National Institutes of Natural Sciences

In spintronics, the use of organic materials as a “spin transport material” has recently garnered significant attention as they exhibit long spin-relaxation times and long spin-diffusion lengths owing to the weak spin-orbit interaction (SOI) of light elements. Meanwhile, the weak SOI of organic materials become a drawback when they are used as a “spin filter”.…

In the future fusion reactor, plasma is confined by using the magnetic field inside the doughnut-shaped vacuum vessel. The blanket is in a location where it almost touches the plasma, and as if to enfold the plasma the blanket is placed on the inner surface of the vacuum chamber. The blanket, by absorbing the high-speed…

In September 2015, a team of astronomers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, University of Michigan, Kyoto Sangyo University, Rikkyo University and the University of Tokyo successfully observed the entire hydrogen coma of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, using the LAICA telescope onboard the PROCYON spacecraft. They also succeeded in obtaining the absolute rate of water…

Kenji Ohmori of the Institute for Molecular Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Japan collaborated with Matthias Weidemüller of the University of Heidelberg, Guido Pupillo of the University of Strasbourg, Claudiu Genes of the University of Innsbruck, and their coworkers to develop the world’s fastest simulator that can simulate quantum mechanical dynamics of a large number…

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered the most tenuous molecular gas ever observed. They detected the absorption of radio waves by gas clouds in front of bright radio sources. This radio shadow revealed the composition and conditions of diffuse gas in the Milky Way galaxy. To calibrate its systems, ALMA looks…

Solar physicists have captured the first direct observational signatures of resonant absorption, thought to play an important role in solving the “coronal heating problem” which has defied explanation for over 70 years. An international research team from Japan, the U.S.A., and Europe led by Drs. Joten Okamoto and Patrick Antolin combined high resolution observations from…

Potential rehabilitation of volitional walking in individuals with spinal cord injury Gait disturbance in individuals with spinal cord injury is attributed to the interruption of neural pathways from brain to the spinal locomotor center, whereas neural circuits locate below and above the lesion maintain most of their functions. An artificial connection that bridges the lost…