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The 19th Asian Games have begun. They are being held in Hangzhou, China, this year, and they will go from September 23 to October 8. These games are held every 4 years, but because of COVID-19 they had to be moved from 2022 to 2023. The next games will be back on schedule again. They will be held here in Aichi Prefecture in 2026. There are 45 countries participating in the games now. That makes it the second biggest sports competition after the Olympics. It has many of the same sports as the Olympics, but you can watch some truly Asian sports such as dragon boat races, kabbadi, kurash (similar to judo), sepak takraw, and wushu (a martial art like kung fu). (By Professor Douglas Jarell)
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A study from the University of Tsukuba and Hirosaki University found that giving small amounts of money to many researchers is better for big discoveries than giving a lot of money to a few scientists. The study looked at about 180,000 life science and medical projects funded by the government since 1991. It checked how much money projects got and how many important papers they published.

The results showed that giving less than ¥5 million to many scientists helps them make big discoveries, like the creation of iPS cells. This is better than giving more than ¥50 million to a few researchers, who then published fewer important papers.

Ryosuke Oniwa, who led the study, said it’s better to give money to different researchers, not just those with past successes. This approach helps more in achieving innovative results, like those worthy of a Nobel Prize. (For further details, please refer to the September 26th edition of The Yomiuri Shinbun.)
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