Tag Archives: Japan
January 27, 2012 – 4:25 pm
New study sheds light on evolutionary origin of oxygen-based cellular respiration - Researchers at the RIKEN SPring-8 Center in Harima, Japan have clarified the crystal structure of quinol dependent nitric oxide reductase (qNOR), a bacterial enzyme that offers clues on the origins of our earliest oxygen-breathing ancestors. In addition to their importance to fundamental science, the findings provide key insights into the production of nitrogen oxide, an ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide.
November 16, 2011 – 12:00 am
Video simulation puts a new twist on fusion plasma research - Samuel Lazerson, an associate research physicist in advanced projects at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), has created a video simulation showing the intricate nature of a plasma pulse within an experimental fusion machine known as a heliotron. The simulation shows the superconducting field coils, saddle loops, and plasma of the Large Helical Device (LHD) at the National Institute for Fusion Science in Japan.
September 19, 2011 – 9:15 pm
Nanopore structures could tune drug crystallisation - Researchers from the US and Japan have shown that the crystallisation of a solute can be profoundly influenced by the shape of nanopores on the surface it is placed upon. The finding potentially offers a new way to tune the rate of crystallisation of different compounds and the morphology of the crystals that are formed - which are important considerations in the manufacture of certain drugs and fine chemicals.
August 16, 2011 – 9:00 pm
DNA readers: Cracking the epigenetic code - Decoding some of the subtler information encoded in our DNA could soon become a high-throughput process, a team of researchers in Japan have shown. Masateru Taniguchi and colleagues at Osaka University have shown that DNA-borne chemical markers, which play a key role in gene expression, can be detected electrically using nanoscale electrodes ("Electrical Detection of Single Methylcytosines in a DNA Oligomer").
August 8, 2011 – 3:00 pm
Liquid crystals rearrange to glow in three different colours - Chemists in Japan have created a luminescent liquid crystal that can switch between three different colours when stimulated with heat and mechanical force. A handful of organometallic and organic compounds can switch between two colours, but none between three. The system could open the way to new sensor or display technologies, the researchers suggest.
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