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Podcast [English World] Episode 105: Passing on A-Bomb memories with AI
Three Kyodo News reporters -- Toma Mochizuki, Eduardo Martinez and Peter Masheter -- talk about initiatives using artificial intelligence to pass on memories of atomic bomb survivors and others who experienced World War II. Listen as they discuss how the systems work, what inspired them and what challenges they face.
Article mentioned in the podcast:
FEATURE: Japan trying AI-assisted storytellers to pass on war-time memories
Kyodo News presents a bilingual podcast for English learners about the ins and outs of news writing and how to translate tricky Japanese phrases into English. Have fun listening to journalists discuss recent articles as they occasionally go off on unrelated tangents.
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Asahi Shimbun
4 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Mystery behind clapping sound finally comes out loud and clear
Voters applaud as a candidate running in the Upper House election delivers a speech in Fukuoka in July. A round of applause is a routine gesture, but the science behind the sound remained a mystery until recently. (Maho Fukui) Researchers deserve a round of applause for uncovering the science behind the acoustics produced from hand clapping that had not been clearly understood until recently. The daily gesture that people make across cultures conveys support and sympathy, as well as expressing excitement and joy among other emotions. Clapping is also used to move the hands to the beat while listening to music. But there's more to the sound than meets the ear. X-MEN SUPERVILLAIN INSPIRED STUDY A team of scientists from Cornell University and other U.S. universities now report that the percussive sound produced is not simply from the collision of palms, contrary to conventional wisdom. The sound emanates from a jet of air rapidly strewn out from the narrow gap between the index finger and thumb when the hands meet, in line with the Helmholtz resonance theory in physics. The Helmholtz resonator is a phenomenon in which a certain sound is heard loudly when air in a container with an open neck vibrates at a natural specific frequency due to the springiness of the air inside, which repeats the cycle of compression and decompression. The frequency of sound is variable, depending on such factors as the volume of the container and the size of the opening. In a hand clap, the cavity between the palms corresponds to the container and the gap between the index finger and thumb to the opening of the neck. A similar, well-known example of the theory is the tone created by blowing air across the mouth of an empty bottle. One reason that the mechanism behind a clap had been a mystery for a long time is this sound generation is a 'complex and unsteady process involving soft-body collision and acoustic wave propagation,' according to a research paper published recently in the online edition of the U.S. scientific journal Physical Review Research. The research team conducted experiments involving human hands and silicone replicas of human hands to unravel how the sound of clapping is produced. Sunghwan Jung, one of the authors and professor of biological and environmental engineering with Cornell University, said he was inspired for the experiment on hand clapping after watching the movie 'X-Men: The Last Stand.' In the 2006 Hollywood blockbuster, a mutant supervillain named Arclight emits powerful shock waves against her enemies when she claps her hands. 'We knew that we heard the sound from hand clapping,' Jung said in an email interview with The Asahi Shimbun. 'However, it was not clear what frequency and how long this sound will propagate.' AIR RESONANCE THEORY OFFERS CLUE The experiment got under way in 2022, with Akihito Kiyama, a Japanese scientist who was working as a postdoctoral researcher at Jung's lab, leading the project. Kiyama was selected because of his experience in using audio and video recordings from his previous study on the relationships between bubbles forming and the cracking sounds produced when wet bamboo chopsticks were dipped in hot oil. As for hand clapping, there was a prior study that suggested, though without concrete evidence, that the clapping sound might be explained by the Helmholtz resonator model. However, Kiyama, now an associate professor of mechanical systems engineering with Saitama University in Japan, recalled being initially skeptical if the findings of their experiment would confirm the Helmholtz resonance theory. 'I was not really sure because hand claps involved soft materials like humans' hands,' he said. The scientists studied a person's clapping motion and sound, changes in air pressure in hand cavity and air flow by recording them simultaneously with a high-speed camera, microphone, signal amplifier and pressure sensor. The 10 participants enlisted for the experiment clapped their hands in three hand configurations--cupped, palm-palm and palm-finger. In addition, silicone replicas of hands were also used for analysis. The study found that little sound was produced at the very moment when the hands meet, but sound was generated when a jet of air spewed out of an opening between the index finger and thumb. The researchers also confirmed that the frequencies of the recorded sound matched figures that were predicted based on the Helmholtz resonator theory. 