Rowan Hooper - The Japan Times

August 15, 2024

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Rowan Hooper

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Rowan Hooper

Rowan Hooper has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Sheffield University, UK, and he worked as an insect biologist in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, for five years before spending a two-year period at The Japan Times in Tokyo. He is now news editor for New Scientist magazine, based in London.

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Oct 23, 2003

No rush to judgment

In a meeting in Heidelberg earlier this month, science historians concluded that German science between 1933 and 1945 was exploitative and unethical. The organizer of the meeting, Wolfgang Eckhart, head of history of medicine at the University of Heidelberg, said in Nature last week: "We have proven...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Oct 23, 2003

Freshwater pearl mussel

* Japanese name: Kawashinjukai * Scientific name:Margaritifera laevis * Description: Mussels are bivalves: mollusks that have their body contained between two shells. Young freshwater pearl mussels often have yellowish-brown shells, which become green-tinged and darker as they mature. This animal grows...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Oct 9, 2003

Aggregating anemone

* Japanese name: Yoroiisoginchaku * Scientific name:Anthopleura japonica * Description: Anemones are marine invertebrates, cylindrical animals with rings of tentacles on the upper surface. They are related to jellyfish and corals. Aggregating anemones grow up to 3 cm in diameter and can have a brilliant...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Oct 9, 2003

Behavior, genes in bed together

The job of undertaker is not one that is restricted to human society. In honeybee colonies, too, some individuals have the task of removing the cadavers of their dead fellows.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Sep 25, 2003

Flatbottom Sea Star

* Japanese name: Kihitode * Scientific name: Asterias amurensis * Description: Sea stars are echinoderms, in the same family as sea urchins and sea cucumbers, though unlike those animals they are not eaten in Japan. Like all echinoderms (which means "spiny skin" in Greek), sea stars have a five-way...

Japan Times

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Sep 25, 2003

Peeved monkeys reject unequal pay on the job

Philosophers as diverse as Plato, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill tried hard to argue that there is a rational basis for fair and just behavior. However, the best philosophy in the world is only worth so much when there is the chance to make bucket-loads of cash.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Sep 11, 2003

* Japanese name: Hotaru ika * Scientific name: Watasenia scintillans * Description: With a body length of just 4-6 cm, these squid are small but perfectly formed. Squid have a streamlined head and body, with eight arms and two tentacles around the head. (Octopi don't have tentacles, which are longer...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Sep 11, 2003

Putting bacteria to work in the body

Margaret Atwood's latest novel, "Oryx and Crake," is set in a future where multinational power has created a dystopia of genetically engineered organisms living in a globally warmed world.

Japan Times

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Aug 28, 2003

Aging can be a laugh

A teenager is being interviewed for a part-time job.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Aug 28, 2003

Japanese black face fly

* Japanese name: Kuroi ebae * Scientific name: Musca bezzii * Description: Face flies are similar to common house flies, but they are larger and darker. If in doubt, check the eyes: Those of the face fly almost touch at the top, but those of house flies have a wider gap between them. The face of the...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Aug 7, 2003

Taking your mate for a ride

Now here's a heartwarming tale for all readers. It involves a partner who provides free transport, free food and, as a nice bonus, unlimited sex. Our story is about an insect, but it starts thousands of years ago.

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Jul 31, 2003

Figuring it out for those that forget

Right now, in the brain cells of 12 million people around the world, there are messy, abnormal tangles of a protein called tau. Surrounding the neurons of these people (there are 1.6 million of them in Japan and 4 million in the United States) are plaques of a protein fragment called beta-amyloid.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jul 31, 2003

Alpine black swallowtail

* Japanese name: Miyama-Karasuageha * Scientific name: Papilio maackii * Description: Widely held to be one of the most beautiful butterflies in Japan, the Alpine black swallowtail has a wing span of 38-75 mm and is covered in iridescent green or blue scales. Males have a green metallic shimmer to the...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Jul 24, 2003

Whaling safe with the IWC

In 1635, under pressure from the Church of England for his nonconformity, the Rev. Richard Mather decided it was time to leave England with his wife and sons and start a new life in New England.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jul 17, 2003

* Japanese name: Kitsune * Scientific name: Vulpes vulpes japonica * Description: Foxes look somewhat like dogs and belong to the same family. The fur of the red fox is orange-rust colored, apart from the throat, belly and tip of the tail, which are white. The feet and the rims of the ears are black....

Japan Times

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Jul 17, 2003

Safe hydrogen power needs nuclear energy

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Jul 10, 2003

Sifting through the goo

It's been hailed as the first major scientific breakthrough of the 21st century, but in his recent book, "Prey," Michael Crichton envisioned it taking over the world.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jul 3, 2003

Large field mouse

* Japanese name: Aka nezumi * Scientific name: Apodemus speciosus (large field mouse) * Description: These mice are 9-14 cm long, with hazel-brown fur on top, and a white throat and belly. They have large black eyes, a well-developed sense of smell and sensitive whiskers. Females have eight nipples....

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Jul 3, 2003

When males lead to miscarriages

At temples all over Japan, there are stone statues wearing aprons and caps of red cloth. Someone once told me that the cloth was supposed to keep the statues warm at night and protect them when it rained. What my friend neglected to say was that many of these statues are dedicated to mizuko, literally...

JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS

Jun 26, 2003

Hard-core S&M sex . . . on the web

In 1996 Cosmopolitan magazine ran a humorous piece about men who had died during sex. One of the most famous cases is that of the former French President Felix Faure.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.

In search of the ‘Japanese dream’

By Thu-Huong Ha

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