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The Secrets of Longevity: Exploring Okinawa, Japan
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Have you ever wondered where people live the longest and healthiest lives on Earth? Look no further than the enchanting islands of Okinawa, Japan. Nestled in the East China Sea, Okinawa has gained international recognition for its high number of centenarians and remarkable longevity. Currently, there are 457 people in Okinawa aged 100 or over, an average of 35 for each 100,000 inhabitants. While Japanese people generally live longer than any other nation, the Okinawa inhabitants reach ages that take by surprise even the other Japanese: an average of 86 for women and 78 for men. One of the key factors contributing to the longevity of Okinawa's residents is their traditional diet. The Okinawan diet is rich in plant-based foods such as sweet po ...
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1376 |
bio_man |
10 months ago |
Why maintaining eye contact is tougher than it seems
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Have you ever felt awkward staring into a person's eyes while holding up a conversation? It turns out that there is a good scientific reason why some of us struggle with this. Research tells us that staring while trying to come up with the right words actually uses the same mental resources as sustaining eye contact. Scientists from Kyoto University in Japan put this to the test in 2016 by having 26 volunteers play word association games while staring at computer-generated faces. When making eye contact, the participants found it harder to come up with links between words, suggesting that there is interference between these processes. The volunteers were tested while looking at both animations of faces making eye contact and animations of fac ...
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8663 |
bio_man |
4 years ago |
Flu no more
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A promising new drug called baloxavir marboxil (Xofluza) developed in Japan has been shown to stop the flu virus from spreading 24 hours after intake. The drug interferes with influenza A and influenza B's main replication process instead of inhibiting the neuraminidase enzyme, as accomplished by previous drugs such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza). As shown in the illustration, viral neuraminidase sits on the surface of influenza viruses and enables it to be released once reproduced within the infected host cell. Xofluza accomplishes its mode of action by inhibiting the cap-dependent endonuclease activity of the viral polymerase. It achieves this by inhibiting the process known as cap snatching, which is a mechanism expl ...
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2064 |
bio_man |
6 years ago |
This plant has the largest genome of all living organisms
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When it comes to genome size, a rare Japanese flower, called Paris japonica, is the current heavyweight champ, with 50 times more DNA than humans. It is a slow growing perennial that sports a rare, showy white star-like flower above a single whorl of about eight stem leaves. The exceptionally large genome of P. japonica is due to the fact that it's an octoploid, meaning it has four sets of chromosomes - on the contrary, humans are diploid (two sets). Its 40 chromosomes consist of 150 billion base pairs of DNA per cell, therefore making its genome the largest known genome of any living organism. In fact, the DNA from a single cell could theoretically stretch out to be longer than 300 feet (91 m). ...
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6449 |
duddy |
7 years ago |
Time to update the science textbooks
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The periodic table has been given four new elements, changing one of science’s most fundamental pieces of knowledge. Elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 will now be added to the table’s seventh row and make it complete, after they were verified by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry on December 30 th. The new elements were discovered by team from Japan, Russia and the USA, who will all get to name their own new elements. All of the four new admissions are man-made. The super-heavy elements are created by shoving lighter nuclei into each other and are found in the radioactive decay - which only exists for a tiny fraction of a second before they decay into other elements. The elements have been worked on since at least 2004, when st ...
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16532 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
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4167 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
The Eshima Ohashi bridge
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The Eshima Ohashi bridge in Japan has a 6.1% grade ramp up! The bridge is also the third largest ridge bridge in the world and stretches about a mile long with a height of about 144 feet.
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25549 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
These stones from Japan are a natural wonder
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Cherry blossom stones are entirely natural, containing complex mineral deposits that look just like gold and pink flowers when they're broken in half. And believe it or not, these incredibly rare stones are only found in one place on Earth - Japan.
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2574 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Guilty conscience
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In 2004, a robber took $14,500 from a bank in Japan, but felt so guilty he mailed the money back with an apology!
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1303 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Street food of Japan
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Seahorse and scorpion skewers are sold on the streets of Japan as popular food items. I wonder what they taste like...
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1464 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Sticking together is what good melons do
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We're all thinking it... this watermelon looks like a big green butt. Accidentally grown in Japan, it formed when two watermelons grew too close together and fused. And it turns out that 'Japanese butt melons' aren't all that uncommon
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4958 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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2973 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
A cool lamp made from glowing mushrooms
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These lamps, designed by Yukio Takana from Japan, use mushroom-shaped LEDs, bits of driftwood, and salvage lumber to create something that has a kitsch or whimsical quality.
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7809 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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4674 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Bioluminescence in Japan
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In Japan, firefly squid - or hotaru ika, as the locals call them - rise 600 metres (2,000 feet) to the surface of the water and light it up with their electric blue bioluminescence.
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5358 |
duddy |
9 years ago |