AIST developed a technique that makes it possible to control the diameter and depth of mesochannels oriented perpendicularly to the graphene surfaces in a sandwich-type graphene-mesoporous silica nanocomposite. The composite is formed by growing porous silica on both sides of a graphene sheet. The diameter and depth of the silica channels can be controlled. The nanocomposite is expected to be used in applications including molecular sieve sensing and drug delivery systems.

AIST and Hokkaido University conducted comparative analysis of the functions of 16S rRNA found in the ribosomes of two distinct bacteria. It was found that the majority of the sequence differences between the analyzed 16S rRNA genes did not result in a significant effect on functions. This outcome provides the first-ever experimental demonstration that the 16S rRNA gene fulfill the condition of evolutionary neutrality, which is a basic requirement for use as a molecular clock in evolutionary phylogenic analysis.

The safety of robots should be secured for achieving the safe coexistence of people and robots. AIST and others compiled requirements that operators of robot services or robot service providers should observe in operating service robots in a safe manner. The requirements were established as JIS Y 1001, which is the first JIS in the service industry established under the Revised Industrial Standardization Act. It is expected that industries taking advantage of the JIS will be able to contribute to dissemination of robot services.

An organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous material with stable and hydrophilic surfaces was synthesized by controlling the reactivity through partial substitution of the four ester groups in 1,4-benzenephosphonate ester with low-reactive hydroxyl groups. The introduction of benzene rings enabled the addition of amino groups and sulfonate groups. In addition, it was possible to create diverse mesoporous materials with hydrophilic surfaces that can be modified through substitution of aluminum with titanium and vanadium.

AIST has built a testbed of a dynamic optical path network and started actual operation. The testbed employs existing unused optical fiber facilities in Tokyo. It is a circuit-switching optical network that establishes an optical path between any users based on a request. To accommodate a large number of users, many high-performance optical switches are needed. AIST has resolved many issues of the optical switches, and this has enabled AIST to realize actual operation of the testbed for the first time.

Thought experiments in combination with analogue models have elucidated the cause of the east-west contraction and crustal deformation of the Japanese islands in the Quaternary Period. It was concluded that the cause of the east-west contraction is not movement of the Pacific Plate itself, as conventionally thought, but rather movement of the Philippine Sea Plate.

AIST has developed a high-speed method (~100 times faster than conventional methods) for measuring X-ray diffraction profiles from interfaces by using multi-wavelength X-rays generated from synchrotron radiation x-rays and a bent crystal. Using this method, real-time observation of interface structure in less than one second was realized. By applying this method to the electrolysis of methanol, it was found that a significant increase in reaction activity occurred simultaneously with the removal of a reaction intermediate adsorbed on the electrode surface.