The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

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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A new type of cell death discovered in fly guts

A completely unknown type of cell death called “erebosis” has been discovered in the guts of the common fruit fly.

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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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How an herbal medicine protects against inflamed bowels

A Japanese herbal medicine promotes good bacteria and innate immune cells in the gut, which protects against intestinal inflammation.

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Centennial RIKEN Research

???This Spring we’ve put together a special centennial issue of RIKEN Research ???

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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.

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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

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.

Sep

Skipping fatty acids could be recipe for schizophrenia

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Prenatal lack of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids linked to epigenetic changes that lead to schizophrenic symptoms in mice.

Aug

A gut-wrenching defense against parasitic worms

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

Mast cells in the gut help fight off parasitic worms in the early stages of infection.

Aug

Memory retrieval needs a neuronal connecting flight

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Aug

From egg to embryo

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

A newly discovered gene turns off an egg’s egginess, allowing it to become an embryo.

Aug

This nickel catalyst bats from both sides of the plate

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

Scientists discover that a nickel catalyst acts as both a acid and a base during molecule assembly.

Jul

New info about how chromosomes form

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

Fewer components are needed for chromosome assembly during cell division than previously supposed.

Jul

Tracking how stars grow up in a virtual playground

by amanda alvarez | Research Highlight

Amanda Alvarez writes about Steven Rieder and his research in modeling clusters of growing new stars.

Jul

Protons are lighter than previously thought

by jens wilkinson | Hot Off the Press

A new and most precise measurement of protons shows that they are lighter than previously thought.

Jul

Untangling depression in Huntington’s disease

by riken research highlights | Research Highlight

New research implicates clumps of insoluble, misfolded proteins in the development of mental illness in people with Huntington’s disease

Jul

Imaging whole-body cancer metastasis at the single-cell level

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A new optical clearing method allows imaging of cancer metastasis at incredibly high resolution.

Jun

Meet the editors: the growing pains of scientific publishing

by amanda alvarez | What's Up With Us

Amanda Alvarez writes about the recent seminars at RIKEN by Philip Campbell and Emilie Marcus, the editors-in-chief of Nature and Cell.

May

Carbon nanotubes, what are they good for?

by kylius wilkins | Interviews, What's Up With Us

Kylius Wilkins talks to Urs Frey and his recent success manufacturing carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

May

Finding real rewards in a virtual world

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A new study shows that mice who learn to find goals in virtual reality use their hippocampus the same was as in the real world.

Apr

RIKEN is looking for you

by adam phillips | What's Up With Us

RIKEN is looking for you. Check out our new introductory videos! learn about exotic nuclei and much much more.

Apr

Promising mouse model for Ngly1 deficiency

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A recent study of Ngly1 deficient mice used a secondary knockout to create double knockouts with symptoms similar to human NGLY1 deficiency.

Apr

Nihonium walk of fame

by jens wilkinson | Drop of science, What's Up With Us

A nihonium walk of fame is being built to commemorate the discovery of the 113th element

Apr

New rice fights off drought

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Researchers have created drought resistant transgenic rice using a gene from a small Eurasian flowering plant

Apr

Centennial RIKEN Research

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

???This Spring we’ve put together a special centennial issue of RIKEN Research ???

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 kylius wilkins | 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 amanda alvarez | 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 amanda alvarez | What's Up With Us

neuroamanda talks about gender equality for female scientists is Japan.

Aug

Measuring altitude — with clocks?

by jens wilkinson | Drop of science

Measuring altitude using atomic clocks seems like a crazy idea, but it’s already being done at RIKEN in Japan

Aug

The sound of molecules: NMR-inspired music

by adam phillips | Research in Depth, Science Heavy

Science & art: how NMR works and how NMR spectra have been used to compose music based on molecular structures.

Aug

Eve Marder: freeing knowledge, crashing neurons

by amanda alvarez | Interviews

None of us would get on a plane that had its parts changed in mid-air, says Eve Marder, who has spent her career probing a very specific cluster of crustacean nerve cells. Yet we are all walking around undergoing a constant turnover of cellular parts, and so are the lobsters and crabs Marder studies.

Aug

RIKEN Research Summer issue

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

A quick post to let you know that the Summer issue of RIKEN Research Magazine came out towards the end of June. This issue covers brain evolution, regenerating skin, super-clear synapses, and much much more! Enjoy!

Aug

ESOF and the gimungous telescope

by adam phillips | What's Up With Us

Highlights from the recent EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) conference held in Manchester (actually, pre-ESOF). Science was everywhere, even out by the sheep

Jun

Call for science-inspired art

by adam phillips | Drop of science, What's Up With Us

A rant about right-brain/left-brain pseudoscience and a call for science-inspired art. Scientists can be artists (and artists can be scientists)!

RIKEN discovers new T cells related to immune disorders

Immune-related diseases like multiple sclerosis associated with genetic variation in newly discovered, rare T cells.

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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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Bye-bye microplastics: new plastic is fully ocean-degradable

A new bioplastic that dissolves in saltwater — no more pesky microplastics!

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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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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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Microcolumns: elementary neuronal units that carpet the (mouse) brain

A hexagonal lattice organizes major cell types in the cerebral cortex, with similar cells synchronizing their activity in microcolumns.

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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.

Apr

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

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Mar

ERRg predicts atrial fibrillation and hidden comorbidity

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Dec

Memories are made of this ?? – (Part 2)

by adam phillips | Interviews

Thomas McHugh from the RIKEN Center for Brain Science continues his discussion about memories, emotions, the brain, and life.

Dec

Replicating opossum heart regeneration to help fight cardiovascular disease

by adam phillips | Research Animation

Animated research highlight: Opossum hearts hint at new ways of fighting cardiovascular disease

Dec

Spacey, nerdy nights in Tokyo

by kelly | What's Up With Us

Kelly, our new It Ain’t Magic contributor, writes about her nerdy nighttime experiences in Tokyo.

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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How does gravity affect antimatter?

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

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Talking science Illustration with Misaki Ouchida

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.

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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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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.

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