Japan Sci-Tech News

The government's Council for Science and Technology Policy decided Tuesday on how a 100 billion yen research fund will be divided among 30 leading researchers under the supplementary budget for fiscal 2009. The fund is expected to produce cutting-edge research achievements and boost the country's competitiveness. The researchers who will receive grants of 5 billion yen are Kyoto University Prof. Shinya Yamanaka--who created the world's first induced pluripotent stem cells--and Akira Tonomura--a Hitachi Ltd. fellow and leading expert on electron microscope-based research. (Yomiuri)

Eight crested ibises were killed and two critically injured at the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation Center in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, attacked in their cage apparently by outside predators, the Environment Ministry said Wednesday. The 10 were in a program to release them into the wild in September, together with another ibis that was unharmed. "They must have been attacked by a small animal, such as a weasel," an official of the ministry's Wildlife Division said. "We took all possible measures (to protect them), but the attacker may have found a hole to break into the cage." (AP)

A group of Japanese researchers said Wednesday they have succeeded in cultivating the intestines of a mouse from stem cells. It is the first time an organ has been cultivated from induced pluripotent stem cells, according to the group led by Nara Medical University professor Yoshiyuki Nakajima. As an organ formed from a person's own cells would not be rejected upon transplantation, the research will be helpful in the study and remedy of some intestinal diseases, Yamazaki said. (AP)

The first delivery of at least 850 canisters of high-level radioactive vitrified waste arrived Tuesday morning by ship from the U.K. in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, where it will sit in storage for decades before being buried deep underground. Antinuclear activists argue that with no local government yet willing to host a final disposal site and concern over the international security and environmental risks of transporting so much nuclear waste between the U.K. and Japan, the shipments should end. (Japan Times)

Insects imported from Japan are to be released into Britain to fight an aggressive weed which is blighting the country, the government announced Tuesday. The bug -- the Alphalara Itadori -- sucks the sap from Japanese knotweed, thereby curtailing its growth. The government said tests have been undertaken which show the insects, known as psyllids, are not a threat to other plants or crops currently growing in Britain. At selected sites, the bugs will be released to judge their effectiveness at stemming the growth of the weed, which has plagued local councils all around the country. (AP)

Genes associated with susceptibility to ulcerative colitis in Europeans may not be linked to susceptibility to this disease in the Japanese population or in other ethnic groups. Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disease of the colon characterized by ulcers in that organ as well as by severe abdominal pain and chronic diarrhea during the active phase of the disease. Anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive drugs are often used to treat ulcerative colitis, but in severe cases, the only known cure is surgical removal of the colon. (rdmag.com)

Six computers, built by university students for installation in a small satellite to be launched for Venus in May, will undergo tests in a survival competition for durability in the harsh outer space environment. The satellite is a 35-centimeter cube and was created in collaboration with 22 universities and technical colleges in Japan. The project was intended to be the first step to having satellites and probe vehicles created by universities in collaboration with small and midsize companies. (Yomiuri)

International trade in bluefin tuna from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea should be banned under the so-called Washington Convention because numbers are dwindling, a group of scientists said in a report that supports Monaco's proposal for prohibiting trade in the fish in those waters. The International Union for Conservation of Nature said the bluefin population is now estimated to be less than 15 percent of what it used to be and the species meets trading ban criteria - "the biological criteria for Appendix I" of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. (Japan Times)

Technology to produce fuel with the same heat output as coal from raw garbage and waste plastic has been developed by a group of Japanese researchers. Takeshi Sako of Shizuoka University's Faculty of Engineering and other researchers developed a way to produce fuel from food waste in plastic containers that were discarded from convenience stores and supermarkets, and from the non-edible parts of agricultural products. They hope to put the development methods to practical use in three years. (Mainichi)

A Japanese professor has come up with a method of delivering vaccines and drugs that he says is completely painless. Kanji Takada of Kyoto Pharmaceutical University says the device he developed uses micro needles that don't break the dermis or second layer of skin, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday. The needles are made out of a water-soluble polymer that dissolves when pressed into the epidermis, the very outer layer of skin. (UPI)

