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October 23, 2025
 

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NATURE

Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 8, 2014
Hanging around the threat of extinction
Night falls; stars are showing; yet I'm still perspiring. We set off in darkness into a night filled with hope. Our goal is to see one of the rarest creatures on Earth, a species once considered extinct, and for which even now fate hangs in the balance.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 7, 2014
Scientists devise family tree of the world's insects, the first animals to colonize land
They pollinate our flowers, vegetables and fruit. They spread deadly diseases. They flash in the summer night. They bore into the wood in our homes. And they serve as supper for birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals — including people.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 31, 2014
U.S. to monitor turtle exports in face of booming global trade
There were lots of snickers when a Chinese-Canadian man was caught trying to leave the United States with 51 turtles hidden in his sweatpants, but the case illustrated the serious threat facing native species from the booming international turtle trade, federal scientists said on Thursday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 31, 2014
Scientists call skin-eating Asian fungus a threat to amphibians
A skin-eating fungus that infiltrated Europe through the global wildlife trade is threatening to inflict massive losses on the continent's native salamanders including extinction of whole species and could do the same in North America, scientists say.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 23, 2014
Paraguayan plant stevia upends sugar market
The maker of America's top sugar brand, Domino Sugar, is launching its first no-calorie "natural" sweetener extracted from the stevia plant in Paraguay, the strongest sign yet that the upstart product is threatening to eat into demand for sugar.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 22, 2014
Brazil puts giant swath of rain forest under federal safeguard
The Brazilian government said Tuesday it has put an environmentally rich area of the Amazon rain forest under federal protection, creating a reserve larger than the U.S. state of Delaware.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 20, 2014
Ancient Scottish fish fossils yield clues to origins of intercourse
Scientists studying fossils have discovered that the intimate act of sexual intercourse used by humans was pioneered by ancient armoured fishes, called placoderms, about 385 million years ago in Scotland.
WORLD
Oct 18, 2014
Bear consumes body of California man who died of heart attack
A man who suffered a heart attack and died outside his rural Northern California home had his corpse dragged away and eaten by a black bear that was sheltering nearby, medical officials said Friday.
WORLD
Oct 15, 2014
Gun-slinging patrolwoman chases off polar bear at Alaskan home
A gun-slinging Alaskan wildlife manager chased off a massive polar bear that broke into an 81-year-old's house in a remote community to feast on a drum of seal oil, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 12, 2014
Rattlesnake repertoire boosts snakelike robot's skills
How do you make a better snake robot? You study snakes, of course.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Oct 11, 2014
A perilous flight path of life and death
As I emerged into the pre-dawn darkness of Sept. 13, I was greeted by a brief flicker of movement. I wandered along one of the upper decks of The World, past the gently slopping pool with its ring of still-vacant sun loungers. I peered at the surprisingly real potted bushes, staring at their dense green...
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 4, 2014
The bear cheek of our woodland friends
When I came to live here in Kurohime in the hills of northern Nagano Prefecture almost 35 years ago, I got a gun licence and joined the local hunter's association — not because I wanted to kill things, but to help me learn about the mountains, rivers, woodlands, plants and wildlife in this area.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 12, 2014
Wildlife activists say new U.S. lynx protections fall short
The federal government will extend protections to all imperiled Canada lynx in the lower 48 U.S. states, but wildlife advocates said on Thursday it was ignoring important parts of the rare cats' range and they vowed to challenge the move in court.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Sep 10, 2014
Huge project to divert rivers to Beijing, at the expense of regions
China is about to realize a dream of communist leader Mao Zedong to redirect river flows to benefit Beijing and the dry north, but critics say the resource grab by the politically powerful capital will harm other regions.
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 8, 2014
California blue whales, once almost extinct, now back at historical levels
California blue whales, the largest animals on Earth once driven to near extinction by whaling, have made a remarkable comeback to near historic, 19th century levels, according to a University of Washington study released on Friday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Sep 6, 2014
A tale of two parks, and their preservation
As I sit in my study here in Kurohime in the hills of northern Nagano Prefecture, through the window I can see 2,053-meter Mount Kurohime, a dormant volcano that's forested to the top.
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 2, 2014
TV forecasters imagine climate change in 2050
Imaginary television weather forecasts predicted floods, storms and searing heat from Arizona to Zambia within four decades, as part of a United Nations campaign on Monday to draw attention to a U.N. summit this month on fighting global warming.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 24, 2014
Tire-makers race to turn dandelions into rubber
Dutch biologist Ingrid van der Meer often meets with disbelief when she talks about her work on dandelions and how it could secure the future of road transport.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 18, 2014
Brazil makes progress on saving rain forests, Indonesia risks setbacks: report
Brazil has made good progress in safeguarding the Amazon rain forest but Indonesia's plans for its forests could face setbacks under a new government, a report commissioned by top forest aid donor Norway said Monday.
WORLD
Aug 7, 2014
Reward offered for man shown kicking squirrel into Grand Canyon
An animal rights group offered a reward of nearly $17,000 on Wednesday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a man who apparently kicked a squirrel into Arizona's Grand Canyon in a video that went viral on the Internet.
Rare female yakuza walks path to redemption in Japan
Retired yakuza Mako Nishimura sorts fallen leaves during a clean-up activity at the Gifu Gokoku shrine in Gifu Prefecture on Sept. 28.
Takaichi makes history as Japan’s first female prime minister
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi reacts to applauding lawmakers after being elected prime minister at the Lower House on Tuesday.
Japanese man sentenced to eight years after rare public accusation of rape
Riho Fukuyama (center) and her husband Yoshiki Fukuyama (left) speak to the media with their lawyer (right) outside the Toyama District Court in Toyama on Tuesday.
Woman arrested for pepper spray assault on Yamanote Line
Emergency vehicles arrive at the JR Otsuka Station in Tokyo Monday following a report that a woman had allegedly injured passengers with pepper spray inside a train on the Yamanote Line.
North Korea fires off ballistic missiles one day after Takaichi named PM
People watch a TV news report about North Korean short-range ballistic missile launches, at the main railway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
London exhibition perhaps sumo's most successful trip abroad
With the recent sumo jaunt to London being essentially a goodwill exercise, <i>rikishi</i> were far more outgoing and relaxed than normal.
Japan's first female PM promised more women in her Cabinet. She picked two.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi poses with members of the newly formed Cabinet on Tuesday night.
Nakatsu keeps its cool as gentrification looms
Shunsuke Takahashi, owner of the cafe Hood by Vargas, says the Osaka neighborhood of Nakatsu feels brighter and calmer with the influx of new businesses.
Who is Minoru Kihara, Takaichi’s new 'cool-headed' spokesman?
Minoru Kihara (second from left) attends a Lower House plenary session on Tuesday in Tokyo.
How Japan’s greatest psychological horror game came home
Series composer Akira Yamaoka and writer Ryukishi07 were integral figures in helping one of Japan's greatest horror gaming franchises land a Japanese setting.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
By Thu-Huong Ha and Mike Fu

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