Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 1, December 17, 2012

Topics discussed included

A recent paper by  R. C. Shaw and N. S. Clayton in Proceedings of the Royal Society B

titled

"Careful cachers and prying pilferers: Eurasian Jays (Garrulu glandarius) limit auditory information available to competitors"

The authors conclude that their results "... raise the possibility that jays both understand and can attribute auditory perception to another individual".

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 1, Dec. 11, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 1, Dec. 11, 2012

Topics discussed included:

A study showing that OOI nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture may be located above an active geological fault line

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 1, Mixer Room, Dec. 10, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 1, Mixer Room, Dec. 10, 2012

Topics discussed included:

A study of relocation of "problem" Asian Elephants to national park protected regions in Sri Lanka, with tracking of the elephants with GPS-tracking collars. Conclusion: relocation resulted in poorer outcomes for both the elephants (injuries and death of elephants) and humans (injuries to crops, buildings and humans) than did simply leaving the problem elephants without intervention 

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room (Rm 214) Bldg 1, Dec. 3 & 4, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room (Rm 214) Bldg 1, Dec. 3 & 4, 2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Collapse of ceiling panels in a highway tunnel in Japan this weekend, and the contribution of inadequate safety testing of the panels to this accident

2) The question of whether participants think it is likely that there will be cures or preventative methods for all cancers 50 years from now

3) A recent paper by Christos G. Gkogkas et al. in Nature demonstrating the reversal of autism symptoms in mice by reducing "neural hyperconnections"

Autism-related deficits via dysregulated eIF4E-dependent translational control

Nature  2012/11/21/onlineadvance online publication


4) Causes and possible cures of autism and schizophrenia

5) The importance of appropriate drug delivery for treating diseases

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 1, Room 214, Nov. 20, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 1, Room 214, Nov. 20, 2012

Topics discussed:

1) Using the internet to study to improve one's IELTS writing score. Useful websites and tools.

2)  A recent paper in Science by Virginia Lee and her colleagues showing that misfolded alpha-synuclein can transmit Parkinson's Disease from cell to cell in the mouse brain

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room (Bldg 1, Rm 214) November 19, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room (Bldg 1, Rm 214)  November 19, 2012

Topics discussed:

1)  Difficulties in communicating in English by telephone: problems with hearing deep voices, soft voices, etc. Problems of country-specific differences of  terms and expressions used

2) Development of anti-cancer vaccines against HPV, pancreatic cancer, and lung cancer. Discussion of the roles of government or companies in providing funding for clinical trials of drugs and medical treatments.

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 2, Room 214, 11-5-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 2, Room 214, 11-5-2012

Topics Discussed:

1) The death of blackbirds in England due to alcohol poisoning caused by eating fermented berries

2)  Watching English-language movies with English subtitles as a good method for improving one's English listening skill

3)  Possible clinical use of iPS-derived cells to treat eye disease in humans. Also, necessary preliminary pre-clinical experiments in animals to test safety and efficacy

4)  Coursera  

Science Buzz Lunch October 29th and 30th 2012

Science Buzz Lunch  October 29th and 30th 2012

Topics discussed:

1) Causes of recent deep-seated landslides in apan

2)  A recent paper published in Science on how fossils of feathered non-avian dinosaurs from North America provide insights into wing origins

3)  A recent paper published in Cell on the mechanism of transcriptional amplification in tumor cells with elevated c-Myc, apparently by releasing Pol II from pause control at already active promoters

4)  Recent papers, comments, and replies to those comments in Science regarding the interpretation of putative fibers revealed by diffusion tension imaging of the brain

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 10-22-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 10-22-2012

Topics Discussed:

1) How gene duplication is involved in evolution: Recent studies showing the important role of "double-duty genes" in this type of evolution

2) The IgNobel Prize: It's history, memorable prize winners, and some nominees whose work surprised and amused us (e.g., X-ray flashes from stick-slip friction in peeling tape"

3) Recent improvement in radiocarbon dating pushing the limit of its dating ability from around 12,000 years to around 50, 000 years, which should make it useful now for studying fossils of the last glacial maximum event

4) A whole-genome PCR amplification method that could make it possible to ship whole-genome PCR-amplified genome fragments internationally (this is legal), whereas shipping whole genomic DNA itself is illegal. This method could help international collaborative genome sequencing studies.

