A bit vintage, JAL advertisement for Japan World Exposition in Suita, Osaka, in 1970.
Osaka Prefecture
Giant rubber duck revisits Osaka
The giant rubber duck which graced the riverside of Osaka in 2009 is back to the Japanese city for a short stay (Dec 11-25). Neat video by Darwinfish105 [Jp]…
Quack… Giant duck invades Osaka
A 10m tall giant rubber duck, created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, was displayed in the Japanese city of Osaka recently. The rubber duckie (and its taller cousin) has been travelling around the world since its creation in 2007.
Pikachurin… the Pikachu protein
A group of researchers at Osaka Bioscience Institute (OBI) has identified a protein that is necessary to efficiently transmit visual information, and they named it Pikachurin, after Pikachu, a popular anime character in Pokémon.
As bizarre as it sounds, this is not the first time a scientific term is named after an anime character…
There is a protein called Sonic Hedgehog Homolog (SHH) which plays a key role in the growth of digits on limbs and organisation of the brain.
There is another gene named as Pokemon (which happens to be an acronym for POK erythroid myeloid ontogenic factor), a gene that may act as a master switch for cancer. The name was later changed to Zbtb7 after some strong protest from the Pokémon franchisor because they don’t want to share their name with a cancer-causing gene.
Locusts invade Kansai International Airport
According to Mainichi, a huge numbers of migratory locusts have invaded the island of the No 2 runway at Japan’s Kansai International Airport that is due to open on August 2, prompting an extermination effort.
Kansai International Airport is located on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, off the shore of Sennan district in Osaka Prefecture.
I never knew that there are locusts in Japan. The locusts were first noticed in large numbers on June 9, and now it’s estimated that a million locusts are around the new runway on the reclaimed island.
On Wednesday the airport workers sprayed chemicals as part of an extermination effort and mowed the grass where the locusts live.
Some wonder if the large number of insects is a sign that the airport will be buzzing with business once the second runway opens lol.
