China’s CO2 emissions fall by record 8% in second quarter of 2022
China’s emissions have now fallen year-on-year for four consecutive quarters, extending what was already the longest sustained decline in recent history.
East Asia
East Asia spans countries including China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. This archive gathers reported milestones from the region — covering public health, environmental efforts, technology, and social progress. Each entry highlights specific, verifiable developments worth knowing about.
Nintendo announces it will recognize same-sex partnerships even though Japan doesn’t
The Japanese video game company Nintendo has announced that it will extend marriage benefits to employees who are in same-sex partnerships.
Japan withdraws funding for major coal projects in Indonesia and Bangladesh, effectively canceling them
Two planned coal-fired power plants, one in Indonesia and the other in Bangladesh, have had their funding withdrawn by the Japanese government, as part of Tokyo’s decision to no longer bankroll coal projects in either country.
Korean scientists develop “nanomachines” that can penetrate and kill cancer cells
This new method directly kills cancer cells via mechanical movements without anticancer medication, in contrast to the capsule-type nanocarriers that deliver therapeutic drugs.
China builds world-first full-function space solar verification tower
Space solar power just cleared a milestone that researchers once thought was still years away. China’s test tower at Xidian University is the first facility anywhere to run the complete chain — concentrating sunlight, converting it to electricity, and beaming that power wirelessly to a ground receiver — all in one integrated system, completed roughly three years ahead of schedule. It’s a research milestone, not a power plant, but proving the full system works in one place gives scientists a permanent platform to push the technology forward.
Japan successfully tests giant turbine that generates renewable energy using deep ocean currents
During future tests, developer IHI Corp is hoping to generate two megawatts, with the hopes of kicking off commercial operations in the 2030s, Bloomberg reports.
Fastest carbon dioxide catcher heralds new age for direct air capture
The Tokyo Metropolitan University team’s new technology promises unprecedented performance and robustness in direct air capture systems.
First-of-a-kind blood test paves way for early Parkinson’s diagnosis
A simple blood test that could catch Parkinson’s disease before symptoms take hold is now closer to reality. Researchers at Kobe University developed an assay that reads changes in enzyme activity in a blood sample, achieving 85 to 88 percent accuracy in both human and rat models. Because treatments like levodopa and exercise work better early in the disease’s progression, earlier detection could meaningfully change what’s possible for patients. With Parkinson’s cases more than doubling globally over the past 25 years, affordable, scalable screening tools like this one could reshape how the world responds to the fastest-growing neurological disorder.
Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions fall 5.1% in 2020/21 to record low
In April 2021, Japan, the world’s fifth-biggest carbon emitter raised its climate goal, pledging to trim emissions by 46 percent from 2013 levels by 2030 instead of its previous target of 26 percent.
Tokyo schools drop controversial dress code on hair and underwear color
Other rules being cut include the practice of punishing students with a form of house arrest, and ambiguous language in the guidelines on what is considered “typical of high school students.”