'BEAUTY OF PHYSICS' Yicong Fu, a lead author and a Cornell University Ph.D. student who succeeded Kiyama in the experiment, said he found the project fascinating because of the interdisciplinary effort that went into it. 'What got me interested in it personally was the multi-faceted physics involved in it,' he said in his email. 'There are fluid flow, sound generation, tissue mechanics, dynamical systems, etc. I felt that I could synthesize my knowledge from various courses together to understand this complex physical process. 'Although it's challenging, I think it was very fun to see how so many different subjects are connected to each other.' Researchers noted that it took time to deduce why clapping also included sound that cannot be explained by the Helmholtz resonance model alone. Fu and his colleagues finally unraveled the science behind the sound of clapping three years after the experiment began. To Fu, the project turned out to be a fresh reminder of 'the beauty of physics.' 'I was very amazed and humbled to see such an elegant theory is powerful enough to capture the frequency of this very dynamic and complex phenomenon,' he said. 'It was really a time for me to appreciate the beauty of physics--it simplifies complex systems into an easy core that's fathomable to everybody.' He added that undertaking an experiment out of genuine curiosity can go a long way. 'I personally think this curiosity-driven research really shows the public that we should pay attention to our everyday lives, because when we think deeply, there are so many new things to learn,' he said.
6 hours ago
Ishiba Vows Aid to Nurture AI Experts in Africa at TICAD 9
Yokohama, Aug. 21 (Jiji Press)--Japan will work on nurturing experts in artificial intelligence to help African countries to achieve economic growth and solve social problems, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Thursday at the ongoing Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 9. "The development of human resources in new fields such as digital-related industries, including AI, and creative industries will be one of the foundations for accelerating future growth," Ishiba said at a public-private business dialogue session of the summit-level conference running for three days through Friday in Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. "Japan will help Africa diversify its economy" by developing 300,000 workers across the continent in the next three years, the prime minister, co-chair of the conference, added. The Japanese government aims to nurture 30,000 AI experts through the Japan Africa Co-Creation for Industry, a framework set up by the Japanese industry ministry to enhance cooperation between Japanese companies and African startups. Japan will also work with local universities and the U.N. Development Program to help trained AI experts start their own businesses or find jobs. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
The Diplomat
12 hours ago
- The Diplomat
The Quad's Role Amid China-US Tech Competition
The global implications of the China-U.S. tech rivalry have raised the imperatives for Quad cooperation on AI and semiconductors. From left, Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi , Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meet at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., July 1, 2025. In July 2025, the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting concluded with announcements on strengthening maritime and transnational security, economic security, cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, and humanitarian assistance across the Indo-Pacific region. A significant takeaway of the convening was the launch of the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative to strengthen cooperation on securing and diversifying critical mineral supply chains. The joint statement by the foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States underscored concerns over 'abrupt constriction and future reliability of key supply chains, specifically for critical minerals.' They raised concerns about dependence on 'any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production,' which may lead to 'economic coercion, price manipulation, and supply chain disruptions.' This development came amid global manufacturers raising alarms over China's April 2025 decision to mandate licenses for export of rare earth alloys, mixtures, and magnets. China's action followed its trade tensions with the U.S. – at the time, the Trump administration had mandated export licenses for a wider range of chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and limited China's access to chip-designing software. Amid China's bilateral trade and tech tensions with the United States, its decision to restrict rare earth exports impacted global supply chains and manufacturing (unlike China's December 2024 export ban on gallium, germanium, and antimony for the U.S. alone). In addition, the move highlighted Beijing's willingness to leverage its dominance in production and refining of critical minerals. Such instances of the China-U.S. tech rivalry resulting in implications for the world have raised the imperatives for deeper tech cooperation among Quad members. The first Trump administration (2017-21) used export controls to limit the