food allergies later in childhood.

Super-thin wearable electronics just got more flexible

A method for making super-flexible and ultra-thin wearable electronics uses water-vapor plasma to create gold-gold bonds.

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How does gravity affect antimatter?

Scientists find that antimatter reacts to gravity the same way that regular matter does.

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Eating a high fat diet without getting obese?

Scientists discover that without innate immune cells in the intestines, eating a high fat diet does not lead to obesity in mice.

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Talking science Illustration with Misaki Ouchida

Whether it’s bird anatomy or science cartoons, Masaki Ouchida can do it all. She spoke with us about her career in science illustration, from the US to Japan.