5) Use of social media to promote wildlife conservation

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107 October 16, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107  October 16, 2012

Topics discussed:

We took a quiz about Nobel prizes and prize winners, and thereby learned lots about

iPS cells

energy quanta

human blood groups

lobotomy

crystallography

quarks

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 10-15-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 10-15-2012

Topics discussed:

1) A study of Gouldian Finches showing that covering a male's right eye cancels the male's usual courtship behavior of choosing a mate with the same cap color (these finches can have a black, red , or yellow cap), but covering his left eye has no such effect.

2) The work on G protein coupled receptors by biochemists Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Koblka that was awarded the 2012 Nobel prize for Chemistry.

3)  The strange story of the false reports by Hisashi Moriguchi claiming that he had already performed medical use of cells derived iPS cells

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107, 10-9-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107, 10-9-2012

Topics discussed:

1) the Nobel prize-winning work of John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka demonstrating the reprogramming of differentiated cells to produce pluripotent cells

2) various ways of deciding the authors on research papers

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 10-2-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 10-2-2012

Topics discussed:

1) Echolocation by the Whirligig Beetle

2)  Island colonization by the Ryukyu Five-lined Skink

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2 , Room 107, 10-1-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2 , Room 107, 10-1-2012

Topics Discussed:

1) Translations of French phrases into Japanese

2)  A simulation study predicting the population dynamics of the Japanese Ibis as a result of its re-introduction into Japan via the release of birds raised in captivity

3) Relationship between eye and facial color and social structure in various animals

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 1, Mixer Room, 9-25-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 1, Mixer Room, 9-25-2012

Topics discussed:

1) The recent publication in Current Biology of the paper by Sakai et al. comparing fetal brain development as measured by 3D ultrasonography in humans and chimpanzees, which have similar gestation periods (human: 38 weeks; chimpanzee: 34 - 35 weeks). Human fetal brains showed continously increasing brain growth velocity from 14 weeks until 34 weeks of gestation, in contrast to chimpanzee fetal brains, which showed a similar increase of brain growth velocity from 14 until 22 weeks of gestation, but a sharp decrease of this velocity thereafter

2) Professor Shinichi Mochizuki's recently published solution to the abc conjecture 

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 9-25-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 9-25-2012

Topics discussed:

1) Climate and wildlife of Nebraska

2) The Japanese otter has been declared extinct. There is some public discussion of the possibility of introducing the closely related Eurasian otter as a replacement into Japan. The attendees of our discussion group didn't think this is a good idea due to its artificiality and the uncertainty of how to manage it in a way that wouldn't disrupt the environment. But then one attendee raised the interesting parallel of the introduction of a Chinese population of the Japanese Crested Ibis ("toki" in Japanese) into Japan to replace that recently lost species. This introduction of this ibis seems to have widespread support and even to be a source of rejoicing for many people in Japan. How does this differ from the proposed introduction of the Eurasian otter?

3)  Ongoing longitudinal MRI and ultrasound imaging studies of the brain in chimpanzees

4) Map-based compensation of victims of radiation exposure after atomic bomb explosions or atomic power plant meltdowns do not necessarily accurately identify the persons who actually suffered radiation exposure

5) How mutations in the same gene  (Taqpep) cause the blotches of "blotched tabby" cats and King cheetahs

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 1, Mixer Room 9-18-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 1, Mixer Room  9-18-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Agricultural shows (state and county fairs) in the United States

2) Fetal brain development in chimpanzees compared to that in humans

3) Recent news in EurekaAlert

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 1, Mixer Room, 8-21-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 1, Mixer Room, 8-21-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) A recent report in Nature (Scientific Reports) of the first evidence found for photosynthesis found in insects (aphids)

2) A new online journal club system using postings on Yammer.com, and how that system compares with the traditional orally presented journal club

   

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 1, Room 214 (Mixer Room), 8-28-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 1, Room 214 (Mixer Room), 8-28-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Neuronal control of the heat shock response and unfolded protein response in C. elegans

