TsukuBlog

This information is from Sven.

===============

The Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI) will have its open days this Friday and Saturday. On both days there will be two full scale car crash tests (lots of damage), two sled tests (cute baby dummies in a child seat), and two leg impactor tests (a cheap car-shaped-object hitting an expensive and squishy leg-shaped-object). There’s also a bunch of other exhibitions showcasing various car-related research done in JARI (driving simulators, electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, etc), including things to keep kids amused.

The child seat sled tests are at 10.15am and 1pm each day. A full schedule of the full scale car crashes are as follows:

FRIDAY:
10.30am - Car [50km/hr] vs. Rigid Wall [0km/hr] Crash Test
2.30pm - Car [30km/hr] vs. Bicycle (with dummy rider) [15km/hr] Crash Test

SATURDAY:
10.30am - Car [30km/hr] vs. Bicycle (with dummy rider) [15km/hr] Crash Test
2.30pm - Car [50km/hr] vs. Rigid Wall [0km/hr] Crash Test

In order to see the test, please arrive at the times given above, as the tests begin shortly afterwards. After the tests you can inspect the damage and view the tests in slow-motion on the high-speed video
cameras.

JARI is located along Tsuchiura Gakuen road, about 2km west of Tsukuba Center. There is also an entrance from Kenkyuu Gakuen Station on the Tsukuba express line. (map)

More instructions (in Japanese) on the JARI website.

Desmostylus is an extinct herbivorous mammal that resembled a hippopotamus. In 1977, Japanese researchers found a nearly complete fossilized skeleton of Desmostylus in a town called Utanobori (now Esashi) in Hokkaido. The reconstructed Utanobori specimen will be on exhibit from September 26 to December 2 (closed on September 29 and October 7) at the Geological Museum at AIST.

There will also be a free lecture about Desmostylus on October 14 from 1:30pm to 2:30pm at the museum.

See also:

• On the excavation and restoration of Desmostylus from Utanobori, Hokkaido (pdf, paper published in the Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Japan, in Japanese but with some interesting pictures)
• デスモスチルス歌登標本
• Old AIST site

From the European Space Agency

ESA’s Envisat satellite and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) data relay test satellite Kodama have successfully completed an interoperability test demonstrating that scientific data from Envisat can be transmitted to Kodama and from there transmitted to the Japanese ground receiving station in Tsukuba.

Read the full article

Mazda Motor Corporation today announced that it has delivered one dual-fueled RX-8 Hydrogen RE vehicle, which runs on either gasoline or hydrogen, to the Japan Automobile Research Institute.

[...]

JARI is working with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization on the Establishment of Codes & Standards for a Hydrogen Economy Society project. The RX-8 Hydrogen RE will be used as part of its R&D activities to review the regulations regarding the safety of hydrogen vehicles, establish examination and evaluation techniques and create proposals for international standards. The hydrogen supply will mainly come from JARI’s own hydrogen station at their facility in Tsukuba city.

Read the full article.

I am a member of the International Relations Subcommittee of the Tsukuba Science City Network. The committee exists to promote international exchange in Tsukuba, especially as it pertains to science and technology, and it includes various people from research and educational institutes around Tsukuba and representatives of the city and prefectural governments.

The committee has just completed one project and is looking for suggestions about where to focus its energy next. If you have any ideas about how to improve international relations in Tsukuba, please feel free to get in touch with me. Your ideas could include:

• ways to make Tsukuba a more international city
• ways to make Tsukuba more appealing to foreign researchers who are invited here
• ways to make it easier to live in Tsukuba
• ways to increase the profile of Tsukuba in the world

Feel free to “think big” and brainstorm, as well as coming up with ideas that just need a little bit of work to implement. Your ideas can be in point form, or you can write out a full proposal — anything is fine. I cannot promise that your ideas will be implemented, but I will promise to pass your thoughts on to the committee so they can get an idea of Tsukuba looks like from our perspective and how we might like to improve things.

I am not sure yet when the next committee meeting will be held, but it will probably be in about one month or so. If you come up with any ideas in the meantime, please feel get in touch with me (through TsukuBlog).

The Ministry of the Environment of Japan sends updates (in English) about its activities by email almost every day. If you are doing research on the Japanese environment, you might want to subscribe to their mailing list.

Send an e-mail to globe_env@env.go.jp with “Request e-mail service” in the subject line to receive regular English-language environmental news updates by e-mail. Unless otherwise specified, updates will be sent to the e-mail address from which you send your request.

See: http://www.env.go.jp/en/utility/mailnews.html

Today’s report mentioned the publication of the “Environmental Statistics 2007″.

Accumulation and practical use of data related to the environment are crucial for the understanding of the environment and for the effective implementation of environmental preservation measures. On this account, the Ministry of the Environment has published the “Environmental Statistics 2007,” with aggregated data related to the state of the environment, the load on the environment, and measures taken for the environment, from a broad perspective.

