Institute for Molecular Science (IMS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, announced on Aug. 24 that Japan's first full-stack neutral-atom quantum computer "Shunkai," developed by a research team led by Professor Kenji Ohmori, is now operational.

OUS students developed a hands-on supply chain workshop using LEGO bricks to introduce high school students to Toyota’s Lean concepts, including Kanban, Kaizen, and waste reduction. Through a competitive manufacturing simulation, participants experienced how reducing inventory, improving communication, and responding to demand can increase supply chain efficiency. The workshop also gave OUS students an opportunity to translate business theory into an engaging learning experience for the next generation.

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used a theoretical framework to derive design rules for creating new thermoelectric materials. The efficiency of converting thermal energy to electricity is often determined by parameters which strongly depend on each other, making it difficult to identify ideal recipes. The team’s findings help lay out goals for optimizing “band structure,” a map showing what states electrons can take, promising a shift towards rational material design.

Japan has one of the world’s longest-living populations, yet predicting which octogenarians will lose their independence remains difficult. Now, researchers identify two blood proteins—beta-2-microglobulin and cystatin C—that are consistently associated with future disability in adults aged 85 years and older. The findings, independently replicated in an Italian aging cohort, suggest that kidney dysfunction and chronic inflammation contribute to disability risk and could support earlier preventive interventions in rapidly aging populations worldwide.

Earth's inner core, composed primarily of iron with a small percentage of light elements, may enter a superionic state at extreme pressure and temperature, according to experimental results from researchers at Science Tokyo. Using laser-heated and electrically wired diamond-anvil cells, the researchers identified experimental signatures of superionic iron hydride at conditions relevant to Earth’s core. These findings provide new insights into the composition and dynamics of Earth's deep interior.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for roughly 15–20% of all breast cancer cases and is difficult to treat. Patients are often left with chemotherapy as their only treatment option. This is because TNBC tumors contain a large number of T cells that suppress the immune system. Yet researchers from Tohoku University have come up with a three-pronged approach to overcome this problem.

Researchers from the University of Osaka and Diponegoro University developed an AI-powered navigation system for cyborg cockroaches. Using onboard sensors and a multilayer perceptron, the system recognizes flat ground, climbs, descents, and holes in real time, then adapts electrical stimulation accordingly. By supporting natural climbing while reducing unnecessary steering, the approach shortened obstacle-crossing and total navigation times, reduced travel distance and stimulation, and significantly improved efficient movement across complex terrain.

A study from Japan finds that how educators frame environmental ethics can shape learning outcomes. Surveying students across 21 elementary schools, researchers found they responded more strongly, at least in the short term, when nature was framed around what it does for them rather than around its value in itself. The researchers hope the finding will encourage educators to think as carefully about how ethics are framed as they do about what content to teach.

A research group led by University of Tsukuba has examined a fossil in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, and identified it as the right sternal plate (part of the chest skeleton) of an iguanodontian dinosaur. The size of the sternal plate indicates that it belonged to a small individual with an estimated body length of approximately 3 meters. Since previously recovered iguanodontian specimens from the Upper Cretaceous in Japan appear to belong to larger individuals (exceeding 3 meters in body length), this discovery suggests that smaller iguanodontian individuals also inhabited coastal environments in East Asia.