News from Japan
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 31-Oct-2025 02:11 ET (31-Oct-2025 06:11 GMT/UTC)
Mapping the missing green: An AI framework boosts urban greening in Tokyo
Chiba UniversityPeer-Reviewed Publication
As cities grow denser and hotter, creating space for greenery becomes increasingly difficult. To address this challenge, researchers from Chiba University developed a data-driven framework that integrates artificial intelligence and spatial analysis to map vertical greenery across Tokyo’s 23 wards. By analyzing over 80,000 street-view images, the team identified uneven distribution patterns and proposed a vertical greening demand index to guide future urban greening initiatives and climate-resilient urban planning.
- Journal
- Sustainable Cities and Society
- Funder
- Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
Distributor-type membrane reactor for carbon dioxide methanation
Shibaura Institute of TechnologyPeer-Reviewed Publication
Distribution-type membrane reactors are expected to be highly promising for carbon dioxide methanation reaction. In a recent breakthrough, a group of scientists from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, has demonstrated the efficacy of these reactors and also examined the effect of membrane properties on reaction parameters. The present findings are a significant step towards a greener, cleaner, and more sustainable future.
- Journal
- Catalysis Today
Extra iron helps stressed out wheat grow up big and strong
RIKENPeer-Reviewed Publication
- Journal
- Nature Communications
Real-time analysis of iron oxide thin film growth in reactive magnetron sputtering
University of TsukubaPeer-Reviewed Publication
- Journal
- Science and Technology of Advanced Materials
Revealing the molecular structures of sugars using galectin-10 protein crystals
Institute of Science TokyoPeer-Reviewed Publication
A quick, purification-free method was developed by researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo, to capture the detailed 3D structures of flexible sugar molecules. By growing crystals of galectin-10 protein using a cell-free crystallization process and soaking them in sugar solution, the researchers were able to trap and analyze the molecular arrangement of sugars and their interactions with the protein. This offers a powerful tool to accelerate research in drug discovery and molecular biology.
- Journal
- Small Structures
- Funder
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency, SPring-8 Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Suntory Foundation for Life Sciences, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
Tricky treats: Why pumpkins accumulate pollutants
Kobe UniversityPeer-Reviewed Publication
- Journal
- Plant Physiology and Biochemistry
- Funder
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Murao Educational Foundation
UOsaka breatkthrough: World’s fastest and most accurate self-evolving edge AI for real-time forecasting
The University of OsakaReports and Proceedings
- Funder
- Japan Science and Technology Agency
Researchers uncover early molecular signatures of type 2 diabetes in prediabetic rats
Osaka Metropolitan UniversityResearchers at Osaka Metropolitan University uncovered early hepatic changes associated with type 2 diabetes by analyzing primary hepatocytes from prediabetic Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty rats.
- Journal
- Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry
Computationally accelerated organic synthesis – Optimal ligand prediction for generating reactive alkyl ketone radicals
Hokkaido UniversityPeer-Reviewed Publication
- Journal
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Funder
- Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
