Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have found a way to generate mechanoluminescence in non-crystalline materials, bringing a new wave of potential applications in engineering, industrial safety and beyond. “Traditionally, chemists have thought crystal fracture an essential step in generating mechanoluminescence,” notes Dr Ayumu Karimata, first author of the study. “We have proved that’s not necessary. Our findings open up a vast array of possibilities in materials science, as they remove the need for complex crystal design and engineering when creating mechanoluminescent materials.” 

The collaborative research group led by Ehime University have synthesized a novel pyrrole-fused aza-nanographene that bends into a ladder-shaped structure due to its unique “gulf-edge” regions. The molecule shows remarkable oxidation-dependent electronic behavior: a diradical open-shell dication and a globally aromatic closed-shell tetracation. This finding reveals how molecular curvature and oxidation state govern electronic properties, paving the way for designing redox-active π-conjugated materials and organic molecular switches.

High-voltage cycling can quietly degrade LiCoO₂ cathodes, but a new low-dose nanoscale imaging method reveals the precise crystal transformations driving battery performance loss. By combining cepstral matching analysis with scanning nanobeam electron diffraction, researchers achieved nanometer-scale visualization with minimal beam damage. The study uncovered local structural changes at the cathode interface with the electrolyte, providing important clues to how batteries degrade and helping guide the design of longer-lasting, higher-energy lithium-ion batteries for future devices and electric vehicles.

Microbial proteins are attracting attention for their potential in biomanufacturing a variety of products, including pharmaceuticals, industrial enzymes, and diagnostic antibodies. These proteins can also be used for converting resources into biofuels and bioplastics. Producing proteins from Escherichia coli (E. coli) has become popular due to its cost-effectiveness and efficiency. However, yields of protein production in E. coli may be reduced depending on the specific gene sequence of the target protein. A research group in Japan has successfully developed a new technology that improves the efficiency of protein production in E. coli. Their findings could provide fundamental technology to support sustainable manufacturing that does not depend on petroleum.

Kyoto, Japan -- Forests have been benefitting humanity since long before the health benefits of forest bathing were discovered. They are major carbon sinks that provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including timber and non-timber forest products, recreation, and climate regulation.

Accurately assessing forest biomass is essential for understanding carbon storage and supporting sustainable forest management, but forests are vast three-dimensional structures and therefore difficult to study. Until recently, even measuring the height of a single tree was a challenging task, let alone understanding the size of its canopy. Conventional ground-based tree surveys are labor-intensive and often difficult to conduct in remote or steep terrain, limiting their use in large-scale assessments. This has also restricted researchers' ability to develop accurate biomass estimation formulae.

However, new drone-based technologies such as LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, are becoming increasingly accessible to researchers and have enabled more efficient measurement of tree structures and forest biomass. Emitting hundreds of thousands to millions of laser beams per second, LiDAR obtains three-dimensional information about the objects it scans.

Sporadic-E is a phenomenon that occurs in the ionosphere that can disrupt radio communications. Through simulations, researchers have found that rising CO₂ levels in our atmosphere could lead to sporadic-E becoming stronger, occur at lower altitudes, and persist longer at night.

A fundamental link between two counterintuitive phenomena in spin glasses— reentrance and temperature chaos—has been mathematically proven for the first time. By extending the Edwards–Anderson model to include correlated disorder, researchers at Science Tokyo and Tohoku University provided the first rigorous proof that reentrance implies temperature chaos. The breakthrough enhances understanding of disordered systems and could advance applications in machine learning and quantum technologies, where controlling disorder and errors is crucial.

Scientists from Shibaura Institute of Technology have developed a power-free acoustic testing system that uses the sound of bursting bubble wrap as an impulse source. The system can detect foreign objects in pipes with a 2% error margin using wavelet-based sound analysis. This eco-friendly, low-cost approach eliminates the need for specialist equipment, making on-site inspections safer and easier, even in flammable environments.

More than 150 years after amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was first described, the disease remains one of the most devastating neurodegenerative disorders, with no cure available. A central mystery has been why motor neurons, and especially large ones, are selectively vulnerable. Now, researchers at the National Institute of Genetics in Mishima, Japan, have identified intrinsic cellular stress factors that may explain this long-standing enigma.