science

Korean Remote Controlled Turtle Project Making Slow But Steady Progress

Korean Remote Controlled Turtle Project Making Slow But Steady Progress

One year when I was in junior high school my parents gave me a radio controlled car for Christmas. It was the perfect gift for a young boy right in the middle of dealing with the most awkward, confusing psychological change that comes with puberty (no longer thinking riding a bike is cool, but still being too young to drive a car). I loved that R/C car, so much that I kept playing with it outside as it started to rain one day, eventually frying the circuits so that it never ran again.

But things would have been different if my parents had been researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, or KAIST. First, everyone would have been surprised by how two Korean scientists ended up with a Caucasian son with blond hair. And next, they could have hooked me up with a controllable water-resistant reptile, like the remote controlled turtle KAIST is currently developing. Read More

Taiwanese Weather Reporting Idol Group to Take Japan’s Grueling National Weather Forecasting License Exam

Taiwanese Weather Reporting Idol Group to Take Japan’s Grueling National Weather Forecasting License Exam

From their humble beginnings on Taiwan’s video series Weather Girls, a seven-girl idol group by the same name that specializes in bringing you the week’s weather, have been building a solid fan base in their new home of Japan.

Though a variety of theme months and a constantly improving grasp of the Japanese language, these girls have steadily shown that they are willing to work hard for their place in the spotlight.  However, the next step is a doozy.

It has come to light that all seven girls (one for each day of the week) are studying hard to take the extremely strict National Weather Forecaster Exam next year. The test, which was established in 1994, reportedly has a 5 percent pass rate.  However, if the girls succeed they will become full-fledged weather forecasters.

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Catch-22: Guys Interested in Small Breasts are Probably the Type of Guy Girls Should Stay Far, Far Away From

Catch-22: Guys Interested in Small Breasts are Probably the Type of Guy Girls Should Stay Far, Far Away From

New research from Japan takes a look into the psychology of male bewb preference and is shedding some unfavorable light on the inner workings of the small breast-loving male mind, resulting in an unfortunate catch-22 for small-chested women: the type of guy who appreciates your size is probably also a pervy weirdo.

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Tokyo Robot Can Think, Learn, and Apply Knowledge: Nothing to Fear Here!

Tokyo Robot Can Think, Learn, and Apply Knowledge: Nothing to Fear Here!

It seems every time a news story about robots appears, someone inevitably freaks out, screaming about Skynet or the Matrix. Well, this time, they might be right!

While it lacks the dexterity and sweetness of other robots, this one can not only assess and comprehend its surroundings but also learn through the Internet! (Oh, please keep it away from Wikipedia. It’ll conquer the world in a month.) Read More

Redefining Life and Death at the Forefront of Modern Medicine

Redefining Life and Death at the Forefront of Modern Medicine

The question of what happens after we die has troubled humankind for millennia, with the main problem being that anyone who knows the answer is, well, no longer with us. However,  the “after-death” experiences of people who have technically died and then been brought back to life via resuscitation may hold at least some part of the puzzle. Read More

Can Earthquakes be Predicted? Forecasts Based on Atmospheric Ions prove Correct in Awaji Island Quake

Can Earthquakes be Predicted? Forecasts Based on Atmospheric Ions prove Correct in Awaji Island Quake

On April 13, 33 people on Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture were injured in a magnitude-6.3 earthquake. Japan is fairly accustomed to earthquakes, but the talking point surrounding this one if the fact that the time and place of the sizable tremor seem to have been predicted in advance. Read More

Can You Enlarge Your Breasts With Plungers? We Investigate

Can You Enlarge Your Breasts With Plungers? We Investigate

Despite many a man’s preference for small to average size bust lines, society as whole seems to put a lot of emphasis on large breasts. For this reason, women head to the plastic surgeon in droves for augmentation surgery.

However, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way for those women to get the self-confidence they need without all those expensive and invasive procedures?

RocketNews24 assembled a team to find a way to enlarge breast using affordable everyday items. Naturally our guinea pig was the staff member with the nicest rack, Mr. Sato.

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Russian Scientist Predicts “Massive Earthquake” to Hit Japan by End of 2014

Russian Scientist Predicts “Massive Earthquake” to Hit Japan by End of 2014

During the European Geosciences Union (EGU) Convention in Vienna on 9 April, a Russian scientist declared that Japan would face a giant earthquake of magnitude 9.0 within the next year and a half.

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Scientists in Japan Succeed in Deciphering Human Dreams

Scientists in Japan Succeed in Deciphering Human Dreams

A research team, whose major investors include some of the biggest telecommunications companies in Japan, has announced that it has successfully deciphered the contents of human dreams with high precision by analyzing the human brain’s activity during sleep.

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Investigating an Old Schoolyard Myth: Is a Single Ejaculation Really Equal to Sprinting 100 Metres?

Investigating an Old Schoolyard Myth: Is a Single Ejaculation Really Equal to Sprinting 100 Metres?

There’s a myth that many young men in Japan are familiar with: the physical exertion involved in one ejaculation is the same as running 100 metres as fast as you can. Now, although many such claims often carry about as much scientific weight as the idea that dropping a cold key down someone’s back can cure the hiccups, as any men will tell you, there’s a reason why we often feel the need to collapse and fall asleep after a particularly vigorous session.

