The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) today announced a landmark gift from Ms. Setsuko Orita, eldest daughter of the founder of the Okinawa supermarket chain San-A.

Kyoto, Japan -- Humpback whales are one of the most popular species for whale watching. Since they are active close to the water's surface, groups of whale watchers can often see them breaching and diving during breeding periods. One popular whale watching destination is the Ogasawara Islands -- also known as the Bonin Islands -- a remote archipelago about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo. These isles serve as a key breeding ground for humpback whales, which migrate in large numbers every December to May to these coastal waters.

Scientists have identified one of the main habitats of humpback whales in the Ogasawaras to be the Chichijima Island group, also home to the archipelago's main human settlement. Yet exactly which areas around Chichijima are critical for these whales has remained a mystery. This motivated a team of researchers at Kyoto University, the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology to model the whales' distribution using sighting survey data.

The team examined visual survey data collected from vessels used by the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association in 2013 and also from 2015 to 2018. This data includes the locations of 160 groups of whales, totaling 234 individuals, that were confirmed during the five-year survey. The team then used two species distribution models to combine this data with topographic factors such as water depth, seabed slope, and distance from the coastline in order to predict the most suitable habitats for humpback whales.

POSTECH Team Led by Professor Wook-Shin Han Develops TurboLynx, a Next-Generation Graph Analytics Engine.

The USC-developed tool combines free aerial imagery with AI to create detailed tree canopy maps without costly lidar surveys, which use lasers to produce highly detailed 3D landscape maps, or commercial satellite imagery that many existing systems require. The technology could help communities make smarter, targeted investments in urban forests as extreme heat becomes more common.

Soil salinization is one of the world’s most pressing threats to agriculture, especially in dry and semi-dry regions where salts and high pH can build up in the soil. These harsh conditions limit root growth, reduce nutrient uptake, and weaken crop productivity. Now, a new study shows that carefully designed biochar amendments can do more than improve soil chemistry. They can also guide plant metabolism and reshape beneficial microbial communities around the roots.

Soil pollution and degradation are threatening food security, crop productivity, and the long-term health of agricultural land worldwide. A new review published in Biochar suggests that one promising solution may come from pairing two powerful natural tools: biochar and beneficial microbes.

A new global analysis suggests that the climate mitigation potential of biochar could be overestimated if warming-driven carbon losses are not considered, especially in agricultural soils.

An online navigation tool developed at Arizona State University chooses walking paths based on forecasts of mean radiant temperature, a measure of the total heat load experienced in a given location, including reflected heat and sun exposure. The current version covers ASU's Tempe campus, but it is an open-source framework that can be put to work in other cities to support walking, biking, and public transit use.

Millions of children under age five worldwide suffer from childhood stunting. A critical marker of chronic undernutrition, stunting represents a lifelong constraint on human potential, carrying a heightened risk of mortality, chronic disease, impaired cognitive development and reduced economic opportunity. A new study from the University of Notre Dame reveals that human-caused climate change is actively worsening this public health crisis, acting alongside structural socioeconomic disparities that already challenge the next generation’s ability to thrive.