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Will Dunham
For Will Dunham's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
An analysis of all the publicly available viral genome sequences yielded a surprising result: humans give more viruses — about twice as many — to animals than they give to us.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 27, 2024
Humans give more viruses to animals than they give us, study finds
Researchers looked at nearly 12 million virus genomes and detected almost 3,000 instances of viruses jumping from one species to another.
The study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activity.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 12, 2024
Study of polyglots offers insight on brain's language processing
The brain's language network consists of a few areas situated in its frontal and temporal lobes.
Scientists on Wednesday identified what might be the genetic mechanism behind humankind's tailless condition — a mutation in a gene instrumental in embryonic development.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 3, 2024
People with tails? No, because of this ancient genetic mutation
The absence of a tail may have better balanced the body for orthograde — upright — locomotion and eventually bipedalism, said one scientist.
Chinstrap penguins in Orne Harbour in the western Antarctic peninsula in March 2016
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Dec 1, 2023
Antarctic chinstrap penguins get by on just secondslong micronaps
Falling asleep while guarding a nest can spell doom for the eggs and later the chicks, but the species has an ingenious way of getting enough sleep.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter dance at a White House Congressional Ball in Washington, on Dec. 13, 1978.
WORLD
Nov 20, 2023
Former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter dies at 96
Seen as unassuming and quiet before coming to Washington in 1977, Carter developed into an eloquent speaker, campaigner and activist.
A group of chimpanzees listen to other chimpanzees heard at a distance in the West African forests of Cote d'Ivoire, studied as part of research by the Tai Chimpanzee Project, in this undated handout photograph.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 3, 2023
Scientists observe chimpanzees using human-like warfare tactic
The study, the researchers said, records for the first time the tactical use of elevated terrain by our species' closest living relatives.
An iceberg in the Weddell Sea, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Researchers say they have detected buried under the continent's ice sheet a vast ancient landscape.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 26, 2023
Ancient landscape formed by rivers seen deep under Antarctic ice
Researchers say they have detected buried under the continent's ice sheet a vast ancient landscape, replete with valleys and ridges.
The planet Mars as captured by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope in 2016
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 19, 2023
Scientists surprised by source of largest quake detected on Mars
They first suspected a meteorite impact had caused the marsquake. But a search for an impact crater came up empty.
Green marks the spot where a fissure formed, then fused back together in this artistic rendering of nanoscale self-healing in metal. Red arrows indicate the direction of the pulling force that unexpectedly triggered the phenomenon.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 21, 2023
Self-healing metal? It's not just the stuff of science fiction
Scientists have witnessed pieces of pure platinum and copper spontaneously heal cracks caused by metal fatigue during nanoscale experiments.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 5, 2023
With a gulp and burp, a bloated star swallows a Jupiter-sized planet
As the star grew, its surface reached the orbit of the doomed planet, with mayhem ensuing.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 20, 2023
Scientists identify mind-body nexus in human brain
Researchers discovered parts of the brain governing body movement are connected with a network involved in thinking, planning, mental arousal, pain and other functions.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 14, 2023
Oldest-known bat skeletons shed light on evolution of flying mammals
Fossils show that, early in their history, bats already possessed many traits seen in modern species.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 10, 2023
Small ears, frizzy hair and dry ear wax — the genetics of mammoths
Researchers said they had analyzed the genomes of 23 woolly mammoths — including 16 newly sequenced ones — based on remains preserved in Siberian permafrost.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 5, 2023
Study explains how primordial life survived on 'Snowball Earth'
The findings demonstrate that the world's oceans were not completely frozen and that habitable refuges existed where multicellular organisms including plants and animals could survive.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 28, 2023
Intriguing moon water source found in glass beads from space rock impacts
Scientists say the beads are a potential reservoir of this precious resource for future human activities on the moon.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 24, 2023
Scientists explain alien comet 'Oumuamua's strange acceleration
Hypotheses were floated in light of its unexpected behavior, including fleeting speculation that it might actually have been an alien spacecraft, but a new study has a more sober take.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 22, 2023
Ryugu asteroid samples suggest ingredients for life came from space
Two organic compounds essential for living organisms have been found in samples retrieved by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 16, 2023
New analysis reveals dynamic volcanism on Venus
Radar images taken by NASA's Magellan spacecraft show that a volcanic vent about 1.6 kilometers wide on the Venusian surface expanded and changed shape over an eight-month span in 1991.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 10, 2023
Dwarf elephants? Giant rats? Strange island creatures at high risk
Extinction risk has been seen by researchers to be highest among island species that have undergone more extreme body size shifts compared to mainland relatives.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 3, 2023
For toothed whales, sound production is all in the nose
Echolocating toothed whales make the loudest sounds in the animal kingdom by forcing highly pressurized air past structures called phonic lips in their nose.

Longform

High-end tourism is becoming more about the kinds of experiences that Japan's lesser-known places can provide.
Can Japan lure the jet-set class off the beaten path?