For many people in Japan, the mere mention of cherry blossoms conjures happy images of school and university entrance ceremonies, and bright-eyed new recruits at company orientations. The majestic yet delicate flower explodes into blossom for a few shorts weeks
We now know about radiation, half lives, and radiation types. Next, let’s take a look at the units used to talk about radiation levels. The units we hear most often in the news at the moment are becquerels and sieverts.
Previously we learned about isotopes, their decay, and what is meant by half life. Next we will look types of radiation. Strictly speaking, radiation includes lots of harmless things like radio waves and even light. But some types of radiation have enough energy to break
In a previous installment we learned what isotopes are, and that the decay of radioisotopes is what produces radiation. Let’s continue with our carbon example. Remember that carbon, like many elements, has a number of isotopes with different numbers of neutrons.
Let’s start at the beginning, with atoms. We probably all have a rough idea of what an atom looks like. The center, or nucleus, is made up of pieces called protons and neutrons, and this is surrounded by a cloud of electrons. Protons have
Students get a taste of the serious business of meat judging. From March 2 to 4 this year, over 50 university students from all over Japan will participate in the third annual Japan Intercollegiate Meat Judging (ICMJ) competition to be
New research may change how we use light to treat sleep disturbance and seasonal depression. Long ago, people lived according to the cycle of the sun. Ancient people woke up as the sun rose, and went to sleep as the
Researchers believe genes have transferred from marine bacteria to gut microbes. In an article published in Nature on 8 April 2010, J. H. Hehemann and other researchers reported that marine bacteria which stick to seaweed have transferred their genes to
Unusual embryonic development in chickens can result in strange mixed-sex birds. In vertebrates, it has been thought that the sex of somatic cells?general body cells excluding sperm and ova?is determined by sex hormones, such as testosterone and estrogen, which are
Take a handful of enthusiastic university students, an interesting topic on everyday science, and a group of eager children, mix them all together and you have Kagaku Asobi Lab, a fun-filled children’s science workshop to introduce the wonders of science.
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