| May 17 | Power saving reduced heat island effect |
 Last summer's energy-saving drive alleviated the heat island effect in Tokyo, with the temperature difference between central and suburban areas in the capital shrinking by up to 0.67 C compared with the previous year, researchers have found. (Yomiuri  ) |
| May 16 | China, Japan, US to witness 'ring' solar eclipse |
 At sunrise in some parts of China and Japan and by sunset in the western United States, a partial solar eclipse is set to slink across a narrow swath of the Earth on May 20 and 21. (AFP ) |
| May 16 | Aftershocks along Fukushima, Ibaraki borders may take over 100 years to subside |
| It may take at least 100 years before aftershocks from the March 11, 2011 quake along the boundaries of Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures subside, a recent study reveals. (Mainichi) |
| May 15 | Honda shows robotics for handsfree unicycle |
 Look, no hands. Scooting about in a unicycle is no sweat with Honda's new robotics technology.
Swaying your body from side to side is all you need to do to turn, rotate full circle and zip around on the Uni-Cub, which looks a bit like a floating car seat. (Jakarta Post |
| May 15 | Japan to launch 4 satellites Friday, 1 for SKorea |
| Japan plans to launch four satellites into space this week, including a South Korean one that is its first payload for a foreign customer. () |
| May 14 | Japan's new smart city |
| A display in Kitakyushu shows some of the products made from the materials recovered after a car is broken down bit by bit and everything totally recycled. The concept of the smart community is nothing new to Kitakyushu, but after years of small-scale innovations, the city is ready to test the concept on a large scale, developing 2,600 houses and apartments on government land. (Bangkok Post) |
| May 12 | Wild monkeys to help gauge Fukushima radiation |
| Wild Japanese monkeys wearing special collars fitted with dosimeters and Global Positioning System devices will be used to measure radiation levels in the mountain forests of Fukushima Prefecture in an experiment due to start this month. (Yomiuri) |
| May 11 | Niigata Prefecture, Suntory switch genes to make world's first blue lily |
 The Niigata Prefectural Government and Suntory Holdings Ltd. have jointly developed the world's first lily with blue petals, the prefectural government said.
(Japan Times ) |
| May 11 | Tiger fugu lunker caught off Yamaguchi |
 An unusually big tiger puffer fish, weighing 6.1 kg, was caught Monday in the Seto Inland Sea, Yamaguchi Prefecture's fisheries research center said Wednesday. (Japan Times ) |
| May 11 | Nine sites eyed for Ramsar listing |
 The Environment Ministry selected nine more candidate sites Thursday for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an international treaty aimed at conserving globally important wetlands. (Japan Times ) |
| May 11 | 12 asteroids given names from quake-stricken areas |
| Twelve asteroids discovered by the Lowell Observatory in the U.S. state of Arizona have been named after areas in the Tohoku region affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. (Yomiuri) |
| May 09 | Japan iced bra aims to keep everywhere cool |
 A bra with built-in ice packs, a wind chime and a sprig of mint that was unveiled in Japan on Wednesday is promising to keep women cool this summer.
(ninemsn ) |
| May 09 | Vacuum robot is trilingual, knows witty dialect |
 It looks just like iRobot's Roomba vacuuming machine, except the new circular roaming vacuum cleaner from Sharp Corp. is trilingual, and even knows a hip humorous dialect.
Cocorobo, which can also send photos taken from your home to your cell phone, says 36 phrases including "Long time no see" and "Hello," in Japanese, English and Chinese. (Sun Times ) |
| May 08 | Wild eel caught with high levels of radioactive cesium |
 Above normal radioactive cesium levels were detected in wild eel caught in Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo, resulting in the government suspending shipments from the area for the first time. (NewsOnJapan.com ) |
| May 08 | Temperature differences spawned deadly tornado |
 The deadly tornado that hit a residential area in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sunday is believed to have been triggered by a temperature difference of more than 40 C between a high-altitude cold air mass and warm moist air near the ground, which developed a cumulonimbus cloud and a rotating ascending air current. (Yomiuri ) |
| May 06 | Crested ibis parents aced hunting tests |
 A pair of crested ibises that successfully hatched three eggs in April proved adept in a hunting and food-gathering test before their release into the wild, it has been learned.
