Sanoh wants data-centre cooling to become a ¥20–25 billion business by 2030. Nifco and Maruyasu are making their own moves. Behind all three is automotive know-how in pipes, fluid control and heat. Sanoh Industrial wants its data-centre business to generate ¥20–25 billion a year by
Getting a robot thirty metres through a buried gas pipe is difficult. Making it useful once it gets there may be harder. If something goes wrong inside a buried gas pipe, sometimes the difficult part is simply finding it. Tokyo Gas Network uses cameras to investigate problems such as water
Eagle Industry began developing rocket turbopump seals in 1967. Its seals now fly on H3. JAXA is funding Eagle to make them faster and cheaper to manufacture, with overseas markets in view. Somewhere inside a rocket turbopump, something has to stop extremely cold propellant from going where it shouldn'
A Japanese startup is developing three-metre autonomous boats for underwater sonar missions, combining unusual hull design, robotics and maritime engineering.
Japan extracts iodine from salty groundwater beneath Chiba. Discover how decades of chemical know-how connect to perovskite solar cells and beyond.
A Japanese project aims to embed fibre-optic sensors in the steel cables anchoring floating wind turbines, turning mooring lines into monitoring systems.
Space
Japan launched a wooden satellite built with traditional joinery. Explore why wood might work in space, what went wrong and what researchers will try next.
Can robots learn how hard to grip? Hokkaido startup Real Touch is combining force sensing and AI to handle delicate seafood, starting with shrimp.
A Japanese startup wants to use particle accelerators and liquid lead-bismuth to tackle long-lived nuclear waste. The engineering challenge is enormous.