Residents in Minoh, Osaka Prefecture, have asked the city to take a more active role in explaining and reviewing plans for a large data center to be built on the former site of Osaka University's Minoh Campus, citing concerns over low-frequency noise, loss of sunlight and other potential effects on daily life. (News On Japan)

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake centered in southern Ibaraki Prefecture shook a wide area of the Kanto region at around 2 a.m. on August 23, registering a maximum intensity of lower 5 on Japan's seven-level seismic scale in parts of Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba and Tokyo. (News On Japan)

A cognitive trait known as aphantasia, in which people are unable to voluntarily form images in their minds despite knowing what objects look like, may affect about 4% of people, highlighting significant differences in how individuals experience memory, imagination and everyday tasks. (News On Japan)

Dangerous heat returned across Japan on August 19, complicating disaster recovery efforts in earthquake-hit Kumamoto and flood-damaged Chiba while unusually low rainfall and limited snowfall pushed reservoirs in several regions toward critical levels. (News On Japan)

Japanese researchers are developing a lithium-air battery that uses oxygen from the atmosphere to store and generate electricity, promising nearly five times the capacity of conventional lithium-ion batteries at less than half the weight and potentially opening the way to far longer electric vehicle driving ranges. (News On Japan)

Security camera footage captured the moment part of the Hinagu Fault Zone broke through the ground during the Kumamoto earthquake on July 28, as strong shaking lifted the surface of a rice field and moved a nearby light truck violently. (News On Japan)

New research is reshaping long-held assumptions about Tyrannosaurus rex, including suggestions that the giant predator may have lived to around 40 years rather than 28, while advances in fossil analysis are also offering new clues about dinosaur growth, posture and even color. (News On Japan)

Japan's H3 Rocket No. 9 successfully placed the Michibiki No. 7 navigation satellite into its planned orbit after lifting off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 4:23 a.m. on August 11, marking the country's second consecutive successful H3 launch. (News On Japan)

Requests for rapidly constructed "instant houses" are growing across areas of Kumamoto Prefecture devastated by the recent earthquake, providing air-conditioned temporary shelter for residents who have been sleeping in tents and vehicles beside their damaged homes. (News On Japan)

University students in Shizuoka have designed a future lunar city using the globally popular game Minecraft and educational materials supervised by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, combining programming and spatial design to explore how people could live safely and sustainably on the moon. (News On Japan)

Toyota Motor has begun recruiting residents of Shizuoka Prefecture to live in Woven City, its experimental community for developing future technologies, with about 25 households expected to move into the site for two years from March 2027. (News On Japan)

A 29-year-old Osaka University researcher is developing technology to produce sugar from carbon dioxide in the air, seeking to create a faster and more sustainable source of livestock feed as population growth, extreme weather and poor harvests raise fears of future food shortages. (News On Japan)

The Kego Fault Zone running through central Fukuoka could produce an earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of 7, leaving 1,800 people dead, 800 disaster-related deaths and 319,000 evacuees, according to prefectural damage estimates, as experts warn that an unruptured section may remain under stress. (News On Japan)

The powerful earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture on July 28 was caused by essentially the same mechanism as the devastating earthquakes that hit the region 10 years ago, according to a leading seismologist, who warned residents to prepare for strong aftershocks and take precautions against heatstroke even during the night. (News On Japan)

Multiple rare earth elements essential for high-tech products have been confirmed in mud extracted from the deep seabed off Minamitorishima, Japan's easternmost island. (News On Japan)

Low-cost USB drives advertised online with enormous storage capacities are exposing users to the risk of lost data, malware infections and information theft, with tests finding that some products contain only a fraction of the memory shown on their labels. (News On Japan)

Ammonia, commonly associated with its pungent odor and its presence in urine, is gaining recognition as one of humanity's most important inventions and a potential foundation for a new energy system that could reduce the world's dependence on oil. (News On Japan)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency conducted a ground firing test of the second-stage engine for its Epsilon S small solid-fuel rocket at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on July 23. (News On Japan)

PorMedTec, a Meiji University startup, has begun producing genetically modified pigs for a clinical trial that could start in Japan in 2028 and transplant pig kidneys into patients with kidney failure. (News On Japan)

Japan is moving closer to testing technology designed to generate solar power in space and transmit the electricity wirelessly to Earth, with researchers now conducting final checks on a flight model for an upcoming satellite experiment. (News On Japan)