See: http://www.env.go.jp/en/headline/headline.php?serial=376

The statistics are available (in Japanese) here:
http://www.env.go.jp/doc/toukei/index.html

An institute in Tsukuba is trying to develop a kind of genetically modified rice that will alleviate the symptoms of hay fever. However, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has categorized the rice as a “drug” rather than a “food”, and since the process for getting new drugs into the market is much slower than for getting new foods into the market, the rice will not be made available to consumers anytime soon.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has decided to develop a genetically modified rice aimed at alleviating symptoms of hay fever as a drug because the health ministry has determined that the rice falls into the category of a medical product.

[...]

The National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, a research institute in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, affiliated with the agriculture ministry, has been developing the rice, aiming to release it for practical use from 2010. It has already finished animal experiments on the efficacy and safety of the product, and its in-house ethics committee in November approved a pilot project to examine whether it was safe for human consumption to develop the rice as a food product within fiscal 2006.

Read the full article: Anti-hay fever rice treated as a drug

A former director, professor and head of “Information Technology” of the Federal Institute of Physics and Technology (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig, ‘PTB’), Germany are currently in Japan, giving talks on “science and faith.”

When:
June 7, Saturday from 13:00 to 15:00

Venue:
Tsukuba International Congress Center (Epochal Tsukuba)
Conference Room 202B

Language:
English (will be simultaneously interpreted into Japanese)

Contacts:
General inquiries in English, German or in Japanese, contact:
Juergen Boeck - juergenboeck[at]gmx.net

About his lecture in Tsukuba, contact:
Wayne Meyer 029-857-7155 or 090-9833-9920
Tomotaka Makino at Tsukuba Christian Church 029-851-7747 or 029-851-3722

If you want to learn more about Prof. Dr. Werner Gitt, or if you can’t make it to the Tsukuba lecture and are interested in attending his other lecture(s), please visit Prof.Dr.Werner Gitt Japan Lectures Blog (Japanese and English):
http://profgittpub.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/

You probably already know about Tsukuba Public Library and the library at the University of Tsukuba, but did you know that many of the research institutes here in Tsukuba also have extensive collections? It is not always possible to take the books out of such libraries, but you can usually at least gain access to them if you ask nicely.

Here is a list of libraries in Tsukuba.

Read more »

I thought this article was particularly pertinent to Tsukuba:

It is reported in this evening’s edition of Nikkei Newspaper (p. 3) that, according to the 2006 White Paper on Science and Technology, the ratio of foreign researchers/engineers (highly skilled people with higher education) in Japan is only 0.7%, mainly due to communication difficulties such as language and cultural barriers.

Generally, English speaking nations tend to have a higher ratio of foreign researchers, i.e, 40.4% for Australia, 34.6% for Canada, 18.8% for the U.K. and 15.4% for the U.S. However, even France and Germany have relatively high ratios, 14.1% and 4.3%, respectively.

Japan needs to lower various barriers in order to attract more foreign researchers and engineers for higher productivity and growth in the future.

Source: Glocom blog entry from November 9, 2006

Have you ever heard of miracle fruit, a berry from Ghana? For about an hour after you eat it, everything sour tastes sweet.

Because miracle fruit is so delicate, scientists for years have tried to genetically engineer other organisms to produce miraculin. This led to a series of failures. In the 1990s, researchers tried unsuccessfully to alter tobacco plants, yeasts and even E. coli bacteria to produce the same protein, which is one of seven known to have a sweetening effect, but the only one that turns sour to sweet.

Last year, a team of scientists led by Hiroshi Ezura, a professor at Tsukuba University near Tokyo, said they finally succeeded — with lettuce. In a scientific report published in Federation of European Biochemical Societies Letters, the researchers wrote that two grams produce roughly the same effect as one miracle fruit.

Mr. Ezura, who is collaborating with Inplanta Innovations Inc., a Japanese biotech company, says his team next hopes to develop a genetically modified tomato, possibly for commercial use as a low-calorie sweetener or as an additive for foods targeting diabetics, since it removes the need for sugar.

Read the full article: To Make Lemons Into Lemonade, Try ‘Miracle Fruit’

Since there are many researchers in Tsukuba (some even in the field of Medical Science, perhaps?), I thought this museum will get the attention of many TsukuBlog readers.

Meguro Parasitological Museum (目黒寄生虫館 or Meguro Kisei-chuu kan) is the only museum in the world that is dedicated to parasites.

