A black, sponge-like slab that floats with just lamp light has racked up 1.8 million views in a week. Developed at Nagoya University by Tomonaga Ueno, the carbon-nanotube aerogel is lighter than air and could quietly reshape EVs, eVTOL aircraft, drones and spacecraft. Here's how it actually works—and why the startup Sora Material thinks it's an industrial workhorse, not just a viral trick.
Free iOS collection ONE-DOT GAMES, built on the minimalist concept Kenji Eno (D, Enemy Zero) left behind in 2009, launched on May 17, 2026. University students who never knew him are now carrying the torch.
Japan's Environment Ministry confirmed PFAS contamination above national limits at 629 sites across 26 prefectures in fiscal 2024 — including locations near U.S. military bases, factories, and Self-Defense Force facilities. A UN special rapporteur has voiced 'most serious concern,' while Japan's standards lag far behind those of the U.S. and EU.
Researchers at Kyoto University used Japan's near-total medical insurance database to trace esotropia (inward-turning eyes) cases from 2014 to 2019, the years smartphones swept the country. Incidence rose from 32.26 to 36.61 per 100,000 person-years; surgeries climbed from 3,061 to 3,743. The link with smartphone penetration is strong, the absolute rise is small.
After a stroke, the brain repairs itself for about two months, then stops. A team from Science Tokyo, TMIMS, Kyushu University and Freiburg University has identified the protein responsible — ZFP384 — and developed an antisense drug that keeps the repair window open in mice. Published in Nature, the discovery could redraw what is possible for stroke survivors and other brain injuries.
The SI second hasn't changed since 1967. By 2030 it likely will. From Earth's rotation to atomic vibrations to optical transitions—this is the history of how we've defined the second, and a field guide to the candidate atoms and national labs racing to define it next.
PM Sanae Takaichi pledges to effectively double research funding and build a 'new technological nation,' targeting AI, semiconductors, and quantum to compete with the US, China, and Korea. We examine the reality behind the plan—Japan's 3.44% R&D-to-GDP ratio, declining PhD numbers—and whether the strategy can work.
Hospital Facility Dogs—canine 'medical staff' that report to the same Japanese pediatric hospital five days a week—will grow to seven teams nationwide by fiscal 2027. From Shizuoka to Hyogo and Tsukuba, we look at how Shine On! Kids built this uniquely structured program, why each dog costs roughly ¥12 million (about $76,000) a year to operate, and how donations and corporate partnerships are filling the gap.
Tohoku University researchers have proven for the first time that microscopic surface roughness can reduce air drag by up to 43.6%, overturning an 80-year-old fluid mechanics consensus dating back to the 1940s. Here is what this discovery could enable for aircraft, cars, ships, bullet trains, and drones — and how it differs from riblets and golf ball dimples.
A Japanese research team led by Gakushuin University has discovered Mitorubin, a plant-derived compound that simultaneously increases mitochondrial quantity and function. The compound improved heart function in aged mice and extended median lifespan by about 40% in obese mice on a high-fat diet — a distinct approach from US longevity biotech, NAD supplements, and senolytics.
In 2012, the Sankei Shimbun reported a biofuel revolution centered on Enomoto algae, a hyper-growth Botryococcus discovered by Kobe University professor Taira Enomoto. Heavy-industry giant IHI joined biotech venture Neo-Morgan Laboratory to commercialize it, with then-CEO Tomohiro Fujita declaring he wanted to cut the price to one-tenth within ten years. Fourteen years later, the joint venture has dissolved, but the algae produced the world's first commercial flight to use SAF certified under ASTM D7566 Annex 7, and a Japanese-led 5-hectare facility in Malaysia is now the largest of its kind on Earth. Did the promise come true, or is the dream over?
Japan's next-gen supercomputer Fugaku NEXT bets against the cooling consensus: warming water above 30°C to cool AI servers and cutting cooling power by 20%. It may also adopt 'ZAM,' a new memory developed by SoftBank and Intel that stands DRAM chips on edge with magnetic-field coupling. Why Japan is choosing efficiency over the gigawatt-scale arms race that defines US Frontier and El Capitan.
A Japanese team led by Prof. Takanori Takebe (Osaka & Science Tokyo) and Dr. Mureo Kasahara (National Center for Child Health and Development) plans the world's first pediatric clinical trial of UTOpiA, a bioartificial liver that perfuses blood through iPS-derived liver organoids. Animal trials showed 90% survival. How it compares with King's College London's HELP trial and Beijing's CiPS-BAL.
A Japanese team led by NAOJ has detected an atmosphere on a tiny trans-Neptunian object beyond Pluto for the first time, using stellar occultation observed from three sites across Japan. Why this rewrites textbooks on the outer solar system.
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have discovered that pill bugs (Armadillidium vulgare) don't just incorporate the calcium carbonate they eat — they rebuild it from scratch inside their bodies, always producing calcite even when fed aragonite. The unexpected polymorph control reveals a deeper biomineralization mystery and may inspire next-generation biomimetic materials.
On May 31, 2026, 19 Crested Ibises will be released in Hakui City, Ishikawa—the first wild release on Honshu in 56 years. Their Imperial Highnesses Crown Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko will attend, returning to a milestone they witnessed in 2008 on Sado Island. The release is also a symbol of recovery from the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake. We compare this revival story with the California Condor and Korean Oriental Stork programs.
Kenichi Sugino, who designed the Game Boy Color, Advance, DS and 3DS over 37 years at Nintendo, and Goro Abe, who directed all 12 WarioWare titles, have joined Osaka Electro-Communication University as professors. We explore Japan's distinctive game education model, how it compares to DigiPen and USC, and the wave of generational change at Nintendo.
When did crabs start walking sideways? A Japan-US-Taiwan team led by Nagasaki University filmed 50 species and mapped them onto a phylogenetic tree, finding that sideways walking evolved just once around 200 million years ago, published in eLife.
In central Japan's Nagano Prefecture, a dwarf bamboo called Suzutake is undergoing its once-in-120-years mass flowering. The last recorded event was in 1906. Researchers are seizing this rare scientific opportunity and asking citizens for sightings. We unpack the biology behind this mysterious cycle and compare it with India's Mautam famine and the giant panda food crisis in China.
Kyoto University's iPS Cell Research Institute (CiRA) has succeeded in producing 'helper T cells'—the conductors of the immune system—from iPS cells without using mouse feeder cells. The breakthrough opens a path beyond the limits of $500K+ CAR-T therapy, especially for patients whose own immune cells are exhausted from chemotherapy. Here's how Japan's progress compares with US efforts at Memorial Sloan Kettering and China's surging T-cell pipeline.