自然科学研究機構 分子科学研究所の杉本泰伸研究員、理化学研究所の水流翔太特別研究員、分子科学研究所／総合研究大学院大学の長坂将成助教らは、室温（25℃）の水溶液中にあるミオグロビンについて、ヘムの鉄イオンのスピン状態を軟X線吸収分光で観測することに成功した。ポルフィリン環の窒素の吸収端を使い、タンパク質本体のポリペプチド鎖に含まれる大量の窒素に埋もれずにC=N π*ピークを取り出せた。酸素が結合したオキシ型は低スピン（S=0）、酸素が外れたデオキシ型はS=2とS=1、鉄が3価になったメト型はS=5/2とS=3/2が混ざった平衡状態だった。論文はPhysical Chemistry Chemical Physics誌に2026年8月24日オンライン掲載、発表は9月7日。
内閣府が2026年9月7日に公表した景気動向指数（2026年7月分速報）。CI（2020年=100）は先行指数117.9（前月比+1.7、2か月ぶりの上昇）、一致指数120.6（+1.7、2か月連続の上昇）、遅行指数113.3（+1.6）。一致指数の上昇には投資財出荷指数（除輸送機械）が+0.68、商業販売額（小売業）が+0.47寄与した。一致指数の基調判断は「改善を示している」で据え置き。
NASAの火星探査車キュリオシティが2024年5月30日にゲール・クレーターのゲディズ・バリス水路で車輪で割った石の中から、黄色い結晶が見つかった。X線分光装置APXSの分析で、硫酸塩や硫化物ではなく単体の硫黄（自然硫黄）と確認された。火星で単体の硫黄が確認されたのは初めて。ワシントン大学（セントルイス）のスコット・ヴァンボメル氏ら14人の論文はScience誌に2026年6月28日にオンライン掲載、8月20日号の表紙になった。硫黄の主な供給源はマグマの蒸気で、地下の凍った層で冷えて固まり、水路の侵食で圧力が下がって放出されたと提案している。
米サウスダコタ州の地下約1.5kmにある暗黒物質探索実験LUX-ZEPLIN（LZ）は2026年9月1日、2023年3月から2024年4月までの220日分のデータの中に、既知の背景では説明しにくい原子核の反跳イベントが1回あったと発表した。反跳エネルギーは248±23（統計）±23（系統）keV。背景だけで説明できる確率は0.5%程度（2.6σ）で、素粒子物理で「発見」とされる5σには届かない。もし暗黒物質なら質量は陽子の200倍以上。研究チームは「暗黒物質を見たとは主張しない」と明言している。
2026年7月28日16時27分、熊本県熊本地方の深さ16kmでマグニチュード7.1（暫定値）の地震が起き、宇城市と氷川町で震度7を観測した。気象庁はこの地震と一連の活動を「令和8年熊本地震」と名付けた。震度1以上の地震は7月28日の16時から24時までに194回、29日に144回、30日に62回と減り、8月下旬には1日数回、9月4日9時までの累計は747回。気象庁は9月1日の発表で、揺れの強かった地域では今後3〜4週間、最大震度5弱程度以上の地震に注意が必要としている。
A draft summary released on August 4, 2026 (revised after the meeting) by MEXT's Central Council for Education's Japanese Language Working Group. High school required subjects would keep their two-subject framework, tentatively named "Contemporary Japanese I" and "Language Culture I." Elective subjects would restructure the current "Logical Japanese," "Literary Japanese," "Japanese Expression," and "Classical Inquiry" (4 units each) into a 4-unit "Contemporary Japanese II" and "Language Culture II," taken by the large majority of students, and newly establish 2-unit advanced subjects "Argument and Criticism," "Dialogue and Expression," "Literature and Creative Writing," and "Classics and Culture" (all tentative names).
Osaka University, the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), and Hamamatsu Photonics announced on September 1, 2026, a "10-fold multiplexed quantum optical interface" that simultaneously detects photons from 10 neutral atoms arranged a few micrometers apart using a 32-channel integrated optical waveguide array. The multiplexing degree of 10 is a world record, and in principle it could be extended to about 100-fold multiplexing. The paper was published in the optics journal Optica on August 31.
In percolation theory, researchers proved that the transition in the probability of a "giant connected component" appearing when edges are randomly retained is sharp on the supercritical side as well, for all infinite transitive graphs. This was shown for lattices in the 1980s, with Benjamini and Schramm conjecturing the generalization in 1996. The proof, by Diskin, Easo, Radhakrishnan, Sudakov, and Tassion of ETH Zurich, was published as a preprint in March 2026 and reported by Quanta Magazine on August 31.