The Meguro Parasitological Museum is a research facility that was established in 1953 by the private funds of Satoru Kamegai (1909-2002), a Doctor of Medical Science. Since its establishment, the Museum has achieved substantial success owing to the help of volunteers in the private sector as well as the assistance of the government, in addition to the support of the academic establishment. The parasite-related materials and specimens held by the museum along with the museum’s research and publication activities allow the museum to pride itself as one of the most distinguished museums in the world.

I’ve never been there (yet!), but I first learned about this place when my friend e-mailed me an image of T-shirt with a picture of a tapeworm on it many years ago. Apparently, the popularity of that T-shirt and other T-shirts and products with tapeworm and other parasite designs is catching on.

It’s a bit early, but if you are already looking for souvenirs to take home during the summer break, the things you can buy in this museum will definitely leave lasting impressions…, good or bad.

T-shirts 1900 Yen - 3300Yen
You can get UNIQUE T-shirts at the shop.
Over 10 types T-shirts are sold and available sizes are depends on designs.
Above all, the best number is a black shirt with a “raised” tapeworm across the front. You can feel it!

Others…
Bag, Cellular phone strap, Key chain, Pen, Postcard, Ruler, Sticker etc… Can you believe that a real parasite (Anisakis) is sealed in the key chain? It is the best seller of all. Also the ruler which is printed cute cartoon parasites is quite popular souvenir at the shop.

This museum is only a 15-minute walk from the JR Yamanote Meguro Station, and the admission is free (they accept donations).

>> Welcome to the World’s Only Parasitological Museum!

Particle physics is like studying fine wristwatches by slamming them together to see which parts fall out.

I think that’s a great image. This article is about two international groups of physicists (including some at Tsukuba’s High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, KEK) and an interesting discovery that they have made.

Read the full article.

The Mitsubishi Foundation offers grants to non-Japanese residents of Japan for research and activities related to three themes.

1. Research Grants in the Natural Sciences Forty-nine grants were awarded in 2006 for a total of 300,000,000 yen.

2. Grants for Social Welfare Activities
Thirty-nine grants were awarded in 2006, for a total of 90,000,000 yen.

3. Research Grants in the Humanities
Forty-six grants were awarded in 2006, for a total of 60,000,000 yen.

Please see the Mitsubishi Foundation website for more information.

The Case of the Disappearing Mass

According to theory, some particles have a different mass in empty space than they do in an atomic nucleus. In the 19 January Physical Review Letters, researchers describe evidence for such an effect in a new particle–one made of “strange” quarks, rather than the ordinary quarks found in protons and neutrons. The findings may help guide theorists trying to understand how the masses of larger particles arise from their internal quarks and force fields

(snip)

So far the effect has shown up in particles containing up and down quarks, including protons, neutrons, and two exotic mesons called the rho and the omega. But the results have been controversial because they conflict with some other experiments that suggested no mass reduction at all. Now researchers at KEK, the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Tsukuba, Japan, led by Hideto En’yo of RIKEN, a Japanese research institute, hope they have swayed some critics by observing the effect in the phi meson, which is made of a strange and an anti-strange quark. The mass reduction is less dramatic for these heavier quarks, but by collecting data from more collisions, and making more precise measurements of the products flying out of these collisions, the team found the 3.4 percent reduction in mass predicted by theory.

Read the full article

From Physical Review Focus

As silicon chips shrink ever smaller, understanding their operation at the atomic scale becomes more important. In the 12 January Physical Review Letters, researchers describe an imaging technique that directly reveals, with nanoscale resolution, how current-carrying charges move in semiconductor crystals. Although the first results agree with standard theory, the method should prove useful as chip designers move to still smaller devices, with less easily predictable behavior.

*snip*

The standard theory describing how far electrons and holes diffuse in a p-n junction, depending on the voltage, is based on measurements of the total current in the circuit, not on direct observations of the charges themselves. To see if a junction’s microscopic behavior agrees with this theory, Hidemi Shigekawa of the University of Tsukuba in Japan and his colleagues combined scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) with laser illumination to map out the presence of charge carriers. Previous studies combined light with STM to probe semiconductor properties, but none have gotten a direct picture of the carrier density. And none have looked at the semiconductor while current flowed through it.

Read the full story: Current Under a Microscope

From NPI Center

Kyowa Hakko, the amino acid manufacturing leader who has introduced a wide range of fermentation-based amino acids, developed the white paper kit in conjunction with Kyowa’s newly formed Product Development Research Center in Tsukuba, Japan. The technical reports and references will provide an overview of the latest science on amino acids and related compounds.

Read the full story: Kyowa Hakko Develops White Paper Kit Featuring Amino Acids and Related Compounds for Release Throughout 2007

Tsukuba in the news:

“At Tsukuba University outside Tokyo, Yoshiyuki Sankai and his colleagues have developed a robot suit designed to help the weak to walk. The suit, sometimes described as “bionic trousers,” senses motor nerve signals and moves in concert with people’s bodies, increasing their strength. Stroke victims and spinal cord patients are beginning to use the suit. It may also be applied to the construction industry to boost workers’ lifting power.”

