TECHNOLOGY A robotic guard dog designed to bark loudly at intruders has become a hit for its cute and loyal demeanor, shifting about 10,000 units since its 1995 release. [MAINICHI]

SCIENCE Japan’s Kaguya lunar probe, launched last month in the largest moon exploration mission since Apollo, approached the moon in the predawn hours of Thursday as the Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency (JAXA) prepared to inject the craft into orbit. [MAINICHI]

SCIENCE A large amount of safflower pollen found in a ditch dating back to the third century could explain the dyed red silk that legendary queen Himiko supposedly sent to China, researchers said. [ASAHI]

SCIENCE Researchers have found that a molecule in the brain that regulates appetite also functions to control bone mass levels, a finding they say could help develop new drugs to treat osteoporosis. [ASAHI]

TECHNOLOGY Sony Corp. has announced it will start selling four new Blu-ray disc recorders to augment its lineup of DVD players in Japan, stepping up the battle in next-generation video formats. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

SCIENCE Bad weather has forced the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to postpone the launch of a lunar orbiter that aims to collect data for research on the moon’s origin and evolution. [AFP]

TECHNOLOGY Sony Corp. said Monday it will release a digital music player later this month that moves around on the floor, flaps speaker lids on its ends and flashes lights in time with music. [ASAHI]

TECHNOLOGY/SCIENCE The Education, Science and Technology Ministry is to install 400 seismometers on the seabed in areas close to the expected epicenters of the anticipated Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes in a five-year project starting from April next year. [YOMIURI]

SCIENCE Japan’s ecosystem could be at grave risk following a finding that at least 15 varieties of wildlife are carriers of anti-biotic-resistant bacteria. [ASAHI]

TECHNOLOGY When Interior designer Timothy Corrigan first saw the bidet-style bathroom appliance, equipped with a warm-water spray and other functions to cleanse and coddle posteriors, he was impressed. So impressed, in fact, that he bought one for himself, joining a small but enthusiastic group of Americans with high-tech commodes. [REUTERS]

SCIENCE A research team has found a tapeworm egg in the excrement of a pet cat in Hokkaido–the first such case in the country of the parasite common in feral animals. [YOMIURI]

SCIENCE Japan is digging in deep to curb its carbon dioxide emissions–a kilometer into the ground to be more precise. The Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) based in Kizugawa, Kyoto Prefecture, is developing technology to store carbon dioxide underground before the greenhouse gas is emitted into the atmosphere. [ASAHI]

TECHNOLOGY Recovering Japanese giant Sony Corp. said Wednesday it will introduce a new lineup of flat-screen televisions including the largest on the market in a bid to boost its mainstay electronics sales. [AFP]

TECHNOLOGY The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which has been working to develop a reusable spacecraft, is gearing up to test an unmanned prototype in November, it has been learned. [MSN MAINICHI]

TECHNOLOGY Toyota and Sony, two of Japan’s biggest technology names, are getting together in robotics, both sides said Monday, to develop an innovative, intelligent, single-seat vehicle. [INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE]

SCIENCE The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to conduct from next fiscal year a study into dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease, with the goal of producing a usable antidementia drug within 10 years, according to ministry sources. [YOMIURI]

TECHNOLOGY The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry will start a project to develop a high-performance computer chip with a processing speed 10 times faster than existing ones in cooperation with industry from fiscal 2008. [YOMIURI]

TECHNOLOGY Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Friday a recall by Finland’s Nokia Corp. of mobile phone batteries supplied by a Matsushita subsidiary will likely cost Matsushita 10 billion yen to 20 billion yen. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

TECHNOLOGY The first of a brand new fleet of Hitachi Ltd.-built high-speed bullet trains arrived Thursday at Britain’s south coast port of Southampton following a 10,000-km, two-week journey by sea from the company’s manufacturing facility in Japan. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

TECHNOLOGY Toshiba revealed Aug. 22 that it will soon add three new high-density flash memory cards to its product lineup—including one it touts as the world’s first 32GB flash card. [EWEEK]