Science News 2012 (English)

Treating water contaminated by radioactive substances generated during water-intensive decontamination operations has become a problem in decontamination sites around Fukushima, so research and development is underway to resolve this issue. One such project involves the development of a mobile decontamination plant that can go anywhere you can drive an ordinary vehicle, and can efficiently purify water down to a level of less than 10 becquerels per liter. This report is from Minamisoma in Fukushima Prefecture, and examines the technology being deployed.

Ordinary survey meters can measure radiation during decontamination efforts one "point" at a time, but the work involved and the assessment of survey values takes a lot of time and effort. A research unit within the semi-governmental Japan Atomic Energy Agency together with Japan Radiation Engineering Company, a private corporation, have developed a new type of radiation detector using plastic scintillation fiber, a type of optic fiber. This report from Fukushima shows the results of their research, where measurements can be taken quickly in the field, and where both the extent of contamination and the results of decontamination can be seen at a glance.

In Kobe "digester gas", a gas that occurs when a slurry produced in the sewage treatment process is fermented by microorganisms, is being used locally as a source of energy. The city has also started the Kobe Green Sweets Project that produces gas from raw materials obtained from staple industries such as food processing plants, and timber waste from forest thinning in Mt. Rokko. Japan's advanced sewage treatment and resource recovery technologies are also becoming the focus of attention throughout the world.

To increase the generation of geothermal power, a technique called Hot Dry Rock power generation that was developed 10 years ago has been gaining attention again. Hot Dry Rock power generation is a technique that involves drilling an artificial well into hot rock below the earth's surface, and pumping water into it to produce steam and hot water needed for power generation. Because superheated hot rock is widely distributed beneath Japan, the advantage of Hot Dry Rock geothermal power is the broad choice of locations for possible power generation sites.

Japan is among the top three nations producing geothermal energy, and is one of the three major geothermal energy-rich countries of the world, but of Japan's total electricity generating capacity, geothermal power accounts for only about 0.3%. However following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, expectations for geothermal power generation were heightened. Research is proceeding on developing low-risk, economical methods for locating geothermal sources, and also on ways to effectively utilize geothermal power, such as hot springs power generation, that has a low impact on the environment.

Attempts to promote the use of marine renewable energy are presently being launched everywhere. While maritime nation Japan deals with this energy policy issue, this report introduces the efforts of researchers conducting empirical experiments into offshore wind power generation.

As a new energy option, marine power generation is attracting attention. Venture companies are pushing the research forward. One such project involves the development of a "tuna-shaped tidal turbine which efficiently makes use of ocean flows, with a shape that resists damage by objects floating in the sea. Elsewhere, a gyro-type wave power generator is a new technology that extracts energy from the torque or gyro moment rotation as waves rise and fall at the ocean's surface.

Until now, disaster prevention measures for earthquakes and tsunami were devised based on the experience of past large-scale tsunami. However, the tsunami following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake greatly exceeded expectations, and created much confusion during the evacuation. How can the tsunami risk be predicted, and how can people best evacuate? This report looks at two examples to find answers to these questions.

After the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, there were numerous false alerts overstating the magnitude of aftershocks. This is because the present Earthquake Early Warning system treats earthquakes with multiple simultaneous focal points as a single major earthquake. Assistant Professor Masumi Yamada, of Kyoto University's Disaster Prevention Research Institute, working in collaboration with the Japan Meteorological Agency, is developing a computational method that allows for earthquakes with multiple simultaneous focal points.

Among so-called rare plants which are difficult to mass produce, the supply of medicinal plants used in Chinese herbal medicines is being restricted at the source of production, adding further instability to the supply side. So Japanese paper manufacturers are developing propagation techniques for plant species that until now have been difficult to grow, by applying photoautotrophic culturing, a type of plant cell culture technology, to plant cuttings with the aim of boosting production of medicinal plants.

According to data on solar activity cycles sent back by the solar observation satellite Hinode, the sun is presently undergoing conditions similar to those during the mid-17th and late 18th centuries when there were "mini ice ages". In the future, it will be crucial to further expand our observations of the sun and examine the impact of solar activity on the global climate.

Japan's disaster-response robots have been actively deployed at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was contaminated with radioactive material. For instance, they can measure radiation levels in places where people cannot work for long, and have made major contributions to on-site operations. To solve problems occuring in actual disaster areas, developers and users have worked together to implement various improvements and new developments, producing significant advances in disaster-response robot technology.

In recent years, the increase in bowel cancer has become a major problem. Currently, tumor markers are used to analyze proteins produced by cancer cells, but the early diagnosis of bowel cancer is virtually impossible. Associate Professor Masaru Yoshida, of Kobe University, aims to significantly boost the rate of diagnosis for early-stage cancer by using metabolomics, namely the study of metabolites.

Transistors made of integrated circuits have improved performance and reduced power consumption beyond their theoretical limits. Mr. Tomioka, of Hokkaido University, has developed the world's first quantum transistor, a revolutionary device that solves the problem of how to exceed the previous theoretical limits.

Every day medical technology makes progress, but there are still some diseases for which there is no effective cure. These include Alzheimer's disease, which is predicted to make up 60% of world-wide dementia cases by 2050, and various types of intractable cancers like invasive cancer and multicentric cancer. This report introduces some university-based venture companies that are attempting to devise drugs and methods to treat these intractable diseases.

Magnesium is one of the most abundant metal resources on Earth, but its highly flammable nature has limited its scope for use. So far, various non-combustible magnesium alloys have been developed for use in things like rail carriages, but Kumamoto University has successfully developed its KUMADAI incombustible magnesium alloy that is twice as strong as conventional magnesium alloys. Experimental research clarifies what it means for an alloy to be "incombustible".

Construction has begun on KAGRA, the latest gravitational wave telescope, to detect gravitational waves for the first time; successful detection of such waves, considered the last of Einstein's predictions yet to be observed, would surely be worthy of a Nobel Prize. What exactly is a gravitational wave? How do you detect one? What can be learned through such observations? We visit Kamioka in Gifu Prefecture where KAGRA is under construction.

Keeping fields flooded during winter is a traditional farming method called "winter-flooded rice paddies" and is known as an environment-friendly technique, but it is also effective in reducing salt damage. Mr. Shigeki Iwabuchi, director of NPO Tambo, together with Tohoku University's Ecosystem Adaptability Global COE, tried restoring paddies damaged by the tsunami using winter-flooded rice paddies to control salinity, and achieved remarkable results. This effort was even presented to the world at the Rio Earth Summit (RIO +20), as an experiment to bring about the recovery in both reconstruction and biodiversity.

Research on lightning has begun at Tokyo Skytree, which was completed in May 2012. A Rogowski coil, installed 497 meters above the ground, will be used to measure rare waveforms of lightning current. As society has become more IT-oriented in recent years, computers and other electronic devices have become more susceptible to lightning damage. To develop effective lightning-resistant designs, the world is waiting for research that will reveal the true form of lightning.

There are constant explosions on the sun's surface called "solar flares". Once in a hundred or even a thousand years, a massive explosion known as a "super flare" may occur, with the risk of exposing astronauts to radiation, and causing significant disruption to communications and the power grid. To prevent such significant damage, we must maintain our space weather prediction activities and research into the understanding of solar flares.