Read the full article:
Japan’s robots stride into future

From April 16 to April 22 is “Science & Technology Week” organized by the MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology).

Open house events will take place in many research institutes in Tsukuba during this week.
Don’t miss this great opportunity to see inside research institutes and to get familiar with Japanese advanced technologies. I believe this is one of great advantages for people who are living in Tsukuba.

See: a list of research institutes who will hold open house events during Science & Technology Week 2007

Tsukuba University is developing an artificially powered exoskeleton going by the name Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) that promises to give its wearer up to 10X their original strength.

Read the full article.

Symposium in Celebration of
150 Years of Japan-France Relations
Toward the Realization of a Sustainable Society
- Science and Technology and Collaboration with Industry

Date: Monday, December 1 from 1pm to 6pm
Venue: Yasuda Auditorium at the University of Tokyo
Admission: Free

From the AIST web page;

At the auspicious occasion of the 150th year of France-Japan relations, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) take the pleasure of presenting the achievements of their research collaboration. In addition, they invite leaders/representatives of industry, universities and the academic community to join in the discussion on the mission of public S&T research institutions and their collaboration with industry aiming toward the realization of a sustainable society.

Eligibility: First 800 applicants registered through this website

To register or learn more about this symposium, visit:
http://www.aist-cnrs-sympo.jp/english.html or
http://www.aist-cnrs-sympo.jp/ (Japanese)

Here is a post from from Robots Dreams:

In the US, Jin Sato is probably most well known for his LEGO Mindstorms creations - especially MIBO, the Mindstorms version of AIBO. But here in Japan, Jin is one of the top ROBO-ONE competitors, an active robotics business developer, and a researcher at the AIST laboratories in Tsukuba - a real hot bed of advanced robot projects.

Read the full post.

Test to detect Sleep Apnea Syndrome ineffective

A test to detect Sleep Apnea Syndrome (SAS), or people who often stop breathing while sleeping, is ineffective, research has shown. Research by Takeshi Tanigawa, an assistant professor at Tsukuba University and other experts, shows that 86 percent of people who faced a high likelihood of SAS in a brief examination were diagnosed as not suffering from SAS in a follow-up Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) test.

Read the full article

According to an analysis conducted by Associate Prof. Yuki Sakai of Tsukuba University, the seismic wave of Sunday’s earthquake had a frequency cycle of one to two seconds, which causes particularly violent shaking of wooden houses.

[...]

A seismic wave with a cycle of a second, dubbed a killer pulse, caused catastrophic damage in the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. The seismic wave Sunday was the strongest since the Great Hanshin Earthquake and the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake in 2004.

Read the full article: Quakes’ seismic waves worst for wooden buildings

A report in the Nikkei claims GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will follow Pfizer’s example and close its research base in Tsukuba, relocating the 100 scientists employed there to the development division of its Japanese subsidiary. The move could happen as soon as this summer, according to the paper. According to the report, the pharma heavyweight hopes that the move will allow it to accelerate its clinical trials and the commercialisation of new products.

Read the full article: Sun setting on big pharma research in Japan?

Elias Pampalk is working on music related research at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). He needs to do some user studies for his work. In particular, he needs to evaluate new tools to explore and discover music collections. He is looking for people who might be interested in participating in some user trials. One of the interfaces he wants to evaluate is “MusicRainbow” (http://staff.aist.go.jp/elias.pampalk/MusicRainbow/).

From Elias:

In the evaluations I would ask you to tryout the user interfaces and ask you some questions. Such an interview shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes. It would be great if we could do these interviews somewhere close to Ninomiya House or AIST. The interviews would take place around January-February. I still have to check with my supervisor, but most likely I wont be able to offer any payment for your participation.

Currently I’m trying to find out how many (if any) participants I can find in Tsukuba. Please let me know if you are interested.

Please contact Elias if you can help.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans to launch a satellite called “SELENE” (SELenological and ENgineering) in the summer of 2007. The satellite will collect scientific data on the formation of the moon and its transitional history. This is the biggest lunar exploration project since the Apollo Project.

JAXA is accepting short messages to be written in very small letters (35 micrometers per letter) on the satellite. Approximately 300,000 messages will be engraved on sheets that will be attached to the accelerator panel and the adapter truss. Submissions must include a name (maximum: 20 English letters or 10 Japanese characters) and a message (maximum: 40 English letters or 20 Japanese characters). (Messages may be used on the JAXA website or other promotional materials in addition to being put on the satellite.)

You can send your submission by regular mail or through the JAXA website. Please follow the links below for more information. The deadline is January 31, 2007.

Read more about the SELENE project

Send your wish to the moon