The Ministry of Finance's Financial Statements Statistics of Corporations (April–June 2026 quarter), published on September 1, 2026. Ordinary profit for all industries (excluding finance and insurance) was ¥4,466.68 billion, up 24.6% year on year — the highest of the 289 quarters on record. Manufacturing was up 57.0%. Sales were ¥393,937.7 billion (+5.9%). Capital investment was ¥1,302.5 billion (+1.6%), with manufacturing down 3.7%.
The Japan Meteorological Agency's summary of "Summer 2026 (June–August) Weather," published on September 1, 2026. The difference from average summer temperatures was +1.2°C in Northern Japan, +0.8°C in Eastern Japan, +1.2°C in Western Japan, and 0.0°C in Okinawa/Amami. In Western Japan, the average temperatures for mid-July, late July, and late August were the highest since records began in 1946. In the Kanto-Koshin region, precipitation reached 141% of average due to typhoons and torrential rain.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) announced on July 2, 2026, that it had added more than 900 new words, phrases, and senses, including floordrobe, humblebrag, life hack, long game, and four-legged friend. The earliest citation for four-legged friend, from 1778, referred to a donkey.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's preliminary vital statistics report (for June 2026), published on August 28. The cumulative total for January–June was 342,068 births (+0.8% year on year), 778,982 deaths (−6.9%), and a natural change of −436,914, an improvement of 60,000 from −497,538 the previous year.
Space One announced on August 30, 2026, that the cause of the flight termination of the small rocket "Kairos" No. 3, which occurred 68.8 seconds after its March 5 launch, was electrical noise from static electricity that had accumulated on the vehicle. The noise rebooted the communication software, temporarily cutting off communication, which caused the autonomous flight safety system to terminate the flight.
NASA's X-ray polarization observatory IXPE observed the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 for more than 140 hours and found an abnormally high level of X-ray polarization, about three times that of similar objects. It is considered the strongest evidence in 90 years for vacuum birefringence, predicted by Heisenberg in 1936.
Mars's southern hemisphere mantle is 200–400°C hotter than the northern hemisphere, and part of it may be molten, according to an analysis of 16 years of radio tracking data from three NASA orbiters.
Institute of Science Tokyo announced a method for directly producing BNFO, a material that shrinks when heated, from a raw material that, like glass, has no crystal structure. The conventional multi-step reaction at about 950°C now crystallizes at 750°C in under a minute, and particle size also decreased from about 15 to about 5 micrometers.
BiNi1-xFexO3
On August 30, 2026, NASA launched the Roman Space Telescope, an infrared telescope with a field of view at least 100 times that of the Hubble Space Telescope. It will be used going forward to help clarify dark matter and dark energy and to search for exoplanets.
The Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released the Labour Force Survey (Basic Tabulation) for July 2026 on August 28, 2026. The number of employees increased by 360,000 from the same month of the previous year, marking the 53rd consecutive month of increase.
The National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics published an article on August 27, 2026, explaining why dialect accents persist even in standard Japanese, stating that the sound features babies learn first are the hardest to lose even in adulthood.
On August 27, 2026, ESA released an image of the irregular galaxy Arp 263 (about 25 million light-years away), captured by the Webb Space Telescope. Misalignment between the galaxy's stars and gas suggests it is the trace of a past galaxy merger.
MEXT released preliminary figures from the FY2026 School Basic Survey on August 26, 2026. The number of elementary school pupils hit a record low, while the number of university students hit a record high.
On August 26, 2026, RIKEN and Nagoya University announced a method for synthesizing complex nanographene in just two reaction steps. Molecules with 8 to 10 fused rings can be produced with structures ranging from flat to curved.
By combining two neural networks, researchers shortened semiconductor internal analysis that used to take several days to under one millisecond. The training data was about 400 cases, roughly one-hundredth of the conventional amount.
On August 25, 2026, the University of Tokyo and others announced that the record marine heatwave of 2024 caused coral bleaching nationwide, from Okinawa to Honshu. Coral that had spread northward was also affected, indicating that temperate waters may not serve as a 'refuge.'
On August 25, 2026, NASA announced that its exoplanet-exploring satellite Pandora had begun scientific observations. Over one year, it plans to observe at least 20 exoplanets, each 10 times for 24 hours per observation.
NAOJ and others announced the fortuitous discovery of Comet Neujmin in archived Subaru Telescope images. Observed in a configuration receiving sunlight almost directly from the front (0.33-degree phase angle), the comet reflected light more strongly than an asteroid would.
On August 24, 2026, the ALMA telescope announced that a hot spot on the surface of Betelgeuse has remained in the same location for over 7 years. The average surface temperature was about 2,300 K, with the hot spot up to 800 K hotter.
