The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

Robotic exoskeleton learns to help people stand up

This new robotic exoskeleton uses machine learning to know when users want help standing up.

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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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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A new and improved way to store hydrogen

A simple chemical reaction allows hydrogen-carrying ammonia to be stored and retrieved cheaply and easily.

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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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Zebrafish imagine a danger-free future to avoid threats in virtual reality

By imaging the brain while zebrafish “swim” in virtual reality, scientists have learned that even fish can create internal models to predict future outcomes.

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Topics

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!

Latest Posts

Oct

Brain tissue kept alive for weeks with new microfluidic device

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A new microfluidic device can keep tissue cultures functional for weeks on an artificial membrane

Oct

Massive filaments, galaxies, and supermassive black holes

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Big telescopes yield big data! Detailed observations gas filaments connecting galaxies in a distant proto-cluster in the early Universe.

Oct

Understanding non-coding DNA: gene “enhancers”

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

NETCAGE is a newly developed technique for determining the structure of portions of the non-coding genome called ‘enhancers.’

Aug

Implantable blastocyst‐like cysts grown from stem cells

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Embryo Organoids?! Blastocyst‐like cysts grown from pluripotent mouse stem cells were similar to natural blastocysts (early embryos).

Jul

Talking science Illustration with Misaki Ouchida

by adam phillips | Featured, Interviews, What's Up With Us

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.

Jul

Cyborg microchip valve driven by earthworm muscle

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

This earthworm muscle-controlled biological microelectromechanical system (bio‐MEMS) could lead the way to next-generation medical implants.

Jul

Eating a high fat diet without getting obese?

by adam phillips | Featured, Hot Off the Press

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

Jul

New metalloenzyme system selectively targets cancer cells

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Specific targeting of cancer cells and onsite drug synthesis has been achieved using a new artificial metalloenzyme delivery system.

Jun

Boosting betaine may be a treatment for schizophrenia

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

Supplementing model mice with glycine betaine (trimethylglycine), a compound originally derived from beets, can alleviate symptoms of schizophrenia.

Jun

Gray matter volume links symptoms in autism

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Low gray matter volume in the posterior superior parietal lobule (pSPL) was found to correlate with specific cognitive and perceptual symptoms of autism.

Jun

New mechanism allows lower energy requirement for OLED displays

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have found a way to significantly reduce the amount of energy required by organic light emitting diodes (OLED) displays.

Jun

CAPON links Alzheimer’s plaques to neurodegeneration

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

May

AdR blockers protect the brain from stroke damage

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

Treatment with adrenergic receptor antagonists (AdR blockers) was able to reduce stroke-related brain damage in mice and improve motor recovery.

Apr

Trigger region found for epileptic absence seizures

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A mouse model shows that absence seizures are triggered by faulty connections between the cortex and fast-spiking neurons in the striatum.

Apr

Opto-OISI: imaging connections in the living brain

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

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

Apr

Flies smell through a gore-tex system

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

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

Apr

Protein pileup affects social behavior through altered brain signaling

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

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.

Mar

The joys of computational mass spectrometry

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have developed a new automated computational mass spectrometry system that can search an organism’s entire metabolome for as-yet-unknown metabolites (potential drugs).

Mar

Pulses of light can enhance superconductivity

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Pulses of light could be used to turn materials into superconductors through an unconventional type of superconductivity.

Feb

Scientists create new type of self-healing material

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

This newly created ethylene-based material has shape memory that allows self-healing!

Feb

Brain clock ticks differently in autism

by amanda alvarez | 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.

Dec

Tumor detection during breast cancer surgery

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have developed a new way to accurately detect the margins between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue during breast cancer surgery.

Nov

Smarter AI: machine learning without negative data

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

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

Nov

Nerdnite recap: When the brainbow met the boson

by amanda alvarez | Drop of science

Fun times at nerdnite tokyo. Brains, bosons, and math, oh my!

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.

Nov

Gene regulator that allows plant rehydration after drought

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

New genetic insights into the plant rehydration process: this is why your plants don’t die after you forgot to water them.

Oct

Researchers create a functional salivary gland organoid ?

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have succeeded in growing three-dimensional salivary gland tissue that produced saliva like normal glands when implanted into mice.

Oct

Getting a grip on slow but unique shark evolution

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have decoded the genomes of two species of shark, bringing the grand total of sequenced shark genomes to three.

Oct

Ig Nobel awards: Silly experiments that strike gold

by amanda alvarez | Drop of science

Amanda writes about the Ig Nobel awards after founder Marc Abrahams visited nerdnite Tokyo. Science at its best!

Oct

A self-powered heart monitor taped to the skin

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

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

Sep

Protostars that exhibit large diversity in organic compounds

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

A survey of a molecular cloud has found that the organic chemical makeup of protostars varies considerably.

Sep

Scientists solve epigenetic barriers to cloning

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists show that two epigenetic factors improve the success rate of cloning via somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Aug

Transgenic plants ??on acid survive without water

by adam phillips | Featured, Research Highlight

Scientists designed transgenic plants that survive drought-like conditions by bumping up acetic acid production only when water is scarce.

Aug

Two genes that regulate how much we dream

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

An international research team led by RIKEN BDR has identified a pair of genes that regulate how much REM (dream) and non-REM sleep an animal experiences.

Aug

Flies use fecal deposits as pheromones

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

Bioluminescence imaging of fly brains reveals neurons sensitive to fly poo laced with pheromones (you can see the fecal “landmark” in the dotted circle). Need we say more?

Jul

Hippocampal memory isn’t all about place cells

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have found evidence that hippocampal memories of experience are not stored in place cells.

Jul

Summer fun: how plants beat the heat

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have discovered a gene that allows plants to cope with extreme heat by changing the composition of chloroplast membranes.

Mutations, CRISPR, and spinocerebellar ataxia

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

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Purple biomass makes a good crop fertilizer

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

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Mutation protects against Alzheimer’s disease in mice

Scientists discover a deletion mutation that reduces amyloid-beta plaque formation in Alzheimer’s disease model mice.

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ERRg predicts atrial fibrillation and hidden comorbidity

Polygenic risk scores based on the genetic data from more that a million people predicted atrial fibrillation, stroke, and mortality.

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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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Black smokers and electroecosystems

Black smokers are deep-sea hydrothermal vents found in the ocean. Now scientists believe that they may host electroecosystems in which the primary producers use electric currents as their energy source.

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Nov

Plants to the rescue: cleaning up our dirty soil

by adam phillips | Drop of science

A brief review of phytoremediation and research into how plants can be used to clean the environment.

Nov

Stolen genes used for parasitic mind control

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Parasitic horsehair worms evolved to control their praying mantis hosts by stealing their genes (horizontal gene transfer).

Sep

Machine learning contributes to better quantum error correction

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Researchers have developed an autonomous method for handling error correction in quantum computing. This will help quantum computers maintain their advantages over standard computers.