According to The Asahi Shimbun, a dragonfly species in Japan secretes wax that reflects ultraviolet light, which could be used in sunscreens for people with metal allergies.
Metals in currently available sunblock products cause allergic reactions in some users.
The special water-repellent wax in the dragonflies, which inhabit broad areas in Japan, could help develop biologically derived sunscreens for people with allergies, according to a Japanese team studying the insects.
The scientists from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and other institutions are conducting further research into detailed properties of the wax, which they said was found to contain special components seldom seen in other creatures.
Mature males of the white-tailed skimmer dragonfly (Orthetrum albistylum), typically seen by the waterside in bright sunlight, strongly reflect ultraviolet light on and around their backs. The team studied components that are abundantly secreted from their dorsal sections and found a waxy substance resembling fat.
Microscopic studies showed the wax surface is covered with fine plate-like grains that scatter light, piled on top of one another.
“The components we have found could help develop biologically derived sunscreens that are quite unlike conventional products, although there is a need to study their safety and other properties,” said Ryo Futahashi, an AIST senior researcher, who was part of the study team.
The research results were published in eLife, a British scientific journal.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201903020003.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9091889
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According to The Australian Financial Review, assertions by Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe that first-home buyers and upgraders are returning to the property market have been called into question by those in the industry, who say buyers remain thin on the ground.
"What we do see in the housing market lately is an increasing number of people saying it's the right time to buy a home," Dr Lowe told The Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Wednesday.
"Investors still aren't coming back in significant numbers, but first-home owners and upgrade buyers are starting to think, 'well, maybe, with lower prices, I can enter the market'," he said.
While selling and buyers' agents alike say that now is a good time to buy – Sydney prices are down 13.2 per cent and Melbourne's down 9.6 per cent since they peaked – they say negative sentiment continues to weigh on potential buyers.

https://www.afr.com/news/agents-see-little-evidence-of-phillip-lowes-property-market-comeback-20190307-h1c3h3

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6201249 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, a health ministry panel on March 5 approved a clinical study on what will be the world’s first transplant of cornea cells created from human iPS cells on a patient.
A team led by Kohji Nishida, professor of ophthalmology at Osaka University, expects to conduct its first transplant as early as June.
Four patients with corneal epithelial stem cell impoverishment syndrome will be the subjects of the team’s clinical study, which will focus on safety.
The cause of the syndrome is a loss of stem cells that produce a new cornea that can cover the surface of a black eye caused by injury or other reasons.
The syndrome leads to poor eyesight and sometimes blindness.
Corneas of dead people are currently transplanted into patients, but the organs are chronically in short supply.
In the clinical study, the team will transform iPS cells from a third party into cornea cells, turn them into a “sheet” that is 0.05 millimeter thick, and transplant them onto a patient’s eye.
Three million to 4 million cells will be transplanted in the study, according to the plan.
If all goes well, the transplanted cells will enable a lasting production of cornea cells, maintain corneal transparency, and help the patient regain lost eyesight.
The approval was given under certain conditions.
The ministry panel has required the team to compile an interim report for the panel six months after conducting the second transplant operation. The team can then perform the remaining two transplants.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201903060047.html

