Researchers in Japan created some of the world’s smallest semiconducting nanotubes, structures 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. By growing molybdenum disulfide inside protective tubes of boron nitride, researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, produced highly uniform tubes just 1 nanometer wide, a scale at which it’s difficult to make stable nanotube structures. The work confirms decades-old theoretical predictions about how these ultrafine materials behave and could also provide a new route toward miniaturized electronic devices. 

Pulmonary Regurgitation (PR) is a common and significant complication after treatment of the congenital heart disease Tetralogy of Fallot. MRIs are the standard method to evaluate the severity of PR, but may not be accessible to all patients due to limited availability or contraindications such as pacemakers or claustrophobia. Researchers have developed a new technique using dynamic chest radiography to analyze PR severity that can evaluate it with 93% accuracy with only a seven-second scan.

Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo (IIS U-Tokyo) have developed a real-time data assimilation system that substantially improves streamflow and flood forecasting accuracy across Japan. This new data assimilation system outperforms Japan’s current early warning system. Compared with the previous early warning system, the new data assimilation system yields improved forecasts for 80% of the major river reaches in Japan and enables reliable flood prediction across more than 60% of the observation stations in Japan.

A pilot study has developed a new sensory evaluation method that links the chemical structures of polyphenols with their distinct taste properties. Using trained human panelists, researchers showed that different polyphenols produce unique sensory effects, including bitterness, acidity, and astringency. The findings may help improve functional food design and food processing technologies while advancing understanding of how taste-related sensory pathways contribute to digestion, metabolism, and health-related responses.

Non-structural disaster measures, including early warnings and evacuation systems, helped improve coastal resilience and reduce storm-surge impacts in Macau, report researchers at Science Tokyo. After analyzing the city’s responses to three major typhoons, which included resident interviews, evaluations of early warning systems, evacuation procedures, and other typhoon mitigation efforts, the study found that earlier issuance of typhoon warnings, color-coded storm-surge alerts, and government-led evacuation guidance significantly improved public trust and reduced disaster impacts.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental condition characterized by difficulties in social communication and repetitive behaviors, for which no fundamental treatment currently exists. Now, a collaborative research group from Japan has shown that artificially activating a specific neural circuit in the brain can normalize structural abnormalities in the "axon initial segment" of neurons in an ASD mouse model. Consequently, this intervention successfully improved ASD-like behaviors, such as impaired sociability and increased repetitive actions. This breakthrough demonstrates that neural circuit-level abnormalities in ASD are reversible, highlighting the structural regulation of the axon initial segment as a promising new therapeutic target.

The Japan Science and Technology Agency has selected winners for the fifth Marie Sklodowska Curie Award for young female researchers together with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland. The award honors Marie Sklodowska’s great contribution and achievements to the development of science and technology across the world, and will inspire more active participation in this field by Japanese female researchers.

Speculative decoding is a technique used to speed up large language models (LLMs), but existing approaches were mostly developed for English and are less effective in other languages. Now, researchers from Japan have developed ADASPEC, a speculative decoding framework that automatically generates language-specific training data and adapts its vocabulary during inference. Tested across seven languages and seven tasks, ADASPEC consistently outperformed existing methods while remaining practical and efficient for real-world multilingual applications.

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are long, narrow bands of intense water vapor transport that move large amounts of moisture from low to mid latitudes, resembling giant rivers in the sky. They are gaining widespread attention because of their potential to trigger flooding across the Japanese archipelago. Researchers at University of Tsukuba have discovered that influenced by global warming and the strengthening of the North Pacific Subtropical High, the intensity of water vapor transport in ARs has increased by approximately 8% over the past 42 years (1981-2022).