Researchers investigated how autoimmune gastritis alters the gastric microbiota and disrupts metabolism, shedding light on mechanisms that contribute to the development of neuroendocrine tumors.

Deadwood-decomposing fungi feed germinating orchids, providing the carbon their tiny seeds don’t have. The Kobe University finding not only closes a gap in our understanding of wild orchid ecology but also uncovers an important carbon flux in the ecosystem.

Tohoku University researchers dispel the “plasma effect” myth in spark plasma sintering, showing that both SPS and hot pressing achieve equally effective, rapid densification of LLZO solid electrolytes.

2025 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine Professor Shimon Sakaguchi at the Immunology Frontier Research Center, The University of Osaka delivered his message on 6 October 2025.2025 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine Professor Shimon Sakaguchi at the Immunology Frontier Research Center, The University of Osaka delivered his message on 6 October 2025.

Work engagement is a persistent, positive state of mind that enhances productivity, creativity, and well-being. However, few practical methods exist to foster it. Addressing this gap, researchers from Japan developed WEDiary, a smartphone app that encourages daily positive reflection on work achievements. In a randomized controlled trial involving 600 Japanese workers, the app significantly improved work engagement levels in only 2 weeks, with effects lasting 3 weeks beyond the intervention.

Entrepreneurship studies often focus on firm growth-related topics. The factors affecting the high-growth (HG) in high-growth firms (HGFs) are not well established. While some studies suggest that proactive strategizing precedes the HG period, others consider that the near-random structure of the firm’s growth is better to delay growth-related investments. This study focuses on the “timing” of setting up new hierarchical layers and the consequences if it happens before or after the growth event.

Social hierarchies are everywhere—think of high school dramas, where the athletes are portrayed as most popular, or large companies, where the CEO makes the important decisions. Such hierarchies aren’t just limited to humans, but span the animal kingdom, with dominant individuals getting faster food access, higher mating priority, and bigger or better territories. Whilst it’s long been thought that winning or losing can influence the position of an individual within a social hierarchy, the brain mechanisms behind these social dynamics have remained a mystery. In iScience, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) investigate the neurological basis of social hierarchy in male mice, pinpointing the neurons they believe crucial in determining these social hierarchy dynamics.

Cells all require the transport of materials to maintain their function. In nerve cells, a tiny motor made of protein called KIF1A is responsible for that. Mutations in this protein can lead to neurological disorders, including difficulties in walking, intellectual impairment and nerve degradation. It’s known that mutations in KIF1A also result in a weakened motor performance, but this has been difficult to measure so far. Researchers including those from the University of Tokyo and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan have measured changes in the force of KIF1A using a nanospring, a tiny, coiled structure, made of DNA which could lead to improved diagnosis of diseases related to the protein’s mutations.

Kanazawa gold leaf, one of the world’s thinnest metallic foils and a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, owes its brilliance and durability to an unusual deformation mechanism. A team led by Professor Yoshifumi Oshima at JAIST discovered that non-octahedral {110}–<110> slip systems, normally inactive in gold, are activated during the traditional hammering process. This finding provides a scientific foundation for sustaining cultural heritage while inspiring new approaches to advanced nanomaterials and ultrathin metallic films.

Four-limbed vertebrates, known as tetrapods, have two enlarged regions in their spinal cords. Meanwhile, it was long thought that fish had no enlarged areas in their spinal cords due to the absence of limbs. However, a recent study by scientists from Nagoya University in Japan has revealed that zebrafish, in fact, have enlarged areas in their spinal cords.