Yakult Honsha Co. Ltd. (TYO:2267) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have confirmed that the Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) is able to maintain its probiotic functions even under...
Innovation
Japan Fine Steel Develops Thinner Aluminum Wires for Automotive Wire Harnesses
Japan Fine Steel Co. Ltd. (JFS) is enhancing its efforts to help make vehicle bodies lighter. This has seen the company establish a new thinning technology for the production of...
Daicel Looks to Produce C4 Derivatives From Bio-Resources
Daicel Corp. (TYO:4202) is setting out to develop technology capable of producing C4 derivatives from unused bio-resources, joining up with Kawasaki-based Chitose Laboratory Corp. for its efforts here. The production...
ITRI Taiwan Plans to Begin Mass Production of Solid-State LiBs Within Next Five Years
Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is looking to develop an oxide-based all-solid-state lithium-ion battery (LiB). To differentiate itself from other efforts being made in the field, ITRI will make...
Sumika Polycarbonate Develops Resin With Transparency for Specific Wavelengths Only
Sumika Polycarbonate Ltd. has developed a transparent polycarbonate (PC) resin which filters out all but specified light wavelengths. This comes as part of a broader company initiative to speed up...
Super Resin Develops Continuous CFRP Molding Tech for 3D Printers
Super Resin Inc. is aiming to commercialize technology that uses 3D printers for the molding of continuous carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Potential applications for this include aircraft and satellite...
Taisei Develops Technology for Bio-Treatment of 1,4-Dioxane
Taisei Corp. (TYO:1801) has established bio-treatment technology for 1,4-dioxane, a compound that is included in drainage water when manufacturing the likes of ethylene derivatives and suspected as having carcinogenic and...
Nissan Chemical Streamlines Cell Cluster Production With iPS Cultivation System
Nissan Chemical Corp. (TYO:4021) has developed a prototype 3D cultivation system for induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. This system semi-automates the processes spanning from cell cultivation to collection, and is...
Kanazawa University Develops New Method to Strengthen Bio-Based CFRP
A team of researchers at Kanazawa University has developed a method for strengthening carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) in which plant-based cellulose resin is used as a base material. Cellulose...
Taiyo Nippon Sanso, TUAT Work on Resolving Cost Issues in GaN Substrate Production
Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp. (TYO:4091) has been working in collaboration with the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) on developing a means for the low-cost manufacture of gallium nitride...
Almedio Develops Milled Carbon Fiber Allowing for Uniform Dispersion
Almedio Inc. (TYO:7859) has succeeded in developing a highly dense, highly dispersible carbon fiber masterbatch, allowing manufacturers to stably fill in even the fine details of molded products using milled...
New Catalyst From Hokkaido University Lowers Syngas Production Temperature
Hokkaido University Professor Atsushi Fukuoka and Assistant Professor Hirokazu Kobayashi have developed a catalyst for the conversion of methane into synthesis gas (syngas) at 650 degrees Celsius. With this being...
Tokyo Tech Research Group Develops New Microalgae Strains With up to 56.1-Fold Increase in TAG Productivity
A research group from the Tokyo Institute of Technology has succeeded in cultivating strains of microalgae with triacylglycerol (TAG) productivity improved up to 56.1-fold over that of a natural strain...
University of Tsukuba Discovers New Method to Regenerate Heart Muscle With Gene Injection
A research group led by Professor Masaki Ieda of the University of Tsukuba has discovered that the TBX6 gene can directly regenerate cardiovascular tissue when injected into cardiac fibroblasts. Previous...
Mitsui Chemicals Plans European Clinical Research for Sepsis Testing Technology
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) is looking to expand R&D efforts overseas with its new testing technology for sepsis, a severe infectious disease. This comes as part of a plan to...
Zeon, Yokohama Rubber, Riken Achieve World-First Production of Isoprene From Biomass
Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205), Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) and the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) announced on July 26 that they have developed technology for the efficient and...
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Plans Launch of Antipsychotic Pills With Embedded Mini-Sensors
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. is targeting a U.S. rollout beginning as soon as this year for Abilify MyCite – a world-first “digital medicine” that incorporates medical devices into pills. The...
Teijin Frontier Develops New Heat-Resistant Bag Filter With High Performance, Long Life
Teijin Frontier Co. Ltd. has developed a new heat-resistant bag filter that makes use of Teijinconex, a superfine meta-aramid fiber with high heat resistance. Plans are to target this new...
Japan Makes Wave of Advancements in Epoxy Technologies
Japanese organizations have recently made a spate of innovations in epoxy materials, with efforts from Osaka University, Ando DK Co. Ltd. and more serving to open up new possibilities in...
Kanto Denka Kogyo Develops Heat Dissipation Fiber Able to Double Thermal Conductivity
Kanto Denka Kogyo Co. Ltd. (TYO:4047) recently developed a new fiber that disperses easily and has high thermal conductivity. Adding this fiber to a resin containing thermally conductive particles, the...
