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Fans and deltas formed by water and sediment are seen in the Jezero Crater on Mars in this false color image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and published in May 2019.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 27, 2024

Rover data confirms ancient lake sediments on Mars

The findings substantiate previous orbital imagery and other data leading scientists to theorize that portions of Mars may have harbored microbial life.
Aissam Dam, 11, the first person to receive gene therapy in the U.S. for congenital deafness, signs to an interpreter during an interview at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on Jan. 16.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 28, 2024

'Game changer': Gene therapy offers hope for children born deaf

The treatment focuses on a rare genetic mutation that affects only a small number of the 26 million people with congenital deafness globally.
Mourners react following the death of Palestinians in an Israeli raid, at a hospital in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2024

Hamas studies Gaza cease-fire proposal after Israeli hospital raid

The raid underscored the risk of the war spreading to other fronts, while Israeli forces fought new battles with Hamas fighters in Gaza.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (third from left) visits a navy base in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran. U.S. President Joe Biden is being urged to attack Iran directly, but that may not be the right solution.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2024

Biden’s air strikes won’t work, nor would hitting Iran

Deterrence, especially as it pertains to air strikes, isn’t only about what U.S. does, but also what Iran thinks.
Military vehicles carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles during a military parade in Beijing in 2019
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 5, 2024

Fear and ambition propel Xi’s nuclear acceleration

As China’s arsenal grows, its military looks to warheads as both defensive shield and potential sword — to intimidate and subjugate adversaries.
Flags fly at Union Station in Washington on June 27. With the U.S. presidential election approaching, caution is being urged over the widespread proliferation of propaganda.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 13, 2024

The battle to tackle U.S. election propaganda heats up

The race is set to become more and more intense amid increased political polarization and pluralistic values.
Shipments from China to the U.S. are increasingly making a pit stop in third countries such as Vietnam and Mexico.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2024

Biden wins U.S.-China trade war by Trump’s pet metric, but does it count?

Figures due Wednesday are set to show the U.S. deficit in goods trade with China in 2023 at its lowest annual level since 2010.
A tsugumi (dusky thrush). Bird-watching increasingly plays a critical role in mapping bird behaviors and paving the way for policy and conservation initiatives.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Feb 11, 2024

How a new flock of bird-watchers is contributing to science

The hobby increasingly plays a critical role in mapping bird behaviors and paving the way for policy and conservation initiatives.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 13, 2024

Japan startup creates pigs with organs suitable for human transplants

Research in the field helped produce pigs that have a smaller chance of immune rejection by human recipients by manipulating 10 related pig genes.
A delegation of Ukrainian officials look at machinery used for debris processing in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in January.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2024

Japanese technology to contribute to Ukraine reconstruction, government hopes

Japanese officials will meet with Ukrainian counterparts in Tokyo on Monday to discuss measures to support the reconstruction of their country.
Scientists on Wednesday identified what might be the genetic mechanism behind humankind's tailless condition — a mutation in a gene instrumental in embryonic development.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 3, 2024

People with tails? No, because of this ancient genetic mutation

The absence of a tail may have better balanced the body for orthograde — upright — locomotion and eventually bipedalism, said one scientist.
What role should money from oil and gas — the very industry that’s the main contributor to global warming — have in funding the work of climate scientists?
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 4, 2024

Two young climate scientists. Two visions of the solution.

The pair's biggest question: What role should money from oil and gas have in funding work like theirs?
Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk says the Japanese public needs to know more about obesity rates before the weight-loss drug can take off in the country.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 9, 2024

Is Japan as thin as it thinks? Weight-loss drug maker says no.

In Japan, some 33% of men and 22% of women have a BMI of 25 — the crucial threshold — or more.
Yulia Naumenko is one of many Ukrainians living in Japan as the war in their home country stretches into its third year.
COMMUNITY
Mar 11, 2024

In war’s third year, Ukrainians in Japan still face daily trials

Two years of conflict has left Ukraine scarred and evacuees living in Japan with just as many struggles as when they arrived.
A flare burns at a gas plant near Orla, Texas. Production and use of fossil fuels put more than 120 million metric tons of methane into the atmosphere last year, a slight rise from 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Mar 14, 2024

