Soft robotic grippers can safely handle fragile objects, making them promising for applications such as food handling, nursing, and household services. However, giving soft grippers a sense of touch remains a major engineering challenge. Now, researchers from Japan have developed EleTac, an elephant trunk-inspired soft gripper that combines gentle grasping with tactile sensing using a single internal camera. The system can accurately estimate contact location, force applied, object shape, and the position of its fingers.

Tokyo, Japan – The research group of Professor Kotohiro Nomura, Tokyo Metropolitan University, in cooperation with the research groups of Senior Researcher Hiroshi Hirano and Director Seiji Higashi, Osaka Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology, and Associate Professor Hiroki Takeshita, The University of Shiga Prefecture, has developed biobased poly(ester amide)s from inedible bio-renewables, which can be easily chemical recyclable and exhibit better mechanical (tensile) properties in film than commodity plastics.

Colorless carotenoids have attracted growing interest as naturally derived ingredients for food and cosmetic applications, but their individual geometric isomers have remained difficult to isolate and study. Researchers have now purified high-purity phytoene and phytofluene isomers and comprehensively characterized their structures, ultraviolet absorption, antioxidant properties, isomerization behavior, and skin-related biological activities. Their findings reveal multifunctional properties that may support next-generation skincare, nutricosmetics, and healthy aging products across the food, cosmetic, healthcare, and wellness industries.

Kyoto, Japan -- Tens of thousands of years ago, our own species, Homo sapiens, coexisted with Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis. Many of us living today carry a small amount of Neanderthal DNA, indicating that the two species may have shared much more than just the same land. Now, a breakthrough archaeological discovery has revealed that the two species did not merely cross paths: they possibly shared a common culture that spanned over 20,000 years.

Humans migrated from our original home in Africa to other parts of the world in the Out of Africa event, but human fossils around this time have been scarce in the Levant, a primary corridor between Africa and Eurasia. In search of more evidence of both modern humans and Neanderthals, an international team of researchers -- including scientists from Türkiye, France, and Japan, including Kyoto University -- headed to Üçağızlı II Cave in southern Türkiye for excavations.

At this site, five years of meticulous millimeter-by-millimeter excavation revealed evidence of both species living in the same space, utilizing identical stone tool technologies and survival strategies. Remarkably, the evidence also suggests this shared behavior extended beyond practical aspects and included the use of non-utilitarian materials.

Researchers at Kyushu University developed a biodegradable food packaging material using carbon quantum dots (CQDs) synthesized from pumpkin peel waste. The CQDs block UV light, suppress microbial growth, and improve film strength, helping soft, perishable produce stay fresh longer. Available as a film or sprayable coating, the material offers a sustainable alternative to plastic packaging that could reduce food waste during transport and storage, with promise for regions lacking cold-chain infrastructure.Researchers at Kyushu University developed a biodegradable food packaging material using carbon quantum dots (CQDs) synthesized from pumpkin peel waste. The CQDs block UV light, suppress microbial growth, and improve film strength, helping soft, perishable produce stay fresh longer. Available as a film or sprayable coating, the material offers a sustainable alternative to plastic packaging that could reduce food waste during transport and storage, with promise for regions lacking cold-chain infrastructure.

Hiroshima University researchers have demonstrated a proof of concept for the mass-production of genome-edited T cells that can be used to treat malignant tumors, using a genetic engineering technique called Platinum TALEN.

Viscosity is a fundamental property that determines how easily a material flows, affecting systems from industrial materials to the Earth's deep interior. Yet, scientists have rarely considered whether viscosity has an upper limit because high-viscosity materials are usually rock-forming minerals outside fluid dynamics studies. Now, a Japanese researcher has combined Earth observations, laboratory experiments, and numerical simulations to estimate a physically meaningful upper viscosity bound of 10^30±2 Pa s, with implications for geophysics and materials.

Chaotic search (CS) has emerged as a promising approach for tackling combinatorial optimization problems. However, it is highly sensitive to control parameters. While heuristic parameter tuning approaches have alleviated this problem, they still have limited adaptability and stability in large-scale problems. In a new study, researchers proposed a new method where particle swarm optimization utilized to dynamically regulate parameters, significantly improving solution quality and stability of the CS process.

Organizational capabilities are important for growth, innovation, and competitive advantage. However, these capabilities are difficult to measure, limiting empirical research. Using financial data from ~45,000 Indian firms and a nestedness algorithm, researchers have created and tested a new approach to quantify firm capabilities and rank their position on a “capabilities ladder.” Analysis revealed a nested hierarchy of capabilities ranging from basic to advanced. With further insights, the study holds relevant implications for organizations and governments.

Some plants are thought to supplement their carbon needs by obtaining carbon through underground fungal networks connected to other plants. This symbiotic relationship is known as mycoheterotrophy. Researchers from Chiba University found evidence that Gentiana squarrosa, a Gentian family plant, can receive carbon through arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks in addition to photosynthesis. The findings support the existence of partial mycoheterotrophy and could improve understanding of underground plant–fungus interactions.