AIST analyzed and clarified changes over the past 20 years in surface deposition of soot particles at Sapporo City and Rishiri Island. The revealed deposition of soot particles had large interannual variation and it increased when massive Asian Dust swept over Japan.

AIST developed a novel mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The developed AD model mice are transgenic mice (Aβ-GFP mice) that express only oligomers of amyloid-β protein (Aβ), one of the causative factors of AD, in neurons and exhibit early stage of AD.

AIST has investigated changes in the neural pathways of the brain during the process of motor function recovery using model animals with permanent lesion in the brain. As a result, it was discovered that a new neural pathway was formed.

AIST and Tohoku Kogei developed a clay-containing nanocomposite protective layer that will widen applications of Tamamushi lacquer. The surface coated by the protective layer is less susceptible to scratches. Rakuten Baseball, Inc. decided to adopt helmets coated with the Tamamushi lacquer nanocomposite.

AIST has developed a one-step synthesis of gold nanomaterials using a succinic acid derivative. It has discovered that the succinic acid derivative rapidly reduces gold ions and that the bilayer membranes of this compound act as a template for controlling the direction of crystal growth.

AIST has published the Geologic Map of Volcanoes in Japan that lets you view and search for a distribution of volcanic eruption products and geological information of about 440 quaternary volcanoes across Japan as a new addition to the “Volcanoes of Japan” databases.

Using quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and other methods, AIST has developed two types of certified reference materials (standard solutions) composed of target substances for doping testing. The reference materials will contribute to higher reliability of doping testing at international sports events.