Science News 2012 (English‪)‬ SCIENCE CHANNEL

There are constant explosions on the sun's surface called "solar flares". Once in a hundred or even a thousand years, a massive explosion known as a "super flare" may occur, with the risk of exposing astronauts to radiation, and causing significant disruption to communications and the power grid. To prevent such significant damage, we must maintain our space weather prediction activities and research into the understanding of solar flares.

Research on lightning has begun at Tokyo Skytree, which was completed in May 2012. A Rogowski coil, installed 497 meters above the ground, will be used to measure rare waveforms of lightning current. As society has become more IT-oriented in recent years, computers and other electronic devices have become more susceptible to lightning damage. To develop effective lightning-resistant designs, the world is waiting for research that will reveal the true form of lightning.

Keeping fields flooded during winter is a traditional farming method called "winter-flooded rice paddies" and is known as an environment-friendly technique, but it is also effective in reducing salt damage. Mr. Shigeki Iwabuchi, director of NPO Tambo, together with Tohoku University's Ecosystem Adaptability Global COE, tried restoring paddies damaged by the tsunami using winter-flooded rice paddies to control salinity, and achieved remarkable results. This effort was even presented to the world at the Rio Earth Summit (RIO +20), as an experiment to bring about the recovery in both reconstruction and biodiversity.

Construction has begun on KAGRA, the latest gravitational wave telescope, to detect gravitational waves for the first time; successful detection of such waves, considered the last of Einstein's predictions yet to be observed, would surely be worthy of a Nobel Prize. What exactly is a gravitational wave? How do you detect one? What can be learned through such observations? We visit Kamioka in Gifu Prefecture where KAGRA is under construction.

Magnesium is one of the most abundant metal resources on Earth, but its highly flammable nature has limited its scope for use. So far, various non-combustible magnesium alloys have been developed for use in things like rail carriages, but Kumamoto University has successfully developed its KUMADAI incombustible magnesium alloy that is twice as strong as conventional magnesium alloys. Experimental research clarifies what it means for an alloy to be "incombustible".

Every day medical technology makes progress, but there are still some diseases for which there is no effective cure. These include Alzheimer's disease, which is predicted to make up 60% of world-wide dementia cases by 2050, and various types of intractable cancers like invasive cancer and multicentric cancer. This report introduces some university-based venture companies that are attempting to devise drugs and methods to treat these intractable diseases.