To feed their chicks, the first born in 36 years under natural conditions, the pair need to catch 300 loaches a day. (Yomiuri ) |
| May 05 | Japan goes nuclear free |
 Japan's only remaining nuclear power plant in use, Hokkaido Electric Power's Tomari nuclear power plant reactor number 3, will be shut down for routine inspections on Saturday, leaving the country without an operational nuclear plant for the first time in 42 years.
(NewsOnJapan.com ) |
| May 05 | Groups fight to keep foreign fish at bay |
 Looking at black bass and bluegill caught fresh at Inokashira Park, Toshiaki Tanaka sighed with satisfaction at catching some of the nonnative species plaguing its picturesque pond. But at the same time, he said he was frustrated knowing that alien species remain firmly entrenched there despite the five years he and his friends have spent trying to fish them out. (Japan Times) |
| May 05 | Cesium pushing wild plants off menu |
| Many local governments are calling on producers and harvesters of edible wild plants to refrain from shipping their products after a number of them were found to contain levels of radioactive cesium that exceed state limits. (Yomiuri) |
| May 04 | Tokyo to be treated to rare annular eclipse, Venus transit |
 If you're in the right place, a couple of rare astronomical events in the coming weeks - an annular eclipse and a transit of Venus - may make it worthwhile to buy a pair of eclipse glasses. (Japan Times) |
| May 03 | More Japanese seeking ova in Thailand |
| The number of Japanese who received ova donations as part of fertility treatments in Thailand has increased more than 10-fold in recent years, a recent Yomiuri Shimbun investigation has found. According to the research, the number of Japanese who traveled to Thailand for such treatment had been about 20 a year from 2007 to 2009, but surged to 133 in 2010 and to 231 in 2011. (Yomiuri) |
| May 02 | 3 piranhas caught in Kanagawa river |
 Three piranhas were found and caught in a river in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, in late April and city officials combed the area and set a water playground stream for children off limits nearby on Tuesday. (Mainichi ) |
| May 02 | Pee-rless research: Japan scientists discover biological clock regulates bladder capacity |
| A team of Japanese scientists has discovered that our biological clock controls bladder capacity such that we don't have to wake up in the middle of the night for a pee -- a finding that could help treat bedwetting in children and the need for nocturnal trips to the washroom among the elderly. (Mainichi) |
| May 02 | Cesium exceeding new limit detected in 51 food items in nine prefectures |
 Radioactive cesium was detected in 51 food products from nine prefectures in excess of a new government-set limit in the first month since it was introduced April 1, according to data released by the health ministry Tuesday. (Japan Times ) |
| Apr 30 | Ova donated abroad led to 130 births |
| At least 130 children were born in Japan through in vitro fertilization using eggs donated abroad by third parties in the five years from 2007, according to a survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun. (Yomiuri) |
| Apr 29 | M5.8 quake jolts Kanto; no tsunami warning issued |
 An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 jolted the Kanto region on Sunday night, shaking Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Ibaraki and Gunma.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake struck at 7:28 p.m. Its epicenter was 50 kilometers underground in northeastern Chiba.
(Japan Today ) |
| Apr 28 | 3 crested ibis chicks confirmed safe by ministry |
 The Environment Ministry has confirmed that the three newly hatched crested ibis chicks in Niigata Prefecture, are in good condition even after the recent approach of a predatory crow.
(Yomiuri ) |
| Apr 28 | Japan sea sediments tell of past 'Tohoku quakes' |
 Previous earthquakes that rivalled the March 2011 Tohoku tremor in size may be recorded in sediment samples just recovered from the seafloor off Japan.
A German-led scientific cruise obtained the cores from 16 different locations, some of them at a water depth of 7.5km.
