A new meta-analysis led by researchers in Japan investigates whether lithium (LIT) supplementation can slow cognitive decline in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Building on preclinical evidence of LIT’s neuroprotective effects, the study systematically evaluates data from six randomized controlled trials to clarify its clinical potential. The findings aim to shed light on whether LIT, long used in psychiatry, could play a future role in MCI or AD prevention or treatment.

Kyoto, Japan -- Predicting earthquakes has long been an unattainable fantasy. Factors like odd animal behaviors that have historically been thought to forebode earthquakes are not supported by empirical evidence. As these factors often occur independently of earthquakes and vice versa, seismologists believe that earthquakes occur with little or no warning. At least, that's how it appears from the surface.

Earthquake-generating zones lie deep within the Earth's crust and thus cannot be directly observed, but scientists have long proposed that faults may undergo a precursory phase before an earthquake during which micro-fracturing and slow slip occur. Yet, despite their obvious potential, exactly how these processes could enable prediction of a main shock remains unclear. Furthermore, observational studies have suggested that small and large earthquakes appear indistinguishable during the beginning of their rupture, raising doubts about the usefulness of short-term precursors.

These difficulties have prompted interest in the use of machine learning to search for potentially predictive fault signals. Machine learning models have demonstrated an ability to predict stick-slip laboratory earthquakes  in small, centimeter-scale experiments, but this approach has not yet been applied to larger, more complex systems that more closely mimic natural faults.

 Physicists at The University of Osaka have unveiled a breakthrough theoretical framework that uncovers the hidden physical rule behind one of the most powerful compression methods in laser fusion science — the stacked-shock implosion. While multi-shock ignition has recently proven its effectiveness in major laser facilities worldwide, this new study identifies the underlying law that governs such implosions, expressed in an elegant and compact analytic form.

A Japanese research team has studied the variations in beryllium-7 concentrations in the surface air over the Antarctic regions of Southern Ocean. Beryllium-7 is a radioactive isotope of beryllium produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere. The team explored, over space and time, how the beryllium-7 is transported from the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface. Their goal was to better understand the mechanisms of atmospheric mixing on Earth.

Magnetic skyrmions are particle-like objects that can be used as information carriers in memory and computing devices. Researchers from Waseda University recently studied the flow behaviors of many skyrmions in structured magnets and found that skyrmions can behave like chiral fluids. They proposed that fully developed skyrmion flows can be used for fluidics, which significantly reduces complexity of skyrmion logic, as it eliminates the need for deterministic creation, precise control, and detection of individual skyrmions.

Abnormal rhythmic electrical signals in the retina are a hallmark of several vision disorders, but their origins have remained unclear. Researchers have discovered how the loss of the TRPM1 ion channel disrupts communication between retinal cells, triggering oscillations that distort visual signaling. Oscillations observed in Trpm1 knockout mice are strikingly similar to those found in retinitis pigmentosa–model mice, revealing a common generative mechanism for these abnormal rhythmic signals in retinal diseases.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo developed an experimental method to induce a strong physiological response linked to psychological pressure by making participants aim for a streak of success in a task. Their findings suggest this approach reproduces pressurelike conditions in a laboratory setting more effectively than traditional methods, affording easier access to the study of this state. That in turn could open up research into how pressure influences human performance in physical and intellectual tasks.

Strongest evidence yet of the anti-obesity effects of black cumin found using cell experiments and clinical trials.

A research team led by Associate Professor Yukihide Ishibashi at the Graduate School of Science and  Engineering, Ehime University, has successfully achieved the direct observation of exciton diffusion processes within individual copper phthalocyanine（CuPc）nanofibers using a custom-built femtosecond microspectroscopy technique, which enables clarification of exciton dynamics in mesoscopic materials. Previously, only ensemble-averaged information（e.g., CuPc thin films）was available for exciton diffusion coefficients and diffusion lengths. By measuring these parameters for single nanofibers, the team revealed that the diffusion coefficient of η-phase CuPc nanofibers is about three times higher than that of β-phase ones. This enhancement arises from the larger molecular tilt angle and stronger π–π overlap in the η-phase, which promote intermolecular excitonic interactions. Moreover, the diffusion coefficient was found to decrease with increasing fiber length, indicating a “size effect” in exciton hoopping. This study not only deepens the understanding of optical properties in organic molecular crystals but also provides important insights for improving the efficiency of organic photovoltaic and photoenergy-conversion devices. The findings were published online in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters by the American Chemical Society on October 31, 2025.

Researchers at the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS) have definitively resolved a two-decade-long controversy regarding the direction of electron spin on the surface of gold. Using a state-of-the-art Photoelectron Momentum Microscope (PMM) at the UVSOR synchrotron facility, the team captured complete two-dimensional snapshots of the Au(111) Shockley surface state, mapping both the electron's spin (its intrinsic magnetic property) and its orbital shape in a projection-based measurement. The experiment unambiguously confirmed the Rashba effect--where an electron's motion is coupled to its spin--by assigning a clockwise (cw) spin texture to the outer electron band and a counter-clockwise (ccw) texture to the inner band when viewed from the vacuum side. This work establishes a robust, trustworthy reference dataset for spin-resolved photoemission, paving the way for the development of highly efficient spintronic devices.