Crowdfunding raises ¥8.3 million for dinosaur fossil excavations
A Japanese researcher has raised ¥8.38 million through a crowdfunding campaign for dinosaur fossil excavation surveys to be conducted mainly in the U.S. state of Alaska.
The campaign, launched last December by Hokkaido University Museum professor Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, ended Friday, with funds raised exceeding both an initial ¥5 million goal but also surpassing a second goal of ¥8 million.
Through the excavation surveys, Kobayashi aims find out how dinosaurs survived the winter in cold regions and how they traveled to and from Asia, which was not separated by an ocean at that time.
Having accomplished his goal of raising ¥8 million, the professor will be able to expand his survey areas by traveling in small planes, while also taking undergraduate and graduate students on the surveys.
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The Mainichi
6 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Hormone behind women having greater preference for sweets than men: Japan researchers
NARA -- A group of researchers at Nara Women's University in this west Japan city has discovered that estrogen, a female hormone, is responsible for boosting women's preference for sweet tastes through a rat experiment. The group, led by professor Akira Takamata, points out that, "It is essential to consider gender differences in preventing lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity. For women, responses in accordance with changes in their hormonal environment due to menopause and estrous cycle are required." It has been reported that female animals, including humans, tend to have a greater preference for the taste of sweet things than males, but it was previously unknown whether a sex hormone was the cause of this. In the experiment, a group of rats that lacked endogenous estrogen after ovary removal and another group of the animal supplemented with estrogen were compared. Researchers allowed both groups to freely ingest water, fodder, calorie-free artificial sweetener and a calorie-rich sugar solution, and measured their intake. It turned out that the second group ingested large quantities of artificial sweetener and sugar water while not eating much fodder. Estrogen is mainly secreted by the ovary and plays a significant role in the growth and maintenance of reproductive organs. Estrogen secretion increases from puberty and varies with a woman's sexual cycle. It reaches a peak in one's 20s and 30s and plunges during menopause. The next challenge is to elucidate the mechanism of how estrogen increases the preference for sweetness. The latest research also revealed the possibility that endogenous opioid, a morphine-like substance in the brain, may have to do with the preference for sweetness. Specifically, when the workings of opioid were halted by administering drugs, the subjects' preference for sweetness also disappeared. It is likely that the mechanism of a brain reward system is working here, according to researchers. The findings were published in the European Journal of Pharmacology, with Natsumi Kosugi, a graduate student at the university, credited as lead author. (Japanese original by Yasuhiro Okawa, Nara Bureau)
Asahi Shimbun
12 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Son retraces father's untold wartime past in secret germ unit
In this undated photo, men who are believed to be members of an Imperial Japanese Army biological warfare unit work in China. The photo was found in Katsutoshi Takegami's home in Nagano Prefecture. (Provided by Katsutoshi Takegami) Katsutoshi Takegami's curiosity was piqued when he discovered a wooden box containing a large number of old photos showing his late father in his wartime military uniform along with his comrades. Takegami found the cache seven years ago in his home in Komagane, a city in Nagano Prefecture, in central Japan. The photos also included those of men working in the vicinity of a well and on the riverbank as well as a sign that read 'Epidemic Prevention Section's Workroom.' Takegami, 77, said his father, Toshiichi Miyashita, barely spoke about his wartime experiences during his lifetime. 'I did water certification work' during the war, he recalled his father saying, but not much else. But the old photos aroused Miyashita's interest to find out more about his father's military service. CONNECTED TO INFAMOUS UNIT 731 Takegami contacted the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for his father's military records. The ministry keeps records on rosters of Imperial Japanese Army troops at the time of 1945. The ministry's documents showed that Miyashita belonged to the army's Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department in central China. Takegami initially had no idea what that entailed. He came across a brief reference that the department, which is known as Unit 1644, essentially worked with Unit 731 like 'two sides of the same coin' when he scoured books for a hint. Takegami was flabbergasted by the revelation. He had not been particularly interested in the Japanese military's wartime activities and his knowledge of the conflict was limited. Still, he knew of the notorious reputatation of Unit 731. The unit, based in Harbin in northeastern China, where Japan founded its puppet state of Manchukuo (1932-1945), conducted grisly experiments on humans by live dissections, infections with deadly pathogens, including plague, typhus and cholera, and by many other cruel methods. The unit developed and tested biological weapons on Chinese cities. Books have been published, documentaries made and exhibitions held to detail the atrocities committed by the unit based on volumes of records and accounts by former members and witnesses. However, little is known about the army's other germ warfare units