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May 03, 2024
 

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NATURAL SELECTIONS

Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 27, 2017
Research into reverse-sex genitalia deserved award
In caves in Brazil there lives a tiny insect with the most extraordinary story. It feeds on bat droppings and chews on the dead carcasses of fallen bats. When it copulates, it does so slowly — a single sexual act takes up to 70 hours, or three full days. But that's not even the oddest thing about it. In this species the female has developed a penis, and the male a vagina.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 23, 2017
Cephalopods show signs of intelligence
Is it morally acceptable to eat intelligent animals? Everyone can make their own mind up about this. Some people think that there's nothing wrong with eating any kind of animal. For me, I drew a somewhat arbitrary zoological line in the sand and decided that any animal "above" a fish was off-limits. In other words, birds and mammals are off the menu, whereas fish and invertebrates are OK to eat.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 21, 2017
Did DNA influence Japan's collectivist society?
If you've spent any time in Japan you will have heard the expression, "Deru kugi wa utareru" ("The nail that sticks out gets hammered down"). The phrase is used to explain how Japanese society traditionally prefers conformity and social harmony to independence and individual expression. There is a similar saying in China — "The shot hits the bird that pokes its head out" — and no doubt something equivalent in South Korea, too. East Asian countries tend to have collectivist societies, while individualism typically prevails in the West.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 6, 2017
'Gloomy Japan' highlights a loss of hope
"In recent times, reflections on the future of Japanese society have not generally been couched in optimistic terms," says Yuji Genda, a professor of Labor Economics at the University of Tokyo's Institute of Social Science.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 27, 2017
Waking up to the mechanics of sleep
Feeling tired? Wish you had more time in your life? Got too much to do? I answer all three questions in the affirmative, and I am far from alone — in fact, almost everyone I know feels the same. The problem may be a lack of sleep, and, counterintuitively, it may also be a lack of play. But let's start with the former.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 15, 2017
Creating a real ghost in the shell
Yasuo Kuniyoshi is a man with an extraordinary plan. Kuniyoshi, a professor at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, has been attempting to produce an utterly convincing artificial being for the past 30 years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 18, 2017
Darwin specimens showcase evolution for first time in Tokyo exhibition
Charles Darwin certainly did not consider it a sin to kill a mockingbird. The 19th-century English biologist killed many of the birds whilst on board the HMS Beagle survey ship as he traveled around the world. The specimens are more important than you might think and you can see a number of them at "Treasures of the Natural World," a new exhibition at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 18, 2017
'Moving Zen' and the modern samurai
"Be true to the thought of the moment and avoid distraction. Other than continuing to exert yourself, enter into nothing else, but go to the extent of living single thought by single thought."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 14, 2017
Recalling the ins and outs of our memory
In the Harry Potter films, Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore shows the young wizard memories that he keeps in glass vessels. The franchise portrays memories as things that possess a physical structure that can be moved around. Although they appear to look like wispy bits of fluff, they are given form and structure.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 17, 2016
Scientific discoveries inspire amid a turbulent 2016
A number of the notable science stories of the past year are, quite literally, out of this world.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 19, 2016
Manipulating the brain to hasten learning
For some athletes, success has come from a dedication to practice and the repetition of a particular routine. Baseball icon Ichiro Suzuki or English soccer star David Beckham are two examples that immediately spring to mind.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 15, 2016
Space exploration and human evolution
Can we become a multiplanetary species? There have been several spectacular announcements along these lines recently. Both SpaceX founder Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos have unveiled ambitious plans and tested rockets. Now aerospace multinational Boeing has ramped up its plans to get to Mars. What we're doing is more than just becoming multiplanetary, however — we are intervening in human evolution. In short, we are accelerating our own speciation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 17, 2016
Did Japan fudge the truth about whaling?
If you've been following the tragic farce that is Japan's official stance on whaling, you'll know that the arguments made by the country's Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR) to try and justify the hunting of whales have been soundly rejected. Japan maintains it needs to kill whales as part of a scientific research program to learn more about whale populations and determine if larger-scale commercial whaling is sustainable. Few people really believe this and even the International Court of Justice ruled in 2014 that Japan's whaling program was not scientific. Since 2005, the judges said, some 3,600 minke whales have been killed, and just two research papers have been published.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 20, 2016
The gene that may benefit sumo giants
Samoa, with its string of beautiful islands and coral atolls in the South Pacific, is attracting more than just tourists these days. Scientists are heading there, too. The nation holds the uneviable position of being No. 1 in the world for obesity. Among Samoan men, 80 percent are either overweight or obese, and that figure reaches 91 percent for Samoan women. They are the fattest people in the world, and they are proving revealing subjects for genetics studies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 16, 2016
Rethinking the age-old question of youth
Japan used to follow a wonderful practice to mark old age: Everyone who reached their 100th birthday received a silver sake cup called a sakazuki. It's certainly better than the tradition in Britain, where centenarians simply get a letter from the queen.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 18, 2016
Autism may not be confined to the brain
Thirteen-year-old Naoki Higashida describes his own personal feelings about having autism as follows:
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 14, 2016
Change in the brain: Central nervous system cells finally get the recognition they deserve
As you read this, some 100 billion neurons are transmitting information through electrical and chemical signals via synapses in your brain.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 16, 2016
Saluting Shakespeare's scientific legacy
On April 23, the literary world marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. It's a good excuse for a lot of fuss: Britain's Royal Mint has produced a new £2 coin, the postal service has prepared a set of commemorative stamps depicting portraits of the Bard and thousands of theaters worldwide are expected to celebrate the anniversary.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 19, 2016
Do chimp rituals reveal roots of religion?
How did gods evolve? I can't promise to answer a question of such gravity this week, but I can perhaps raise some interesting ideas.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 20, 2016
Stem cells used to replace part of the human brain
Sometimes I imagine famous scientists and doctors from the past magically catching a glimpse of our modern world. Sure it's fun to picture their gawping faces, but the daydream also helps remind me that we take so much for granted these days. And, in fact, it illustrates the incredible pace of discovery, because you don't even have to go very far back in time before you are in a completely different era.
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.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
'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.
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.

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

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

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