The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

Getting a grip on slow but unique shark evolution

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

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Machine learning contributes to better quantum error correction

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

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Japanese people are a mixture of three separate ancestral groups

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

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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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What’s that smell? The advantage of sniffing

Rhythmic sniffing boosts phase-coded neuronal signals in the mouse olfactory bulb that allow odors to be identified.

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Blue gene regulation helps plants respond properly to light

Blue light alters some gene expression in plants by changing the transcription start sites to downstream locations.

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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

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.

Jun

Freedom from fear ?‍♀️

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Researchers discover a dopaminergic circuit in the brain that allows fear associations to disappear when there isn’t anything to be afraid of anymore.

Jun

Blue gene regulation helps plants respond properly to light

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Blue light alters some gene expression in plants by changing the transcription start sites to downstream locations.

Jun

Out on a limb: the many ‘brains’ of the octopus

by amanda alvarez | Drop of science

Learn how (neurologically) cool octopus arms are (as if you didn’t already know).

Jun

Mutation links bipolar disorder to mitochondrial disease

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

ANT1 mutations found in bipolar disease that affect mitochondria lead to hyperexcitable serotonergic neuronal activity in the brain.

Jun

My science communication journey in Tokyo

by sarah naimi | What's Up With Us

New contributor and nuclear physicist Sarah Naimi talks about her recent experience in science communication at a recent scicom event in Tokyo.

Jun

Gene linked to intellectual ability affects memory replay in mice

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have discovered a gene in mice that allows memory replay at rest, a process necessary for forming long-lasting memories in mice.

May

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

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

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

May

Mutation protects against Alzheimer’s disease in mice

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

May

Plant peptide spells relief from salty stress

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Newly discovered plant peptide hormone can be used to protect plants from excessive environmental salt.

May

Putting E. coli to work for us

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

Specially engineered bacteria can produce an industrially significant chemical from renewable sources in a much gentler process than the one currently used by industry.

Apr

Why being sick can create anxiety

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

Researchers have linked changes in mouse immune-cell metabolism to anxiety-related behavior and alterations in brain chemistry.

Apr

Plant hormone combats dehydration

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists show that CLE25 is a plant hormone that travels from roots to leaves and helps close stomata in times of dehydration stress.

Mar

Heat shock system helps dried up bug come back to life

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

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.

Feb

In living color: imaging the brain with synthetic bioluminescence

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

A new way to image the brain from outside the head using bioluminescence.

Feb

Deep-brain exploration with nanomaterials

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

A new way to optogenetically activate neurons deep in the brain using infrared light and upconversion nanoparticles. It’s non-invasive!

Feb

Running away from carbon dioxide: the terminal connection

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Jan

Rainbow engineering to make the brain glow

by amanda alvarez | Drop of science

Bar talk about tinkering with bioluminescent molecules from jellyfish, corals, and algae, figuring out how they work, and making them more useful for brain science.

Jan

Geostationary satellite enables better precipitation and flood predictions

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Data from the Himawari-8 geosynchronous satellite was used in weather simulations to improve forecasts of sudden precipitation and tropical storm development.

Jan

Clean and green: a moss that removes lead (Pb) from water

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Scientists show that the moss Funaria hygrometrica can remove harmful lead from water when in the protonema stage of development.

Jan

The brain’s GPS has a buddy system

by amanda alvarez | Hot Off the Press

In addition to encoding self location, brain cells in the rat hippocampus act like a GPS that encodes the location of other rats.

Dec

Leaky plants bad for drought resistance

by adam phillips | Research in Depth

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

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 amanda alvarez | 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 amanda alvarez | 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.

Oct

Random movements help color-detecting cells form the proper pattern

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have used a mathematical model to explain why zebrafish cone cells in the eye are arranged in a specific pattern in all individuals.

Sep

Visualizing chick-brain morphogenesis

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

A new statistical-based method provides insight into the morphogenesis of developing organs.

Sep

Skin-like wearable electronics

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

Sensors made from stretchable nanomesh allow skin to breathe naturally while continuously monitoring patient health.

Sep

Solar cells you can put in the wash

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

Scientists have developed ultra-thin photovoltaic solar cells that can be incorporated into fabric and even washed.

Sep

Learning and unlearning to fear: The two faces of noradrenaline

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Sep

ּּּBigger oocytes = more mistakes

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

The large size of mouse oocytes is shown to create errors when chromosomes divide between daughter cells.

Sep

Superfly flight simulator helps unravel navigation in the brain

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Optical imaging neural activity in flies as they use a flight simulator can help us understand how the brain codes navigation.

First hydride-ion battery that works at room temperature

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

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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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Memories are made of this ? ? – (Part 1)

Brain science ’round midnight episode 8: Thomas McHugh from the RIKEN Center for Brain Science discusses memories and the brain

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Understanding non-coding DNA: gene “enhancers”

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

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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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Brainless memory makes the spinal cord smarter than previously thought

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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Aug

A researcher’s journey part 2: emotional memory and being human

by adam phillips | Interviews

Joshua Johansen from RIKEN CBS explains emotional memory, what his lab is doing, and what makes a good researcher.

Aug

Mathematical model predicts self-organized learning in real neurons

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

The free energy principle predicted how real neural connections changed as neurons “learned” in a dish.

Aug

Deadly fungi beaten with fatty acid synthase inhibitor

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A new approach to attacking fungi involves inhibiting a gene needed for making fatty acids.

Jul

A new and improved way to store hydrogen

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

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

Jun

A new alpha-particle treatment for multiple cancers

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Jun

A researcher’s journey: from surfing to studying pain

by adam phillips | Interviews

Joshua Johansen from RIKEN CBS tells us about his journey from surfer to pain researcher and beyond. Stay tuned for part II …

Jun

The first drug treatment for brain aneurysms (in mice)

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Jun

Simple but revolutionary modular organoids

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

A new way to construct complex 3D organoids without using elaborate techniques! The trick using modular cubes with hydrogel layers.

May

Thoughts on the genetics of medicinal licorice

by jens wilkinson | Drop of science

Jens talks about licorice and a recent RIKEN study that finally mapped its genome.

Transgenic plants ??on acid survive without water

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

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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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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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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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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.

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