including the one in which Takegami's father served. ROSTER RECENTLY DECLASSIFIED Unit 1644, headquartered in Nanking in central China, remains shrouded in secrecy 80 years after the end of World War II. Recently, however, the National Archives of Japan declassified a roster of the unit. This newly released information offers hope to historians, that it might provide clues to help uncover some of its activities and the army's vast network of biological warfare units deployed across China. Takegami could not believe that his father served in a unit that was described as having close ties to Unit 731. PERSONAL ITEMS OFFERED CLUE TO HIS PAST After he returned to Japan after the war, Miyashita worked for a public health center. Takegami remembered his father as a dedicated worker. He woke up early to mow their farm's grass before going to work, occasionally enjoying drinking, but never got drunk. He did not take up any particular hobby, but just contented himself with doing his job. Takegami grew increasingly curious about his father's mysterious past. But as a pensioner, he had limited economic means to conduct an extensive search. Still, he collected academic papers and expensive specialized books that had been out of print as he searched for clues to discern the secrets of Unit 1644. His father was born in Iijima town in Nagano Prefecture in 1909. After Miyashita was conscripted by the army when he was 21, he was first sent to the northeast region of China, what was then known as Manchuria, as a medical assistant. After some transfers, Miyashita was posted to Unit 1644 in 1939, when it was founded in Nanking, according to the military records. A close scrutiny of his records also revealed that he participated in 1942 and 1943 campaigns in southern China where the army waged biological warfare by airborne spraying of plague and cholera germs into the local population. The finding brought back childhood memories to Takegami that might have reflected his father's work during the war. There were large numbers of syringes in their home that Miyashita had brought from the war. When Takegami broke one of the devices while making an insect specimen, he was scolded by his father. He once asked him what he did in the war. Miyashita's reply was curt and angry. 'I have seen people die in front of my eyes many times,' his father said. 'I will not talk about the war lightly.' The records also showed that Miyashita was promoted to the rank of medical lieutenant, starting from the bottom rung as a medical private. Takegami recalled his father remarking one day with a pride: 'It was rare for a private to get promoted to the rank of lieutenant.' But exactly what he did to earn the promotion in a germ warfare unit remained an unsolved mystery for Takegami. UNLOCKING SECRETS OF UNIT 1644 Some historians call Unit 1644 an 'elite' group next to Unit 731 in the army's units developing biological weapons. Testimonies and documentation related to Unit 1644, however, are rare. Many researchers refer to the possibility that most documents associated with Unit 1644, or other germ warfare units for that matter, were destroyed upon Japan's defeat, citing eyewitness accounts that said that relevant records were burned. One of the few references to the unit came from the late Shigeo Ban, a former member of the top-secret Noborito Laboratory, the army's research institute in Kanagawa Prefecture to develop secret weapons and intelligence operations. In his memoir, Ban recalled a 1941 trip to Nanking during which he witnessed military doctors from Unit 1644 performing experiments on live Chinese prisoners of war. To put out word about his search, Takegami offered his father's pictures to a scholar researching medicine practiced in Manchuria and Japan's other former colonies. The material was published in a book last year titled 'Teikoku Rikugun Boeki Kyusuibu Bijuaru Shashincho -- 731-Butai Shimai Kikan 'Sakae 1644 Butai' in Kyuzo' (Photobook of Imperial Japanese Army's Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department–possessed by a member of Unit 1644, a sister unit of Unit 731). 'I was hoping that some readers might contact me to share information leading to my father,' Takegami said. In the course of his research, he learned that documents on names and addresses of Unit 1644 members were kept by the health ministry and that the documents were handed over to the National Archives of Japan last year for eventual disclosure. When they were made available to the public, Takegami quickly applied for access and shared them with researchers investigating the biological warfare units. Takegami is aware that the disclosed data may not immediately shed light on his father's footsteps. But he is pinning his hopes on eventually uncovering some information if he can locate and interview descendants of other members of the unit. 'In my search, I have sometimes faced such questions as why I am still driven to help expose the activities of the unit,' Takegami said. 'Eighty years on, our memories of the war are fading fast. But I am determined not to let my father's wartime deeds and Unit 1644's activities be buried as a mystery.' Katsuo Nishiyama, a professor emeritus at Shiga University of Medical Science who went through the declassified information with Takegami, noted the records, disclosed on May 14, contained the rosters of Unit 1644 and Unit 8604, which was based in Guangzhou in southern China. Nishiyama said that the list of Unit 1644 members includes names that also appear in Unit 731 records, evidence he believes validates the close collaboration between the two entities. 'The released rosters will enable us to track down its members and unearth previously unknown accounts, hopefully advancing studies to unravel the Imperial Japanese Army's extensive network of germ warfare units,' Nishiyama said.