Methane emissions from energy sector rose in 2023 despite pledges

Production and use of fossil fuels put more than 120 million metric tons of methane into the atmosphere last year.
A student at Hanoi University of Science and Technology looking at a printed circuit board in the school's lab in Hanoi.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 15, 2024

The Gen-Z students at the heart of Vietnam's chip plans

Long viewed as a low-cost destination to make clothes, shoes and furniture, the country is now eyeing a rapid climb up the global supply chain.
Makoto Uchida (left), president and CEO of Nissan, and Honda President Toshihiro Mibe give a joint news conference in Tokyo on Friday to announce a new strategic partnership in electric vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2024

Nissan and Honda to explore electric vehicle partnership

Analysts said the move was aimed at catching up with Chinese rivals who have stolen a march in EVs while Japanese firms have lost ground.
Humility, recognition of cultural blind spots and a renewed effort are needed to find common ground between China and the United States.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2024

Addressing the 'blind spots' in U.S.-China relations

The dwindling opportunities for unofficial dialogue between scholars and experts from the U.S. and China are also driving by mutual suspicion and fear.
High-end tourism is becoming more about the kinds of experiences that Japan's lesser-known places can provide.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Mar 25, 2024

Can Japan lure the jet-set class off the beaten path?

High-end travelers are looking for sustainability, wellness and adventure when they head abroad. Japan hopes to deliver in places other than Tokyo.
Some 43% of Gen Z and 41% of millennials say they suffer from a flawed perception of their finances.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 24, 2024

'Money dysmorphia' traps the younger generations

Some 43% of Gen Z and 41% of millennials say they suffer from a flawed perception of their finances.
Two people try to take a selfie under the illuminated cherry blossoms in Kyoto’s Gion district last year.
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 25, 2024

Sakura stories revisited: Getting in the mood for hanami

We are revisiting some past content on the science, economics and culture of cherry blossom season.
Preliminary results from new research offer hope in the fight against glioblastoma, the terrible form of cancer that took the lives of Arizona Sen. John McCain and U.S. President Joe Biden’s son, Beau.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2024

This brain cancer breakthrough should excite you

Recent research shows progress in using the immune system to combat glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 29, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma scandal reignites debate on ‘functional food’ labels

The labels have been criticized for years over the lack of sufficient scientific proof of safety and efficacy accompanying their use.
The moon rises behind the State Historical Museum, the Kremlin's towers and St. Basil's Cathedral in central Moscow on March 21. Russia has dismissed new allegations about its role in Havana syndrome as "groundless."
WORLD / Politics
Apr 2, 2024

'Havana Syndrome' linked to Russian intelligence unit, report says

The U.S. State Department has said it stands by its assessment that no foreign actor is responsible.
People wait to collect drinking water on March 14 amid an ongoing water crisis in Bengaluru, which has been hit by drought.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2024

India’s most innovative cities are running out of water

Drought is crippling India's tech hubs of Bengaluru and Hyderabad, casting a dark shadow on these cities' attractiveness in the era of climate change.
Recent research suggests that within developed countries, the old positive relationship between status and fertility is re-emerging.
COMMENTARY
Apr 3, 2024

The wealthy are starting to have more babies than the poor again

After a century during which higher income and status meant fewer children, the current trend is potentially a momentous change.
The assembly line at the Volkswagen factory in Zwickau, Germany, on March 14. The factory stopped producing gasoline-powered Golfs and switched to electric vehicles, illuminating the risks and opportunities for factory towns and cities.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 11, 2024

What happened when a German car factory went all electric?

The city of Zwickau, where more than 10,000 people work for Volkswagen and tens of thousands more for suppliers, seems to have avoided dire consequences.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reviews soldiers of the German armed forces in Berlin on Thursday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2024

Between the U.S. and a hard place, Germany's Scholz reheats China ties

With Germany's economy slumping, the nation hopes to gain fairer access to China's markets despite promises to "de-risk" from them.
Ukrainian soldiers take cover during fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2022.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024

Kharkiv's civilians under fire as Ukraine faces 'catastrophic' air defense shortage

The city is so near the border that Russian missiles can reach their target in less than a minute.
Canada has become ground zero for Facebook's battle with governments regarding laws that force internet giants to pay media companies for links to news published on their platforms.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 15, 2024

When Facebook blocks news, studies show the political risks that follow

The blocking of news links has led to changes in the way Canadian Facebook users engage with information about politics, two unpublished studies found.

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it