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November 21, 2024
 

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F.D. Flam
Scientists worry that if H5N1 spreads through commercial pig farms, it could evolve into a form capable of causing a human pandemic.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2024
Bird flu in pigs is one step closer to endangering humans
Flu viruses have historically been transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs — either on farms or at agricultural fairs.
Adapting to new information when faced with public health crises like COVID-19 is crucial, as oversimplified public health messaging can erode trust in science. 
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2024
The best answer science may have right now is ‘I don't know’
Acknowledging uncertainty and adapting to new information is crucial, as oversimplified public health messaging can erode trust in science.
Knowing how Earth’s temperature behaved deep in the past can also help scientists test climate models that predict the future.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2024
We just got a wake-up call from the time before dinosaurs
The die-offs happen when the Earth’s temperature changes too rapidly for organisms to evolve and adapt — as is starting to happen now.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to kill thousands of barred owls in California, Oregon and Washington to protect the endangered spotted owl.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2024
If killing one species might save another, should we do it?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to kill thousands of barred owls in California, Oregon and Washington to protect the endangered spotted owl.
Scientists used a version of ChatGPT to challenge conspiracy theories and beliefs and found people more open to evidence than expected, contradicting the "post-truth" era idea.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2024
AI can debunk conspiracy theories better than humans
Believers often invest huge amounts of time in researching their theories online. Maybe only LLMs can keep up.
Traditionally seen as a cautionary tale of collapse due to overpopulation, recent research suggests that Easter Island's population was likely small and that they adapted to environmental challenges through innovative agricultural practices.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2024
Easter Island collapse gets the fresh look it deserves
Once viewed as a cautionary tale of overpopulation, recent research suggests Easter Island's population was small and adapted through innovative agriculture practices.
South Africa's 49-year-old skateboarding Olympian, Dallas Oberholzer, competes in the men's prelims during the Paris Games on Aug. 7.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2024
The oldest Olympians might hold the key to slowing down aging
As we age, the number of mitochondria in our cells declines, but that happens much more slowly in people who continue to do strenuous exercise.
The misinterpretation of data on guns and self-defense in the United States highlights how studies may overstate the benefits while downplaying risks and unintended consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2024
Guns aren’t as good for self-defense as America thinks
Like other public health crises, gun violence has been studied and scientists have data pointing to ways the carnage can be reduced.
China's success in retrieving samples from the far side of the moon and its strategic advances in space exploration are prompting calls for international collaboration amid growing concerns over efforts to achieve space dominance.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2024
It's too early to be fighting a space race with China
Lunar exploration is dangerous enough without turning it into a contest between great powers.
Parasitic paper mills producing fake studies are flourishing by helping scientists cheat to bolster their resumes, snag competitive academic jobs and impress funding agencies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2024
Fake scientific studies are a problem that’s getting harder to solve
Publishing house Wiley announced it was dropping 19 journals that they said were infested with fake papers.
The year 2023 was the hottest in recorded history. The next warmest 25 have all occurred since 1996.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2024
It’s officially hotter than anytime since the birth of Jesus
Tree rings hold records that can go back thousands of years, giving us the perspective we need to understand what’s happening today.
While a new Alzheimer’s test offers hope for early intervention, it also raises complex ethical and practical questions about its implementation and potential impact on individuals' lives.
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2024
Do you really want to find out if you'll get Alzheimer's?
Would you want to know there’s something going wrong in your brain — even if there’s no cure?
A team of scientists in 2009 set out to pick a date when the Holocene ended and the Anthropocene began. They settled on 1952, when humanity added detectable byproducts of atomic bomb testing to our planet’s surface.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2024
A century of bad choices will haunt Earth for 100,000 years
A group of scientists rejected a proposal to give our current epoch a new name: the Anthropocene, derived from the Greek word for human.
Dogs are long-lived enough to serve as better models for human aging than mice, but short-lived enough that aging treatments can be tested in just a few years.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2024
Your dog will have an anti-aging drug before you do
Dogs are long-lived enough to serve as better models for human aging than mice, but short-lived enough that aging treatments can be tested in a few years.
Machine learning could assist in cancer research by flagging papers likely to fail replication attempts, potentially improving the quality control process.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2024
The scandals rocking cancer science matter to your health
Trouble emerged years before the most recent scandal in which investigators found data manipulation in a slew of high-profile cancer research papers.
A paper published in The Lancet in December found that plastics likely enter most of our major organs and even affect the good bacteria that makes up our microbiome.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2024
We don't know how worried we should be about nanoplastics
Nanoparticles can slip into the bloodstream, get into organs, and sneak into cells where they may cause harm.
New study questions the trend of scientific breakthroughs and examines the changing landscape of innovation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2024
Have scientific breakthroughs declined?
From curing disease to reducing global warming, there’s no shortage of hard scientific problems crying out for solutions.
Though ChatGPT debuted in late 2022, it was really in 2023 that we started to get a sense of what large language models could do, including diagnosing complex medical issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2023
The 10 most intriguing science breakthroughs over the past year
As 2023 has drawn to a close, let’s look back on some of the astounding breakthroughs we’ve seen in the last 12 months.
Demonstrators rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Buffalo, New York, in February 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2023
It’s past time scientists admitted their COVID-19 mistakes
In 2019, 13% of Americans were distrustful enough to say they weren’t confident in scientists to act in the public’s best interest. Now it is 27%.
Researchers eager to be hailed as the next world-changing genius may cut corners they shouldn’t — and that reflects badly on science.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2023
Science hype and celebrity culture make a bad pair
There is a broad problem of questionable research results being published in prestigious journals, with some prioritizing sensational findings.
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.

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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