An Osaka Metropolitan University-led team has developed a method that makes it easy to measure the wrinkles in thin membranes used on large spacecraft using just a single camera.

Researchers in Japan have found that the taller the Japanese black pine trees (Pinus thunbergii) along the coast, the deeper their roots penetrate the ground. Deeper roots make trees more resistant to damage from tsunamis and strong winds. Their findings suggest that the resilience of coastal P. thunbergii trees may be improved by inducing deep root growth, specifically in short trees.

Sensory sensitivity and cognitive traits like savant abilities are often linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet their connection to gender diversity remains unclear. Reduced androgen (male sex hormone) exposure during early development may influence sensory atypicality and cognitive strengths. Investigating this, a team of researchers from Japan studied individuals with Klinefelter syndrome and sexual minorities assigned male at birth. Their findings reveal shared physiological mechanisms that connect sensory sensitivity, savant abilities, and gender dysphoria.

Macronucleophagy helps control micronucleophagy to protect yeast cells during stress. Through extensive experiments with yeast mutants, researchers from Science Tokyo found that disrupting macronucleophagy triggers excessive micronucleophagy, causing cell death. They further identified that this hyperactivation is driven by the accumulation of Nuclear vacuolar junction (Nvj1), a key nuclear membrane protein. These findings shed light on the links between different autophagy pathways under challenging conditions, which are crucial to maintain cell health.

Researchers from Kumamoto University have identified a liver-derived protein, serine protease inhibitor A1 (SerpinA1), as a key regulator in combating obesity and enhancing glucose metabolism. This groundbreaking study, published in Nature Communications, sheds light on how activating brown adipose tissue (BAT) could pave the way for innovative treatments for diabetes and metabolic disorders.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have uncovered a daily mating capacity for medaka, providing important insights into the relationship between the cost of gamete production and sexual selection.

Kyushu University researchers have successfully developed a new ferroelectric optical modulator that can exhibited modulation of up to 170 Gbps—an operating 10 times higher than existing devices—and a transmission rate of more than 300 Gbps. This modulator was made thanks to a new method the team developed that allowed them to grow thin films of ferroelectric crystals on silicon substrates.

Skin allergies are often worsened by psychological stress, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Researchers from Japan have now discovered that stress affects the ability of macrophages to clear dead cells in allergic lesions, which worsens allergic inflammation. Accumulated dead cells induce the expression of eosinophil-recruiting protein, CCL24, in the skin lesions. CCL24 production is dependent on the caspase-1 enzyme; thus, inhibiting caspase-1 can mitigate and even reverse allergy symptoms.

 To clarify the visual cues contributing to skin moisture and dryness, a research team from the Cognitive Neurotechnology Unit and Visual Perception & Cognition Laboratory of Toyohashi University of Technology, the Faculty of Design of Kyushu University, and the Central R&D Laboratory of Pias Corporation conducted several psychophysical experiments to investigate how image manipulation alters visual perceptions of skin moisture. The study demonstrated that emphasizing high-spatial-frequency components of skin lightness decreased the visual perception of moisture. These changes closely resembled physiological phenomena associated with skin dryness such as the appearance of white lines and emphasized pores, indicating that these are cues for perceiving skin dryness. The results of this study were published on December 17, 2024, in the Journal of the Optical Society of America A (https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.536898).