Hokkaido University
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Our brains not only memorize things, they also forget them. While that may seem like a limitation, it's a quality that's been copied in a new hydrogel – and it may actually have some practical applications. -
Earth is a famously watery planet, but where exactly it all came from is a mystery. Now researchers have suggested a new origin story, by showing that water and petroleum can form inside clouds of organic matter, at high temperatures and pressure.
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An international team of scientists led by Takeshi Horinouchi of Hokkaido University suggests that a atmospheric equivalent of tidal waves may be responsible for the super-rotation of the atmosphere of Venus, which acts as a giant heat engine.
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Hokkaido University’s ongoing research into hydrogels has borne fresh fruit: a new polymer-based material that, unlike other polymers, hardens when heated – by 1,800 times.
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A new Japanese study simulated interstellar clouds of dust and gas, and managed to produce some of the building blocks of DNA.
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You might think we'd have discovered of all the big animals by now, but Japanese scientists have found a previously-unknown whale species.
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Livestock like sheep and cows are responsible for huge amounts of methane emissions. Now, an international team of researchers has analyzed the gut microbes of different sheep and found clues that may help us curb the problem.
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If there is a subsurface sea on Pluto, why hasn't it frozen solid? According to computer simulations devised by researchers from Japan’s Hokkaido University and elsewhere, it may be that the hypothetical Plutonian sea may remain liquid thanks to an insulating gas layer keeping in the heat.
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It's always helpful if materials let you know when they're under stress, so that changes can be made before catastrophic failures occur. A new polymer is designed to provide such a warning, as it glows when stretched.
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Scientists have found a way to create materials that actually get stronger the more you use them. By mimicking the mechanism that allows living muscles to grow and strengthen after exercise, the polymer breaks down under mechanical stress, then regrows itself into a stronger configuration.
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In places like disaster sites, it's entirely possible that robots' locomotion systems could be damaged. Would that just stop them in their tracks? Perhaps not, if they're anything like a new brittle star-inspired robot.
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They’ve been around for the past 300 million years, outlasting the dinosaurs and outsmarting our attempts to get rid of them. Now, Japanese researchers have revealed yet another reason why we have been unable to put a dent in their populations: female solidarity.