Nonsense or not, this particular myth is one that has existed for generations in Japan and refuses to die off, being passed from one huddle of teenage boys or young office workers to the next. For this reason, online magazine R25 turned to a medical professional to get the cold, hard facts.

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Researchers: Cats Recognize and React to Owner’s Voice (When They Feel Like it)

Researchers: Cats Recognize and React to Owner’s Voice (When They Feel Like it)

So cats are apparently not as dumb as we thought.

A team of researchers at Tokyo University – because really, who other than the Japanese would spend money researching cats? – recently discovered that cats are able to distinguish their owner’s voice from others.

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You Asked for It and Now It’s Here: See-Through Paper! You Did Ask for It, Right?

You Asked for It and Now It’s Here: See-Through Paper! You Did Ask for It, Right?

On 18 March an announcement was made that shook the world of manufacturing. For centuries man has had to endure white paper for writing down notes, works of art, or fake telephone numbers from girls met in the bar.

Sure, there was the development of colored paper, but that’s just putting lipstick on a pig. The real innovation will come in the not too distant future when we will be able to enjoy paper the way it was truly meant to be – nearly invisible!

Think of the applications! Seriously, think about it, because we had to for a really long time.

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Indonesian High School Students Turn Cow Dung into the Sweet Smell of Success

Indonesian High School Students Turn Cow Dung into the Sweet Smell of Success

Rintya Miki Aprianti and Dwi Nailul Izzah are the proud recipients of gold medals in the Indonesian Science Project Olympiad (ISPO) held last February in Jakarta. It’s no surprise, though, as these two high school students have achieved a marvel of fragrance engineering: they turned a pile of cow crap into a “pleasant smelling” air freshener.

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Latest Edition of Cell Highlights Ground Breaking Research on… Two Girls in Kimonos Pushing a Clock Around

Latest Edition of Cell Highlights Ground Breaking Research on… Two Girls in Kimonos Pushing a Clock Around

Take a good look at this cover for the 28 Feb. issue of noted science journal Cell. If you can tell me what this image means without reading the article then I’ll give you a shiny nickel!*

We see two young women wearing kimonos each with a hand on the minute hand of a giant clock. There are various letters and numbers printed on them, but what does it all mean?

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Researchers at Osaka University Create Energy-Producing “Solar Paper”

Researchers at Osaka University Create Energy-Producing “Solar Paper”

Next stop, paper passenger planes!

In a news story over at Gizmodo Japan, the creative problem solvers at Osaka University announced that they have engineered a new type of “paper” that can actually generate and store energy from sunlight.

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Grab Your Foil Hats, Researchers Successfully Manipulate Desires Using Magnetic Fields on People’s Brains

Grab Your Foil Hats, Researchers Successfully Manipulate Desires Using Magnetic Fields on People’s Brains

Research teams at McGill University in Canada and Japanese scientific institute RIKEN have successfully zoned in on the region of the brain connected to smokers’ urge to light up.

On top of that, they found that by manipulating the brain’s electric activity around that region they could reduce a person’s desire to smoke. While this is great news for addiction treatment, the idea of noninvasively controlling people’s wants is a troubling concept.

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Giant Underwater Pill-Bug Refuses to Eat for 4 Years, Scientists Puzzled Why It’s Being Such a Jerk

Giant Underwater Pill-Bug Refuses to Eat for 4 Years, Scientists Puzzled Why It’s Being Such a Jerk

On 4 January at the Toba Aquarium in Mie Prefecture, Takaya Moritaki prepared a bowl of mackerel and encouraged himself saying “Maybe today will be the day.”

It was feeding time again for the giant isopods, and, for one of the crustaceans, it was the four-year anniversary of their refusal to eat anything at all.

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Middle School Students Forced to Drink Acid as Punishment

Middle School Students Forced to Drink Acid as Punishment

It made the news over the weekend in Japan that middle schoolers in Gamagori City, Aichi Prefecture were forced to drink diluted hydrochloric acid as punishment for failing to perform a lab experiment correctly. Read More

When Science Meets Cute: Robotic Minnie Mouse Helps Humans Drift Off to Sleep, Keeps Her Own Eyes Wide Open to Watch For Aliens

When Science Meets Cute: Robotic Minnie Mouse Helps Humans Drift Off to Sleep, Keeps Her Own Eyes Wide Open to Watch For Aliens

We’ve all had those nights where we lie in bed for hours but just can’t seem to nod off.

You’ve fallen out with a friend or family member and it’s weighing on your mind; you have a big test coming up that you’re not quite ready for; you’re eight years old and, for some god-unknown reason, your parents let you watch Aliens with them and you’re under the covers, sweating profusely and terrified that an acid-spitting xenomorph is about to eat you (are you reading this, Mum!?)…

What you need, according to Science –yes, with a capital “S”– and Disney, is something to help calm that stressed-out brain of yours. Something to calm you down and soothe you into a restful night’s sleep.

That thing… is a Minnie Mouse doll.

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Is Mt. Fuji About to Blow Its Top?

Is Mt. Fuji About to Blow Its Top?

According to researchers, Japan might be about the add volcanic eruptions to the list of catastrophes that have dogged it over the past year, and the volcano in question is none other than the iconic Mt. Fuji. Read More

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