Stories from Japan

I've been extraordinarily busy at work again, so I've been posting less frequently.  But let me record some stories, all about Japan, as it happens:

*   Sperm cells must be a lot tougher than I would have guessed. This is surely a very surprising story:

A Japanese team of researchers has succeeded in the reproduction of mice using freeze-dried sperm preserved in space for nearly six years, developing what could be a “Noah’s Ark” type of technology to save plants and animals from extinction in the future.

The study published last month in the Science Advances journal said a total of 168 mice were born in 2019 and 2020 after the sperm was brought back from the International Space Station despite exposure to space radiation.

The preservation period of five years and 10 months is the world’s “longest duration that samples have been preserved in the ISS in biological research,” the study said.

The experiment was conducted by a team including researchers from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the University of Yamanashi.

The freeze-drying technique, developed by Teruhiko Wakayama, a professor at the University of Yamanashi, allowed the sperm to be preserved at room temperature for more than one year. It also meant there was no need to install a freezer on the rocket launched to the ISS.

The technique is also expected to be adopted in modern reproductive medicine and livestock breeding.

I guess it makes the panspermia idea of how life spread through the universe a bit more plausible, too;  even though, yes I know, panspermia did not refer to actual sperm.  Turns out maybe it could have?

 *  I feel very sorry for the country and what's happened to the Olympics.  Like, no one cares, do they?   They are now talking about a lot of events having no spectators.

I think they could just turn the opening ceremony into a World Order reunion concert, and I would be just as happy.

 *  Every year, I note how Japan has record rains and disasters resulting from it.  Climate change.  And sure enough, the urban landslide on the news this weekend does seem to have involved record rain, according to NHK:

The active seasonal rain front has brought record rain to Shizuoka Prefecture and the southern part of the Kanto region, which includes Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures.

Weather officials are warning of the heightening risk of mudslides in Atami and elsewhere in Shizuoka, where ground is saturated after the downpour. Landslide alerts are in place in parts of the prefecture.

Atami City, where fatal mudslides occurred on Saturday, received 321 millimeters of rain in the 48 hours through Saturday evening. That is more than the average rainfall for the entire month of July.

*  One of the Japan based Youtubers I sometimes watch put up a video of her visiting the top tourist spots in Kyoto recently, and wow:  it is spectacularly devoid of tourists at the moment:

I also have been meaning for some time to note a couple of interesting Youtube videos, by another Western video creator who lives there, explaining a lot about Shinto. Here they are: 

 

The (formerly) British guy who is the expert in the videos has his own blog on Shinto here.  Seems a little "dry" to me, but some interesting stuff.