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107, 8-27-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107, 8-27-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Newspaper reports of invertebrates and seaweed carried from Japan to the west coast of North America by "rafting" on debris after the massive earthquake and tidal wave in Japan last year

2)  Research done on chimpanzees at the Hayashibara Great Ape Center in Okayama, especially live imaging of fetuses in unanesthetized mothers

3)  Sunbathing by Boxelder bugs increases the insects' fitness by inducing them to produce terpenes that trap and destroy a harmful fungus

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 8-20-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 8-20-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) A recent study showing increased deformities in the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly in the 6 months after the meltdown of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima

2) Comparison between the American custom of Memorial Day and the Japanese custom of Obon

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 1, 8-7-12

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 1, 8-7-12

Topics discussed included:

1) The WISH project of the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University to study the mind

2)  The biological role of the black eyestripe in shrikes (and possibly in barbets)

3) The ecological niches of woodpeckers compared to those of barbets

4) The adaptability of bird species to different diets

5)  Color vision in birds compared to that in cattle and in humans (what colors can each see?)

6)  The possible normal biological roles of Alzheimer disease-related APP and beta-amyloid

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107, 7-30-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107, 7-30-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) An international conference held in Kyoto last weekend about biodiversity of vertebrates in East Asia

2)  The android created recently to represent famed Osaka Rakugo-storyteller  Bei-cho Katsura

3) The recent paper in Science by Sobotnik and colleagues about "Explosive backpacks in old termite workers"

Science Buzz Lunch, Mixer Room, Bldg 1, 7-27-2012

Science Buzz Lunch, Mixer Room, Bldg 1, 7-27-2012

Topics discussed included:

1)  A recent study in which the entire genetic sequences of about 90 individual sperm from on human were determined and compared with each other and with the somatic cell DNA sequence of the sperm donor

2)  The research projects of lunch attendees, including: research on the stem cells of basal metazoans, brain regeneration in newts, and regulation of pre-synaptic neurons by post-synaptic neurons  

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 7-23-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Bldg 2, Room 107, 7-23-2012

Topics discussed included:

1)  Experiments performed on the International Space Station showing that C. elegans reared in space showed longer lifespan and decreased levels of ageing proteins than controls reared on earth


2)  The first findings about recombination activity and mutation rates in individual human sperm revealed by single-cell whole-genome analysis of 91 sperm from one individual.

3) Recent blog posts, comments to message boards, and television news clips about current thoughts of residents living near the Fukushima nuclear power plant melt-down

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 1, July 20, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 1, July 20, 2012

Topics discussed included:

1)  An overview of the major discoveries about interferons since they were first reported in the 1950s

2)  Prospects for the use of protease inhibitors to prevent Alzheimer's disease

3)  The usefulness of keeping a personal list in which a student records unfamiliar English words they encountered that day and want to remember

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Building 1, 7-13-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Building 1, 7-13-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) The paper:

A mutation in APP protects against Alzheimer's disease and age-related cognitive decline

by Thorlakur Jonsson et al.

in Nature this week

and how this rare genetic variant which results in decreased formation of amyloid-beta suggests both a cause and possible treatment for cognitive decline

2) The possible causes of the pneumonia and death of the newborn Giant Panda at the Ueno Zoo this week

3)  Hotly anticipated events at the upcoming London Olympics

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107, 7-9-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107, 7-9-2012


Topics discussed included:


1)  Differences of social behavior of feeding between Japanese macaques on Awajishima Island and Japanese macaques on the nearby main island of Honshu. Studies at Kyoto University Wildlife Research Center on the genetic basis of these differences.

2)  The recent intramural futsal tournament among departmental teams of the Faculty of Science (winner: Dept. of Basic Physics). The origin of the game (and name) of futsal.

3) The radionuclides produced by meltdown in a nuclear reactor.

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Building 1, 7-6-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Building 1, 7-6-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) What to do when you get a highly critical peer review of a manuscript you have submitted for publication as a research paper.... Rebut the reviewers' comments? Do all the required further experiments (even if that would take 2 years)? Submit to a less demanding journal with a lower impact factor?

