Latest news with #Kanazawa
Gizmodo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Scientists Just Caught Lightning Firing Off a Gamma-Ray Blast
For the first time, scientists have caught lightning in the act of unleashing a powerful burst of gamma radiation known as a terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF). Researchers at the University of Osaka led the work—an intimate look at one of the most powerful and mesmerizing natural phenomena on our planet. The work also marks a step forward in the quest to understand how thunderstorms manage to pump out radiation we generally associate with the universe's most extreme objects: black holes and neutron stars. The team's study describing the observation was published today in Science Advances. Using a cutting-edge multi-sensor system in Kanazawa City, Japan, the team observed a lightning discharge split between two paths—one descending from a thundercloud, the other arcing up from a ground-based transmission tower. The scientists found that a gamma flash occurred just 31 microseconds before the two discharges met in the air. 'Most TGFs have been detected by satellites, but spaceborne observations can provide limited information,' said lead author Yuuki Wada, a researcher at the University of Osaka, in an email to Gizmodo. 'In this research, we performed a ground-based observation to see TGFs in detail.' TGFs were first detected from space in the 1990s, but despite more than two decades of research, their exact origin has remained elusive. Last year, a pair of papers in Nature revealed gamma-ray 'glows' and flickering flashes during tropical thunderstorms—radiation that scientists recorded by flying a retrofitted spy plane directly into storm systems. That research hinted at a wider family of radiation events lurking inside thunderclouds, with TGFs representing some of the briefest and most intense bursts. While those plane-based observations revealed where and when TGFs occur, the Osaka team's setup reveals the conditions in which they form. The gamma burst in this case appeared just before the two lightning leaders collided, indicating that a supercharged electric field accelerated electrons to near light speed, producing the energetic event. 'The recent Nature papers are based on airborne observations,' Wada said. 'They are also very interesting, but ground-based observations can be achieved much less expensively.' And unlike the weaker 'flickering gamma-ray flashes' recently discovered in tropical skies, this TGF was tightly synchronized with a lightning strike. While the previous papers provided a sweeping overview of how many gamma-ray events occur in a given tropical thunderstorm, the recent paper scrutinized one particular event to understand how lightning produces enough energy to generate gamma rays. 'The multi-sensor observations performed here are a world-first; although some mysteries remain, this technique has brought us closer to understanding the mechanism of these fascinating radiation bursts,' said co-author Harufumi Tsuchiya, a researcher at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, in a University of Osaka release. Studying TGFs could help illuminate one of the most remarkable and powerful natural phenomena in our skies—so intense it was once attributed to the gods. The recent study shows that there's more to lightning than meets the eye—its might produces radiation associated with some of the universe's most powerful explosions.
Condé Nast Traveler
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Condé Nast Traveler
The Best Things to Do in Japan All Year-Round
We've teamed up with legendary travel company Abercrombie & Kent to offer Curated Escapes, a collection of specialized trips custom-designed for our readers. Take off on a nine-day, small-group trip to Japan showcasing the skyscrapers and Shinto shrines of Tokyo, the Samurai districts of the coastal city of Kanazawa, and the Zen temples and textile traditions of Kyoto. Book now. Locals and regular visitors know that Japan—a remarkably varied country—doesn't reveal itself all at once. The nation is like an unfolding narrative: full of layers, contradictions, and hidden wonders. You've likely heard of the cherry blossoms, all the best things to do in Tokyo, and the bullet train, but the real magic is often found in the everyday. It's in the affordable convenience store snacks, the soothing hum of a rural onsen, or the pure joy of losing yourself in an arcade under neon lights. Whether it's your first trip or your fifth, these are the best things to do in Japan to experience the country's full spectrum, from the iconic to the subtle. Between the crane games brimming with adorable plushes and the rows upon rows lined with the latest and greatest gaming technology, there's no chance you'll grow bored inside a Japanese arcade. Getty Images 1. Visit an arcade (and get lost in neon nostalgia) Step into a world of neon lights, familiar eight-bit soundtracks, and the gentle buzz of competition. Battle your friends in Mario Kart, then hunt down the perfect purikura (photo booth)—Japan's arcades offer a riot of fun and an unforgettable sensory overload. Bonus points if you find yourself stuck in a UFO catcher (crane machine game) for longer than you care to admit.
Japan Times
09-05-2025
- Japan Times
Noto region welcomes first school trip since massive quake
Ishikawa Prefecture's Noto region on Thursday welcomed the first students on a school trip since it was hit by a massive earthquake in January 2024. About 100 third-year students from a junior high school in Tokyo's Meguro Ward were the first to visit any of the six municipalities on the Noto Peninsula on a school trip since the disaster, according to the Ishikawa Prefectural Government. The prefectural government and the city of Kanazawa, the prefecture's capital, worked to organize the school trip. While the region's tourism industry, once a mainstay of the local economy, has not fully recovered from the disaster, an Ishikawa prefectural official said, "We hope they will learn by closely observing the progress of the reconstruction." After being greeted by prefectural officials and others at Noto Airport on Thursday, the students visited Shunran no Sato, where many minshuku inns are located. They were briefed on the prefecture's hydrogen energy initiative for local production for local consumption, and tasted a fish cake cooked on a hydrogen grill. The students also interacted with local farmers and experienced rice planting. "It's a new experience because I've never had the opportunity to do rice planting in Tokyo," said student Kansuke Watanabe, 14. During the trip through Saturday, the students will also visit Kanazawa and Kaga. "I hope they will meet various people and cultivate the spirit of standing by disaster victims," said Tomoyuki Nishida, the school's 62-year-old principal. In a bid to host more school trips, the prefectural government plans to improve a program designed to foster learning from the disaster, including by training storytellers.
