Motors are embedded in countless electronic devices, from home appliances and robots to automobiles, quietly generating the power that underpins modern life, and now a Japanese startup is challenging long-held assumptions by developing a next-generation motor that delivers both high efficiency and high output while eliminating the need for rare earth materials. (News On Japan)

The assembly of a massive shield machine for tunnel construction at the Kanagawa Station site of the Linear Chuo Shinkansen has been completed, with the site opened to the media as excavation prepares to move forward toward Nagoya. (News On Japan)

Tsurui Village in Hokkaido is moving to purchase land designated for a large-scale solar power project near the Kushiro Wetland from an Osaka-based developer, in a bid to protect the surrounding landscape. (News On Japan)

The third launch attempt of the private-sector small rocket Kairos, which had been scheduled for three days later in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, has been postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions. (News On Japan)

Water shortages are worsening across Japan amid what meteorologists describe as 'once-in-30-years' low rainfall, with riverbeds exposed, reservoirs falling to record lows, and dry conditions fueling a renewed surge in influenza infections. (News On Japan)

A deep-sea exploration vessel that successfully recovered mud containing rare earth elements from a depth of 5,600 meters for the first time in the world has returned to Shimizu Port in Shizuoka City. (News On Japan)

A startup is working to curb global warming by feeding seaweed to cattle in an effort to reduce methane emissions from their burps, with plans to commercialize the technology in the coming years. (News On Japan)

The arrival of pollen season has once again begun to affect large parts of Japan, but new research aimed at preventing cedar pollen from dispersing is raising hopes that the future could bring relief for millions of sufferers, with scientists working on a method to wither only the male flowers of cedar trees and stop pollen at its source. (News On Japan)

Tokyo Electric Power announced that it has restarted the reactor at Unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, which had been halted shortly after its initial restart due to equipment problems. (News On Japan)