Cells have surface receptors that couple to proteins and other molecules to initiate or inhibit certain behaviors. Typically, the number of these receptors increases as the cell matures, but researchers have now identified that one receptor influences cell behavior much earlier than previously thought and appears to help trigger the cell differentiation process to form neurons. 

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), with help from a ‘natural telescope’ formed by gravity, have identified the source of a neutrino burst. The team expected a supermassive black hole to be the engine driving the remarkably bright galaxy. Instead, the team found that the galaxy was driven by vigorous star formation. This result provides important observational evidence to help explain the mysterious origin of cosmic neutrinos.

Continuous consumption of foods containing heat-inactivated Lactiplantibacillus pentosus can help reduce gum bleeding, report researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo. These postbiotic foods can improve inflammatory conditions and enhance gum health in adults with mild gingivitis. The study suggested that these postbiotic foods offer a simple and practical way to support oral health in daily life without altering oral care habits. The findings also aid in the prevention of early-stage periodontal disease.

Published on June 12 in the Journal of Micro/Nanopatterning, Materials, and Metrology (JM³), Professor Tsumoru Shintake of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), has proposed a radical redesign to the illumination systems and projectors used in high numerical aperture (high-NA) EUV lithography. Simulations suggest that his design could eliminate troublesome optical (so-called ‘mask 3D’) effects, enhance resolution and enable the manufacture of smaller computer chips at lower cost than current EUV methods. 

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Sharp Corporation, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, and TECHLAB Co., Ltd. jointly reduced the total weight of a planar antenna for NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) applications by 47% (from 5.5 kg to 2.9 kg) through a new heat dissipation device design.

This was achieved by integrating a CFRP heat dissipation device using a composite material combining carbon fiber prepreg and graphite sheet into the NTN planar antenna. The required electrical performance of the planar antenna was also confirmed. In addition, operation including the modem was confirmed as a satellite communication user terminal.

The achievement greatly expands the range of mobility platforms on which the terminal can be deployed, including drones and vehicles. It is expected to support the establishment of communication links in mountainous areas and disaster-affected regions, real-time transmission of location information from various types of mobility, and future applications such as autonomous driving, thereby representing a major step toward the realization of NTN.

Physicists have long wondered whether the fundamental laws of nature contain freely adjustable external “dials.” A researcher at Kyushu University and collaborators have shown, under certain assumptions, that continuous parameters in conformal field theories can be generated by operators within the theory itself. The findings support Einstein’s idea that apparent free parameters in quantum gravity should be explained by dynamical fields rather than chosen externally.

Tedious trial-and-error, or a systematic screening method? The latter is the clear winner, but how do we go about doing it? Researchers at Tohoku University explain the workflow, and how it screened for an efficient, Ruthenium-based catalyst.

Researchers from The University of Osaka found that using a sequence analysis approach that incorporates awareness of insertions and deletions in extramembrane domains enabled accurate reconstruction of ancestral rhodopsins that folded correctly and functioned as predicted when expressed in E. coli. The researchers’ ConsistASR analytical pipeline could be used to engineer other ancestral proteins in the future.

NIMS (National Institute for Materials Science) has decided to present the NIMS Award 2026 to Prof. Ryoji Kanno from the Institute of Science Tokyo and Prof. Masahiro Tatsumisago from Osaka Metropolitan University. They brought about significant innovations to “all-solid-state batteries,” in a field which in recent years has seen an intensifying of global competitions toward next-generation energy storage technologies.

Peptides are important biological compounds that carry key information for many biological processes. However, accurately reading their sequences has long been a challenge. In a new study, researchers developed a mass-spectrometry-based approach that attaches a coumarin-derived tag to the N-terminus of each peptide, enabling accurate and reliable sequencing of even short peptides, directly from spectral data without relying on protein sequence databases. This helps in identifying novel peptides.