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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 / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 13, 2011
Japan's favorite mushrooms spark a quest far away
Author Stieg Larsson, the second biggest-selling novelist in the world in 2008 (behind Khaled Hosseini), left three-quarters of an unfinished book on his laptop when he died in 2004.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 9, 2011
Japan's year of triumph in space
So, it's goodbye to 2010, the Year of the Tiger, and hello to 2011, the Year of the Rabbit.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 12, 2010
In dangerous waters
As our small boat wended its way up the Wami River in Saadani National Park, Tanzania, we passed a crocodile basking on the bank. Nothing unusual about that, but this croc only had three legs. I asked if one leg had been chopped off by a boat's propeller? "No," said our guide, Eliona Sabaya, "It was...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 14, 2010
Mind who you call a 'birdbrain'
Eiichi Izawa of Keio University in Tokyo calls them "feathered primates." In Japanese folklore they are the origin of the forest demons known as karasu tengu. Scientists classify them as Corvus macrorhynchos.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 10, 2010
Reflecting on some recent monkey business
In this month's column:a tale of the mythical Sea King Rin-Jin; a jellyfish that can walk on land; and a monkey that gazes, like the wicked witch in Snow White, at its own reflection in a mirror — though, unlike the wicked witch, the monkey is not so interested in looking at its face.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 12, 2010
Japan's mighty whale mountain
It's enough to make members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society choke on their tofu burgers. Stocks of frozen whale meat in Japan have reached 4,000 tons — that's 4 million kg.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 8, 2010
Shock tests reveal rodent intelligence
I once became obsessed with following the Shibuya River as far as I could through central Tokyo. It's hard to explain the fascination, as the river is merely a concrete channel — little more than an ugly drain — and is mostly built over. But that was the key to my interest: The idea that there was...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 11, 2010
Viewing dolphins as Taiji could show them
We're not the only mammals to notice the oil tanker entering the Gulf of Amvrakikos.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 13, 2010
Synthetic life zaps 'the soul'
I remember a couple of years ago the Vatican made a curious announcement about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Clearly,the Roman Catholic Church was getting worried that any discovery of evidence of life on other planets would undermine its authority on Earth. It wanted to head off the impact...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 9, 2010
Astronauts need company: Should we send a rover or a humanoid?
If you've heard the arguments about whether it's better to send robots or humans on space missions, get ready for them to intensify: There are whole varieties of subarguments.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 11, 2010
Italian toads fuel case for animals' seismic sense
Have you ever anticipated an earthquake? Some people report that they have "sensed" a temblor before it struck. They may claim to have felt a "foreboding" that something was going to happen. When an earthquake then strikes, it is easy to retrospectively join the dots and attribute that vague sense of...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 14, 2010
Pens and pools: prisons for cetaceans
The death in February of a killer-whale trainer at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, made headlines all over the world. As has been widely reported, Dawn Brancheau, an experienced orca trainer, was dragged by her hair into the whale's pool, where she died of traumatic injuries and drowning.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 14, 2010
Could 'Godzilla cherry blossom' save Japanese culture?
Cherry blossom is as quintessentially Japanese as sushi and samurai.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 10, 2010
Beware: Reading this may swamp your sea horses
Reading this column could be an unforgettable way to start the new year.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 13, 2009
How to survive a 'fearful age'?
The other day I attended a preview screening of "The Road," the new film of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic 2006 novel of the same name.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 8, 2009
Eco-tourism the camel-dive way
It's 4 a.m. and I wake up on a beach on the Sinai Peninsula of eastern Egypt. The moon has set and the mountains of Saudi Arabia just 18 km away across the Gulf of Aqaba are silhouetted against the stars. The camel I rode here is sleeping nearby, and it is still so warm even in late October that a single...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 11, 2009
In cross-cultural situations, remember those emoticons
"My first child was born on December 27th, 1839, and I at once commenced to make notes on the first dawn of the various expressions which he exhibited."
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 13, 2009
Sex in space could be the key to the survival of humans
I've been thinking about sex in space. Not from any interest in a potential new porn genre, or because I've got a chance of joining the 62-mile-high club any time soon. No, my concerns are loftier even than that: I'm worried about the future of humanity.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 9, 2009
From flossing to . . . philosophy?
Next time I visit Kyoto, it's not the temples I'll want to see — it's the monkeys.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 12, 2009
A teenager in an infant's body may hold the key to eternal youth
We are constantly under attack. Chemicals in the environment, ultraviolet light, even cosmic radiation — our DNA is bombarded 24/7 by agents that can cause damage and mutations. But don't take my word for it.
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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