Japan said on Thursday it would ignore any ban on international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna, a proposal that has won US support ahead of a crucial vote next month. The ban, meant to save the species from extinction, has the support of many European nations but is opposed by Japan, which consumes three quarters of the global catch of bluefin tuna, a species much valued in sushi and sashimi. A ban on the tuna trade would require support by two-thirds of the roughly 175 nations that make up Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). (AFP)

Numerous specimens of large deep-sea fish about whose ecology little is known have been found this winter in coastal areas along the Sea of Japan, such as Toyama and Ishikawa prefectures, a rare phenomenon that has taken local residents by surprise. The fish, ryugu no tsukai, or giant oarfish, is more than five meters long and is usually found at depths of between 200 meters to 1,000 meters. Uozu Aquarium in Uozu, Toyama Prefecture, preserved in formalin one that washed ashore in Kurobe, in the prefecture, and put it on display. (Yomiuri)

Tsunami tend to maintain their force as they travel through the deep sea at the speed of a jetliner, with little in their way to stop them. Tsunami occur when an earthquake meets multiple conditions--such as a magnitude of 6 or more, an epicenter beneath the seabed or along the coast, and a focus less than 80 kilometers deep. Experts say the tsunami that hit Japan's Pacific coast Sunday were triggered when the seabed and water were raised by a massive amount of energy created by the movement of a 600-kilometer-long fault in Saturday's quake in Chile. The powerful force traveled 17,000 kilometers, reaching Japan in less than a day. (Yomiuri)

Japan is pressing ahead with an expansion of nuclear power, despite public unease and vocal opposition from activists. Poor in natural resources, the country has long dreamed of reducing its fossil fuel dependency through domestic nuclear power. Now it's casting nuclear energy as a key to the fight against global warming, an argument that critics reject. Japan's debate closely mirrors those worldwide, as governments highlight nuclear power as an easier way to cut carbon emissions than boosting wind and solar power. (csmonitor.com)

An Environment Ministry panel endorsed on Monday a draft of Japan's new national strategy to conserve and improve biodiversity, which sets specific targets to be implemented by 2020 and 2050, ahead of a major international conference on the issue scheduled for October in Nagoya. The strategy, which is expected to gain Cabinet approval later this month, stipulates Japan will "make efforts to prevent existing biological species from facing new threats of extinction" by 2020 and "further enrich biodiversity in the country compared with current levels" by 2050 among other goals. (AP)

Japanese power companies operated their plants and refiners processed oil as usual on Sunday, despite tsunami waves washing in on the country's northeast Pacific coast in the wake of a massive earthquake in Chile. Some oil product shipments were disrupted, but the waves caused no other damage to the plants, officials said. (Reuters)

The warning was ominous, its predictions dire: Oceanographers issued a bulletin telling Hawaii and other Pacific islands that a killer wave was heading their way with terrifying force and that "urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property." But the devastating tidal surge predicted after Chile's magnitude 8.8-earthquake for areas far from the epicenter never materialized and by Sunday, authorities had lifted the warning after waves half the predicted size tickled the shores of Hawaii and tourists once again jammed beaches and restaurants. (AP)

The remains of a chestnut grove planted by humans some 2,800 years ago has been discovered here, local education authorities have announced. Twenty-five chestnut stumps from the late Jomon Period have been found at the Kannonji-Honma archaeological site, stretching between the Nara Prefecture cities of Kashihara and Gose. (Mainichi)

Houston, we have space sushi. Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi may be far from home, but not from his country's trademark dish. He is making sushi in space while floating weightless aboard his current post on the International Space Station, and even wears a chef's hat while he does it. In a demonstration, Noguchi held a piece of seaweed in one hand and used a spoon to nudge a floating clump of rice into it. With a few quick twists, he wrapped it all up in a neat roll. (Space.com)

The disappearance of Japan's giant salamander is giving biologists and conservationists reason to worry. Although the species is endemic to Japan, the extinction of this freshwater amphibian would be felt worldwide. Known in Japan as the "living fossil" because its skeleton is nearly identical to that of a fossil dating back 30 million years, the giant salamander can grow to over five feet long and has a lifespan comparable to humans. (guilfordian.com)