25+ min ago   (782+ words) As a sensor sounded, scientist Akiko Takii hurried to a bear trap deep in the forests of Nagano Prefecture, where rising nationwide attacks have brought fear and resulted in the culling of thousands of the animals. "It's a small bear,…...

10+ hour, 22+ min ago   (174+ words) Japan's industry ministry sought Monday to conduct a preliminary survey in a city in Ibaraki Prefecture with a view to selecting the city as a potential disposal site for highly radioactive waste. Hitachiomiya would become the fifth location for such…...

2+ day, 10+ hour ago   (207+ words) A national government branch office in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday became the first site outside of Tokyo to reuse soil collected during decontamination work near the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex. Excluding a trial in Fukushima Prefecture, the government…...

2+ day, 10+ hour ago   (351+ words) Around 20 Japanese manufacturers are expected to form a consortium to commercialize physical artificial intelligence systems designed to operate robots in factories and other sites, sources close to the matter said Saturday. The alliance, which includes Kyocera Corp and Kobe Steel…...

3+ day, 11+ hour ago   (983+ words) In the past few days your social media feeds may have been full of videos of humanoid robots sprinting, jumping and performing various incredible (and not so incredible) feats. This is because the second World Humanoid Robot Games have just…...

5+ day, 10+ hour ago   (783+ words) Summer in Europe is normally cause for celebration. Not this one, however, which will rank as one of the hottest on record. Wildfires have broken out everywhere from France to Greece, while intense drought has turned the grass in London’s…...

5+ day, 10+ hour ago   (330+ words) A research team has found that bacterial strains in river sediments contaminated with so-called forever chemicals can remove the harmful substances, according to a Japanese university that led the study. The finding offers hope for tackling per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,…...

6+ day, 10+ hour ago   (1230+ words) Computer programmer Fei Zhaojun's boss asked him if artificial intelligence could soon replace humans in coding jobs. Two weeks later, he was laid off from his job in Beijing, together with about 160 of his colleagues. It's an increasingly common scenario…...

6+ day, 10+ hour ago   (341+ words) The government on Tuesday adopted rules for generative artificial intelligence operators aimed at protecting intellectual property, urging Japanese and foreign companies such as Google LLC to disclose how they collect training data. The principles aim to improve transparency while balancing…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago   (202+ words) Japan Today More than 2,000 humanoid robots run, play table tennis and soccer, and are setting records at the ongoing World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, highlighting China’s rapid advances in robotics amid a tech race with the United States. How…...