Melatonin in mice, circadian rhythms, and daily torpor


A new breed of lab mouse allows the study of naturally occurring melatonin. These mice will adjust better to jetlag than regular lab mice and experience daily torpor.

Supermassive black holes still dark and mysterious


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

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.

Pathogenic genetic variation linked to H. pylori-related stomach cancer


Researchers find that the risk of stomach cancer due to infection withH. Pylori bacteria increases with specific genetic variations.

Staining that lights up whole organs and bodies


Scientists have developed a staining procedure that makes see-through tissue, organs, and bodies useful.

Albumin drops medicine off at cancer site then leaves the body


By changing albumin’s identity, drugs can carried to their targets and then removed from the body after being used.

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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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Two genes that regulate how much we dream


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.

Brain wave synchrony can predict memory age


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

Massive filaments, galaxies, and supermassive black holes


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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

New treatment assembles cancer drug inside the body


Cancer drugs assembled inside the body on cancer cells should reduce harmful side effects to other tissue.

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.