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November 23, 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
Sep 20, 2001
Almost like a hippo
In "The Origin of Species," Darwin describes how black bears in North America often swim "for hours with widely open mouth, thus catching, almost like a whale, insects in the water." Darwin was making a hypothetical point about how evolution might work -- the swimming bear, he suggested, might be the...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 14, 2001
Golden orb spider
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 13, 2001
Making war, not love
"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind." So laments lovesick Helena in "A Midsummer-Night's Dream." Sorry to add to your woes, Helena, but not only is Cupid blind, he is more likely to glide on a trail of slime than fly on cherub wings. Cupid, it...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 7, 2001
Siberian chipmunk
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 6, 2001
Evolution: Who's responsible?
The human impact on earth has been well-documented: There's climate change, environmental destruction and pollution. Today an American scientist says that humans are driving another, more subtle change that may have consequences that are just as damaging: Evolution in other species is speeding up, and...
COMMUNITY
Sep 2, 2001
Who needs meat?
In 1984, Carl Lewis won four gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics. At the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, he set a world record of 9.86 seconds for the 100 meters. By the time he retired in 1996, he had bagged nine Olympic gold medals and had written himself indelibly into the list of all-time...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 31, 2001
Reeves turtle
* Japanese name:Kusagame * Scientific name: Chinemys reevesii * Description: A freshwater, semi-aquatic turtle with a carapace (shell) 10-30 cm long. Females are bigger than males. This turtle has three keels, or ridges, running along its carapace, which is a yellow-brown to olive color. Some...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 30, 2001
We can't stay young forever, but why not age gracefully?
Following recent reports of a mammal able to regenerate after injury, science continues to imitate fiction, with a discovery in Boston that recalls the search for the philosopher's stone. The stone, the subject of the first Harry Potter book, was long sought after by medieval alchemists, who believed...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 24, 2001
Salty dragonfly
* Japanese name: Shiokara tonbo * Scientific name: Orthetrum albistylum speciosum * Description: A fast-flying dragonfly 48-57 mm long. Males have a pale-blue body; the end of the abdomen is pointed and black, and is equipped with a pair of clasping appendages. Females are usually a brown-yellow...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 17, 2001
Fire-bellied newt
* Japanese name:Imori * Scientific name:Cynops pyrrhogaster * Description: Fire-bellied newts have rough, blackish-brown skin and a vibrant, crimson-orange belly. This is the most common salamander in Japan, found from Honshu to Kyushu. Females grow to between 8 and 14 cm (including the tail);...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 10, 2001
Rhinoceros beetle
* Japanese name:Kabutomushi * Scientific name:Allomyrina dichotoma * Description: One of the best-known and best-loved insects in Japan, this beetle is also one of the easiest to identify. Males have a large horn extending from the head and another, smaller one from the thorax. They are very strong,...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 9, 2001
Wolverine mouse regenerates heart tissue
In the movie "X-Men," humans with genetic mutations displayed supernatural powers: telepathy, weather control, telekinesis, the ability to create magnetic fields, etc. All clearly sci-fi, comic-book stuff, above nature . . . or was it?
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 3, 2001
Common toad
* Japanese name: Nihon hikigaeru * Scientific name: Bufo japonicus * Description: This is one of the biggest amphibians in Japan. Adults are between 8-18 cm long; tadpoles are 3.5-4 cm long. They have the classic toad traits of poisonous, warty skin and yellow, bulging eyes. Male toads are yellowish-brown...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 2, 2001
You say Frankenfruit, we say miracle tomato
Prince Charles played into the hands of the sensation-seeking media -- and drew the groans of scientists -- with his comments last year on genetically modified crops. They are, he said, "Frankenstein foods." Rather than genetic manipulation, he urged investment in "traditional systems of agriculture."...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 27, 2001
Racoon dog
* Japanese name:Tanuki * Scientific name: Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus * Description: Tanuki look a bit like fat foxes, with short legs and black and gray fur. They grow up to 60 cm long and have distinctive stripes of black fur under their eyes, a bit like pandas. * Where to find them:Standing...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 26, 2001
The king is a beast, but the queen is a democrat
Imagine a place where all the females give birth at the same time, where grandmothers nurse their daughters' children and baby-sit for them, and where all children are raised in a protective nursery. Where females join together in defending the community against dangerous strangers and those of the same...
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 25, 2001
On the origin of speciesism
That there's something menacing about the title "Planet of the Apes" says more about our ignorance than it does about the writer's ingenuity: Earth is already a planet of apes.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 20, 2001
Long-horned beetle
* Japanese name:Gomadara kamikir * Scientific name:Anoplophora malasiaca * Description: A black, 25-35 mm long bullet-shaped beetle with white spots and long, black and white-striped antennae, up to 11/2 times the body length. The legs are bluish; there is a spine on each side of the thorax. The...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 19, 2001
Fight club: eavesdropping and animal conflict
As any schoolkid in the playground can tell you, fights don't just involve those trading blows, but those watching too. Like spies, these bystanders observe, obtaining useful information about the individuals in the fight that they may be able to use to their advantage in future aggressive situations....
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 12, 2001
Jaws was born a rambling shark
A dark dorsal fin breaks the surface of a gleaming seascape. A ghost-faced killer glides silently through the water . . . the theme tune to "Jaws" automatically plays in the brain.
Japan approves ¥21.9 trillion stimulus plan
The policy chiefs of the Democratic Party for the People, Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito — Makoto Hamaguchi (left), Itsunori Onodera (center) and Mitsunari Okamoto — shake hands after reaching an agreement on an economic stimulus package on Wednesday.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Saitama court bans demonstrations over anti-Kurd hate speech
Kurdish people in Japan in 2015. A court injunction has banned acts that defame the Japan Kurdish Cultural Association and are disrespectful, such as putting up banner flags or handing out fliers with hate speech like “Refugees should go back to their home countries.”
China reinstates visa-free travel for Japanese nationals
Beijing Daxing International Airport
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.

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