Japan Today
2 days ago
- Japan Today
Startups show off ocean-preserving tech at Paris trade fair
By Mona Guichard Harnessing ocean currents to boost fuel efficiency of vessels, or tracking whales using sensor data and AI -- startups at Paris trade fair Vivatech have been showing off the latest innovations aimed at protecting the environment. Recently developed AI programs capable of learning from vast datasets have boosted projects trying to understand and predict real-world phenomena, several company founders told AFP. "We have to use AI because in the natural world there are too many variables" to deal with manually, said Emily Charry Tissier, a biologist and founder of Canadian startup Whale Seeker, which is developing technology to track sea mammals. Powered by "neural network" systems that ape the functioning of the human brain, the learning systems behind today's AI models "can calculate a weather forecast 1,000 times faster than a standard digital model running on a supercomputer", agreed oceanographer Alexandre Stegner. He flagged an AI model developed by his firm, Amphitrite, that he said could predict ocean currents by crunching "several layers of satellite data corresponding to different physical variables". It can forecast currents up to 10 days in advance, he said, offering sea captains "a simple way to save fuel" by slightly changing course and using currents to gain a speed boost of up to four knots. That could save operators money on fuel, reduce the carbon emissions from shipping, and avoid the classic solution of telling sea captains to reduce their speed. Technologies like these were being shown off in the halls of Vivatech as the U.N. Ocean Conference (UNOC) drew to a close hundreds of kilometers to the south in French Mediterranean city Nice. The conference has pushed a treaty to protect 60 percent of the world's oceans closer to becoming law, with 55 signatures -- just five shy of the number required for its enactment. New technologies could be "a very good thing" for the oceans, said Andre Abreu, International Affairs Director at the Paris-based Tara Ocean Foundation. But he warned that innovation should not be harnessed to allow more fish to be caught. "That would mean shooting ourselves in the foot" on goals like preserving marine biodiversity, he said. That ambiguity can be seen in technology from OceanEyes, a Japanese startup using AI analysis of satellite data to predict sea conditions. The company hopes to cut the time fishing boats spend tracking down a catch. "A big problem in Japan is the efficiency of the fishery operations. Many fishers spend a lot of time searching for fish in the water," said boss Yusuke Tanaka. With less fuel burnt, operators will save money and greenhouse emissions can be slashed. Anticipating concerns about overfishing, OceanEyes said it also aimed to help vessels comply with recently updated Japanese regulations that oblige fishers to "ensure sustainable use of marine resources". Whale Seeker's Tissier said technology could be used in a considered way to find sustainable solutions. "I'd like the market to recognize its own limits -- not the limits of what we can do, but what we should do," she told AFP. That attitude pushed her to refuse to work with a company that wanted to use whale detection to identify nearby fish to catch. But startups cannot grow without funding and, in the context of oceans, investments are likely to come from big firms keen to make a saving -- from fishing and ship management companies to haulage and logistics giants. This could well limit their ability to stand on principle. Stegner called for "regulations that would push the maritime sector to reduce carbon emissions". But Charry Tissier said the initiative could come from business. "Technology is developing so much faster than regulation... what I'd like is for big companies to decide for themselves to be responsible," she said. © 2025 AFP
