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.

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Marsupial heart regeneration ability given to mice

Regeneration of mouse hearts ? ?? after birth achieved by figuring out how it’s possible in opossums.

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New rice fights off drought

Researchers have created drought resistant transgenic rice using a gene from a small Eurasian flowering plant

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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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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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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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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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Confronting a string of epidemics including COVID-19

COVID-19 series — installment #1: RIKEN Executive Director Shigeo Koyasu talks about epidemics and what a good response looks like.

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Physiological origami and proper body development in flies

Genetics and mechanical origami in the fly embryo helps proper body development by fighting off “noisy” fluctuations is the environment.

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Proton and antiproton still seem identical

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.

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A new alpha-particle treatment for multiple cancers

A new type of alpha-particle therapy allows selective targeting of tumors in multiple cancers.

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Quick, call Spiderman: scientists discover how spider silk is formed

A group of scientists led by researchers have discovered a key mechanism through which spider silk is formed.

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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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Dec

RIKEN Research Winter Issue

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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!

Dec

The geometry of consciousness is a multi-dimensional math trip

by amanda alvarez | Research Highlight

Amanda Alvarez writes about how neuroscientists are studying consciousness with mathematics

Oct

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

Sep

Locating social memories in the brain

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have identified where social memories are stored in the brains of mice. Mice are forgotten because memories cannot be retrieved.

Sep

Big news in iPS cell transplants

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Aug

In Japan, women in science seek allies, resources in push for gender equality

by amanda alvarez | What's Up With Us

neuroamanda talks about gender equality for female scientists is Japan.

Aug

Measuring altitude — with clocks?

by jens wilkinson | Drop of science

Measuring altitude using atomic clocks seems like a crazy idea, but it’s already being done at RIKEN in Japan

Aug

The sound of molecules: NMR-inspired music

by adam phillips | Research in Depth, Science Heavy

Science & art: how NMR works and how NMR spectra have been used to compose music based on molecular structures.

Aug

Eve Marder: freeing knowledge, crashing neurons

by amanda alvarez | Interviews

None of us would get on a plane that had its parts changed in mid-air, says Eve Marder, who has spent her career probing a very specific cluster of crustacean nerve cells. Yet we are all walking around undergoing a constant turnover of cellular parts, and so are the lobsters and crabs Marder studies.

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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Artificial gravity protects the immune system of mice in space

Mice who experienced artificial gravity on the ISS suffered less damage to their immune system (thymus) than weightless mice did.

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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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H2AK119ub1: How you inherit acquired traits from your mom

H2AK119ub1. Say that three times really fast! But seriously, it allows maternally acquired traits to be inherited.

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Nov

Mutations, CRISPR, and spinocerebellar ataxia

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists discover that mutations causing the degenerative movement disorder spinocerebellar ataxia type 29 work by disrupting calcium release of neurons inside the brain.