Researchers from Japan investigated how microtubules contribute to communication between granulosa cells and oocytes during ovarian follicle development. Focusing on the microtubule-stabilizing protein Camsap3, the team used knockout mouse models and advanced imaging techniques to examine the organization of transzonal projections. Their findings reveal an overlooked role for microtubules in female fertility and provide new insights into the cellular mechanisms that support follicle maturation and successful ovulation.

Earth’s 660-km seismic discontinuity has long been attributed to ringwoodite breakdown, but this alone cannot explain complex seismic observations. Now, researchers have shown that the boundary forms through a coupled post-spinel transition involving majorite garnet, the mantle’s second most abundant mineral. This mechanism consistently explains seismic structure beneath subduction zones and mantle plumes and supports a compositionally homogeneous, pyrolite-like mantle, providing new insights into Earth’s deep interior and mantle dynamics.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers developed a silica capsule–based technology that enables easy separation and reuse of colorants from plastics, overcoming limitations of conventional recycling. This approach allows repeated upcycling into high-quality, vividly colored materials with significantly lower energy consumption.

Researchers at the University of Osaka developed the CLiB assay, a high-throughput platform to engineer protein-based lipid-binding probes. By screening a library of protein variants, they created a highly sensitive probe for the signaling lipid PI(3,5)P₂. This tool allowed the team to visualize how cells remodel their membranes to engulf damaged materials, providing a framework for developing next-generation biosensors and unlocking new insights into the dynamic landscape of biological membranes.

Researchers at Ehime University developed a molecular design strategy that imparts degradability to carbon–carbon backbone polymers by incorporating alkoxycarbonylmethylene (ACM) units. These units act as degradation-inducing sites, enabling backbone cleavage under mild basic conditions. The approach was successfully applied to polystyrene and PMMA derivatives, which became degradable while retaining or improving key thermophysical properties. This work provides a promising route toward sustainable plastics with controlled end-of-life degradation and improved environmental compatibility.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers used GPS trajectory data and quasi-experimental methods to evaluate how the opening of ONIKURU affected citizens’ stay behavior.

A field experiment with the Japan Marrow Donor Program showed that adding one factual sentence to HLA match letters—telling potential donors that compatible registered donors are limited—raised progression to confirmatory typing by 7.3%. The intervention was low-cost and simple, while combined messages weakened the effect. The result could help reduce donor dropout and improve stem cell transplant coordination.

The study discovered a new insect pathogen that invades the gut symbiotic organ of stink bugs by mimicking their symbiotic microorganism, and this pathogen ultimately kills the host bugs.

A research group led by Satoshi Ide from the University of Tokyo has demonstrated that classic earthquake generation theory does not hold in areas where the angle at which a tectonic plate dips under another is sufficiently low. The discovery explains why giant earthquakes can form in such areas, providing a theoretical basis to extend observation efforts to previously overlooked features. The findings were published in the journal Science Advances.

Black-box optimization, particularly Bayesian optimization, is a practical approach for weather-intervention design, achieving meaningful rainfall reduction even under a very limited budget of expensive weather simulations, finding effective actions with only a small number of trials.