The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

Introducing Nikola, the emotional android boy

A new android named Nikola will help researchers study facial expressions, emotions, and social interactions.

RIKEN Research Winter Issue

It’s almost the end of the year and a here’s an early holiday present! The winter issue of RIKEN Research is here, covering plant parasites, depression, atomic clocks, and more! Enjoy!

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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.

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What’s that smell? The advantage of sniffing

Rhythmic sniffing boosts phase-coded neuronal signals in the mouse olfactory bulb that allow odors to be identified.

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Something smells fishy: categorizing odors in the brain

Calcium imaging and mathematical model explain how categories and mixtures of odors are represented in the fly brain and consistent across individual flies.

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Gut bacteria could help overcome milk allergy

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

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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!

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Decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 series — installment #2: RIKEN CBS Unit Leader Rei Akaishi talks about government decision-making during the pandemic.

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New lab-grown retinal sheets almost ready for clinical trials

A new retinal transplant technique works by preventing bipolar cells from maturing in lab-grown retinal sheets.

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How an herbal medicine protects against inflamed bowels

A Japanese herbal medicine promotes good bacteria and innate immune cells in the gut, which protects against intestinal inflammation.

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Tumor detection during breast cancer surgery

Scientists have developed a new way to accurately detect the margins between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue during breast cancer surgery.

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Opossums are the first genome edited marsupials

A new piezoelectronic microinjection method has allowed the first successful genome editing in marsupials: albino opossums.

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Superfly flight simulator helps unravel navigation in the brain

Optical imaging neural activity in flies as they use a flight simulator can help us understand how the brain codes navigation.

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Jul

Cyborg microchip valve driven by earthworm muscle

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

This earthworm muscle-controlled biological microelectromechanical system (bio‐MEMS) could lead the way to next-generation medical implants.

Jul

Eating a high fat diet without getting obese?

by adam phillips | Featured, Hot Off the Press

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

Jul

New metalloenzyme system selectively targets cancer cells

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Specific targeting of cancer cells and onsite drug synthesis has been achieved using a new artificial metalloenzyme delivery system.

Jun

Boosting betaine may be a treatment for schizophrenia

by admin | Hot Off the Press

Supplementing model mice with glycine betaine (trimethylglycine), a compound originally derived from beets, can alleviate symptoms of schizophrenia.

Jun

Gray matter volume links symptoms in autism

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Low gray matter volume in the posterior superior parietal lobule (pSPL) was found to correlate with specific cognitive and perceptual symptoms of autism.

Jun

New mechanism allows lower energy requirement for OLED displays

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have found a way to significantly reduce the amount of energy required by organic light emitting diodes (OLED) displays.

Jun

CAPON links Alzheimer’s plaques to neurodegeneration

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

CAPON was found to link Aβ plaques and hippocampal neurodegeneration in mice, explaining how these two hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease are related.

May

AdR blockers protect the brain from stroke damage

by admin | Hot Off the Press

Treatment with adrenergic receptor antagonists (AdR blockers) was able to reduce stroke-related brain damage in mice and improve motor recovery.

Apr

Trigger region found for epileptic absence seizures

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A mouse model shows that absence seizures are triggered by faulty connections between the cortex and fast-spiking neurons in the striatum.

New treatment assembles cancer drug inside the body

Cancer drugs assembled inside the body on cancer cells should reduce harmful side effects to other tissue.

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Next stop: clinical hair regeneration

A new recipe for continuous cyclical hair regeneration in mice. This means that the hair will continue to fall out and regrow like normal hair.

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Introducing Nikola, the emotional android boy

A new android named Nikola will help researchers study facial expressions, emotions, and social interactions.

Read on

Diazoxide pills for Alzheimer’s disease?

Drug therapy with with diazoxide relieved symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in the brains of mice and improved memory.

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Jul

Methylation mutation directly linked to autism

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A mutation in a gene needed for H3K9 methylation is directly linked to autism spectrum disorders and early neurodevelopment.

Jun

Melatonin in mice, circadian rhythms, and daily torpor

by admin | Hot Off the Press

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.