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May 03, 2024
 

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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 / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 15, 2001
The effect of hormones on fatherhood
It is usually thought that men share only symbolically, if at all, in the experience of pregnancy, but recent studies have shown that paternal males undergo changes in the same hormones as maternal females. The work promises to biologically verify the experiences of new fathers.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 1, 2001
Life? Martian meteorite keeps its cool
"X-Files," eat your heart out. Supporters of the theory that life on Earth was "seeded" by organisms from deep space got a boost recently, as analysis of the famous Martian meteorite ALH84001 indicated that it was transferred from Mars to Earth without being heated above 40 degrees Celsius. This relatively low temperature is not enough to sterilize bacteria or microorganisms. This means that Martian microorganisms, if present, could hitch a ride to Earth unscathed on similarly cool meteorites ejected from the Martian surface.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 18, 2000
Sea cucumbers: radially different
Sea cucumbers.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 4, 2000
Ants find inheritance tax high
The maximum rate of inheritance tax in Japan is 70 percent, more than many people can afford to pay: If they inherit, they have to sell off land and property to pay the tax.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 20, 2000
No, really: morning sickness benefits mothers, babies alike
Most women would find it hard to believe that morning sickness -- vomiting and nausea during pregnancy -- is a good thing, but the evidence is growing that it helps protect the mother and her baby.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 6, 2000
Sexual wounding, kicking and early death
Sex can sometimes be awkward in humans, and sometimes painful, but rarely do human females have to put up with what females of the bean weevil endure. The male's penis carries a formidable array of sharp spines which lacerate the female reproductive tract during copulation.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2000
Tsukuba team creates first model of mitochondrial disease
Biologists at Tsukuba University have produced the first animal model of mitochondrial disease, paving the way for research into human diseases, such as some forms of paralysis and kidney failure, that are caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 19, 2000
Chromosome 21: new hope for Down's
The second human chromosome sequence to be mapped, chromosome 21, was published in the science journal Nature May 18, and is available free on the Internet.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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