Jon Nelson, of Ritsumeikan University, in Japan, has calculated that the most important property involved is the surface tension of the tiny clusters of water molecules from which snowflakes form.

ECONOMIST: Atmospheric science

"When they can't fix the problems with the social security and the employment system, we need to have a safety net to capture the poor, " said Tadashi Yamamoto, professor of social security at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.

WSJ: Japan Welfare Case Stirs Debate on Who Should Care for Needy

Masao Homma, vice-chancellor of Ritsumeikan University in Japan, thinks an influx of foreign students could help his country's campuses: in a homogeneous land which in his view is growing even more introvert such exchanges could expose Japan's young to the wider world.

ECONOMIST: Higher education