The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

Heat used to transform antiskyrmions to skyrmions and back

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

Scientists develop new and improved quantum gates

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

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Crying baby? Science says walk, then sit

Recipe for success: Walk 5 min, sit 8 min, lay no-longer-crying baby down. Now you can relax.

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RIKEN Research Fall Issue

Fall is here, and with it comes the latest issue of RIKEN Research. This issue covers tactile learning during sleep, supercomputers and simulations, solar cells, fly olfaction, tumor vaccines, and more

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Protons are lighter than previously thought

A new and most precise measurement of protons shows that they are lighter than previously thought.

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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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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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A researcher’s journey part 2: emotional memory and being human

Joshua Johansen from RIKEN CBS explains emotional memory, what his lab is doing, and what makes a good researcher.

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The free-energy principle explains neural network behavior

Scientists show that the free-energy principle can explain how neural networks work.

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Plant hormone combats dehydration

Scientists show that CLE25 is a plant hormone that travels from roots to leaves and helps close stomata in times of dehydration stress.

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A self-powered heart monitor taped to the skin

A group of scientists have developed a human-friendly, ultra-flexible organic sensor powered by sunlight, which acts as a self-powered heart monitor.

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Smarter AI: machine learning without negative data

Scientists have developed a new method for machine learning that allows an AI to make better classifications without negative data.

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Blood cell mutations linked to leukemia are inevitable

Researchers show that blood cell mutations increase with age identify risk factors for developing leukemia in Japanese and European populations.

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Mar

Heat shock system helps dried up bug come back to life

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

An international collaboration has determined that cooption of the Heat Shock Factor (HSF) gene system is what allows larvae of the sleeping chironomid to be able to survive severe desiccation.

Feb

In living color: imaging the brain with synthetic bioluminescence

by admin | Hot Off the Press

A new way to image the brain from outside the head using bioluminescence.

Feb

Deep-brain exploration with nanomaterials

by admin | Hot Off the Press

A new way to optogenetically activate neurons deep in the brain using infrared light and upconversion nanoparticles. It’s non-invasive!

Feb

Running away from carbon dioxide: the terminal connection

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Even fish want to avoid carbon dioxide. Now we know that they can because of chemosensation and the Terminal Nerve.

Jan

Rainbow engineering to make the brain glow

by admin | Drop of science

Bar talk about tinkering with bioluminescent molecules from jellyfish, corals, and algae, figuring out how they work, and making them more useful for brain science.

Jan

Geostationary satellite enables better precipitation and flood predictions

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Data from the Himawari-8 geosynchronous satellite was used in weather simulations to improve forecasts of sudden precipitation and tropical storm development.

Jan

Clean and green: a moss that removes lead (Pb) from water

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists show that the moss Funaria hygrometrica can remove harmful lead from water when in the protonema stage of development.

Jan

The brain’s GPS has a buddy system

by admin | Hot Off the Press

In addition to encoding self location, brain cells in the rat hippocampus act like a GPS that encodes the location of other rats.

Dec

Leaky plants bad for drought resistance

by adam phillips | Research in Depth

The KAI2 receptor for compounds found in smoke helps plants retain water and survive during drought.

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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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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How does gravity affect antimatter?

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

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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.