Japanese researchers: Rock samples from asteroid oldest found in solar system
Japanese space probe Hayabusa 2 brought the samples back from asteroid Ryugu. They measure less than 0.1 millimeters each.
The researchers come from institutions including Hokkaido University. They say the rock was formed in high temperatures 4.5673 billion years ago, shortly after the birth of the solar system.
They also say the rock is older than Ryugu, which is made of minerals that formed by reacting with water about 4.562 billion years ago.
They add that the asteroid was likely formed somewhere farther from the sun.
Associate Professor Kawasaki Noriyuki of Hokkaido University says the findings shed light on how raw materials in the solar system behaved and formed astral objects.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
More Squids Than Fish in Cretaceous Period Ocean
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team has found through a new method using digital technology. The team of researchers mainly from Hokkaido University discovered a large number of squid fossils from rocks of the late Cretaceous period about 70 million to 100 million years ago using a new technique called digital fossil-mining for photographing the inside of rocks in circular slices. Using this technique, the team examined rocks from the late Cretaceous strata in Hokkaido, comparing fossils of squids with those of fish and ammonites from the same period and estimating their populations. It found that more squids lived in the Cretaceous period ocean than fish and ammonites, which are known to have flourished then. Few fossils of squids with little hard tissue had been found, and the process of their evolution and success was unknown. This reflected the previous difficulty of extracting fossils of squid species, because they are small and fragile, although they may leave hard beaks. Yasuhiro Iba, an associate professor at Hokkaido University, and fellow researchers developed the new method, in which rocks containing fossils are repeatedly polished and photographed in nanometers to digitize their internal structures in high-resolution full color. As a result, a total of 1,000 cephalopod beak fossils were found. Of them, 263 were those of squids, and 39 out of the 40 squid species were new ones. The oldest squid fossil dates back about 100 million years. No such fossil has been found in earlier geological formations, suggesting the emergence of squids during this period and their rapid diversification over about 6 million years.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
Drugmaker in Japan seeks approval for stem cell treatment for Parkinson's
Sumitomo Pharma said Tuesday it is seeking approval for a Parkinson's disease treatment that transplants stem cells into a patient's brain, following a successful clinical trial. The drugmaker applied to Japanese regulators for manufacturing and marketing authorization aimed at treating patients with advanced Parkinson's disease, it said in a statement. A trial led by Kyoto University researchers indicated that the company's treatment using induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells — which have the potential to develop into any cell in the body — was safe and successful in improving symptoms. The study involved seven Parkinson's patients between 50 and 69 years old, with each receiving a total of either 5 million or 10 million cells implanted on both sides of the brain. The iPS cells from healthy donors were developed into the precursors of dopamine-producing brain cells, which are no longer present in people with Parkinson's disease. The patients were monitored for two years, and no major adverse effects were found, the study said. Four patients showed improvements in symptoms, it said. The trial results were published in Nature in April. Sumitomo Pharma is also carrying out a clinical trial in the United States. Parkinson's disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects the body's motor system, often causing shaking and other difficulties in movement. Worldwide, about 10 million people have the illness, according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. Currently available therapies "improve symptoms without slowing or halting the disease progression," the foundation said. iPS cells are created by stimulating mature, already specialized, cells back into a juvenile state — basically cloning without the need for an embryo. The cells can be transformed into a range of different types of cells, and their use is a key sector of medical research.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
Kyoto University team develops pain reliever comparable to morphine
A Kyoto University research team has developed a pain-reliever that is comparable to morphine but does not have serious side effects. Morphine, often administered to cancer patients, has serious adverse effects such as breathing issues and addiction. According to the team, the newly developed drug, Adriana, is a groundbreaking painkiller, which works on a completely different mechanism to morphine and other existing synthetic opioids. The drug has the potential to revolutionize pain control in the medical field, the team said. The team also expects that the drug will help resolve the so-called opioid epidemic, in which a large number of deaths occur mainly due to overdoses of opioids. Its findings were published in the online edition of the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. When a person encounters a life-threatening situation, norepinephrine, an organic chemical secreted from the brain, suppresses pain. For its study, the team focused on the human body regulating oversecretion of norepinephrine. By introducing a new research technology, the team succeeded in developing a drug blocking such a control function for the first time in the world. In a clinical trial conducted at the Kyoto University Hospital between January 2023 and December 2024, the team confirmed the new drug's efficiency to a certain extent for patients including 20 who underwent lung cancer surgery. The team plans to conduct a clinical trial in the United States for 400 postsurgery patients in 2026, aiming to put Adriana into practical use in 2028. "We hope that the new drug will help cancer patients who previously had no choice but to use opioids live their lives without pain as well as a need to worry about addiction or serious side effects," Masatoshi Hagiwara, a professor at the university, said.
