Researchers from The University of Osaka and Daikin Industries, Ltd. have discovered a key metric, "electrolyte lithium-ion chemical potential," that governs lithium-ion battery performance. This quantitative indicator shows that efficient charging occurs when lithium ions are sufficiently “unstable” in the electrolyte. This breakthrough replaces trial-and-error methods with a rational design approach, enabling faster development of safer, higher-performance batteries for applications like EVs and renewable energy storage.

Researchers at Tohoku University used the Digital Hydrogen Platform - which combines data from over five thousand meticulously curated experimental records - as a tool to guide materials design for hydrogen storage.

Kyoto, Japan -- Magnetostriction and spin dynamics are fundamental properties of magnetic materials.  Despite having been studied for decades, finding a decisive link between the two in bulk single crystals had remained elusive. That is until a research team from several institutions, including Kyoto University, sought to examine these properties in the compound CoFe₂O₄, a spinel oxide (chemical formula AB₂O₄) widely used in numerous medical and industrial applications.

Spin dynamics describe how the tiny magnetic moments of atoms in a magnetic material interact and change orientation with time, while magnetostriction describes how a material changes shape or dimensions in response to a change in magnetization. These properties are central to the operation of sensors and actuators that employ magnetoelastic materials that change their magnetization under mechanical stress.

Rare-earth compounds often exhibit large magnetoelastic effects, explaining their desirability, but they also face constraints in resources, cost, and operating temperature. The spinel oxide CoFe₂O₄ combines non‑rare‑earth chemistry with strong room‑temperature magnetostriction, and has a high Curie temperature, at which materials start to lose their magnetism, which is essential to many devices that operate at or above ambient temperature.

Researchers have successfully simulated the 100 billions stars of the Milky Way. This feat was accomplished by combining artificial intelligence (AI) with numerical simulations. This is 100 times better than previous attempts and took 100 times less time to produce. The same process can be used to model other phenomenon such as climate change and weather patterns. the study was led by Keiya Hirashima at the RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS) in Japan.

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have applied ideas from polymer physics to illuminate the mechanism behind a key pathology in Alzheimer's disease, the formation of fibrils of tau proteins. They showed that fibril formation is preceded by the birth of large protein clusters, mirroring the crystallization of polymers. Crucially, dissolving these clusters helped to prevent fibrils forming in solution. Their work signals a paradigm shift for the development of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

A new study reveals that impaired brain fluid flow in regions opposite the tumor predicts shorter survival in glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. Using advanced MRI techniques, researchers found that dysfunction of the brain’s clearance system, known as the glymphatic system, may worsen patient outcomes. These findings suggest that monitoring whole-brain fluid dynamics could help personalize treatments and identify new targets to restore brain health.

Understanding how the brain learns and applies rules is the key to unraveling the neural basis of flexible behavior. A new study from the University of Toyama, Japan, reveals that our ability to follow procedural rules is encoded in the evolving dynamics of neuronal activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC).

Shared houses are redefining urban living in Tokyo. By analyzing 1,374 supplier-written property listings through text-mining, researchers identified 11 key promotional themes highlighting safety, community, and convenience as the main selling points. The study uncovers how shared houses are promoted not as low-cost options but as lifestyle-oriented spaces that foster social connection and urban comfort, reflecting Japan’s shifting housing values and evolving notions of city living.

Researchers Kohki Horie, Keiichiro Toda, Takuma Nakamura, and Takuro Ideguchi of the University of Tokyo have built a microscope that can detect a signal over an intensity range fourteen times wider than conventional microscopes. Moreover, the observations are made label-free, that is, without the use of additional dyes. This means the method is gentle on cells and adequate for long-term observations, holding potential for testing and quality control applications in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.