2) The books and ideas of Prof. Shinichi Fukuoka about "Between Life and Non-life", the essential role of "equlibrium" in defining a living organism, and what prions are really doing.

3) The restarting of nuclear power plants in Japan -- the costs and benefits. What each of us knows and is concerned about regarding this issue (differs depending on the person).

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107 7-2-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107  7-2-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) The recent detection (by illumination resulting in infra-red emission) of residual Egyptian blue pigment on Greek marble sculptures and the Parthenon, and current knowledge about the adoption of elements of Egyptian culture by the Greeks.

2) The recent death of Lonesome George, the last known member of his subspecies of Galapagos Tortoise native to Ecuador's Pinta Island. This led us to compare and contrast evolutionary scenarios on the Galapagos Archipelago (of volcanic origin) and the Ryukyu Archipelago (considered to be of continental origin).

3) The recent profile of Professor Rick Shine in Science, and especially his   proposed mechanism of evolutionary "spatial sorting" as it relates to the Cane toad (Bufo marinus). Also, the possibility of eradicating the invasive cane toads from Australia using funnel traps to collect cane toad tadpoles attracted by cane toad eggs as bait. 

“Just Do It” English Enrichment Schedule for July, 2012

                        

“Just Do It”  English Enrichment Schedule for July, 2012

Beginners’ Birdwatching Group (all in English)

Monday,  July 2, 9, 23, 30:  Kyoto University Botanical Garden; 8:30 – 9:00 am

Tuesday,  July 3, 10, 17, 17, 24, 31:  Kamogawa River at Demachiyanagi Station;

                                                                                                           8:30 – 9:00 am   

Sightings will be blogged at:  birdsinjapan.blogspot.com

Science Buzz Lunch:

What:  Free discussion in English about what’s new (“the buzz”) in your science  -- everyone interested in science is welcome

Topics discussed will be blogged at:  sciencebuzzlunch.blogspot.com

Where & When:

Monday, July 2, 9, 23, 30:  Building 2, Room 107; 12:00 – 13:00

Friday, July 6, 13, 20, 27:  Bldg 1, Room 214 (Mixer Room); 12:00 – 13:00

Thursday, July (TBA), Institute for Chemical Research (Uji Campus);  12:00 – 13:00

                                                          Contact: Elizabeth Nakajima, PhD  (Leader)

                                                                           Building 1, Room 216

Science Buzz Lunch, Mixer Room, Bldg 1 6-29-2012

Science Buzz Lunch, Mixer Room, Bldg 1  6-29-2012

Topics discussed included:

1)  Roles of delphilin  in the common calcium ion-dependent mechanism for induction of LTD and LTP.


2) Important role of sialic acid modification of viral surface protein of HLV in binding to the cell surface receptor. 


3)  How to compete for and use the  scholarships awarded by the Tomizawa Jun-ichi & Keiko Fund of Molecular Biology Society of Japan for Young Scientists




4) The recent publication in Science of Ron Fouchier's study about mutations responsible for acquisition of airborne transmission of influenza virus A/H5N1 between ferrets

Science Buzz Lunch at Uji Campus, 6-28-2012

Science Buzz Lunch at Uji Campus, 6-28-2012

Topics discussed included:

1)  Molecular mechanisms leading to apical dominance (and its loss) in plants

2)  The recent publication in Science of Ron Fouchier's study about mutations responsible for acquisition of airborne transmission of influenza virus A/H5N1 between ferrets

3)The recent publication in Nature  of the paper  


NPR3 and NPR4 are receptors for the immune signal salicylic acid in plants

by Zheng Xing Fu et al.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v486/n7402/pdf/nature11162.pdf

4) The recent achievement of self-organizing optic-cup morphogenesis in three-dimensional cultures of human embryonic stem cells, and how this resolves a long debate over whether intrinsic cues drive optic cup morphogenesis (they do).

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, 6- 26-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, 6- 26-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Foods (including strawberries) that may be effective against pollen allergies

2) Non-harmful methods used to collect genetic material from Green Sea Turtles (a protected species) for population genetic analyses, and to tag individual turtles for tracking

3) The periodic shift of the magnetic poles of the sun, including a possible shift this year from the existence of 2 poles to the existence of 4 poles, and possible effects on the sun's activity level, and consequently on the earth's climate

4) The recent achievement of self-organizing optic-cup morphogenesis in three-dimensional cultures of human embryonic stem cells, and how this resolves a long debate over whether intrinsic cues drive optic cup morphogenesis (they do).

