A maternity clinic in Nagano Prefecture has overseen the birth of 118 babies to 79 married couples using sperm from the husbands' fathers, it has been learned. (The Japan News)

Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC), based in Nevada, announced last week that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Under the agreement, the two will explore the possibility of adopting Japanese technologies in the Dream Chaser, a manned spacecraft under development by SNC. (The Japan News)

The city government of Satsumasendai and Kagoshima Prefecture on Sunday provided residents near the Sendai nuclear power station with iodine preparations in case of an accident at the plant owned by Kyushu Electric Power Co. <9508>. (Jiji Press)

Fukushima Prefecture's Arakawa River has been deemed to be the cleanest river in Japan by the federal Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism. (straight.com)

A volcanic island off Japan's southern coast continues to smoulder with lava flowing from its craters into the sea, new aerial images showed Friday, July 25. (rappler.com)

Wild monkeys in the Fukushima region of Japan have blood abnormalities linked to the radioactive fall-out from the 2011 nuclear power plant disaster, according to a new scientific study that may help increase the understanding of radiation on human health. (The Guardian)

Eight historic machines were given Mechanical Engineering Heritage status for fiscal 2014, including snow vehicles used in 1968 by the first Japanese team to reach the South Pole. (The Japan News)

A bolt of lightning strikes over Tokyo skyscrapers in Tokyo on Thursday night. (Japan Today)

Rises in consumer electricity prices, caused in part by a backlog of unbuilt PV projects, could put Japan's solar industry in serious danger of losing support, a Tokyo-based analyst has warned. (pv-tech.org)

An agricultural research center in western Japan has developed and commercialized a ladybug as a biopesticide. (Jiji Press)

The Environment Ministry is considering using groundwater welling up from subway tunnels to improve the water quality in moats surrounding the Imperial Palace, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. (The Japan News)

Fifty years ago this year, the first Shinkansen bullet train shot out of a station platform in Tokyo. (BBC)

Geological disturbances caused by the 2011 tremors mean Mt Fuji is in a 'critical state', say scientific researchers. (The Guardian)

Japan's nuclear watchdog on Wednesday effectively gave its approval for the restarting of two nuclear reactors in Kagoshima prefecture, southwestern Japan, recognizing their compliance with stricter safety regulations created after the Fukushima nuclear accident. (Wall Street Journal)

Japan has been a late adopter when it comes to smartphones, but it's catching up quickly - already more than half the population owns one. But Tokyo is a crowded city, and warnings are being issued about the risk of mass collisions among phone-using pedestrians at one busy crossing. (BBC)

Radioactive materials dispersed during work to remove rubble at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant may have polluted rice more than 20 kilometers from the plant last year, it was learned on Monday. (Jiji Press)

Companies in Japan are among the world's most vulnerable to cyber attacks, and threats against state entities have more than doubled since 2010. (nzherald.co.nz)

Reindeer farms and grazing Holstein cows dot a vast stretch of rolling green pasture here on Japan's northern tip. Underground it's a different story. (ndtv.com)

Amazon's recently getting famous for all the wrong reasons - first it listed the Mass Effect 4 video game well ahead of its actual launch, and now the online retail giant has unofficially divulged information about the iPhone 6 on its Japanese site. (stuff.tv)

Seismologists said an earthquake that struck near Japan's shuttered Fukushima nuclear site early Saturday was an aftershock of the tremor that sparked 2011's deadly tsunami, and warned of more to come. (Sun Daily)