On August 18, 2026, a government expert working group examining a Japanese-language and civic-systems learning program for foreign residents held its first meeting. It has six members and is chaired by Susumu Takahashi. The government aims to begin a pilot during fiscal 2028.
Dictionaries do not add new words immediately; they first observe how they are used. Vacation-related new words listed by the Cambridge Dictionary blog on August 17, 2026, and how they were formed.
The upper bound of the Komlós conjecture, unchanged since 1998, has been narrowed from the square root of log N to the fourth root of log N, proven by two researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago.
The Cabinet Office published the first preliminary GDP estimate for the April–June 2026 quarter on August 17, 2026. The overall figure grew for a third consecutive quarter, but household consumption and corporate capital investment were both negative.
Trade statistics for July released by the Ministry of Finance on August 20, 2026. Both exports and imports rose more than 20%, but import growth outpaced exports, resulting in a deficit of 634.5 billion yen. Notable gaps appeared between volume and value.
Published August 21, 2026. The overall index rose 1.9% year-on-year, accelerating from 1.6% in June. Food and communication costs rose while education costs fell, with private high school tuition down 73.2%.
Published August 20, 2026. The total population decline was 610,000, but the Japanese population alone fell by 866,000. The gap is offset by an increase of 257,000 in the foreign population.
A team at UC San Diego created about 500,000 variants of a DNA sequence called an initiator, measured them all at once, and used machine learning to decode the patterns. It was predicted that about 60% of human genes have an initiator.
A survey of 1,000 American adults by Penn State University and others found that 62% said they have no or limited knowledge of statistics. Meanwhile, 90% said they would base decisions on statistics if they understood them better.
An artifact less than 23mm long, excavated from a Neolithic settlement in Serbia and misclassified in storage for nearly 20 years, was found to be a perforated human canine tooth ornament. It is the only reliably documented human tooth ornament from the Neolithic Central Balkans.
A KAIST research team controlled the thickness and structure of an ultra-thin polymer coating, increasing the heat-transfer efficiency of water vapor condensing back into water to up to 5.5 times that of a copper surface. The heat transfer coefficient reached up to 88 kW·m⁻²·K⁻¹.
As of 15:00 on August 23, Typhoons No. 18, No. 19, and No. 20 existed simultaneously. The strongest, No. 18, had a central pressure of 950hPa and maximum wind speed near the center of 45m/s. A linear precipitation band was forecast for the Yaeyama region toward the evening of the 23rd.
The National Institute of Informatics released a Japanese large language model with about 33.2 billion parameters, under the Apache License 2.0, along with the DPO dataset used for training.
The upper stage of a Falcon 9 launched in January 2025 collided with the lunar surface on August 5, 2026. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the impact site on August 11.
CD4-positive killer T cells, which remain rare through the 90s, increase markedly after age 100. Although clonally derived, their function was diverse and showed no signs of exhaustion.
Even when HDL cholesterol values were the same, patients with lower ability to recover excess cholesterol from blood vessels had larger, more dangerous plaques. Confirmed using a new cell-free measurement method.
By combining silver nanowires with a conductive polymer, researchers developed a water-resistant transparent conductive film about 200 nanometers thick. It can simultaneously record brain activity and observe blood vessels.
By applying strain to a nickel oxide thin film, researchers observed both ambient-pressure and ultra-high-pressure superconductivity in the same sample. The transition temperature rose from about 40K to a maximum of 73K.
By embedding a single atomic layer of iron selenide within another crystal, researchers achieved performance previously obtainable only in thin films within a bulk material. Thermoelectric performance reached about 100 times that of bulk iron selenide.
TlFe1.6Se2
On August 21, 2026, the University of Tsukuba and others announced the mechanism of a 'seasonal meter' by which plants predict the flowering season from temperature memory. In wasabi and Arabidopsis halleri, three genes carried temperature memories of different lengths: a few days, several weeks, and about 5 months.
JAXA announced on August 20, 2026, that it will launch H3 Rocket No. 10, carrying the Martian moons explorer MMX, on October 20 at 4:41. MMX plans to bring back more than 10g of samples from Phobos.
On August 20, 2026, the University of Tokyo and others announced that they observed electron-beam interference fringes by treating two adjacent atoms in a silicon crystal as a 'double slit.' The slit spacing, 136 pm, was about 7 orders of magnitude smaller than in Young's experiment.
The National Institute of Informatics announced on August 18, 2026, that it has integrated approximately 4 million research outputs from Japanese institutional repositories into OpenAlex, one of the world's largest academic databases.
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