The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

A faster and more sensitive antibody test for COVID-19

Fast and sensitive: A new antibody test for the COVID-19 virus. Just a pinprick of blood and results in 30 minutes.

Learning and unlearning to fear: The two faces of noradrenaline

Fear association and unlearning fear association require different populations of noradrenaline neurons in the locus coeruleus.

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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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Organ regeneration in the lab

Interview with Takashi Tsuji, team leader of the Laboratory for Organ Regeneration at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology

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CAPON links Alzheimer’s plaques to neurodegeneration

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

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Memory retrieval needs a neuronal connecting flight

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

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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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Leaky plants bad for drought resistance

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

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A new imaging biomarker for the aging brain

Enlarged ventricles is a sign of an aging brain. New research shows that this phenomenon can be predicted by lagging brain circulation that is detected by MRI.

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Robotic AI helps efficient growth of replacement organs

Humans team-up with a robotic AI to speed up experiments to find the best way to regrow damaged eye tissue from stem cells.

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Real webshooters? Synthetic spider silk spun from artificial gland

Scientists create a microfluidic device that spins artificial spider silk from spidroins proteins, duplicating silk’s complex molecular structure.

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

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

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Atlas of the aging lipidome highlights kidneys and gut bacteria

The atlas revealed sex differences in the aging kidney lipidome and lipid byproducts of gut bacteria that accumulate throughout the body.

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Mar

Don’t know anything about RIKEN?

by adam phillips | What's Up With Us

Don’t know anything about RIKEN? We’ve made a new RIKEN booklet that should help!

Jan

Blocking obesity with a protein-sugar combination

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Discovery of an enzyme that prevents obesity in mice through glycosylation of a protein involved fat-cell differentiation.

Dec

Robotic researcher to the rescue

by admin | Drop of science, Interviews

Masaki Watabe talks about automated robotic researchers, future robot rule, and scientific philosophy.

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 admin | 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 admin | What's Up With Us

neuroamanda talks about gender equality for female scientists is Japan.

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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Eating a high fat diet without getting obese?

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

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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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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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Feb

Brain clock ticks differently in autism

by admin | Hot Off the Press

A new brain imaging study shows that autistic severity is linked to how long certain regions of the brain store information.

Dec

Supermassive black holes still dark and mysterious

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

For the first time, scientists have measured the strength of magnetic fields near supermassive black holes and something doesn’t add up.

Dec

Evolution of the inner ear: insights from jawless fish

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A new story for inner ear evolution based on the developmental patterning found in hagfish, one of two extant jawless vertebrates and a link to the last common ancestor of modern jawed vertebrates.