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About 7,300 years ago, Kikai produced the Kikai-Akahoya eruption, a giant event that released an estimated 133 to 183 cubic kilometers of magma in dense rock equivalent. The eruption reshaped the landscape, sent ash across large parts of Japan and left behind a vast caldera south of Kyushu. Now, new seismic research suggests that the magma reservoir involved in that ancient eruption is not empty. It is being refilled.>Snip< One of the most important findings is that the magma under Kikai is probably not simply a leftover pocket from the eruption 7,300 years ago. Chemical studies of later volcanic rocks...

Consider, for example, the Japanese stone circles from Ōyu and Isedotai in northern Japan. While not the imposing monoliths of Stonehenge, the two circles, made of thousands of smooth river stones, line up with the sun during the summer and winter solstices, and they were both used in burial rites. And for both monuments, collecting materials and completing construction would have taken enormous community effort. The similarities could also be related to topography: Japan and the United Kingdom are along the same latitude, sharing a similar climate and access to natural resources. But while the Neolithic people living near Stonehenge...