English news for Wednesday, September 9, 2026

Researchers^*1 at Science Tokyo, a university in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, have made a new sensor^*2. The sensor can find very small pieces of plastic in water. It finds them in less than 20 minutes, and it does not need difficult work in a laboratory^*3. Mana Toma, a researcher at the university, led the group.

The very small pieces of plastic are called nanoplastics^*4. They are smaller than 1 micrometer^*5. One millimeter is 1,000 micrometers. Scientists think nanoplastics are spreading in the sea, in rivers, and in other places in nature. They are worried that nanoplastics may hurt water animals and people.

Bigger pieces of plastic, called microplastics^*6, can be seen with a microscope^*7. But nanoplastics are too small. It is not easy to find them in the old ways.

The research group changed its idea. It did not try to look for nanoplastics in water samples^*8. Instead, it tried to catch them first.

The group used a peptide^*9. This peptide sticks to one kind of plastic, called polystyrene^*10. The group fixed the peptide on the surface^*11 of a sensor. When nanoplastics stick to the peptide, the light that comes back from the sensor changes. The group tested the sensor with pieces of polystyrene that were 50 nanometers^*12 wide. The sensor found them in less than 20 minutes.

The group also looked at the sensor with an electron microscope^*13. The pictures showed that the nanoplastics were really stuck to the surface of the sensor. So the sensor works in the way the group planned. The group tested the sensor with clean water from the laboratory. The sensor also worked with water from a fish tank and from a pond. This water had many other things in it.

The group started this research because of a report about bacteria^*14. These bacteria were found in a recycling^*15 factory in Japan. They can break down PET^*16. The report said the bacteria have an enzyme^*17 that breaks down PET. PET is made by people, not by nature. The group read this report and became interested.

The sensor still has some problems. Outside the laboratory, the quality of the water changes how well the sensor finds nanoplastics. The group hopes that with more work, the sensor will become an easy way to check for nanoplastics in nature. In the future, it may also be used with more difficult samples, such as samples from living bodies.

1. *1 Researchers: People whose job is to study things carefully and find out new facts.
2. *2 sensor: A small machine that finds or measures something, such as heat, light, or a chemical.
3. *3 laboratory: A room where scientists do tests and experiments.
4. *4 nanoplastics: Pieces of plastic that are far too small to see. They are smaller than 1 micrometer.
5. *5 micrometer: A very small measure of length. There are 1,000 micrometers in one millimeter.
6. *6 microplastics: Very small pieces of plastic. They are bigger than nanoplastics, but still very small.
7. *7 microscope: A tool that makes very small things look big, so you can see them.
8. *8 samples: Small amounts of something, such as water, taken so they can be tested.
9. *9 peptide: A very small piece of protein. Protein is one of the things living bodies are made of.
10. *10 polystyrene: One kind of plastic. It is used in cups, boxes, and packing.
11. *11 surface: The top or outside part of something.
12. *12 nanometers: A very small measure of length. There are 1,000 nanometers in one micrometer.
13. *13 electron microscope: A very strong microscope. It can show things that are far too small for a normal microscope.
14. *14 bacteria: Very small living things. You cannot see them without a microscope.
15. *15 recycling: Taking old things, such as bottles or paper, and making new things from them.
16. *16 PET: One kind of plastic. Many drink bottles are made of it.
17. *17 enzyme: Something inside a living thing that breaks down or changes other things.

Masashi Yanagisawa, a professor^*1 at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, has won a big prize for medical research^*2. He shares the prize with Emmanuel Mignot, a professor at Stanford University in the United States. The prize is the 2026 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award. The University of Tsukuba announced the news on Wednesday, September 9.

The two scientists won the prize for their work on sleep. In 1998, Professor Yanagisawa found orexin^*3 in the brain. Orexin helps the brain stay awake. The next year, he studied mice that had no orexin. These mice had problems like narcolepsy^*4.

Professor Mignot studied people with narcolepsy. He found that the liquid around their brain and spine^*5 had very little orexin. Together, the two scientists showed that people get narcolepsy when they do not have enough orexin.

The award ceremony^*6 will be held in New York City on Thursday, September 17.

1. *1 professor: a teacher at a university who also does research
2. *2 medical research: careful study to learn about the body and about illness
3. *3 orexin: something the brain makes. It helps a person stay awake.
4. *4 narcolepsy: an illness in which a person sleeps too much and cannot stay awake
5. *5 spine: the long line of bones down the middle of the back
6. *6 ceremony: a formal event, for example when a prize is given to someone

Students in Japan got the best results among OECD countries in a big international^*1 test. Japan's Ministry of Education and the National Institute for Educational Policy Research announced the results on September 8, 2026.

The test is called PISA 2025. It is run by the OECD, an organization^*2 of many countries. About 760,000 students from 91 countries and regions^*3 took the test between June and August 2025. In Japan, about 6,500 students from 183 high schools took part. They were in their first year of high school. The schools were chosen by international rules.

The test has three main parts: science, reading, and math. Japan came first among OECD countries in all three parts. This is the first time Japan has done this since the test began. Japan also came first among OECD countries in a new part of the test called "Learning in the Digital World." This part was given for the first time in 2025.

Japan's average^*4 score in science was 538 points. The average for OECD countries was 482. In reading, Japan scored 503 points, and the OECD average was 461. In math, Japan scored 525 points, and the OECD average was 463.

When all 91 countries and regions are counted, Japan was fifth in science, fourth in reading, fifth in math, and fourth in "Learning in the Digital World."

Not all of the news was good. Japan's reading score went down by 13 points from the last test in 2022. In all three parts, more students got low scores than before. The number of students with high scores did not change much.

The science part of the test has a new name this year. It used to be called "scientific literacy^*5." Now it is called "science competency^*6." The full results for "Learning in the Digital World" will come out in 2027. They will include a part about how students manage their own learning.

1. *1 international: between many countries
2. *2 organization: a group of people or countries that work together
3. *3 regions: areas that are part of a country or part of the world
4. *4 average: the middle number for a whole group; you add all the scores and share them out equally
5. *5 scientific literacy: knowing and understanding science
6. *6 science competency: being able to use science well