Physics

Shigehisa Ishii, a farmer in Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture, admires the “Nishina otome” variety of cherry blossoms that he developed jointly with the Riken research institute.

The T2K Collaboration has published new results showing the strongest constraint yet on the parameter that governs the breaking of the symmetry between matter and antimatter in neutrino oscillations. Using beams of muon neutrinos and muon antineutrinos, T2K has studied how these particles and antiparticles transition into electron neutrinos and electron antineutrinos, respectively.

A Japanese team of researchers has shown that time at Tokyo Skytree’s observatory — around 450 meters above sea level — passes four nanoseconds faster per day than at near ground level.

The finding, based on extremely precise “optical lattice clocks” that only go out of synch by one second every 16 billion years, proves Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which predicts that clocks in a strong gravitational field will tick slower than those in a field with weaker gravity.

Stanley Electric, a Japanese supplier of automotive headlights that often went unnoticed by investors before the novel coronavirus, possesses ultraviolet sterilizing technology considered crucial in preventing another outbreak.

Japanese developers unveiled Wednesday a prototype of the magnetic-levitation bullet train that is capable of deriving onboard power completely wirelessly.

Water is a familiar substance that is present virtually everywhere. The properties of the first few layers of water molecules in contact with the surface of materials (called ‘surface water’) are especially important in materials science. In a recent study led by Prof Takahiro Yamamoto of Tokyo University of Science, scientists employed statistical data analysis tools to reveal what happens to water molecules on top of graphene.

Toshiba is planning to launch quantum cryptography services in the U.S. by September, first targeting the financial and medical sectors as the company looks for a new way to drive growth.

It is one of the nightmares of the "drone age": waves of unmanned aircraft overwhelming defenses to unleash death and destruction. An agency under Japan's Defense Ministry is making progress toward countering the threat.

Japan and the United States, aiming to beat China in the race to develop quantum computers, signed an agreement on Dec. 19 to partner on next-generation quantum technology.

Researchers developed a device that produces a laser with the world’s shortest wavelength, a breakthrough that a Nobel laureate expects will lead to a sea change in manufacturing around the world.