No. 220: Reduce the usage of dysprosium (December 27, 2010)

Tohoku University developed the technology to reduce the usage of dysprosium in neodymium magnet by 40%. Neodymium magnet is vital to environment-responsive vehicles. Japan currently depends on import from China for nearly all dysprosium consumption. This newly-developed technology is expected to mitigate the tight supply and demand of dysprosium caused by the growing demand for eco-cars. The research team is joined by a total of eight companies including Tohoku University, such as Toyota Motors, TDK, and Intermetallics in Kyoto. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry supported the development. High-performance magnets are for motors for vehicles, information appliances, and air-conditioners. The technology improved magnetic energy by making the size of sintered crystal grains of neodymium smaller, and successfully reduced the usage of dysprosium by improving magnetic energy. The mass production technology is being developed toward 2012. Intermetallics plans to introduce equipment for mass production in alliance with Mitsubishi Corp. that is Intermetallics’ largest shareholder. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is expected to provide subsidy.

No. 219: No more bar code on the package for payment at the cashier (December 25, 2010)

Image recognition technology has been making a remarkable progress these days. It has become possible to tell the species of an apple from color and luster. Toshiba built a trial system that tells the product name and its price instantly using the camera image. The new system allows the cashier to check out by simply holding vegetable and bread over the camera, eliminating the necessity to scan the bar codes. The computer spots the subtle difference of color and luster. In the experiment, the system successfully told 30 items including carrot and paprika at an accuracy rate of higher than 90%. The company plans to put this technology into practical used in 2-3 years for cashiers at retailers and supermarket to mitigate the congestion that annoys the shoppers. The camera memorizes shot images of the products and specifies them by color, figure, and marking, and it repeats the process of memorization in case of false recognition. Because electronic payment is growing popular among shoppers in Japan, faster checking out with the help of this newly-developed system is expected to add momentum to the spread of electronic payment.

No. 218: Inexpensive method to clean up arsenicum (December 24, 2010)

Shimizu Corp., one of Japan’s leading general contractors, developed the construction technology to purify low-concentrated arsenicum in the soil at a cost about one third of the existing construction technology. The new technology mixes upturned contaminated soil with water and a chemical agent, and separates heavy metals adhere to soil grains by melting them. Because it allows about 95% of the soil to be reused, it reduces the cost to dispose of industrial waste. In addition, the construction schedule remains almost unchanged. This technology is to cope with the intensified regulation due to the revised Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act enacted last April. The revised act classifies even the land contaminated with natural heavy metals as a contaminated area. Treatment equipment is installed in the field, and two kinds of agents are used. One is to make heavy metals adhere to the soil grain separate easily, and the other is to unstick the heavy metals. Almost soil treated in the field can be reclaimed. It costs 3,000-5,000 yen per ton to treat 100,000 tons of soil. Currently, about 30% of soil is discarded as industrial waste. Shimizu plans to market this technology to companies and local municipalities that have land in the coastal area.

Shimizu Corp., one of Japan’s leading general contractors, developed the construction technology to purify low-concentrated arsenicum in the soil at a cost about one third of the existing construction technology. The new technology mixes upturned contaminated soil with water and a chemical agent, and separates heavy metals adhere to soil grains by melting them. Because it allows about 95% of the soil to be reused, it reduces the cost to dispose of industrial waste. In addition, the construction schedule remains almost unchanged. This technology is to cope with the intensified regulation due to the revised Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act enacted last April. The revised act classifies even the land contaminated with natural heavy metals as a contaminated area. Treatment equipment is installed in the field, and two kinds of agents are used. One is to make heavy metals adhere to the soil grain separate easily, and the other is to unstick the heavy metals. Almost soil treated in the field can be reclaimed. It costs 3,000-5,000 yen per ton to treat 100,000 tons of soil. Currently, about 30% of soil is discarded as industrial waste. Shimizu plans to market this technology to companies and local municipalities that have land in the coastal area.

