In collaboration with Taiheiyo Cement Corporation, AIST discovered that living microorganisms are present in rock mass produced by tunnel construction work etc., and that those microorganisms insolubilize selenium, which is a harmful and difficult-to-treat heavy metalloid naturally contained in rock mass.

AIST determined the genome and analyzed the biological functions of the symbiotic bacterium found in leaf beetles. This study revealed for the first time that one species of symbiotic bacteria can perform different functions in larvae and adults of the same host insect.

AIST has developed four standards for accessible design, bases of design guidelines for older persons and persons with disability. In 2019, the standards were established as ISO standards. The standards are expected to accelerate the widespread adoption of accessible design.

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 and the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute fabricated a Si nFET /Ge pFET vertically stacked heterogeneous complementary field effect transistor for the 2nm node. This ultimate new device architecture can lead to the realization of higher performance and lower power consumption CMOS devices.

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.

AIST constructed an original rotor rotation mechanism that enables both sealing and high-speed rotation. The mechanism was introduced in a novel centrifugal field-flow fractionation system. The system can classify particles of a wide size range from 10 nm to 40 µm.