(BBC) |
| Apr 26 | Japan astronomers find most distant galaxy cluster |
| ) |
| Apr 26 | Japan fears nuclear plant sits atop active geological fault |
 A nuclear plant in northwestern Japan may be sitting right on top of an active geological fault, the country's nuclear watchdog has said, raising the risk that the facility may never resume power generation for fear of an earthquake.
(chicagotribune.com ) |
| Apr 26 | Dog 'can detect cancer with high accuracy levels' |
| A 10-year-old Labrador retriever has been trained to detect gynecological cancer such as uterine cancer with a high level of accuracy. Marine, a female, was trained in Minami-Boso, Chiba Prefecture, to detect smells specific to cancer, said Masao Miyashita, a professor of Chiba Hokuso Hospital of Nippon Medical School. (Yomiuri) |
| Apr 26 | Facial soap's surprise wheat ingredient triggers allergies |
| A class-action lawsuit over a bar of facial soap in Japan is making some there question the meaning of "all natural." The soap that has gone on trial this month is Cha no Shizuku, roughly translated as "a drop of tea," a green tea-based cleansing bar popular among Japanese women and valued for its so-called natural purity. (Fox News) |
| Apr 24 | Rare crested ibis hatches in Japan |
| ) |
| Apr 23 | 16 Japanese educational satellites to be launched |
| Sixteen educational satellites are under construction in Japan. The first should be launched in May 2012 followed by the others over the next two years. The first to launch is the amateur radio satellite HORYU-2 built by students at the Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT). The launch is on a Japanese H-IIA rocket planned for May 17 at 1639-1642 UT. (southgatearc.org) |
| Apr 23 | Rice farmers seek to save their crops from salt |
 Toshiharu Ota, a rice farmer in Miyagi Prefecture, in northeastern Japan, survived the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster last year. But his fields were devastated by the salt deposits left behind when the tsunami's floodwaters receded. Now, to help farmers like Mr. Ota, a research team is working to develop a new salt-tolerant variety of rice.
(New York Times) |
| Apr 22 | Big science in small town Japan |
 Hundreds of particle physicists are descending once more on the sleepy village of Tokai-mura in Eastern Japan. Over the next week we will discuss the present and future of an experiment that many have devoted several years of their lives to. An experiment that will forge a path into a new era of understanding the creation of our Universe.
The ND280 detector The ND280 detector, part of T2K.
(guardian.co.uk) |
| Apr 21 | Inactivated polio vaccines to get OK |
 Health minister Yoko Komiyama said Friday the ministry will approve inactivated polio vaccines shortly so they can be prepared in September for immunizations.
A ministry panel Thursday recommended approving the vaccines to make them available this fall. (Japan Times ) |
| Apr 20 | Panasonic team to lug solar-charged batteries up Mt. Fuji, live-stream eclipse |
 Panasonic will broadcast live a solar eclipse next month over Japan from the top of Mount Fuji, using batteries that are charged at the base using solar power and then carried up to the peak.
The company will use the event to create publicity for its solar panels and rechargeable portable power units. (PC World ) |
| Apr 19 | Tokyo mega-quake 'would kill over 9,000' |
 More than 9,600 people would die with nearly 150,000 injured if a mega-quake struck Tokyo, a disaster that would also level large parts of the Japanese capital, a government projection said Wednesday.
(MSN ) |
| Apr 18 | Japan study raises hopes of cure for baldness |
| Japanese researchers have successfully grown hair on hairless mice by implanting follicles created from stem cells, they announced Wednesday, sparking new hopes of a cure for baldness. Led by professor Takashi Tsuji from Tokyo University of Science, the team bioengineered hair follicles and transplanted them into the skin of hairless mice. (AFP) |
| Apr 18 | Tsunami simulations scare Japan |
 Japan's government is heeding a key message from last year's Tohoku earthquake and tsunami: the underwater faults that encircle the country can unleash much greater devastation than previously anticipated. Last week, the cabinet's disaster-management division briefed local officials on simulations that raise the spectre of waves even larger and more destructive than those last March, sending the officials scrambling to rethink their tsunami defence plans.
