University of Tokyo

Exactly how some animals, such as birds, can detect magnetic fields remains a mystery. Now researchers in Japan may have found a crucial piece of the puzzle, making the first direct observations of live, unaltered cells responding to magnetic fields.

Astronomers have precisely measured the distance to the oldest and farthest known galaxy. Light left GN-z11 around 13.4 billion years ago, when the universe was a cosmic toddler, meaning this galaxy marks the very edge of the observable universe.

Although we've already heard about pressure-sensitive "skins" that could be applied to robotic appendages, scientists have created one for use on human fingers. And while you might wonder why they bothered, it actually has an interesting application.

By analyzing data from radar and optical telescopes, scientists have given radar the ability to make observations of meteors that burn up in the Earth's atmosphere that have previously only possible using optical telescopes.

Superconductors – materials in which electricity flows without any resistance whatsoever – could be extremely useful. For the first time ever, engineers have created a superconductor out of a state of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC).

Scientists in Japan have produced a plastic with the highest heat resistance ever reported, and done so by using natural materials as the building blocks, paving the way toward greener production for the omnipresent material.

The star Betelgeuse has dimmed twice in the past year. Now astronomers say they’ve found what may have caused the latest episode – and also discovered that the star is smaller, closer to Earth and further from exploding than previously thought.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have made magnetic tape using a new material, which allows higher storage density and more protection against interference, as well as a new way to write to the tape using high frequency millimeter waves.

We've heard about microneedle patches before, and we've also heard about cheap, disposable paper biomedical testing kits. Japanese scientists have now combined the two, in a paper-backed microneedle patch that measures blood glucose levels.

The Super-Kamiokande neutrino observatory in Japan has received an upgrade. A rare-earth element called gadolinium has been added to the water in the facility, which will make it more sensitive to neutrinos from more distant and ancient supernovae.

A team led by researchers at the University of Tokyo has shown that feeding pigs on the barley waste left over from the distillation of the Japanese liquor shochu makes for more relaxed pigs and results in tastier pork.

Scientists at the University of Tokyo have developed a synthetic version of a fungal compound that could help take out cancer, by reactivating a missing gene that would normally drive the sinister cells to self-destruction.