5)  The competition for scholarships awarded by the Tomizawa Jun-ichi & Keiko Fund of Molecular Biology Society of Japan for Young Scientists

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Building 1, 6-22-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Building 1, 6-22-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Genes involved in controlling axial patterning during regeneration in planarians

2)  RNA and protein quality control mechanisms in various organisms

3) Attempts and roadblocks to determine the whole genome sequence of planarian

4) The recent paper:

Structure of yeast Argonaute with guide RNA

by Kotaro Nakanishi et al.

Nature Vol 486, pg 368ff 21 June 2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 1, Mixer Room, 6-15-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 1, Mixer Room, 6-15-2012

Topics discussed included:

1)  How important is it to adhere to the time schedule of the program for scientific meetings by strictly adhering to the time allotted for each speaker's talk?

Do meeting organizers, session chairmen, speakers, and audiences in different countries tend to have different values about the importance of adhering to the time schedule of such programs?

2) What was the most interesting thing you learned at this week's RNA Sciences in Cell and Developmental Biology II meeting  at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe this week? For some, it was the talk presented by Aki Hayashi entitled:

HP1/Swi6 Acts in Concert with Ers1 to Regulate RNAi-directed Heterochromatin Assembly


Dr. Hayashi and her colleagues have a recent paper on the same topic in PNAS titled:

Heterochromatin protein 1 homologue Swi6 acts in concert with Ers1 to regulate RNAi-directed heterochromatin assembly

3)  Why are "Ivy League" universities in the USA called "Ivy League"? Hints: the name is historically related to both sports and the New England climate.


4) Evolutionary importance and mechanisms of quality control mechanisms for protein and RNA  

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 1, Mixer Room, 6-8-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 1, Mixer Room, 6-8-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Surgical technique for partial amputation of newt midbrain

2) Role of Oct4 gene homolog in controlling stem cell proliferation in Hydra

3) The great progress in recent years in elucidating the RNA-directed mechanism by which the Tetrahymena germline micronucleus (generally transcriptionall silent; containing 10 chromosomes) gives rise to the macronucleus (transcriptionally active; containing over 20,000 chromosomes produced by fragmentation and amplification of the gene regions from the micronucleus), reviewed in:

 Developmentally programmed, RNA-directed genome rearrangement in Tetrahymena


by Kazufumi Mochizuki

in Develop. Growth Differ. (2012) 54, 108 - 119

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, Room 107

Topics discussed included:


1)  Super computer K (named for the Japanese word "kei", meaning 10 quadrillion) (with LINPACK performance of over 10 petaflops; produced jointly by RIKEN and Fujitsu), and its proposed applications:

Field 1 Predictable life science, healthcare and drug discovery foundation
Field 2 New Materials and Energy Creation
Field 3 Projection of Planet Earth Variations for Mitigating Natural Disasters
Field 4 Next-generation manufacturing technology
Field 5 The origin of matter and the universe 

and artificial intelligence computer system Watson (produced by IBM), and its myriad applications as a "question-answering machine".

2)  The specialized mechanism of motility of the sperm of the green tree frog, Rhacophorus arboreus, that enables these sperm to move in the highly viscous environment of the egg-containing "foam nest" that females of this species construct on vegetation.

This mechanism was elucidated in the publication:

A novel mechanism of sperm motility in a viscous environment: corkscrew-shaped spermatozoa cruise by spinning.

Muto K, Kubota HY.

Cell Motil Cytoskeleton. 2009 May;66(5):281-91.


3) The recent sighting of fireflies along the nearby Philosopher's Path


4) News about a study showing that the blue light from LED displays and fluorescent lights interferes harmfully with people's circadian rhythm


5) The insights into the evolution of birds gained from the study published recently in the journal Nature online in the paper:


Birds have paedomorphic dinosaur skulls


by Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar et al.

