Panasonic Electronic Devices (subsidary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.) announced on March 29 that it has teamed up with Doshisha University to develop speaker diaphragms using paper made from bamboo. Compared to speakers with conventional diaphragms that use paper made from softwood, bamboo speakers have a wider sound range and crisper treble.
Bamboo is lighter […]
Final preparations are being made for the launch of a project to develop space yogurt. The plan is a follow-up to the Tosa Space Sake (Tosa Uchu-shu) project, in which a number of Kochi prefecture sake brewers organized a 10-day space journey for a batch of yeast that was later used to produce sake (due […]
Researchers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and Tokyo University have created a three-dimensional image of the Milky Way — reportedly the first of its kind. The image depicts a disk-shaped galaxy with a large deformity in one area, and it indicates the presence of five spiral arms as opposed to the six […]
Chatty, a talking mannequin with a human face, is on display at the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2006 (at Tokyo Big Sight through March 26).
Developed by Ishikawa Optics & Art Corporation, Chatty has a face that is brought to life by means of a video projector inside its head. A video image of an actual […]
As the number of willing blood donors in Japan continues to decline, the Japanese Red Cross is stepping up efforts to reverse the trend by offering a unique range of services at blood donation sites.
These services include hand massages by Akihabara “maids,” hair/scalp health checks, and palm readings. The Japanese Red Cross has organized the […]
At a press conference held in Tokyo on March 23, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto made a public appeal to the government to exempt all secondhand electrical goods from the Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law (a.k.a. PSE Law, or DENAN). The law, which is set to take effect April 1, will prohibit businesses from selling electrical […]
A goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni), considered a living fossil by scientists, was caught by a trawler off the coast of Miura, Japan. The 1.3-meter, 4-kg fish is a rare bottom-dwelling species of shark. Catching the shark in the relatively shallow waters around the mouth of Tokyo Bay is considered highly unusual.
One defining characteristic of the […]
Nanzuka Underground (Shibuya, Tokyo) has put together an exhibit entitled “Things That Are In Danger Of Vanishing Because Of [the] Electric Appliance And Materials Law.” The law, which is set to take effect on April 1, has been widely criticized for its expected impact on the secondhand electronics industry, particularly with respect to musical equipment. […]
Forget about fingerprints and DNA — the way you smell has been added to the list of biometric data that can be used as personal identification. Police in China are now using body odor data to identify suspects in criminal cases.
A laboratory official at the Nanjing Police Canine Research Center has created a “body odor […]
Scientists using special laser technology have crafted a pair of mini-spectacles (2 mm) and placed them on the head of a housefly.
This photograph is part of a science photo exhibit being held in Munich, Germany from March 20 to 25.
[Source: Jiji via Yahoo! Japan]
UPDATE 29/Mar/2006: Needcoffee.com posted a nice story about the origins of this […]
