A new three-dimensional model of the fault beneath the Marmara Sea in Türkiye reveals where a future major earthquake could take place, as reported by researchers from Science Tokyo. Using electromagnetic measurements, the team mapped hidden structures that help explain how earthquakes initiate and where ruptures could occur in this region. The findings help improve earthquake forecasts and could guide disaster prevention strategies for millions living in Istanbul and nearby, where seismic risk is high.

For the first time, researchers from Tokyo University of Science have observed wave-like interference patterns from positronium, a short-lived exotic atom made of an electron and a positron. They generated a high-quality, laser-based positronium beam and passed it through graphene layers to observe clear diffraction. The results confirm positronium’s wave nature and pave the way for precision measurements, antimatter studies, and advanced quantum research.

Hydrogen, a clean energy source, requires a highly reliable and safe storage system, which is currently lacking. Layered hydrogen silicane (L-HSi) is a promising, safe, lightweight, and energy-efficient solid-state hydrogen carrier with potential for practical utility. This material releases hydrogen when irradiated with low-intensity visible-light sources like sunlight or LEDs. L-HSi represents a new direction for hydrogen carrier system research.

What if you could create new materials just by shining a light them? To most, this sounds fantastical, but to physicists investigating Floquet engineering, this is the goal. With a periodic drive, like light, it’s possible to ‘dress up’ the electronic structure of any material, altering its fundamental properties – such as turning a simple semiconductor into a superconductor. While experimentally proven, light-driven Floquet requires strong drives that almost vaporize the material while achieving only modest effects. But researchers have now managed to achieve strong Floquet effect with a periodic drive just a fraction of the power required for modest light-driven Floquet – using excitons. This alternative method pavers the way to applied Floquet physics and thereby exciting novel quantum devices and applications.  

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers conducted two surveys on young carers aged 15 to 19 across Japan during and after the COVID-19 pandemic to clarify how caregiving burdens affect their psychology and emotions.

Peer reflection in microteaching is crucial as it provides diverse perspectives, helping novice teachers develop self-awareness, refine skills, and become adaptable to institutional practices. However, analyzing the responses to peer reflection is also crucial to elucidate the interactional dynamics. A new Japanese study explores the responses to self-assessment and advices in dialogic feedback sessions. The findings from this study can lead to the development of advanced task designs for improved pedagogical awareness.

Sum-frequency generation (SFG) is a powerful vibrational spectroscopy that can selectively probe molecular structures at surfaces and interfaces, but its spatial resolution has been limited to the micrometer scale by the diffraction limit of light. Here, we overcame this limitation by utilizing a highly confined near field within a plasmonic nanogap and successfully extended the SFG spectroscopy into nanoscopic regime with ~10-nm spatial resolution. We also established a comprehensive theoretical framework that accurately describes the microscopic mechanisms of this near-field SFG process. These experimental and theoretical achievements collectively represent a groundbreaking advancement in near-field second-order nonlinear nanospectroscopy, enabling direct access to correlated chemical and topographic information of interfacial molecular systems at the nanoscale.

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have studied how polymer-coated fertilizer (PCF) applied to fields ends up on beaches and in the sea. They studied PCF deposits on beaches around Japan, finding that only 0.2% of used PCFs are washed into rivers and returned to the coastline. When there are canals connecting fields to the sea, this rises to 28%. Their findings highlight a potentially significant “sink” in the global circulation of plastics.

Humanized mouse models are vital for studying human gene function, but fully replacing mouse genes with complete human sequences has been technically challenging. Researchers developed a streamlined two-step CRISPR method that inserts very large human genomic regions into mouse embryonic stem cells. The resulting mice showed human-like splicing, tissue-specific expression, and normal biological functions. The approach also supports adding disease-related mutations, offering a versatile platform for creating accurate, physiologically relevant humanized models.

Histamine is widely known for its role in allergic reactions but also functions as a key neurotransmitter in the brain, where its activity is tightly regulated by the histamine H₃ receptor (H₃R). In a recent study, researchers from Japan investigated the intricacies of how specific amino acid mutations alter H₃R signaling. Their findings reveal a close link between spontaneous receptor activation and structural destabilization, offering key insights for designing drugs for various brain disorders.