Saitama University research team has developed a defect-state engineering strategy that transforms waste polyamide into carbon quantum dots with continuously tunable photoluminescence. By systematically changing surface chemistry through oxidation and boron-, nitrogen-, sulfur-, and phosphorus-containing modifications, the researchers shifted emission from ultraviolet at 308 nm to yellow-green at 552 nm using the same polymer precursor, while establishing a quantitative framework for understanding how engineered defect states control light emission.

Distinguished Professor Chihaya Adachi of Kyushu University has been named a 2026 Clarivate Citation Laureate for his pioneering contributions to thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), a breakthrough approach that enabled highly efficient OLEDs without rare metals and transformed organic electronics.

The circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE), a phenomenon that generates helicity-dependent photocurrents in noncentrosymmetric materials, can originate purely from a crystal's internal structure without contribution from the surface, reveals a study from Science Tokyo. Researchers demonstrated this effect in 2D organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites using circularly polarized light at normal incidence, which helped distinguish the bulk response from surface contributions. The finding establishes a strategy for regulating spin-polarized photocurrents and advancing opto-spintronic technologies.

Once called a “pipe dream,” quantum computers are now approaching practical use. Companies and research institutes around the world are in fierce competition to develop this revolutionary technology, which has the potential to rapidly perform some calculations that are extremely difficult for even conventional supercomputers. But what exactly is possible through quantum computers, and where do we currently find ourselves on the road to practical use? We sat down to talk with Professor MIKI Takuji of the Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation to hear more about the latest trends and future developments in the field.

A joint research team from Saitama University and Astemo, Ltd. has developed a cloud-based evaluation platform that traces data processing across AUTOSAR Adaptive Platform and ROS 2, two software platforms increasingly used together in autonomous-driving development. By combining the CART tracing framework with Autoware and the CARLA simulator, the platform reconstructed the evaluated path from sensor-data reception to control-command output with 100% topology coverage while maintaining low tracing overhead.

Researchers in Japan have transplanted pituitary tissue grown from human stem cells into a primate whose pituitary gland had been surgically removed, successfully restoring critical hormone signals. Led by researchers from Nagoya University in Japan, the team showed that the same method worked in mice over a longer period. This is the first time lab-grown human pituitary cells have been shown to work and survive after transplantation into a primate. The study, published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy, may offer a new pathway for treating lifelong hormone disorders.  

“I work with data, but what truly motivates me is knowing that it will ultimately be of use to someone. I’m not particularly good at taking on a leadership role, so I prefer to work alongside others, ” says Professor Shinichiroh Yokota from the Graduate School of Nursing. With a background as a nurse in clinical practice, Professor Yokota now applies informatics methods to nursing and medical data—using tools such as machine learning on electronic medical records (EMRs) to predict patient falls and the risk of bedsores. We spoke with him about how AI is transforming the world of nursing.

Researchers from the University of Osaka and collaborating institutions accelerated protons to nearly half the speed of light using a long-pulse laser and ultrathin graphene. A moving electric field carried the protons to high energies, and artificial intelligence helped detect rare high-energy particles among millions of detector images. This technique could pave the way for future AI-driven autonomous laser experiment systems.

A small capsule could change how we study the microbiome of the small intestine. A team, led by researchers at the University of Tokyo, has created a pill-shaped device designed to take samples from the small intestine using a tiny extendable brush. Still in the early stages of development, they have demonstrated that the device could be magnetically controlled to move through extracted pig intestines and sweep useful samples from the intestinal surface. In the future, this type of device could provide a more comfortable and complementary option to current endoscopic procedures.

Researchers at Ritsumeikan University and collaborating institutions have shown that counteranions control the solid-state assembly of paramagnetic thiaporphyrin Cu^II complex cations and thereby tune their magnetic behavior. PCCp⁻ formed a charge-by-charge assembly without significant spin–spin interaction, whereas nonplanar counteranions promoted π-stacked cation dimers exhibiting antiferromagnetic interactions. These findings demonstrate that ion-pairing assembly can control molecular spin arrangements, providing a strategy for designing supramolecular materials with tunable magnetic properties for spintronic applications.