The human brain is an organic CPU made of trillions of connections between many billions of neurons. Understanding such a complicated organ is a massive scientific undertaking, and researchers often use simplified models to uncover small pieces of the neurological puzzle. In a report published in Micromachines, researchers at The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science describe their method to create one such model, using microsc...

An ultrathin elastic display that fits on the skin can show the moving waveform of an electrocardiogram recorded by a breathable, on-skin electrode sensor. Combined with a wireless communication module, this integrated biomedical sensor system can transmit biometric data to the cloud. Thanks to advances in semiconductor technology, wearable devices can now monitor health by measuring vital signs or taking an electrocardiogram, and then trans...

The Northern Lights have been directly observed for the first time by an international team of scientists. While the cause of these colourful auroras has long been hypothesised, researchers had never directly observed the underlying mechanism until now. The scientists published their results in Nature. The spectacle of these subatomic showers is legendary. Green, red, and purple waltz across the night sky, blending into one another...

A hypoallergenic electronic sensor can be worn on the skin continuously for a week without discomfort, and is so light and thin that users forget they even have it on, says a group of researchers at the University of Tokyo and their collaborators. The elastic electrode constructed of breathable nanoscale meshes holds promise for the development of noninvasive e-skin devices that can monitor a person's health continuously over a long period.

Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), the University of Tokyo, CNRS and INSERM, report a new organ-on-a-chip technology for the study of blood vessel formation and drugs targeting this event. The technology recreates a human blood vessel and shows how new capillaries grow from a single vessel (parent vessel) in response to proper biochemical signaling cues.

  At the University of Tokyo in Japan researchers have developed a new method of producing stretchable electronics that are breathable, don’t irritate the skin, and weigh next to nothing. The development may lead to ubiquitous use of on-skin electronic sensors to monitor the body continuously in a variety of places and ways.

Nanoparticles are particles that are smaller than 100 nanometers. They are typically obtained from metals and, because of their tiny size, have unique properties that make them useful for biomedical applications. However, without treatment to make their surfaces biologically inert, their effectiveness is severely limited. Researchers led by Kazuhiko Ishihara at the University of Tokyo have pioneered the use of MPC polymers to modify the surfaces ...

One of the biggest challenges facing next-generation lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles is finding ways to further increase the driving range. One way to do this is by increasing the battery voltage from the present 4 volts to 5 volts. The problem, however, is that the higher voltage is usually accompanied by a severe capacity loss of more than 50% after only 100 charge/discharge cycles.

A collaboration between a number of institutes and universities in Japan has led to the development of a new printing technique called ‘SuPR-NaP (Surface Photo-Reactive Nanometal Printing) technique’, which enables the production of ultra-fine silver wiring patterns only by patterning using ultra-violet irradiation and subsequent surface coating of silver nanometal ink that includes silver nanoparticles at high concentration.

University of Tokyo researchers have developed an ultrathin, ultraflexible, protective layer and demonstrated its use by creating an air-stable, OLED display. This technology will enable creation of electronic skin (e-skin) displays of blood oxygen level, e-skin heart rate sensors for athletes and many other applications. Integrating electronic devices with the human body to enhance or restore body function for biomedical applications is the goal...

An enzyme responsible for making hydrocarbons has been discovered by Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists studying a common green microalga called Botryococcus braunii. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, could enable scientists to use the enzyme in a plant to make large amounts of fuel-grade oil, according to Dr. Tim Devarenne, AgriLife Research biochemist in College Station and lead scientist on the team.

A Japanese company called QD Laser in collaboration with the University of Tokyo has developed a pair of glasses that come with a tiny camera which captures data and a laser that prints imagery from the camera directly onto the retina. The glasses are still in the prototype stage but researchers with the project gave a demonstration in Osaka last week at the 1st Medical IT Solutions Expo of Medical Japan, indicating that they do work at least to ...

Described in Nature Nanotechnology, Japanese and U.S. researchers headed by Professor Takao Someya from the University of Tokyo have come up with a new pressure-sensing material that is not only thin and resistant to deformation, but also maintains accuracy even when bent in a variety of ways. If this novel sensor could be incorporated into examination gloves, then it could possibly aid cancer diagnosis by helping doctors feel tumors.

Recently, 50kg-class micro satellites have been able to observe the Earth’s surface with high resolution, enabling the detection of ground-level objects with a size of several metres. These small satellites, however, cannot currently send large quantities of image data to the ground station, due to power and mass constraints.

Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries, which power most portable electronics today, include precious elements such as lithium and cobalt. As a potential alternative to Li-ion batteries, Sodium ion (Na-ion) batteries have attracted much attention because of the abundance and low-cost of uniformly-distributed sodium.

Heterointerfaces composed of dissimilar materials have been applied to functional devices such as transistors and LEDs. In particular, the best-quality electron system is formed in gallium arsenide heterostructures, where a unique quantum phase was found at low temperature about 30 years ago, the characteristics of which have yet to be clarified.

The device, developed by research groups lead by Professor Takayasu Sakurai, Institute of Industrial Science, and Professor Takao Someya, Graduate School of Engineering, both University of Tokyo, combines a flexible amorphous silicon solar panel, piezoelectric speaker, temperature sensor, and power supply circuit created with organic components in a single flexible, wearable package.