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https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/ips7762229 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, for possible use in international airports and other multilingual venues, a polyglot artificial intelligence (AI) system is available for accurately recognizing, and separately understanding, overlapping voices in up to 10 languages, including Japanese, English and French.
The technology, developed by electronics giant Mitsubishi Electric Corp., can recognize speech made simultaneously by more than one person in different languages almost instantaneously and with high precision.
Conventional voice recognition technologies are language-specific.
“Our system can be taught to recognize accurately what each speaker has said, even when a speaker, or speakers, have switched the language halfway through, or when someone else has begun speaking in a different tongue, as long as the languages involved have been learned in advance,” said Takaaki Hori, a research scientist with the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, in describing the technology.
The multilingual technology characteristically does not need language-specific expert knowledge, such as a dictionary of pronunciations because it relies on “deep learning,” an AI technology that uses a “neural network,” which imitates a nerve circuit.
Mitsubishi said its technology has combined a method for inferring temporal correspondence relations between voice and a string of characters and a separate inference method that emphasizes connectedness of the sound and text of a character string.
The system, when taught multiple languages, achieved a voice recognition accuracy of more than 90 percent when five languages (Japanese, English, French, German and Italian) were spoken in low-noise environments. The accuracy remained above 80 percent when a total of 10 languages were used, with the addition of Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Dutch, the officials said.
The system can work on a small, stand-alone computer system, such as a personal computer for playing video games, without connection to the Internet or other resources. It could be used, for example, in transcribing conversations from a video containing speech in multiple languages.
Extensive tests are planned in the future for assessing practicability, such as the extent of speech recognition capabilities in bustling areas and other noisy environments, to make the technology more practical, the officials added.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201903070003.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/10-ai 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, the federal government's $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility has accelerated its funding of projects throughout regional areas before the May election.
While the NAIF has been criticised for the slow pace of its investments – with only four loans made in the first two years of its operation – it has cranked up its spending this year, making another six investments.
More than $1.3 billion has been spent on 10 projects in North Queensland, the Northern Territory and the northern half of Western Australia, and more money is expected to be pushed out the door before the end of the financial year.

https://www.afr.com/news/politics/northern-australian-infrastructure-facility-accelerates-loans-before-may-election-20190307-h1c3gi

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/7683578 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, Japanese mobile game provider DeNa Co. is teaming with an insurance company to offer a unique car-sharing service where drivers can lease a vehicle at no charge but must make it available to others when not in use.
DeNa announced on Feb. 28 that it will set up the venture with Sompo Holdings in April to transfer “Anyca,” a car-sharing business, to the new company and start the “zero-yen my car” service for a limited period from summer.
Through it, users who do not own a car can lease a car under the condition the vehicle is made available to be rented out when not in use through Anyca, which DeNa has run for more than three years.
Lessees must show proof of having a parking space and are responsible for maintenance costs of their vehicles.
The strategy is aimed at increasing the number of cars that are registered as available for sharing as well as users of the car-sharing business.
They are considering focusing on providing insurance to their customers of car-sharing services.
Anyca, a smartphone app, can match a car owner seeking to lend their vehicle out with someone who wants to lease it.
With their agreement, users can drive a car at a lower cost than through the usual rental car agencies and may even be able to experience driving a premium luxury car that otherwise would be out of their price range.
Meanwhile, car owners can also be paid monthly if they agree to loan their cars to the car-sharing service.
If the amount of the “allowance” exceeds their total cost of maintaining their car, such as automobile safety inspection fees or vehicle taxes, it will be possible for the owners to keep a car virtually for free.
Those who wish to lend or lease a car must be screened prior to using the service.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201903010053.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/0-dena 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, Stockland is eyeing the growing market of budget accommodation for downsizing Baby Boomers after finding its traditional home product struggled to compete in price-sensitive growth corridors.
The country's largest listed developer has set aside two sites in Townsville and Sunshine Coast to pilot so-called land lease developments and has earmarked a further five sites – some in Melbourne – to dedicate to the product, if the pilots prove successful, chief executive Mark Steinert said.
Citing the success of smaller specialist developers ASX-listed Lifestyle Communities and Gateway Lifestyle Group, purchased by US giant Hometown last year for $685 million, Stockland aimed to tackle the affordable sector in which buyers purchased only the dwelling and paid rent – with the benefit of rental assistance – on the land, Mr Steinert said.
"And what we've noticed is where we've had villages in those locations, and we're competing with these land lease communities, we're typically finding it hard to compete. So rather than compete with them, we'll join them."

https://www.afr.com/real-estate/stockland-to-move-into-capitallight-over55s-land-lease-development-20190226-h1bq0w

