Energy efficiency is crucial for sustainability, yet vast amounts of low-temperature waste heat remain unused in industrial processes. Now, researchers from Japan have investigated erythritol slurry as a promising heat transfer medium for thermal storage and transport. By analyzing its flow behavior and non-Newtonian properties, they developed a predictive equation for its rheological characteristics. Their findings could help guide the design of industrial waste heat recovery systems, advancing energy efficiency and carbon neutrality.

Originally described in the context of particles drifting through liquid, Lévy walk has been found to accurately describe a very wide range of phenomena, from cold atom dynamics to swarming bacteria. And now, a new study published in Complexity has for the first time found Lévy walk in the movements of competing groups of organisms: football teams.

Medical researchers in Japan have discovered a way to predict a potentially life-threatening side effect of cancer immunotherapy before it occurs. By analyzing cerebrospinal fluid collected pre-treatment, researchers at Kyushu University identified specific proteins associated with a damaging immune response that can affect the central nervous system after therapy. Their findings could make immunotherapy cancer treatment safer by helping doctors identify high-risk patients in advance, allowing early treatment or even prevention of this condition.

The Antarctic Meteorite Collection at the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) in Japan has been recognized as a Geo-collection by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). An IUGS Geo-collection is a museum collection of global importance because of its particularly high scientific, historical, or educational relevance for geological sciences. With over 17,400 meteorites, the Antarctic Meteorite Collection offers invaluable insights into the early solar system, planetary bodies, the Moon, and Mars. Carefully classified and stored, these samples complement space mission findings, advancing global research on planetary evolution and solar system history.

It is widely believed that Earth’s atmosphere has been rich in oxygen for about 2.5 billion years due to a relatively rapid increase in microorganisms capable of performing photosynthesis. Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, provide a mechanism to explain precursor oxygenation events, or “whiffs,” which may have opened the door for this to occur. Their findings suggest volcanic activity altered conditions enough to accelerate oxygenation, and the whiffs are an indication of this taking place.

Over 120 years ago, Henry Ernest Dudeney posed the famous dissection problem of transforming a triangle into a square by cutting it into as few pieces as possible. In a new study, researchers have finally proved that the original solution, which involves only four pieces, is optimal by using a new proof technique. This technique shows for the first time that it is possible to prove the optimality of the solution to a dissection problem.

To be able to make the switch to environmentally friendly hydrogen fuels, there needs to be a catalyst…or a precatalyst, to be specific!

Researchers from Osaka University analyzed the clinical dental records of a large group of patients with hypophosphatasia (a skeletal disease) to identify its common oral symptoms. Their findings, including early tooth loss, poor oral habits, and disordered swallowing, may help early diagnosis of hypophosphatasia, thereby improving patient treatment and quality of life.

Spatial economics is a relatively new area of economics, aiming to comprehensively analyze the spatial structures of economic activities that result from interactions between people and companies. Professor HAMAGUCHI Nobuaki, who works on global economy and economic integration at Kobe University’s Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, specializes in spatial economics, and for over a span of 10 years has been visiting areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake for his research. We asked him for his thoughts on recovery efforts from the perspective of spatial economics.