The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

Memory retrieval needs a neuronal connecting flight

Scientists use optogenetics to discover a part of the brain necessary for retrieving memories of personal experiences.

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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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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Why (mouse) mothers take risks to protect their infants

The calcitonin receptor and its ligand amylin act in the brain to motivate mouse mothers to protect their pups, even in risky/dangerous situations.

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Electrolithoautotrophs

Learn what electrolithoautotrophs are and how the scientists proved that A. ferrooxidans can use electric potential to fuel growth.

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Heat shock system helps dried up bug come back to life

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.

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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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Protein pileup affects social behavior through altered brain signaling

When a normal cellular cleanup process is disrupted, social behavior in mice is disrupted and they start behaving in ways that resemble human symptoms of autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia.

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Carbon nanotubes, what are they good for?

Kylius Wilkins talks to Urs Frey and his recent success manufacturing carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

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

“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.

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Detecting pathogens: the evolution of plant immunity

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

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Dec

Helping the body clock keep its cool

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

Two parallel temperature-responsive mechanisms ensure that circadian rhythms are not skewed by changes in temperature

Dec

The stars align

by admin | Drop of science

The stars align. That’s what you say, when things work out perfectly. In the case of an eclipse, of course, it’s not stars that align but rather the moon and sun.

Dec

What’s that smell? The advantage of sniffing

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Nov

Quantum dots light up cancer with a little help

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

Researchers have found a small connecting protein that can help make quantum dot-based probes for biomedical imaging.

Nov

Most precise measurement ever of proton magnetic moment

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Using a sophisticated setup, scientists have made the most precise measurement to date of the proton magnetic moment.

Nov

Proton and antiproton still seem identical

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Using a novel two-particle measurement method, scientists have measured the magnetic moment of the antiproton at a precision 350 times higher than any previous measurement.

Nov

Microcolumns: elementary neuronal units that carpet the (mouse) brain

by admin | Hot Off the Press

A hexagonal lattice organizes major cell types in the cerebral cortex, with similar cells synchronizing their activity in microcolumns.

Oct

Jupiter’s volcano-powered auroral lights

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

A collaborative effort used data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft to explain the transient auroras found on Jupiter.

Oct

Hepatoma (liver cancer) blocked by a sugar look-a-like

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A sugar (fucose) analog can prevent liver cancer (hepatoma) from invading healthy liver cells.

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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Social contact-seeking behavior and loneliness in the brain

Levels of the peptide amylin in the brain are related to loneliness; activating amylin neurons in the MPOA drives isolated mice to seek social contact.

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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.