Technical Japanese

From AstroArts:

http://www.astroarts.co.jp/news/2010/09/09galactic-tendrils/index-j.shtml

複数の渦巻銀河に見つかった進化の痕跡
——————————————-

Word by Word:
複数 – ふくすう – plural, more than one
渦巻銀河 – うずまきぎんが – spiral galaxy
見つかった – みつかった – was found
進化 – しんか – evolution
ç—•è·¡ – こんせき – trace, vestige

If you are a fan of manga or anime, you may recognize:
渦巻 – うずまき – whirlpool
as the family name of the title character in the popular series NARUTO.

——————————————-

My translation:
複数の渦巻銀河に見つかった進化の痕跡
Clues to evolution of spiral galaxies found         in several galaxies                

From National Geographic:

http://www.nationalgeographic.co.jp/news/news_article.php?file_id=20100910001

地球温暖化は食い止められるか?

——————————————-

地球 – ちきゅう – global, earth
温暖 – おんだん – warm
温暖化 – おんだんか – warming
食い止める – くいとめる – check, stem the tide, prevent

Global warming is presumably caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
化石燃料 – かせきねんりょう – fossil fuels

Notice the word 燃料 is the same as in the Whirlwind of Fire article.

——————————————-

My translation:
地球温暖化は食い止められるか?
Can Global Warming be Prevented?

From National Geographic:

http://www.nationalgeographic.co.jp/news/news_article.php?file_id=2010090702

火災旋風の恐怖: 燃料となるガス

——————————————-

火災 – かさい – a fire
旋風 – せんぷう – whirlwind
恐怖 – きょうふ – fear, dread, horror

燃料 – ねんりょう – fuel
ガス – がす – gas
となる – to become

火災 indicates a house fire, wildfire, or similar, which you might guess due the use of the same kanji as in:
天災 – てんさい – natural disaster

The photo in the post is of a fire whirlwind above a burning peat bog in England. I’m not totally sure about the scale of the photo, but it doesn’t look that big to me, so it seems like 恐怖 might be somewhat overdramatic.

——————————————-

My translation:
火災旋風の恐怖: 燃料となるガス
The terror of a whirlwind of fire: fueled by gas

From endgadget:

http://japanese.engadget.com/2010/09/05/sd-2-300mb/

次世代SDカードは2段目ピン追加、最大300MB/秒に

——————————————-

次世代 – つぎせだい – next generation
SDカード – エスディカード – SD card
2段目 – にだんめ – second rank
ピン – ぴん – pin
追加 – ついか – an addition, supplement
最大 – さいだい – maximum
秒に – びょうに – in a second

——————————————-

My translation:

次世代SDカードは2段目ピン追加、最大300MB/秒に
Next Generation SD Card Adds Second Rank of Pins, Maximum Transfer of 300MB Per Second

From Mainichi Shinbun:

http://mainichi.jp/select/science/news/20100906ddm016040018000c.html

化学物質:　「不安」3人に2人

——————————————-

化学 – かがく – chemistry
物質 – ぶっしつ – material, substance
化学物質 – かがくぶっしつ – chemical substance, chemicals

不安 – ふあん – worried, concerned

3人に2人 – さんにんにににん – two out of three people

This headline confused me briefly, but then I remembered that Japanese fractions are “upside down” to fractions in English.
Where in English we would say:
“three fourths”
in Japanese it would be
4分の3

English states the numerator first, but the denominator is stated first in Japanese. The same principle applies for 3人に2人, with the quantity of elements of the set stated before the elements exhibiting the property of interest.

——————————————-

Translation:
2 Out of 3 People are Concerned About Chemicals