Science Buzz Lunch Schedule for June, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch:

What:  Free discussion in English about what’s new (“the buzz”) in your science  -- everyone interested in science is welcome

Topics discussed will be blogged at:  sciencebuzzlunch.blogspot.com

Where & When:

Monday, June 4, 25:  Building 2, Room 107; 12:00 – 13:00

Friday, June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29:  Bldg 1, Room 214 (Mixer Room); 12:00 – 13:00

Thursday, June  ?, Institute for Chemical Research (Uji Campus);  12:00 – 13:00

                                           Contact: Elizabeth Nakajima, PhD, Leader      

                                     Building 1, Room 216                                           

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Building 1, 6-1-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Building 1, 6-1-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Interesting things learned this week in Kobe at The Joint Meeting of The Japanese Society of Developmental Biologists & The Japan Society for Cell Biology, including:

a)  the nature of "stem" spermatogonia and their differentiation in the mouse testis

b)  the physical mechanism by which cell packing is controlled by the dynamics of forces at the cell-population scale in the Drosophila wing model system

2) the key features  of "Dark-fly" reared in darkness for 57 years as revealed by whole-genome sequencing in the recent paper from this Graduate School of Science:

Genome Features of “Dark-Fly”, a Drosophila Line Reared Long-Term in a Dark Environment

by Minako Izutsu et al.

3)  the appearance of some of our students and faculty to introduce their lives as students and scientists and their studies on regeneration of lost body parts by various animals in an episode of the NHK variety show "Aho Suki"

4) roles of cell movement and adhesion in regeneration

5) the origin, practice, and special appeal of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, 5-28-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2,  5-28-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) A news article in this week's Nature about reports that will soon be released by 2 reputable international teams concluding that there are predicted to be "minimal health risks from radiation in the aftermath of Japan's nuclear disaster" at Fukushima last year. That's a great relief.

We also discussed whether attendees want the nuclear power plants in Japan now shut down for safety testing to go back online or not. There was pretty much a consensus that people living near the nuclear power plants should have a larger say in that matter than those of us living much further away.

2)  A visit made last week by one attendee to Cape Muroto in Shikoku Island (Kochi Prefecture). The information she gathered there about how samples for genetic and other analyses are gathered there from turtles accidently caught in fishing nets (a few are thus caught there nearly every day, and then released).

Also, the attempted nesting there by 2 loggerhead turtles during her visit. She found their tell-tale trails in the sand.

3) The capture (in good health) and return to the zoo last week of the Humbolt's Penguin who had escaped from a zoo in Tokyo 82 days before.

4)  The TV program "Megaquake" aired on NHK in April (and scheduled for rebroadcast in June) about why the Great East Japan Earthquake" last year was so severe, and the role of the rupture of a very long geological "asperity" in why the initial shaking due to that earthquake lasted so long (3 minutes compared to the more usual 1 minute or so of shaking caused by other major earthquakes).

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 1, Mixer Room, 5-25-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 1, Mixer Room, 5-25-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Mutations and mutant phenotypes of Dark-fly

2) Damage and repair of RNA in eukaryotic cells

3)  The strategy of answering questions effectively at a thesis defense versus at a scientific meeting

4)  Recent papers analyzing features and interactions of RNAs and proteins present in non-membrane-bound cytoplasmic RNA-protein granules

Science Buzz Lunch at Institute for Chemical Research, 5-24-2012

Science Buzz Lunch at Institute for Chemical Research, 5-24-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) The annular solar eclipse that occurred on 5-21-2012. Observations seeming to indicate that the behavior of birds in Kyoto was not affected by the eclipse, but the behavior of dogs (howling) might have been affected.

2)  Tests to screen the expression pattern of a gene whose overexpression causes severe mutant phenotypes in Arabidopsis thaliana

3)  Electrophysiology experiments to study the strength of long term potentiation in different parts of the hippocampus in rats

4) Root hair formation in Arabidopsis thaliana as a model for studying responses of organogenesis to environmental conditions

5)  Recent papers probing the mechanisms of RNA/protein  granule formation in a cell-free system: role of low complexity (LC) sequence domains in proteins in the granules

6) Nesting of Barn Swallows near human habitation: actions of people that could affect the Barn Swallows' nesting success

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, 5-21-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, 5-21-2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Watching and photographing the annular eclipse this morning. The sky didn't turn as dark as most people expected. We were surprised to see the beautiful images of the eclpse cast onto buildings and sidewalks by "pinhole cameras" formed naturally by the leaves on trees.

