A new study of the blue button (Porpita porpita), a small and elusive sea creature which lives on the surface of the ocean, has found that it may live for several years adrift at sea, much longer than previously estimated. Researchers from the University of Tokyo’s Misaki Marine Biological Station also found that the float which keeps the animal adrift expands by growing new rings from its outermost layer. Blue buttons are notoriously difficult to keep alive in captivity, so this is a step closer towards eventually understanding their full life cycle.

In a new study, researchers observed red auroras over Japan that stretched to unexpectedly high altitudes, about 500 to 800 kilometers above Earth.

Researchers from The University of Osaka found that only a small subset of tumor-killing T cells undergoes extensive expansion during immunotherapy for multiple myeloma. By tracking individual cells, the team showed that the T-cell clones that later became dominant had already begun expanding shortly after the treatment started. The findings also suggest that highly proliferative immune cells show lower levels of exhaustion-related markers, offering new insights into why some patients respond better to immunotherapy.

In the latest in a series of studies showing how lab-raised fish differ from those raised in more natural environments, researchers found that medaka maintained in more natural settings ovulated earlier than those in the laboratory. These findings highlight the challenges of inferring natural behavior from that observed in the laboratory.

Researchers at Niigata University found that APOE ε4, a genetic variant best known as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, may influence how ALS pathology spreads in the brain and spinal cord. Analyzing 145 autopsy-confirmed ALS cases, the team showed that APOE ε4 carriers were more likely to have widespread TDP-43 pathology. The findings suggest a new genetic clue to ALS heterogeneity and may support future personalized care.

Animals such as bats rely on sound for navigation and locating prey. However, they must distinguish between important signals and surrounding noise. Researchers from Doshisha University, Japan, now report that greater Japanese horseshoe bats actively create a “silent spectral window” through ultrasonic frequency control, which allows them to clearly detect echoes from their prey against the background clutter. This strategy not only stabilizes echoes but also suppresses environmental noise, inspiring future noise cancellation technologies.

Seismic anisotropy near stagnant slabs in the mantle transition zone and uppermost lower mantle suggests an additional slab-related source. High-pressure deformation experiments on hydrous minerals δ-AlOOH and δ-H at 20.5–24.5 GPa and 800–1000 °C show that they develop strong crystallographic preferred orientations. The resulting fabrics produce negative radial seismic anisotropy (V_SV > V_SH) under horizontal flow, distinct from many major mantle minerals, and may contribute to anisotropy near flattened slab tops.

An Osaka Metropolitan University-led research team demonstrated that when female Tongeia fischeri, a near-threatened butterfly species in Japan, feed on an invasive plant during the larval stage, the reflectance spectrum of their adult wings changes, making them less preferred for mating by wild males. 

People buy things using services like Amazon and Rakuten and share information on social media. We call these places of commerce and exchange “platforms,” and nowadays, they’ve become essential parts of our lives. On the other hand, various issues have also been pointed out in recent years regarding the direction of these platforms, such as oligopolies formed by massive corporations and scams from fake advertising. We sat down with Professor ZENNYO Yusuke of the Graduate School of Business Administration, who researches platform businesses, to tell us about the background and current state of these rapidly growing businesses as well as some challenges moving forward.

What plant do cats love most? In Europe and North America, many people would say catnip, while in Japan the answer would more likely be silver vine (matatabi in Japanese). A research team from Iwate University and Nagoya University found that domestic cats respond more reliably to silver vine than to catnip when they are free to approach or ignore the plants. In outdoor experiments, free-roaming cats repeatedly rubbed and rolled on fresh silver vine but showed little response to nearby catnip plants. The same pattern was observed in 22 captive purebred cats tested in a large indoor environment. Surprisingly, chemical analysis showed that catnip contained abundant active compounds, including nepetalactone isomers, and laboratory cage tests confirmed that catnip-derived compounds can trigger the typical feline response. The findings show that chemical activity in the laboratory does not always predict real-world behavior, highlighting the importance of studying animals under conditions that allow natural choice.