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/7710765 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, a futuristic motorcycle helmet doubles as a GPS navigator, displaying data right before a rider's eyes.
Directions, distance to destinations, expected arrival times and more appear in the rider's view about 2 meters ahead of them on a 6-inch transparent heads-up display (HUD) installed in front of the wearer’s right eye.
The "smart helmet" comes with built-in speakers and other electronic devices, allowing the wearer to listen to music using a smartphone.
Riders use less eye movement to check the HUD than when using typical motorcycle navigators on the handlebars, or a smartphone, said its designer, car parts maker NS West Inc., based in Shobara, Hiroshima Prefecture.
As the display is overlaid with their view of the road, there's no need to glance away to check navigation or other data, enhancing safety, NS West said.
The helmet was exhibited in January at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, one of the world’s largest trade fairs for home electronics and information technology.
“We interviewed motorbike riders extensively while developing the product,” said NS West President Norio Minato. “It combines convenience with safety, elegance and other qualities. There is potential demand for those products, so we are banking on a (growing) market.”
NS West teamed with Shoei Co., a world leader in motorcycle helmets headquartered in Tokyo, to develop it. The firms hope to mass-produce the helmets and have them on the market by spring 2020.
The mainstay business of NS West, which makes items for carmakers Mazda Motor Corp. and Daihatsu Motor Co., is developing and manufacturing dashboard instruments and HUDs, devices that show navigation and other info on transparent plates or windshields.
NS West adapted its optical and electronic HUD technologies for use by motorcycle riders in the new helmets.
A smartphone-only app it co-developed with Navitime Japan Co. works in tandem with wireless communications to obtain and display location and other data.
NS West set about developing the smart helmet in 2015. It approached Shoei about collaborating and has been working with the leading high-end helmet firm on research and development that includes reducing the helmet's weight and the size of its display.
One of the company’s domestic rivals, Japan Display Inc., a major liquid crystal display panel manufacturer, is also working to develop a smart helmet product.
NS West, founded in 1982, operates plants in Shobara and Miyoshi, also in Hiroshima Prefecture. It projects a turnover of 13.5 billion yen ($122 million) for the year ending in March 2019.


http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201902280001.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-201946427

According to The Asahi Shimbun, in an effort to reduce food waste, hamburgers made from unused fish parts will appear on the menu of a conveyor belt sushi restaurant chain starting on March 1.
Kura Corp., operator of the budget-friendly Muten Kura Sushi restaurants, said the “Kura Burger” will cost 270 yen (US$ 2.40), including tax, and the sales target is 1 million a month.
Customers will have two choices, fish-based or meat-based burgers. The fish burger will be topped with sweet teriyaki sauce, while the meat burger will be served with ketchup-based sauce. The “shari” (white rice) buns will be made from rice flour and vinegar.
According to the company, only 40 percent of a fish is good to serve as a sushi item. After the bones and dry parts are removed, 20 percent of the fish goes to waste even though it is still edible.
The chain will grind these parts and process them into circular patties at the company’s plant.
Kura has rolled out low-cost sushi restaurants around Japan and also in the United States and Taiwan. It has added menu items other than sushi, such as ramen noodles and curry rice.
By adding burgers to the menu, Kura will become the No. 4 hamburger chain in Japan in terms of store numbers.
To gain publicity ahead of the official release, the company on Feb. 25 opened a pop-up store for just 7 days serving only Kura Burgers in a busy shopping district of Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201902260041.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9029191
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According to The Australian Financial Review, mining giant Rio Tinto has sounded an alarm over the long term threat to its core iron ore and high carbon aluminium businesses from climate change, in what is expected to be the first of many more candid statements from resources companies this year.
In its maiden climate change report Rio said it was well placed to deal with an economy in which policymakers strove to limit global temperature rises to 2 degrees above long term averages because it had exited entirely from thermal coal and its portfolio of resources was "naturally hedged" across multiple commodities.
The company said its vast aluminium and copper production "will be needed in the transition to a low-carbon future and could provide an offset in an environment where our iron ore assets are less attractive from a climate change perspective".

https://www.afr.com/news/rio-tinto-sounds-climate-alarm-for-iron-ores-future-20190228-h1bt66

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/1170088 
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