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November 22, 2024
 

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Mark Buchanan
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2022
Plastic-munching bacteria offer hope for recycling
Offering a ray of hope, plastic has become so enmeshed in our ecosystem that bacteria have evolved to digest it and scientists are trying to take advantage of that fact.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2020
A coronavirus vaccine is coming, so who gets it first?
While many people will want to be protected against COVID-19, nations will need to decide who needs prioritizing for vaccination.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2020
Quarantine is terrible but it works
Restricting human contact has had a dramatic effect on COVID-19's infection rates.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2020
It’s 2024, and we’re still stuck at home
Wishful thinking can't overcome the scientific models that point to years of COVID-19 outbreaks.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / Commentary
Jan 9, 2020
Nobel Prize for a battery breakthrough was decades in the making
Looking back on the past year in science, the coolest advances seem to be coming in areas such as gene editing and quantum computing. This is sexy research pointing with confidence to the future. Yet we should remember that some of the most important scientific discoveries take place almost without notice,...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2019
Gene editing might alter our DNA and destroy our humanity
Crispr and other tools could save us from the most tragic diseases, but what if they change what makes us human?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2018
Space junk presents a clear and present danger
Pollution generated by human activity isn't limited to the Earth and its climate.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2018
Why de-nuking the North is so difficult
Full denuclearization may not even be possible.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2018
Canada's cautionary tale for all fishing nations
The rise and fall of a Canadian province's cod supplies points to the danger of industrial-scale fishing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2017
China's electric cars are actually pretty dirty
Electric-vehicle technology is only as clean as its sources of power.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2016
Magical thinking won't stop climate change
Despite the Paris Agreement on climate change, the gap between what needs to happen and what is happening remains large, and is even growing.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2016
A Nobel that helps explain the hole in a bagel
The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics rewarded work that is merely one more step in the study of ordinary matter that has been going on for centuries.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2016
How Trump could start a war with Russia
In his determination to 'make America great again,' Donald Trump should not turn away decisively from the things that have made America great in the past, including steady and unwavering support for its allies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2015
Is the world getting more peaceful? Maybe not
While some academics believe the world is getting more peaceful, new research suggests they might be getting their math wrong.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2014
Is the European Union too rigid to survive?
Uncompromising attempts to bind Europe together may instead hasten its abrupt and unmanageable dissolution, with unknown consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2014
The trouble with the genetically modified future
Scientists are being irresponsible if they judge the safety of GMOs based on the scattered experience of the past couple decades.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2014
Beware of economists who hide assumptions
There's nothing wrong with making crazy economic assumptions to help get your mind around something. The deception comes in claiming that your conclusions have real-world relevance when the assumptions are nuts.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2014
How inequality curtails a nation's creativity
Given the rarity of really good economic ideas, those who have already achieved success may be the least likely to find them — to be the 'job creators' of the future.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2014
Is wealth inequality near a tipping point?
Today's vast wealth inequality probably isn't the result of any economic conspiracy, or of vast differences in human skills. It's more likely the banal outcome of a fairly mechanical process that, unless altered, could easily carry us into a place where most of us would rather not be.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2013
The chilling biology of the debt-ceiling standoff
The showdown over the U.S. debt ceiling demonstrates that human beings are systematically incapable of understanding how precarious our currently familiar condition really is.
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.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
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.
'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.
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.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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