Four and a half billion years ago Jupiter rapidly grew to its massive size. Its powerful gravitational pull disrupted the orbits of small rocky and icy bodies similar to modern asteroids and comets, called planetesimals. This caused them to smash into each other at such high speeds that the rocks and dust they contained melted on impact and created floating molten rock droplets, or chondrules, that we find preserved in meteorites today. Now, researchers at Nagoya University in Japan and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) have for the first time determined how these droplets formed and accurately dated the formation of Jupiter based on their findings. Their study, published in Scientific Reports, shows how the characteristics of chondrules, particularly their sizes and the rate at which they cooled in space, are determined by the water contained in the impacting planetesimals. This explains what we observe in meteorite samples and proves that chondrule formation was a result of planet formation. 

Researchers at AIMR and NUS have demonstrated field-free, energy-efficient switching of perpendicular magnetization using magnon torques in a WTe₂/NiO/CoFeB heterostructure. By exploiting crystal symmetry and spin canting, they achieved low-current operation with minimal impact of Joule heating—offering a promising path toward scalable, low-power spintronic memory devices based on magnon transport.

The research team directed by H. Shimomoto and E. Ihara in Ehime University succeeded in preparing a new type of carbon-carbon main chain polymers, in which cyclic repeating units are densely incorporated around the carbon-based main chain. In addition, the team demonstrated the unique thermal behavior of the obtained polymers, compared to the corresponding polymers without cyclic structures. This achievement will contribute to the development of new functional polymer materials.

Researchers at The University of Osaka and collaborating institutions have developed a cryo-optical microscopy technique that rapidly freezes live cells with millisecond precision during optical imaging. This enables detailed quantitative imaging of fast cellular events via optical microscopy techniques, including super-resolution fluorescence and Raman microscopy. With near-instant immobilization, a single time point in the cells can then be visualized with multiple imaging techniques, providing new insights across cell biology, biophysics, and medical research.

For the first time in the world, a joint research team from NIMS, Nagoya University and The University of Tokyo has successfully observed the transverse Thomson effect—a phenomenon in which metals or semiconductors release or absorb heat when a heat current, charge current and magnetic field are applied orthogonally to each other. This achievement may contribute to advances in physics and materials science related to the conversion between heat, electricity and magnetism, as well as to the development of new thermal management technologies. The research was published in Nature Physics on June 26, 2025.

Using Lego Mindstorms EV3, researchers from Kyushu University have developed a new 3D bioprinting method that can customize the texture, adhesiveness, and water retention of protein-based emulsion gels for dysphagia diets using controlled radiofrequency and microwave energy.

Fat metabolism in Caenorhabditis elegans is commonly studied, but linking fat molecules to specific body structures has remained difficult. Now, researchers have developed a microfluidics-based method that preserves internal anatomy while preparing worm sections for imaging. Using mass spectrometry imaging and fat-specific staining, they visualized the spatial distribution of lipids across organs like the intestine and embryos. This technique also enables 3D reconstruction, revealing how fat molecules are organized within individual worms in remarkable detail.

Potassium- and calcium-modified ilmenite oxygen carriers, developed by Institute of Science Tokyo, significantly improve hydrogen yields and redox reaction efficiency in chemical looping systems. The chemical modification of ilmenite results in the formation of a calcium titanate phase with iron substitution. This advancement enhances the oxide ion diffusion, accelerates hydrogen production, and also enables a polygeneration system for simultaneous hydrogen production, carbon dioxide capture, and power generation—paving the way to scalable, carbon-neutral energy systems.