The It Ain't Magic Science Blog

Social novelty in the brain: haven’t I seen you someplace before?

Social novelty and contextual novelty are segregated in the SuM region of the hypothalamus and in projections to the hippocampus, allowing memories of meeting new people to be formed separately from memories of new places.

Read on

Decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 series — installment #2: RIKEN CBS Unit Leader Rei Akaishi talks about government decision-making during the pandemic.

Read on

Chromosome copying errors pinpointed in developing embryos

The DNA duplication process changes during embryogenesis and chromosome copying errors increase during the transition.

Read on

Staining that lights up whole organs and bodies

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

Read on

Leaky plants bad for drought resistance

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

Read on

Real webshooters? Synthetic spider silk spun from artificial gland

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

Read on

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

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 amanda alvarez | 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

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.

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)

Tumor detection during breast cancer surgery

Scientists have developed a new way to accurately detect the margins between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue during breast cancer surgery.

Read on

Mutation protects against Alzheimer’s disease in mice

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

Read on

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.

Read on

Protein pileup affects social behavior through altered brain signaling

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.

Read on

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.

Read on

Freedom from fear ?‍♀️

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

Read on

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.

Aug

Marsupial heart regeneration ability given to mice

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

Regeneration of mouse hearts ? ?? after birth achieved by figuring out how it’s possible in opossums.

Aug

How an herbal medicine protects against inflamed bowels

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Jul

Robotic AI helps efficient growth of replacement organs

by masataka sasabe | Hot Off the Press

Humans team-up with a robotic AI to speed up experiments to find the best way to regrow damaged eye tissue from stem cells.

Jun

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

by adam phillips | Hot Off the Press

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

Social contact-seeking behavior and loneliness in the brain

Levels of the peptide amylin in the brain are related to loneliness; activating amylin neurons in the MPOA drives isolated mice to seek social contact.