Advanced Search

Choose a Category                  Announcements Audio Desktop PCs Digital cameras & camcorders Displays Environment Events Film, TV, manga & anime Gaming GPS Home theater Household Internet Interviews iPad iPhone Japan Mobile computing NOT Japan Off Topic Peripherals Power R&D Robots Software Storage Toys Transportation Video Wireless WTF?

Choose a Month                     October 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005

 Get the stories!  Or just the comments...

• Home
  • Top
  • Archives
  • Categories
  • Tags
  • Sites We Like
• About & Contact
• Datefinder
• Buy J-Gadgets!
• Snapp! PR
• Advertise!

Official: Staring at the sun is now a Good Thing
Tweet

Japan’s one of those places where conventional wisdom is generally turned on its head — no, you really don’t need to cook that fish before eating it; yes, you are supposed to bathe butt naked with those 80-year-old crones — so, it’s no surprise to see Jaxa, the national space agency, deliberately staring into our solar system’s fiery life-giver just for kicks.

Sure, they claim sending up a satellite recently to peer at solar flares is likely to yield information that can help predict the Sun’s weather a little better and, thus, protect everything from astronauts to cellphone networks but we reckon they’re doing it just cos they can.

Oh, and in another twist of Japanese logic, the satellite was called Solar-B at launch but has been rechristened Hinode (Sunrise) now that it’s parked in Sun-synchronous Earth orbit.

(Via BBC; Jaxa launch video)

02:08 PM Mark Hiratsuka • Permalink
Add a comment | More DWT | Get a cool job in Japan! | Follow us on Twitter

Date much?

Japanese gadgets from Tokyo Zakka! — Perfect gifts for your nerdiest friends back home!

C'mon - let's hear it...

Spammers beware: Any links in comments to commercial websites will be treated as paid advertising and will be charged at rate of $10 per link per day. Invoices will be sent to the idiots who hire you for so-called SEO jobs. All you good people will always keep it real, of course - thanks!