The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

RIKEN discovers new T cells related to immune disorders

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

Purple biomass makes a good crop fertilizer

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

Big news in iPS cell transplants

iPS cell-derived retinal cells have been successfully transplanted from one monkey to another without need of immunosuppressant drugs.

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COVID-19: Changing the way we do research

COVID-19 series — Part #4: Team Leader Aki Minoda from RIKEN IMS talks about how the pandemic has affected the way we work.

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The first drug treatment for brain aneurysms (in mice)

Scientists discover that most aneurysms result from mutations. A mouse model shows they can be treated with drugs.

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Schizophrenia biomarker (hydrogen sulfide) in human hair

Not only is hydrogen sulfide a good biomarker for schizophrenia, it’s also the culprit and a new starting point for drug discovery.

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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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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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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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Opto-OISI: imaging connections in the living brain

A new imaging technique called opto-OISI allows scientists to non-invasively visualize where specific neurons project in the living brain.

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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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Flies smell through a gore-tex system

The newly named gore-tex gene is responsible for the development of nanopores that allow chemicals in the air to be detected (in flies).

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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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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.

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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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.