Speaking about the research environment in his home country of Japan and how it compares to the US, Syukuro Manabe, one of three winners of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics, emphasized the importance of curiosity-driven research, and of communication between scientists and the government that shapes policy.

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake that hit northeastern Japan on Saturday was an aftershock from the powerful quake in March, 2011. The jolt caused blackouts and water cuts, injuring more than 100 people.

Japan has been bracing for the arrival of the strongest typhoon of the year in southwestern region. More than 1.8 million residents were ordered to evacuate out of the path of the storm.

Fire officials in Australia announced last week that all bushfires in New South Wales were finally under control for the first time since September. The blazes have burned millions of hectares of land and killed over one billion animals.

Three more people on the Diamond Princess tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the number of cases aboard to 64. The cruise ship has been quarantined off Japan after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong was diagnosed with the virus.

Over 2,000 people have been infected worldwide with a new coronavirus traced to a seafood market in Wuhan late last year. Fears are growing that the virus could spread as China’s Lunar New Year holidays started on Friday.

An international environmental group on Wednesday gave Japan a second satirical “Fossil of the Day” award after the country’s environment minister failed to voice a plan to phase out coal-fired power at a U.N. climate change conference in Madrid.

A record-breaking heatwave in Tokyo has raised questions about the timing of the next Summer Olympics, which are just two years away. Experts warned that the Games in similar conditions could pose health risks to athletes and spectators alike.

The death toll from torrential rains in western Japan over the weekend reached over 150 on Tuesday. Search and rescue operations continued in hardest-hit areas with dozens of people still unaccounted for.