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November 21, 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 Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 16, 2016
Murakami is right about jazz and the brain
"Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 19, 2015
Cherishing Okinawa's diverse marine life
Diving in Okinawa this summer, I came face to face with my favorite undersea creature: the octopus.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 14, 2015
Zzzz — a novel way to manipulate sleep
The Milinda Panha is a Buddhist text written more than 2,000 years ago. It takes the form of a dialogue between Indo-Greek King Menander I and a Buddhist sage.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 17, 2015
How male killers transform into caring parents
When animals kill babies of their own species, it's brutal and shocking. Infanticide goes against everything we think adults should be in terms of looking after younger members of the species. Surprisingly, however, it happens fairly frequently in the wild. What's going on?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 19, 2015
How grandma drives human evolution
Speak to professionals from various disciplines and you will notice something funny: Even when they are off duty, they tend to view the world through the lens of their professional background. For example, a psychiatrist at a dinner party might pause to think a bit about the possible neuroses of the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 15, 2015
Psychology is where real radiation risks lie
Misinformation breeds discrimination. As if it wasn't enough to experience the trauma of a nuclear bomb, many hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) also faced appalling discrimination.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 18, 2015
Surfing the waves between two worlds
In a Tokyo lab, a remarkable experiment is exploring the meeting of worlds. This is not a boring old metaphor for a meeting between East and West, it's a description of the interface between the world we live in and the frankly insane world of quantum objects.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 20, 2015
Medaka: the fish that helps us understand gender
The diminutive medaka (Japanese rice fish) have been kept as pets since the Edo Period (1603-1868). They are hardy animals, an important quality for a pet, and they naturally occur in a variety of colors, including gold. They have distinctive, some say attractive, eyes (for a fish) — indeed, medaka...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 16, 2015
Language of science key to wisdom
Today I'm going to try something a little different — at first, anyway. First, let me tell you a bit about my job.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 18, 2015
On the pleasing violence of fairy tales
Traditional fairy tales are so steeped in blood it's astonishing that children didn't all grow up to become deranged in days gone by. Take, for example, the popular Japanese fable "Shita-kiri Suzume" (literally, "Tongue-Cut Sparrow"), which tells the tale of a kind old man, his avaricious wife and an...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 14, 2015
When nature evolves to be awesome
A few years ago, an anthropologist told me an amazing story about a wild chimpanzee she had observed in Senegal. A bushfire had ignited in the summer heat, and she saw a chimp stand upright on its hind legs, face the fire and perform "a really exaggerated slow-motion display."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 14, 2015
Japanese are quick to embrace robots
"Hello and welcome. I can tell you about money exchange, ATMs, opening a bank account or overseas remittance. Which one would you like?"
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 17, 2015
Longevity, genetics and the whale
The oldest person in the world — and the oldest ever Japanese person — is Misao Okawa. She lives in Osaka and is 116. She'll be 117 in March.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 20, 2014
Love of robots may pave way for better treatment of animals
If chimps had history books, a few individuals would have important chapters devoted to them. One would be David Greybeard, the chimp who in 1960 was observed by Jane Goodall using a piece of grass as a tool.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 15, 2014
Eels face the slippery slope to extinction
Last week I was crossing the River Thames on the way to work in London, and I happened to see a cormorant emerge from the water with a thrashing eel in its mouth. The bird juggled the fish, skillfully managing to position it so it could swallow the wriggling animal headfirst.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 18, 2014
Suicidal cells and the immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks
You may not have heard of Henrietta Lacks — an African-American woman from Baltimore who died of cervical cancer in 1951 — but you have benefited from her.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 20, 2014
The feral felines of Cat Heaven Island
Cat heaven is a place on Earth — and it's just 20 minutes by ferry from Fukuoka.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 16, 2014
What kind of life could live in the clouds?
Do you remember seeing clouds from an airplane for the first time? Even if that first time was as an adult, you were probably struck by the appearance of solidity. Seen from above, a cloudscape looks like a landscape — it looks like a place where things might live.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 19, 2014
If chimps inherit their intelligence, does that prove humans do, too?
Some people are smarter than others. And though animal intelligence is far less well studied, it turns out that within a particular population, say of chimpanzees, some animals are smarter than others, too — and these differences are heritable. To put it another way, some chimps' mothers are smarter...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 14, 2014
The hormone behind man's best friend
The other day I saw a picture of a dead dog on Twitter. Gross, right? Not at all, for this wasn't just any old dog: This was Hachiko, perhaps the most famous dog in the world, and certainly the most famous in Japan.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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