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).