Self-healing coatings are advanced materials that can repair damage, such as scratches and cracks on their own. Researchers from Waseda University have developed an efficient method for preparing self-healing films consisting of alternating layers of highly cross-linked organosiloxane and linear polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Their film is more durable than conventional self-healing PDMS materials, offering superior hardness and greater thermal stability while self-healing at mild temperatures, paving the way for stronger, more reliable, and easier-maintained self-healing materials.

A novel technique to visualize gene-active and gene-repressive DNA regions in living cells, developed by a multi-institutional team based in Japan. The technique reveals the distinct physical properties of chromatin—gene-active euchromatin acts like a liquid, while gene-repressive heterochromatin behaves like a gel—shedding light on their roles in gene expression and DNA replication, with potential implications for understanding genome regulation.

Enhanced westerly winds associated with global warming will strengthen the clockwise circulations and heat transport to the ice sheet in the East Antarctic coastal area.

Rare manuscripts from Kyushu University Library, over 1,000 years old and significant to Japanese language history, are about to be designated as Japan’s Important Cultural Property. More than 300 high-quality images are now freely accessible through the library’s digital archive.

Authoritarian states increasingly use persuasive narratives to shape public opinion in democracies. A new study finds that Japanese voters are broadly susceptible to illiberal narratives from China and Russia, which exert a stronger influence than democratic messaging. Surprisingly, susceptibility was widespread across the population, regardless of political knowledge or beliefs. The findings highlight Japan’s vulnerability to foreign influence operations and underscore the urgent need for countermeasures to protect democratic discourse from manipulative, cognitive warfare.

Plate temperature and water release can explain the occurrence of different types of earthquakes in Guerrera, Mexico. The Kobe University simulation study also showed that the shape of the Cocos Plate is responsible for a gap where earthquakes haven’t occurred for more than a century. The results are important for accurate earthquake prediction models in the region.

When a natural disaster disrupts the lifeline services of water, electricity, gas, or telecommunications, this can wreak havoc on people’s lives. In order to build resilient lifelines, it is essential to analyze the impacts disasters may have, for example, on underground pipelines, and make use of this information in future designs. Professor KUWATA Yasuko at the Graduate School of Engineering is an expert in lifeline earthquake engineering and, in addition to the importance of strengthening facilities, she points out the need for taking measures based on the assumption that there will be potential damage in the event of a disaster, and for raising awareness among the public.