2) Polar bears must now swim long distances to cross parts of the ocean to reach suitable bits of habitat due to melting of much of the glacier edges they used to inhabit.

3) A student's new job as a guide at a biology museum. The visitors' interests. The overall theme of the museum. Popular exhibits in the museum, and visitors' questions about them.

4) The generally faster speed of biology experiments when a cell culture system can be used rather than experiments in intact animals.

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Building 1, 5-17-2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Building 1, 5-17-2012

Topics discussed included:

1)The upcoming Science Festival for high school students in Fukuyama, in Hiroshima Prefecture

2) Good opportunities for postdoctoral research in zoology in Europe (especially in Germany)

3)  The recent paper:

Cell-free Formation of RNA Granules: Low Complexity Sequence Domains Form Dynamic Fibers within Hydrogels

Masato Kato et al.

Cell 149, 768–779, May 11, 2012

http://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(12)00514-4

Insights from this paper might guide us in studying the formation and function of chromatoid bodies in planarian neoblasts.




4)  Recently hatched chicks of Tree Sparrows, Barn Swallows, and Carrion Crows have been seen this week on or near the university's campus






Please join us next Friday if you have time.

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, May 14th, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2, May 14th, 2012

Topics discussed included:

1) Safe ways to view the upcoming solar eclipse on May 21st, including special glasses and projections though a pinhole

2) A science opinion piece stating that people usually work to protect beautiful or cute species, which is not the the criterion we should be using to protect biodiversity

3) A newspaper article published yesterday reporting that the order in which multiple roosters in a flock crow successively in the morning is correlated with their social rank in the flock

4) Experiments to study how the spacing of sponge spicules is determined

5) The repertoire of words a pet 8-year-old parakeet can say now. He used to be able to say far more words when he was younger....  

6) A recent paper about unexpected features of Drosophila circadian rhythms under natural conditions (in contrast to the features under laboratory conditions)

7) Good websites for listening to the voices and other sounds (wing beats, etc.) of birds

Please join us next Monday if you can!

First Science Buzz Lunch in Building 1, Mixer Room, 5-11-12

Today we held the Science Buzz Lunch in Building 1, Mixer Room, for the first time.

Topics discussed included:

1) The functional importance of the black eye stripes in various birds: their contribution to success in hunting while facing into the sun.

2) Procedures and equipment needed to isolate +36 GFP

3) Catching and rearing insects to be used as food for Sclegel's Green Tree Frogs

4) Possible functional differences between normal nucleic acids and nucleic acids with altered sugars produced by synthetic biology

5) Experiments attempting to immunostain sponge proteins with antibodies prepared against conserved human and mouse antigens

6) Speculations about the evolutionary origin of the amnion and placenta


Please join us next time if you can!

First Science Buzz Lunch in Building 2: May 7th, 2012

Topics discussed included:

1)  Plans to view the solar annular eclipse on 21st, May (7:00 - 7:30 am). The next chance for people in Japan to observe an annular eclipse will be in 2041.


2) Hopes  to study possible recent changes of the northern limits of coral reefs and the Green Turtle near Tsushima Island off the coast of Kyushu


3)  The motivation a blogger gets from the fact that readers from around the world read the blogger's simple check-lists of birds seen by the blogger during the spring migration of birds in Japan 


Please join us next time!

Science Buzz Lunch Schedule for May, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch Schedule for May, 2012

Science Buzz Lunch:

What: Free discussion (in English) about what’s new (“the buzz”) in

your science ‐‐‐ all students and post‐docs are welcome

When & Where:

Monday, May 14, 21, 28; Building 2, Room 107; 12:00‐13:00

Friday, May 11, 18, 25; Bldg 1, Room 214 (Mixer Room); 12:00‐13:00

Thursday, May 24, Institute for Chemical Research, 12:00 – 13:00