No. 217: Develop an even more fuel-efficient electric vehicle (December 23, 2010)

The Japanese government decided to develop an even more fuel-efficient electric vehicle in alliance with such leading companies as Toyota Motors, Mitsubishi Electric, and Nippon Steel. Loading the next-generation power semiconductor, the projected EV can travel 10% longer than the existing EV. The government plans to launch a trial EV toward 2014 and put the technology into practical use in 2018. Nippon Steel and Denso will develop the substrate material, electric appliance companies like Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba will develop an inverter using the next-generation power semiconductor, and Toyoda and Honda will mount the converter on its cars. The projected EV will be priced between three and four million yen. The next-generation power semiconductor uses silicon carbide excellent in power control. If it is mounted on an EV, power loss will be one third of the present level. It is also strong against intense heat and high voltage. Large equipment using water is needed to cool the inverter, but small equipment using wind is enough to cool the inverter should the projected inverter be employed, allowing for weight saving. The power semiconductor will be used in household air-conditioner and industrial motors. In the future, the government expects it to be used in railways and electric power cables. If it grows widespread, some estimate that about 2,300,000, about 0.2% of Japan’s annual carbon dioxide missions, can be reduced in 2020.

No. 216: Advanced technology to detect hormone of the doping test (December 20, 2010)

Two professors of Kansai University developed the technology to detect hormone of the doping test and sickness-linked protein at one million times higher sensitivity than the conventional technology in collaboration with Dainippon Toryo and Shimadzu Corp. The research team developed the mass analysis technology of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The newly-developed technology can detect a molecule in less than one minute regardless of the size, and neither reagent nor additive is required. The technology uses an iron oxide film with dips on a stainless plate, and the film is a littler thicker than one nanometer, and irradiates a dried nano particle on the film with laser for ionization. It calculates the ion’s mass from the weight and narrows down substances. It costs only 500 yen to examine a drop because it uses iron. It successfully detected male hormone subject to the doping test in a volume that is one millionth of the volume needed by the conventional technology. It is useful even if the test substance contains impurities. It is based on the technology developed by Koichi Tanaka who captured the Noble Prize in Chemistry in 2002. Shimadzu is scheduled to put the technology into practical use next year because it will be useful for the test of a wide range of substances including blood, urine, and environmental pollutant.

No. 215: Erase printed letters and illustrations to reuse paper (December 18, 2010)

Toshiba Tec Corp. is scheduled to introduce a digital multifunction machine – a digital machine for copying, printing, scanning, and faxing – that can erase printed letter and illustrations instantly late 2011. The company developed this machine and its special toner that uses the erasable ink developed by Pilot Corp. This machine allows for the reuse of office paper to reduce office expense. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions in the production process of recycled paper can be reduced. The printing speed is expected to be 20-30 sheets per minute, and the machine will be priced at 20-30% higher than the conventional multifunctional machine on the market. It adopts the toner that utilizes color materials based on Pilot’s erasable ink technology. The print will be erased if the printed paper is heated at a certain temperature by a special eraser. The newly-developed machine makes it possible to reuse the printed paper for at least five times. About 60% of carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced should paper be reused for four times. Toshiba Tec expects great demand from government agencies and public offices as well as from private companies that emphasize the environment-conscious procurement approach.

No. 214: Manage shared electric vehicles via the Internet (December 17, 2010)

Namco Bandai Games and NEC will start the substantiative experiment of the system to manage information of electric vehicles (EVs) used in car sharing next January. The system will put together information on the location and charging status of the shared EVs on the Internet and enable the users to know what EVs are available in what parking lot and how much they are charged through PC and smart phone. The experiment will last for two months between mid-January and mid-March next year in Yokohama. Nissan Motor will provide two units of “Leaf” to be put on the market on 20th of this month. Each of the two units carries the standard built-in communications equipment, from which such information as location and charging status will be transmitted to the server, and the information in the server will be browed via the Internet. About 250 participants from general public will be recruited via the Internet. They will experience booking EVs and browsing information on EVs. This experiment is part of the substantiative experiment of IT infrastructure that supports smart grids. The smart grid is supposed to be effective if it is combined with in-vehicle battery.

No. 213: Mass produce silicon from sand of Sahara (December 16, 2010)

Japan and North African countries decided to start joint research in Sahara to produce silicon using almost inexhaustible sand of Sahara. Tokyo University and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) agreed with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Algeria on the development project that extends to 2015. They already established a research organization for the project, and the research team is scheduled to open up the way for the technology in five years. They plan to mass produce silicon with a view to starting the generation business in the future. The expected technology changes oxide silicon contained in sand to silicon refined to higher than 99.9999% purity. Sahara’s sand hardly contains foreign particles, and is abundant in oxide silicon. As solar cells are spreading worldwide, there are concerns over the shortage of silicon. North African countries that place importance on photovoltaic generation as a promising industry in the future agreed with Japan on the necessity to develop the technology for future generation business in North Africa. JICA will invest 300 million yen. Besides Tokyo University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Hirosaki University, and National Institute for Materials Science will participate in the project.

