Utilization of biomass as a chemical resource is a promising strategy for establishing a circular economy. Cellulose, a polymer composed of glucose units, is the most abundant form of biomass, and glucose is a versatile feedstock for chemicals. However, cellulose is a highly recalcitrant material due to its extensive hydrogen-bond (H-bond) network. Kobayashi, Nishimura, and their colleagues discovered that simply dipping cellulose in an aqueous NaOH solution below −28 ℃ makes it more reactive. Thereby, the efficiency of saccharification (the process of breaking down cellulose into sugars) increased 2.2 times.

When people hear “insect research,” their thoughts may turn to rare, never-before-discovered species. But the research being done by Associate Professor Ryosuke Fujita of the Faculty of Agriculture involves infectious diseases transmitted by common insects and arthropods such as ticks, mosquitoes, and flies. We heard from Fujita about his research on pests that harm animals and human beings, why he chose it, and its significance.

Professor Kazuhiro Ogata and Senior Lecturer Canh Minh Do at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology are addressing the critical need for reliable quantum computing by developing formal verification methods. By creating frameworks such as the Concurrent Dynamic Quantum Logic (CDQL) to model and verify quantum protocols, their work aims to make quantum systems dependable and ready for real-world applications.

A projection mapping system consisting of many densely arranged projectors was found to effectively remove shadows from a tabletop workspace. To ensure the projected images do not contain blur or visible latency, a blur compensation method independent of the number of projectors was developed. Experiments using the proposed metric ‘sense of projection’ found that shadow removal, blur removal, and low latency improved perception. The results helped determine the number of projectors and their arrangement.  

A paper titled "Tip-enhanced sum frequency generation spectroscopy using temporally asymmetric pulse for detecting weak vibrational signals," published on February 19, 2026 by a research team from the Institute for Molecular Science (Atsunori Sakurai, Shota Takahashi, Tatsuto Mochizuki, and Toshiki Sugimoto) and Tohoku University (Tomonori Hirano and Akihiro Morita), has been selected as a "Featured Article" in The Journal of Chemical Physics, published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), in recognition of its particularly noteworthy research.

The paper is available at the following URL: https://pubs.aip.org/aip/jcp/article/164/7/074202/3380428/Tip-enhanced-sum-frequency-generation-spectroscopy

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have developed a noncontact vibration measurement method using an event camera, a sensing technology inspired by biological vision. By applying geometric analysis to event-stream data, the team succeeded in reconstructing vibrations—an achievement that had posed substantial challenges using event camera. The method is more accessible and cost-effective than standard optical vibrometry techniques based on lasers. The researchers also demonstrated that multiple sound sources can be separated and simultaneously recorded using a single camera.

We have identified a macrophage population “Mrep” that plays an essential role in muscle repair. However, in Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), Mrep functions as a pathogenic cell that triggers heterotopic ossification. These research findings would contribute not only to muscle regeneration therapy but also to the development of novel therapeutic approaches for FOP.