Kobe Steel to double welding material output by 2010
February 6, 2006Kobe Steel Ltd. will double its annual production of welding materials to 600,000 tons by around 2010 from the current 300,000 tons in a bid to meet growing demands from shipbuilders and car manufacturers in East Asia, a Kobe Steel spokesman said Tuesday. The steelmaker plans to beef up the output of its 10 domestic and overseas manufacturing bases.
Toshiba develops world's fastest, highest density chip
February 6, 2006Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday the major electrical machinery maker has developed a new chip that features the world's fastest operating speed and highest density. The Ferroelectric Random Access Memory, or FeRAM, device has a 64-megabit storage capacity and can read and write 200 megabytes per second. It is ''the most advanced combination of performance and density yet achieved,'' the company said.
Toyoko Inn found violating building codes at 60 renovated hotels
February 6, 2006Budget hotel chain operator Toyoko Inn Co. modified 77 of its 122 hotels across Japan after they had passed government inspections, with violations detected in 60, Japan's infrastructure ministry said Monday. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it will discuss the matter with local authorities, possibly this week, to come out with unified criteria under which they can issue orders to rectify violations or file criminal complaints against the Tokyo-based company.
Climate warming may threaten lofty Tibet railway
February 6, 2006Thawing permafrost, the result of global warming, could threaten the world's highest railway in 10 years' time, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday. Global warming on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is shrinking the permafrost area and reducing the amount of time below freezing each year, Xinhua said, citing research by the government-backed Chinese Academy of Sciences.