No. 212: A camera system to trace a ball traveling at 200 km/h (December 15, 2010)

Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa of Tokyo University and his research team developed the ultrahigh-speed camera system that can trace a ball hit by a tennis racket traveling at a speed faster than 200 km/h. Theoretically, the system makes it possible to place a bullet of a pistol and an object running at the sound speed (about 340 meters per second) in the center of a camera frame. The team successfully developed the system by combining lenses and small mirrors that move quickly. The system can be used in a camera sensor that observes an object moving at a high speed and that covers a wide area independently. It is traditionally necessary to move the camera-mounted equipment itself to keep placing an object moving at a high speed in the center of a camera frame because the performance of the actuator is not enough. Moving two sheets of mirrors, each of which is about the size of half of a name card, to two directions is enough to operate the camera. This technology successfully downsized the actuator and allowed it to move at a high speed.

No. 211: Mass production of heat-resistance materials for aerospace (December 14, 2010)

Ube Industries will build up the production system of fibers for the next-generation aircraft engines. The company will start mass production of heat-resistant materials for aerospace by 2016 and put the composite material made of fiber and resin being developed jointly with Boeing into practical use. Ube’s heat-resistant materials are excellent in functionality and used in the planetary exploration spacecraft “Hayabusa (Falcon)” launched by Japan Space Exploration Agency. Heat control polyimide film used in “Hayabusa (Falcon)” is excellent in heat resistance and hard to deteriorate against radiation and ultraviolet. It will be used in BepiColombo that is the exploration spacecraft for Mercury to be launched in the partnership between Europe and Japan. Materials for aerospace have to clear very high requirements both in heat resistance and weight saving, and Japanese companies are very active in new product development and increasing use. Toray is schedule to ship carbon fibers to Airbus starting 2011. Teijin will supply carbon fibers to the next small passenger aircraft of Bombardier of Canada for 10 years. Osaka Titanium Technologies will increase production of sponge titanium by 20%.

No. 210: Technology to reuse effluent from the toner plant (December 10, 2010)

Ricoh developed the technology to purify effluent from the production process of toners for printers and complex machines. The newly-developed technology dissolves harmful organic substances using ozonic ultramicro bubbles. The company developed the technology in alliance with National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and REO Research Institute in Miyagi Prefecture. The technology utilizes the characteristic of an ultramicro bubble less than 50 micrometers in diameter that dissolves organic substances around it when it contacts to less than 100 nanometers and gets dissolved in water. Equipment that generates ozone with decomposition energy from the atmosphere to produce ultramicro bubbles will be built in the effluent treatment process. So far it is hard to dissolve and treat effluent generated in the toner plant using microorganisms, and organic substances are incinerated after being concentrated. The newly-developed technology changes organic substances into water and carbon dioxide, and separates them out into water as fine particles. Generated fine articles are harmless and can be used as cement materials. The newly-developed technology will make it possible to reuse permanently water used in the toner plant except the volume that decreases due to natural evaporation.

No. 209: Technology for high accuracy analysis of sugarcane gene (December 9, 2010)

Toyota Motors developed the technology for high accuracy analysis of sugarcane gene in collaboration with National Agricultural Research Center for Kyushu and Okinawa Region affiliated with National Agriculture and Food Research Organization. The technology will be useful for shorter period for breed improvement and helpful for the spread of bio fuels. It enabled the research team to draw a gene map, which shows the positional relationship of DNA sequences, five times more in detail than the existing technology. With this technology, it will be possible to locate important genes helpful for improved productivity and strengthened disease resistance of sugarcane and halve the period for breed improvement. Because sugarcane has much DNA volume, the existing technology does not allow breed improvement based on the analysis of gene information. If the newly-developed technology allows for stable and increased production of sugarcane, it will give momentum to the spread of bio fuels that do not emit carbon dioxide. Toyoda Motors has already developed the technology to enable its gasoline vehicles built after June 2006 to run fuel that contains 10% bioethanol in volume. The company plans to disclose the technology after obtaining the patent to prepare for the growing demand for biofuels worldwide.

