The low body temperatures observed during hibernation are associated with lower metabolism. The conventional view in biology has been that body temperature is simply a consequence of metabolic activity, and that as metabolism lowers, body temperature decreases in parallel. Researchers recently discovered that low body temperature directly regulates glucose metabolism in hypothermic mice, challenging the theory of metabolic regulation of body temperature during hibernation and torpor, a less intense form of hibernation.

The decline in oral function can result in poor diet balance, affecting daily physical activities in older adults. However, its association with overall health remains unknown. To address this, researchers from Japan investigated the association between oral function and blood test results in older adults. The findings revealed that adults with blood test results outside the normal range had low oral function, indicating that poor oral health may increase the risk of developing lifestyle-related diseases.

While automatized vocabulary knowledge has been shown to strongly predict general listening ability, its role in speech production remains unknown. Now, researchers have compared conscious recognition of simple word meanings (declarative knowledge) with instant, automatic access to contextualized word meanings (automatized knowledge) in Japanese students learning English as a second language. The findings revealed that automatized vocabulary knowledge better predicts fluency, and practicing vocabulary in real-life contexts may help learners speak more smoothly and confidently.

Households, cars, and factories generate heat, much of which goes to waste. Likewise, the increasing usage of solar panels means heat needs to be stored at large amounts for longer periods of time. Thus, thermal storage is critical for carbon-neurtrality. A collaboration between Tohoku University and Japan Atomic Energy Agency has developed nanosheets of layered manganese dioxide that can store heat even below 100°C.

 Researchers from The University of Osaka have identified key genetic mutations linked to extracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), a rare and potentially serious vascular disorder. They have revealed that these mutations activate the RAS/RAF/MEK signaling pathway and that the MAP4K4 gene may drive pathological angiogenesis. This may mean that existing cancer drugs that target the same pathway could be effective for AVM treatment, potentially paving the way for novel therapies.

Nonlinear quantum dynamics are complicated, but they don’t have to be. A new, real-time simulation may help demystify these unusual dynamics, serving as a guide to develop next-gen quantum devices.

A controlled/“living” click polymerization method developed by researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo and Nagoya University enables precise chain-growth of AB-type monomers—traditionally limited to step-growth processes—by leveraging copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition. The approach achieves well-defined polymers with narrow dispersity and enables the bidirectional synthesis of ABA-type block copolymers, offering a powerful new strategy for constructing functional macromolecular architectures from a wide range of monomers.

Childhood maltreatment increases the risk of long-term health and psychological issues, but how it alters children’s development at a biological level remains unclear. In a recent study, researchers from Japan investigated both biological aging and social attention in maltreated preschoolers. Using DNA methylation markers and eye-tracking data, researchers found that abuse accelerates cellular aging and disrupts a child’s attention to people’s eyes—two independent pathways linked to emotional and behavioral difficulties.

A new palladium-loaded amorphous InGaZnO_x (a-IGZO) catalyst achieved over 91% selectivity when converting carbon dioxide to methanol, report researchers from Japan. Unlike traditional catalysts, this system leverages the electronic properties of semiconductors to generate all the species necessary for the conversion reaction. This study demonstrates novel design principles for sustainable catalysis based on electronic structure engineering.

Indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO)-based displays suffer from instability caused by atomic-scale defects. Now, a new study provides the first insights into these instabilities in single-crystal IGZO. Researchers grew high-quality IGZO single crystals and uncovered how oxygen vacancies and structural disorder create unwanted electronic states—details that were unclear in previous studies using amorphous IGZO samples. These findings could guide the development of more stable and longer-lasting displays for smartphones, televisions, and other devices.