Multipath interference disrupts wireless signals, causing issues like TV ghosting and fading. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a passive metasurface that overcomes traditional filtering limits. Using a time-varying interlocking mechanism with field-effect transistors, it transmits the first signal while blocking delayed ones from other angles—without power or processing. This innovation enables low-cost, reliable wireless communication, which is ideal for IoT applications and environments prone to interference.

Metal oxyhydroxides are nanoparticles with wide industrial applications, but determining their exact structure is often challenging. Recently, a research team from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has developed an advanced imaging method called “lattice correlation analysis” to reveal the detailed 3D atomic structure of titanium oxyhydroxide nanoparticles. By leveraging data-driven insights, this method unlocks the crystal attributes without causing any damage, thus marking a milestone in the study of sensitive nanomaterials.

Sleep is essential for memory consolidation, but could it also prepare the brain for future learning? Researchers from Japan investigated this dual role, using advanced imaging to track neuronal activity in mice. They identified a distinct population of brain cells that became active during post-learning sleep and later encoded new experiences. Their findings, supported by neural network modeling, reveal that sleep not only preserves past memories but also primes the brain for forming future memories.

Researchers from AIMR developed an AI-driven approach to model carbon growth on metal surfaces with high accuracy. By integrating molecular dynamics, time-stamped force-biased Monte Carlo simulations, and machine learning, their method replicates key processes like carbon diffusion and graphene nucleation, enabling scalable, efficient carbon nanomaterial production for electronics and energy storage.

The power conversion efficiency of all-organic solar cells was doubled through the development of novel organic electrodes that can be fabricated using a moderate process.

A Japanese research team has, for the first time, captured real-time images of how supramolecular gels form using high-speed atomic force microscopy, revealing a previously unseen mechanism of fiber growth at the nanoscale.

A newly discovered fossil from Mongolia’s Gobi Desert reveals a previously unknown genus and species of Cretaceous mammal. Named Ravjaa ishiii, the tiny animal was identified from a partial lower jaw found by a joint team from Okayama University of Science and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. The find marks the first record of a zhelestid mammal in Mongolia and suggests early mammals may have adapted to eating seeds and fruits from emerging flowering plants. Full findings are published in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Many products in the modern world are in some way fabricated using computer numerical control (CNC) machines, which use computers to automate machine operations in manufacturing. While simple in concept, the ways to instruct these machines is in reality often complex. A team of researchers including those from the University of Tokyo devised a system to demonstrate how to mitigate some of this complexity. Draw2Cut allows users to draw desired designs directly onto material to be cut or milled. In this case, color-coded lines drawn with standard marker pens instruct the Draw2Cut system to mill designs into wood without any prior knowledge of CNC machines or their typical workflows.