The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

Gut bacteria could help overcome milk allergy

Analysis shows that some gut bacteria could help improve oral immunotherapy against milk allergy.

Blocking obesity with a protein-sugar combination

Discovery of an enzyme that prevents obesity in mice through glycosylation of a protein involved fat-cell differentiation.

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Millions of years of galaxy evolution simulated in mere months with the help of AI

When a machine learning AI was asked to help simulate galaxy evolution, processing time went from years to months.

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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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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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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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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

Aug

Eve Marder: freeing knowledge, crashing neurons

by admin | 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)!

Jun

Why “nihonium”?

by jens wilkinson | Research Highlight

Kosuke Morita and Kouji Morimoto talked to reporters on Thursday morning about how they came up with name “nihonium” for element 113.

Jun

Nerd Nite comes to Tokyo

by jens wilkinson | What's Up With Us

Jens checks out Nerd Nite in Tokyo — swords and physics and brains oh my!

Jun

RIKEN Research Spring issue is here

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Just a quick post to let you know that the Spring issue of RIKEN Research Magazine came out towards the end of March. This issue covers issues including the discovery of element 113, earth-friendly pesticides, and the secrets of a rice-killing fungal toxin. Enjoy!

Jun

Organ regeneration in the lab

by jens wilkinson | Interviews, What's Up With Us

Interview with Takashi Tsuji, team leader of the Laboratory for Organ Regeneration at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology

May

Of mice and NREM: In this brain circuit, memories depend on sleep

by admin | Research Highlight

The parts of the brain responsible for creating a memory must be re-activated during a specific part of the sleep cycle for mice to remember.

Apr

Dear RIKEN: Can you bring frozen animals back to life?

by jens wilkinson | Dear RIKEN

Today we post our first Dear RIKEN question and answer.

Mar

From evolutionary morphology to Godzilla

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

I recently spoke with RIKEN scientist Shigeru Kuratani about evolutionary morphology, sci-fi monsters, the genius of Alien, and more.

Feb

Award-winning 3D images of living cells

by jens wilkinson | Interviews, What's Up With Us

An interview with Yuko Kiyosue, discussing the 3D images of living cells that gained her and her colleagues a recent award.

Jan

Electrolithoautotrophs

by adam phillips | Research in Depth

Learn what electrolithoautotrophs are and how the scientists proved that A. ferrooxidans can use electric potential to fuel growth.

Jan

Element 113: “discovery” or not?

by adam phillips | Drop of science

Recently four new synthetic elements were added to the periodic table. We asked Dr. Morita whether he thinks his team “discovered” or “created” element 113.

Dec

Black smokers and electroecosystems

by adam phillips | Research in Depth

Dec

Science communication symposium

by adam phillips | What's Up With Us

Friday I participated in a small symposium that focused on science communication (for institutions in Japan). We discussed using social media as a means to self-publish wow! and amazing! research findings. Here are some of my thoughts about how useful this plays out in Japan.

Dec

RIKEN at a glance

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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!

Dec

About this blog

by adam phillips | What's Up With Us

Read about the purpose of our blog and what we hope to achieve with it.

Dec

Let the blogging begin!

by jens wilkinson | What's Up With Us

Welcome to the It Ain’t Magic science blog! (brought to you by the RIKEN Global Communications Team)

Hibernation-like state can protect kidneys during heart surgery

Activating Q-neurons in the mouse brain led to a hibernation-like state that protected kidneys during heart surgery.

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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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New lab-grown retinal sheets almost ready for clinical trials

A new retinal transplant technique works by preventing bipolar cells from maturing in lab-grown retinal sheets.

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Consciousness, brain connections, and the claustrum

Research shows that the claustrum acts as a ‘consciousness conductor’ that synchronizes and connects areas within the mouse brain.

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Extra “eye” movements are the key to better self-driving cars

If self-driving cars make saccades like people, they might make fewer mistakes identifying important features of the road.

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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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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.

Dec

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

by adam phillips | Interviews

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

Nov

Hibernation-like state can protect kidneys during heart surgery

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Activating Q-neurons in the mouse brain led to a hibernation-like state that protected kidneys during heart surgery.

Sep

Crying baby? Science says walk, then sit

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Recipe for success: Walk 5 min, sit 8 min, lay no-longer-crying baby down. Now you can relax.

Sep

Cyborg cockroaches to the rescue!

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

The key to this remote-controllable cyborg cockroach is a solar-cell rechargeable battery and an ultrathin flexible backpack.

Aug

Ethanol pretreated soil protects plants from drought

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Pretreating soil with ethanol protected plants, including wheat and rice, from the adverse effects of water deprivation.

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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Opossums are the first genome edited marsupials

A new piezoelectronic microinjection method has allowed the first successful genome editing in marsupials: albino opossums.

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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.

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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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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.