The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

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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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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RIKEN at a glance

We’ve just gotten our order of RIKEN at a Glance booklets back from the printers, and they look fantastic. Follow the link to download your electronic copy now!

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Predictive grid cells help self navigation in the brain

Scientists have discovered grid cells in the brain that map an animal’s (or human’s) future position in space.

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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.

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Stable green hydrogen production in a PEM electrolyzer

A little structurally manipulated manganese goes a long way when using a PEM electrolyzer to make hydrogen from water.

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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!

Latest Posts

Jan

Are you “at risk” of being a habitual coffee drinker?

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are related to dietary habits, including coffee, tea, tofu, and yogurt consumption.

Jan

Astrocytes powered by norepinephrine during fear-memory formation

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

Norepinephrine released in the locus coeruleus during fear learning is accompanied by increased calcium and cAMP levels in nearby astrocytes.

Dec

Brain wave synchrony can predict memory age

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

The degree of neuronal synchrony between the anterior cingulate cortex and the hippocampus during recall is an indication of memory age (in mice).

Dec

AI identifies features associated with cancer recurrence

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Artificial intelligence has successfully identified features relevant to cancer prognosis that were not previously noted by pathologists

Nov

Longevity in supercentenarians linked to cytotoxic T-cells

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Blood analysis in supercentenarians showed that they have many more cytotoxic CD4 T-cells than people with average life spans.

Oct

Schizophrenia biomarker (hydrogen sulfide) in human hair

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

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

Mini-EUSO launched to the International Space Station ?

by jens wilkinson | News

The Mini-EUSO observatory was successfully launched to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS14! NASA video inside!

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.

Running away from carbon dioxide: the terminal connection

Even fish want to avoid carbon dioxide. Now we know that they can because of chemosensation and the Terminal Nerve.

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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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Ultraprecise clocks and the Tokyo Skytree verify Einstein’s theory of relativity

Time measured at the top and bottom of the Tokyo Skytree with ultraprecise clocks has verified the time dilation effect predicted by Einstein.

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Cubes of brain tissue allow drug discovery without animals

Modeling the blood-brain-barrier with brains-in-a-cube allows drug testing without the need for animals.

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Palaeospondylus: mystery of vertebrate evolution solved

Micro-CT scans using synchrotron radiation X-rays reveal Palaeospondylus morphology, finally allowing its placement on the evolutionary tree.

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Scientists create new type of self-healing material

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

Read on

Apr

Detecting pathogens: the evolution of plant immunity

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

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

Mar

Genomic “butterfly effect” involving TADs explains risk for autism

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

De novo mutations in three-dimensional structures in the genome containing known ASD genes were found to be associated with ASD risk.

Mar

Heat used to transform antiskyrmions to skyrmions and back

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists discover a way to transform antiskyrmions to skyrmions and back using heat and magnetic fields.

Jan

Real webshooters? Synthetic spider silk spun from artificial gland

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Jan

Omics Omics Omics: Analysis predicts ovarian cancer-treating drug

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Multi-omics analysis prediction: drugs that inhibit Ras signaling will help prevent tumor formation in serous ovarian cancer.

Dec

First hydride-ion battery that works at room temperature

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Researchers develop a new solid electrolyte that can conduct hydride ions, thus allowing better hydrogen-based batteries and fuel cells.

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.

Next stop: clinical hair regeneration

A new recipe for continuous cyclical hair regeneration in mice. This means that the hair will continue to fall out and regrow like normal hair.

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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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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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How does gravity affect antimatter?

Scientists find that antimatter reacts to gravity the same way that regular matter does.

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May

Root growth improved in soil contaminated with cesium

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Overactivating the ABA signaling pathway in plants prevented cesium in soil from blocking root growth in plants.

May

Japanese people are a mixture of three separate ancestral groups

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

A new study shows that the current Japanese population is derived from 3 ancestral groups, one of which brought Denisovan DNA to the party.

May

Space Café Tokyo explains sus sci-fi media

by kelly | What's Up With Us

Our very own Kelly writes about how much fun she had at Space Café Tokyo. Softcore science and beer.

May

Recipe for hydrogen: sprinkle manganese oxide with iridium atoms, add water

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A few iridium atoms also go a long way. When sprinkled on manganese oxide, hydrogen is produced with 95% less iridium!

May

Stable green hydrogen production in a PEM electrolyzer

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A little structurally manipulated manganese goes a long way when using a PEM electrolyzer to make hydrogen from water.

Apr

Brainless memory makes the spinal cord smarter than previously thought

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

The spinal cord learns how to direct limb muscles to avoid aversive sensations and recalls the memories using separate neural circuitry. Oh, and without a brain!

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