Kyoto, Japan -- The region of space dominated by Earth's magnetic field is the magnetosphere. Observations have shown that, within this region, an electric force acts from the morning side to the evening side as seen from Earth. This large-scale electric field is known to be a key driver of various disturbances such as geomagnetic storms.

Since electric forces act from positive charge to negative, it has been thought by some that the magnetosphere is positively charged on the morning side and negatively charged on the evening side. Yet recent satellite observations have revealed that this polarity is actually the opposite.

This discovery prompted a team of researchers from the universities of Kyoto, Nagoya, and Kyushu to reexamine the underlying mechanisms of the magnetosphere.

A Japanese research team has uncovered how sugar chains (glycans) modifications dynamically regulate the structure and function of human immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. By integrating nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, the study reveals "molecular meridians"—structural pathways through which glycan signals propagate across the Fc region. Published in PNAS, this work provides a new framework for designing next-generation therapeutic antibodies.

Chemical-free pesticides and integrated pest management are the need of the hour to limit the damage to the environment while improving food productivity. In a new study, researchers from Japan have turned their attention to aromatic bush basil plants to contain agricultural pests. They found that the volatile organic compounds emitted from bush basil could activate plant defense-related genes in the leaves of common bean plants cultivated closer to bush basil.