Rowan Hooper - The Japan Times

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Rowan Hooper

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Rowan Hooper

Rowan Hooper has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Sheffield University, UK, and he worked as an insect biologist in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, for five years before spending a two-year period at The Japan Times in Tokyo. He is now news editor for New Scientist magazine, based in London.

For Rowan Hooper's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Feb 1, 2002

Japanese squirrel

* Japanese name: Nihon risu * Scientific name: Sciurus lis * Description: The Japanese squirrel is an arboreal species, which means it lives in trees. It has a long, bushy tail, large tufted ears and sharp claws. Its fur changes color according to the season. In summer, the fur is red-orange. In winter,...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Jan 31, 2002

The virgin birth of stem cells

Parthenogenesis -- when eggs develop into embryos without being fertilized by sperm -- occurs in some insects and reptiles. There is a persistent report that a virgin birth once took place in humans, but this should be regarded as mythical.

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jan 25, 2002

* Japanese name: Nihon kamoshika * Scientific name: Capricornis crispis * Description: Serows look like a cross between a goat and an antelope, with horizontal pupils and sharp, dagger-like horns. The ears are mule-like, narrow and tasseled, and are longer than the horns. Serows are the most primitive...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Jan 24, 2002

What was eating away at Judea's King Herod?

Herod the Great, King of Judea, died more than 2,000 years ago, in 4 B.C. He is remembered, among other things, for ordering the Massacre of the Innocents, the systematic execution of baby boys in Bethlehem. It was an attempt, if we are to believe biblical records, to kill the newborn Jesus.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jan 18, 2002

Great diving beetle

* Japanese name: Gengorou * Scientific name: Cybister japonicus * Description: This is a large, streamlined water beetle, highly adapted to an aquatic life. It is a powerful swimmer, with hind legs flattened like oars and fringed with long hairs. The body is green or black, with yellow-white bands running...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Jan 17, 2002

What webs we weave

Spiderman might still be the stuff of comic books, but spidermammals exist, and they are this week the stuff of science journals.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jan 11, 2002

Northern fur seal

* Japanese name: Kita-ottosei * Scientific name: Callorhinus ursinus * Description: Fur seals have bodies streamlined for life in the sea. They have four limbs (unlike dolphins and whales, which have only two), but the arm and leg bones are relatively short and are contained within the body. The hand...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jan 4, 2002

* Japanese name: Akaushiabu * Scientific name: Tabanus chrysurus * Decription: This is a stout-bodied insect with huge, iridescent compound eyes (the eyes touch in the center in males but are separated in females). They have one pair of wings and are strong fliers, able to cover long distances. The...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Dec 28, 2001

* Japanese name: Nihon zairaiba * Scientific name: Equus caballus * Description: Hoofed animal that bears its weight on its central third toe. Its family, called the perissodactyls, also includes tapirs and rhinos. The first horse ancestor was doggish and dog-sized, with four toes on the front foot....

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Dec 27, 2001

2001: Science's top 10

In a year when the human genome sequence was published, when biological weapons were deployed and when a primate was cloned, how do you pick the scientific highlights and lowlights? You let the scientists do it for you.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Dec 21, 2001

* Japanese name: Ari-gumo * Scientific name: Myrmarachne japonica * Description: This spider looks like an ant, but it is an arachnid, not an insect. You can tell because it has eight legs. The ant spider mimics ants, and sometimes flutters its forelegs like the antennae of ants, because it has no antennae...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Dec 20, 2001

Extra-terrestrial squid seen in the abyss

The world's largest ecosystem? Not the Amazon rain forest, nor the Great Barrier Reef. It is the abyss.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Dec 14, 2001

* Japanese name: Nihon Tsukinowa-guma * Scientific name: Ursus thibetanus japonicus * Description: This is the largest animal in Japan, apart from the Hokkaido brown bear, 110-130 cm tall when standing upright. Also called the Asiatic bear or Japanese black bear, the moon bear gets its Japanese name...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Dec 13, 2001

When sex roles reverse

Why don't men do more to help raise their children?

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Dec 7, 2001

Black mountain ant

* Japanese name:Kuroyama-ari * Scientific name:Formica japonica * Description: Like all ants, the black mountain ant has three clearly defined body parts: a capsulelike head with strong jaws; a thorax to which the three pairs of legs are joined; and an abdomen. There are also three different types,...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Dec 6, 2001

Female langurs get empowered

Humans are remarkable in many ways. Most of us, for example, have sex in private. Compare that to most other mammals, who will copulate in clear view of their fellows.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Nov 30, 2001

* Japanese name: Hitosujishimaka * Scientific name: Aedes albopictus * Description: A small, soft-bodied insect, the tiger mosquito is instantly recognizable by the black-and-white bands on its legs, and the distinctive white "racing stripe" on its black thorax. The antennae are tufted and are shorter...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Nov 29, 2001

Deafness givin' them good vibrations

The Italians got it right about some of the important things in life, like olive oil and coffee. But they got it right about something else, too, something that brain researchers have only just realized. The Italian for "to hear," sentire, is the same (in its reflexive form) as the verb "to touch," (sentirse)....

CULTURE / Film

Nov 28, 2001

The empire strikes back

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Rating: * * * * Director: Chris Columbus Running time: 152 minutes Language: English Now showing

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Nov 23, 2001

Forest cockroach

* Japanese name: Morichabane gokiburi * Scientific name: Blattella nipponica * Description: These sleek insects are 11-14 mm long, with two pairs of wings. Adults are brown, although when they change from a nymph into an adult, the body is white, as in the photo. During the transformation, the wings...

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

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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