No. 208: Transform information to energy (December 8, 2010)

Eiro Muneyuki, a professor of Chuo University, and Masaki Sano, a professor of Tokyo University succeeded in the experiment to show that information can be transformed to energy for the first time in the world. They did the experiment in the situation where two-packed plastic particles, each of which is 300 nanometers in diameter, roll freely because of the Brownian motion caused by the surrounding heat, and made the mechanism that the energy situation of the particles goes up and down the stair by applying alternative voltage from outside. They observed the moves of the particles using a high-speed camera and successfully made the energy climb the energy stair by changing the electric field instantly depending on the information obtained from the observation. The conversion efficiency that can be obtained by dividing obtained energy by the energy equivalent to the acquired amount of information was 30% at a maximum. The energy can be applied to the control of the micro machine that operates inside the body. The research results seemingly contradict the “second law of thermodynamics,” but they confirmed that no contradiction would occur should energy necessary for information processing be taken into consideration. British science magazine Nature Physics placed the research results in the December issue.

No. 207: Use vegetative materials for lithium-ion battery (December 6, 2010)

Sony used vegetative materials for the major components of lithium-ion battery and successfully built a trial product. The company used strained lees of corns and coffee beans, wood for the interior of the container, and biodegradable plastic for exterior of the container. The trial lithium-ion battery has a capacity of 8 mAh. By connecting two units of the trial product, the company operated a mobile music player without LCD screen for one hour. Because the trial product remains usable after it was discharged and charged for 10 times, it is suitable for the remote controller of an electric home appliance. The company used lithium rhodizonate made of corn’s sugar in place of cobalt for the positive electrode, materials created by burning strained lees of coffee beans for the negative electrode, and film made of wood’s cellulose for the separator. The trial product is a thin square battery. Sony plans to increase the capacity of the newly-developed lithium-ion battery by more than 100 times and increase the frequency of discharge and charge to 100 times. It needs lots of experiments to increase its reliability because vegetative materials are heat-sensitive and easily dissoluble. Sony wishes to commercialize the trail product toward 2030.

No. 206: Wheelchair vehicle from Japan (December 4, 2010)

A company that designs cars and motorcycles has been developing a wheelchair vehicle for the past one year in cooperation with rehabilitation centers. The company is YDS in Kanagawa Prefecture. The newly-developed wheelchair vehicle is scheduled to be put on the market next spring. It is an electric three-wheeler designed for wheelchair users. You can ride on this wheelchair vehicle with your wheelchair and enjoy wind while you are riding it. The wheelchair vehicle can make a maximum speed of 40 km per hour. It mounts two lithium-ion batteries that you can recharge using home electric outlet. Four hours’ recharging allows the wheelchair vehicle to run for about 50 km. You can ride it on by lifting the lever to fix your wheelchair. You can get on easily without assistance. You need a driver’s license to ride it. The price is scheduled to be between 500,000 and 600,000 yen a unit.

No. 205: Low temperature carbonization plant from Toshiba (December 2, 2010)

Toshiba participates in the sewage and sludge treatment business with its newly-developed low temperature carbonization plant. The new plant can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 80% as compared with the currently widespread incineration plant. The company also developed the technology to use the treated sludge as fuel. Because domestic sewage plants burn sludge at about 850 degrees centigrade, they emit a large amount of carbon dioxide in the burning process and generates industrial wastes like incinerated ashes. Toshiba’s new plant burns sludge at a medium temperature between 500 and 600 degrees centigrade for carbonization. Besides reducing the carbon dioxide emissions by more than 80%, carbonized sludge can be sold as fuel to heat power plants to reduce the operation cost. Toshiba verified such vital factors as treatment efficiency in the pilot plant in Kyushu last year. Toshiba’s new plant with a treatment capacity of 50 tons per day will be priced between 100 million and 200 million yen. Sewage sludge is reported to reach between 70 million and 80 million tons annually and account for nearly 30% of domestic industrial wastes in Japan. Treatment of industrial wastes is a tremendous financial burden to local governments. The company wishes to get several orders after 2011 and explore the possibility of expanding the market overseas and being entrusted with the management of a sewage and sludge plant in the future.