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April 25, 2024
 

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Coco Liu
For Coco Liu's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
The United Arab Emirates was battered on Tuesday by its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 20, 2024
Dubai floods expose weaknesses to a rapidly changing climate
The United Arab Emirates was battered this week by its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949.
Jacky Im, Elizabeth Chan and Kate Maco are the founders of Neptune Robotics, a firm building robots that remove debris from the hulls of ships to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 27, 2024
Underwater robots offering practical route to greener shipping
Technology that removes the algae, barnacles and debris that accumulate on ships' hulls can reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency.
Columbia University researchers have found that on average, bottled water contain 110,000 to 370,000 tiny plastic particles in each liter, 90% of them nanoplastics.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jan 9, 2024
Bottled water has more plastic particles than previously thought
The discovery of nanoplastics, which could not be detected until recently, suggests that health concerns linked to plastic pollution may be dramatically underestimated.
A study using a late 20th century baseline determined that glaciers in south Greenland shrank in length by 18% on average, while glaciers in other parts of Greenland retreated by up to 10%.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 17, 2023
Greenland’s glaciers are shrinking at ‘unprecedented’ rate as Earth warms
Over 1,000 peripheral glaciers and ice caps are disappearing twice as fast as they did during the 20th century.
Construction workers repair a street during a heat wave in Corpus Christi, Texas, in July.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2023
Startups are inventing cooling clothes for a hotter future
With 2023 on track to be the hottest year on record, a number of startups are exploring new technologies and textiles for keeping people cool.
Takakia lepidozioides, a type of moss found mainly in the U.S., Japan and Tibet, has survived for at least 165 million years. Now it’s disappearing in the wild due to climate change.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 25, 2023
This moss survived millions of years. Warming is killing it
Takakia lepidozioides, found mainly in the U.S., Japan and Tibet, has survived for 165 million years. Now it’s disappearing due to climate change.
The U.S. has 8,000 km of carbon dioxide pipelines, but will need at least 50,000 to hit climate goals, according to a carbon transport engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 21, 2023
U.S. Midwest is ground zero in the fight over carbon capture
The U.S. wants to greatly expand carbon capture and storage infrastructure, including pipelines, but many projects face opposition in the Midwest.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 3, 2023
A $30 billion disaster is just the tip of a deadly climate cycle
With monsoon season fast approaching, Pakistan is still reeling from severe flooding that killed over 1,700 and displaced 8 million.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 20, 2023
AI weed-killing drones poised to reduce herbicide use while cutting costs
A handful of companies are turning to advanced technology to address the problem of chemical overuse in agriculture, with its costs to soil, drinking water and biodiversity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2023
Offshore wind sends some North Sea birds fleeing, study finds
Using data collected from ships, aircraft and digital aerial surveys each year during March and April, researchers recorded a downward pattern in the numbers of some birds from 2010 to 2017.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 10, 2023
One-minute battery swaps are spurring EV adoption in Asia
In 2020, just 2% of two-wheelers in Southeast Asia were electric. Analysts thing that figure could reach 20% by 2030, thanks in part to battery-swapping.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2023
What Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse means for climate tech
SVB was known as a climate bank that lent big to renewable energy companies, specialized in small solar projects and served more than 1,550 customers doing climate and sustainability work.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2023
Less than 1% of Earth has safe levels of air pollution, study finds
About 99.82% of the global land area is exposed to levels of particulate matter 2.5 above the safety limit recommended by the World Health Organization.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 20, 2023
Study reveals little-known climate cooler: atmospheric dust
The study has sought to highlight how changes in atmospheric dust are not currently factored into climate modeling.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 17, 2022
A small but growing movement to make video gaming greener
While most gamers don't link the power output of their machines with environmental issues, a small group of enthusiasts are starting to think differently,
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 14, 2022
China’s censors allow environmental criticism to flourish online
Public appeals for action made on the social network Weibo reduced pollution violations at industrial plants by more than 60%, according to the study released this month.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2022
China’s tech giants lost their swagger and may never get it back
Insiders describe an ongoing sense of paranoia and paralysis, along with an unsettling realization that the sky-high growth rates of the past two decades are likely never coming back.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2022
China venture funding hits record $131 billion despite crackdown
Entrepreneurs and venture firms have turned away from softer internet businesses and toward hard-core technologies like semiconductors, robotics and enterprise software.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 11, 2021
Alibaba worker’s desperate plea for help sparks #MeToo reckoning
The episode has triggered what many say is a long overdue examination of the ways Chinese women are too often treated at work.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2021
Alibaba fires manager after sexual assault case rocks industry
The allegations, first reported by an employee on Aug. 2, have unearthed systemic challenges with the company's mechanisms.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Over 40% of Japan's municipalities at risk of vanishing, study finds
Of 1,729 local municipalities nationwide, 744 have been identified as being at risk of disappearing.
Tokyo issues strong warning on yen intervention as currency dips further
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on the sidelines of IMF and G20 meetings in Washington last week.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan's former PM Aso meets Trump for talks on security and economy
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Taro Aso, vice president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in New York on Tuesday. The Japanese government’s top spokesman on Wednesday played down the meeting as one conducted "in the capacity of one lawmaker" and “without the government’s involvement.”
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.
A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Tsukiji 2030s: A stadium, culinary center and transportation hub
A computer-generated image shows redevelopment plans for the former site of the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.
Hearing the impact of climate change in Okinawa, one bird call at a time
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima
Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima

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