(nature.com ) |
| Apr 18 | Fukushima miscarriage rate stable |
| Counter to rumor, Fukushima Prefecture has not seen rising rates of miscarriages or abortions due to radiation exposure - or fear of it - since the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 last year, a survey reveals. The finding suggests that radiation released from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, or stress related to it, has probably not seriously affected the physical or mental health of pregnant women in Fukushima. (Japan Times) |
| Apr 16 | All atomic power to halt 'momentarily' |
 Operations at all of Japan's 54 nuclear power plants will be suspended "for a moment" starting on May 6, trade minister Yukio Edano said in a speech in the city of Tokushima Sunday.
His comment suggests the government will be unable to restart reactors 3 and 4 at the Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture by May 5, when the Tomari nuclear power plant will go offline for a regular inspection.
(Japan Times ) |
| Apr 15 | Computer built using swarms of soldier crabs |
| Computer scientists at Kobe University in Japan have built a computer that draws inspiration from the swarming behavior of soldier crabs. The computer is based on theories from the early 1980s that studies how it could be possible to build a computer out of billiard balls. Proposed by Edward Fredkin and Tommaso Toffoli, the mechanical computer was based on Newtonian dynamics and relied on the motion of billiard balls in an idealized, friction-free environment instead of electronic signals like a conventional computer. (wired.com) |
| Apr 14 | 35-ton device found in spent fuel pool at Fukushima reactor |
 A 35-ton piece of machinery has been found at the bottom of the spent nuclear fuel pool in the No. 3 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said Friday.
TEPCO officials told a news conference that the device, which is used to exchange fuel, probably toppled over after the hydrogen explosion on March 12 last year, the day after the tsunami struck the plant, Fuji TV reported.
(Japan Today ) |
| Apr 13 | M5.9 quake jolts Fukushima, Kanto regions |
 An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 jolted Fukushima and other parts of the Kanto region on Friday night, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The quake struck at 7:10 p.m. Its epicenter was 20 kilometers underground off Fukushima, the agency said. It registered 4 in Fukushima and northern Ibaraki, and 3 in Miyagi, Tochigi, Yamagata, Niigata, Saitama and Tokyo.
(Japan Today ) |
| Apr 12 | Japanese bank palms off customers with biometric ATMs |
| Japan-based Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank is claiming to be the first in the world set to offer its customers the option of using ATM services without the need for a cash card or passbook, thanks to palm-scanning biometric technology from Fujitsu. The technology works by mapping and identifying the unique pattern of veins in the user's palm. Although biometric scanners are used in some Japanese banks already, they don't allow users to authenticate via this method alone. (The Register) |
| Apr 11 | New system estimates scale of quakes in minutes |
| A system has been developed that can estimate the scale of crustal movement within minutes following a big earthquake, much faster than the system now widely used that takes more than five hours, according to government officials and academics. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan and Tohoku University began testing the new system using GPS on Friday with the aim of starting full operations in fiscal 2013. (Japan Times) |
| Apr 10 | Radioactive particles from Japan detected in California kelp |
| Radioactive particles released in the nuclear reactor meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami were detected in giant kelp along the California coast, according to a recently published study. Radioactive iodine was found in samples collected from beds of kelp in locations along the coast from Laguna Beach to as far north as Santa Cruz about a month after the explosion, according to the study by two marine biologists at Cal State Long Beach. (Los Angeles Times) |
| Apr 10 | Oi reactors secure from blackout-induced meltdowns, Edano says |
 The safety debate at the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture appeared to shift toward reactivation late Monday as trade minister Yukio Edano said it has already fulfilled enough of last week's hastily drafted extra safety steps to prevent meltdowns from happening during power outages.
Emerging from a Cabinet meeting on nuclear safety Monday night, Edano said the government now believes Oi's reactors can survive a station blackout like the one that doomed the Fukushima No. 1 power plant in Fukushima Prefecture last March.
(Japan Times ) |