flow of tech components to China, barred the use of federal funds to purchase Chinese tech equipment, and indicted Chinese tech companies for espionage activities. While the Trump administration used these measures against China's 5G equipment, the U.S. under President Joe Biden expanded the scope to also include other technologies. Under its 'small yard and high fence' policy, the Biden administration (2021-2025) employed the Trump playbook and hailed export controls as 'a new strategic asset in the U.S. and allied toolkit.' As a result, the Biden administration surpassed the Trump administration's tally of Chinese companies added to the U.S. Commerce Department's 'Entity List.' Moreover, the Biden administration expanded the scope of restricted technologies to include semiconductors and also addressed Chinese 'overcapacity' in clean energy tech (including solar cells and batteries). The current Trump administration (2025-present) has followed through on the Biden administration's tariffs on Chinese semiconductors (starting January 2025) and the December 2024 Section 301 probe into Chinese semiconductors used in American consumer products. Moreover, with DeepSeek highlighting China's advances in the AI domain, the Trump administration built on Biden's 2022 and 2023 restrictions on export of AI-relevant chips to China. This included the April 2025 action on mandating export licenses for less-powerful variants of AI-relevant chips (which the Biden administration backed down from acting against) and the May 2025 restrictions on China's access to chip-designing software. The China-U.S. tech rivalry, now well into its ninth year, has had global implications. Recently, Malaysia began mandating permits for export of U.S.-origin AI-relevant chips to clamp down against transshipment of components to China. Similarly, Singapore has cracked down on individuals allegedly involved in routing of Nvidia's chips to China's DeepSeek. The Trump administration has also continued pursuing the Biden-era goal of seeking compliance from Japanese and Dutch companies on curbing China's access to semiconductor equipment. In addition, the Trump administration's decision to rescind the Biden-era 'AI Diffusion Rule' has led to a scramble from nations seeking AI-relevant chips. The Biden-era rule had defined limits on export of semiconductors for nations categorized into three tiers. The Trump administration's decision to not adopt this framework has led to a country-by-country approach, which was on display during Trump's visit to the Gulf in May 2025. While hosting Trump, Saudi Arabia and the UAE finalized one-on-one agreements on access to American AI-relevant chips and partnerships with U.S. tech companies on AI infrastructure. Ahead of the Quad Summit in India later this year, there is immense scope for further refining AI cooperation among Quad nations. This may include a deeper focus on AI through research partnerships, cross-pollination between incubators, exploring joint workforce development programs, etc. Beyond research partnerships and institutional linkages, these steps can overtime develop bridges between Australian, Indian, Japanese, and American tech ecosystems on the mobilization of talent. Given the recent developments on the China-U.S. tech rivalry, Quad nations may explore a 'Joint AI Readiness Assessment' to determine areas of relative strength and areas of cooperation. This can be along the lines of the bilateral assessment on semiconductors announced by the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and India Electronics Semiconductor Association (IESA) under the India-U.S. initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET). Such an assessment may also draw from the Memorandum of Cooperation for the Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network, which was finalized during the Quad Leaders' Summit in September 2024. Similarly, at the Quad Leaders' Summit in May 2023, the Quad nations finalized the Quad International Standards Cooperation Network and the Quad Principles on Critical and Emerging Technology Standards. This effort to synergize standards across the tech ecosystems of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States may now also consider a similar undertaking on operational matters. This may include sharing of best practices on regulatory compliance mapping, upkeep of databases on licensing records, investment screening mechanisms, etc. This can also be a focus area under the Track 1.5 dialogues on AI and Advanced Communications Technologies, which were announced by the Quad in 2024. Finally, the Quad nations have rightly committed to harnessing AI to empower farmers under the Advancing Innovations for Empowering NextGen Agriculture (AI-ENGAGE) initiative. This initiative exploring AI's applications at the ground level now also requires institutional heft, in terms of cooperation agreements between agri-tech companies, universities, research centers, etc. This may require financing from existing efforts like the Quad Fellowship's expanding donor base or the Quad Investors Network (QUIN), which was launched at the 2023 Quad Leaders' Summit. Given the initiative's aim to use AI for developmental needs, AI-ENGAGE can assume a central role in Quad tech cooperation, even as the China-U.S. tech rivalry raises regulatory and compliance-related challenges across the world.
