Agency to expand forest ecosystem reserve on Ogasawara Islands
February 14, 2006The Forestry Agency on Wednesday decided to enlarge the Ogasawara Islands' forest ecosystem reserve, a move meant to have the island chain in the Pacific Ocean registered as a natural World Heritage site, agency officials said. Currently, a 503-hectare area on the Haha Islands in the island chain, about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo, is designated as the forest ecosystem reserve, where stronger forest management and preservation measures are implemented than in other areas.
Int'l team begins project to find neutrinos in Antarctic
February 14, 2006A team of scientists from eight countries has begun a project to find the subatomic particles named neutrinos in the Antarctic, digging holes extending up to 2,500 meters in depth to observe neutrinos that interact in ice near the South Pole. The team, comprising scientists from Belgium, Britain, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States, has named the observatory ''Ice Cube.''
3 Japanese certified as space shuttle mission specialists
February 14, 2006Three Japanese astronauts have been certified as U.S. space shuttle mission specialists by NASA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency officials said Tuesday. Satoshi Furukawa, 41, Akihiko Hoshide, 37, and Naoko Yamazaki, 35, will be allowed to be closely involved in the whole operation of space shuttles and walk in space with the qualification, they said.