#University of Tsukuba

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Successful synthesis of helical conductive polymers with circular polarization activity in response to magnetic fields

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have synthesized a helical, magnetically active conductive polymer with exceptionally high optical activity using cyclosporine A as a helix-inducing agent. This polymer exhibits distinct absorption of circularly polarized light, corresponding to the orientation of an applied magnetic field. In the realm of semiconductors, spintronics—a technology that manipulates electronic devices by controlling electron spin within magnetic fields—has gained considerable attention for its potential application in communication technologies. Traditionally, research in this area has predominantly focused on inorganic magnetic materials; only a few studies have investigated organic electronics, particularly conductive polymers. Drawing on extensive experience in topological magnetism dating back to the late 1990s, the University of Tsukuba research team has reported several innovative organic magnetic materials in the spintronics domain.

Read more.

#Materials Science #Science #Magnetism #Polymers #Conductivity #Spintronics #University of Tsukuba

[mindblowingscience]

Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have made a groundbreaking discovery regarding the origins of non-meteoric water in natural spa waters located in central Japan. Based on numerical modeling, their results suggest that this water has been confined within the lithosphere for an extensive period of 1.5–5 million years. They identified three primary sources for this ancient water: the Philippine Sea Plate, the Pacific Plate, and ancient seafloor sediments, particularly in the Niigata and southwest Gunma regions. Although most natural spa waters primarily originate from atmospheric precipitation, such as rain and snow (known as meteoric water), the new study, now published in the Journal of Hydrology, explored the unique qualities of certain spa waters. By analyzing the stable isotope compositions of hydrogen and oxygen in water molecules, researchers have identified distinct characteristics that indicate the presence of long-trapped lithospheric water.

Continue Reading.

#Science #Earth Sciences #Hydrology #Water #Japan

[rixsjwb]

crazy party

a little gojo frat x f!reader

warning:blood beating somebody up and ya, that's all I remember lots of foul language

the university you go to is probably one of the most prestigious in all of Tokyo, but you may expect students there to be quiet and stoic, complete opposite when you arrived.

In fact, it was a bit of a hellhole, constant frat parties being hosted, it's a little toxic at the school, constantly people hooking up with others that are taken or not. people picked on each other in a way that if the public eye saw it would be considered bullying.

but despite the shitty students here they were like the chosen ones, smart as shitballs, almost like everyone's your rival here.

but there was this one girl who always bothered you, emiko Tsukuba. She's one of the few popular girls at the school known for being a slut, but she's delusional to believe people think she's attractive.

I'm not sure what I did to get on her bad side, but after one of the seemingly popular guys looked at me, she wanted to harvest all my organs.

she would tip over my lunch tray, spit slurs at me, and has even gotten physical a couple of times but if i didn't have any good reflex, i'd probably be the talk of the school by now.

and here you were with nobara, a underclassmen you tutor, she's been begging you to go to the frat party apprently 1st and 2nd years arent allowed because what you assume is that there doing some illegal shit there.

and nobara wanted you to go and experience it so you could tell her what happened so she could know what to expect.

you were against it, as you didn't particularly take much of a liking in the popular people who acted as if they owned the entire school, but here you wore baggy jeans with a tight fitted shirt and some short heeled stilettos , and your hair put in a sleek high ponytail with a soft swoop and cute pins to hold it up.

"you're so cute!!, girl, you should dress up like this more. It suits you!!" nobara squealed.

you chuckle bashfully, now getting a little nervous.

you weren't going with anyone, really. You might see shoko and utahime here, but the way shoko talks about parties seems as if she doesn't ever wanna go. but you pray she's there so you don't look like some loser.

you bid your goodbye to nobara as you clip on the last earring and fix the bangles that hugged your wrist and you get a text from shoko asking if you're coming to the party she never thought you'd be going to one but here you were.

shoko said she's come pick you up so you guys can arrive together, so you sat on the curb waiting for her to pull up.

around 5 mins she finally came, you notice utahime is there, meimei and some other close friends of hers chatting in the back so you sit in the passengers with utahime and meimei.

"y/n never thought you'd ever go to these frats parties! even though I hate gojo for being a cocky brat, his parties do hit and mark history in this school..."

meimei chuckles seductively glancing at you. " y/n you look attractive could keep you all t'my self." all you do is chuckle as you have no idea how to respond to that other than muttering a soft thank you.

the ride was not as bad as you expected. Everyone in the car was chill, nice complements were thrown here , and there was a spice of shit talking emiko there, and the ride almost felt short.

when you pull up, you notice how dense this area is. So many people getting drunk and grinding on eachothers bodies, smoking, and the smell of weed was strong.

as you exit the car, you walk with the group of girls to the entrances, a security lookin guard flipping through a book with different profiled third and fourth year students.

a little creepy, but you'll let it pass.

as you entered the party, it was crowded,

people sitting in the living room playing spin the bottle, people chugging down alcohol, people making out, a typical party. guys watching as girls arrived, staring them down like a piece of meat.

this was just any typical party you'd see in a movie.

"stay by me y/n I'll walk you through this house I've been too many times."

the house was big, a mansion literally. and you were almost enjoying yourself as shoko and her close girlfriends found an area you guys can chill at and talk. It was all nice till emiko showed up.

"so this nerdy bitch decided to show up? never thought you'd be slutting yourself out y/n." she chuckled with her crew, you can feel your heart sink to your stomach the last thing you needed was her to annoy you.

you've had to hold back putting hands on her but if she gladly put her hands on you first you werent gonna hold back, you can feel as the crowd started to shift almost keeping eyes on both of you knowing shit was gonna go down.

" you shouldn't have came cause this is MY partie, you aren't aloud bitch so leave before I make you."

she said as a threat. You find it funny how she thinks she can intimidate you.

"don't you have other boys' cocks to slobber on? quit bothering me, go play your 50'50 on whether you get a UTI or not." you said you can hear people saying ohs in the back, but your irritated that she's bothering you at a moment like now, you feel your heart pounding even thought you don't mind fighting her you knew here and now was not the place.

you'd be the talk of the school, videos would surface around and best believe your probably gonna be pulled into the principals office to talk about this.

"what did you say to me you bitch?"

she said, offended, a suspense is being held in the air, and you're just waiting for her to strike.

"I called you a whore, cry about it?" you said deadpan spreading all over your face.

"bitch if you wanna fight let's go! I'll fuck you up you fuckin' bitch your a whore! hoes love me! are you jealous?" she said in a baby tone almost to agitate you, she mimics the hand movement a baby makes when balling their eyes out as she says "waa" over and over.

"jealous of a schizophrenia delusional freak? yeah, keep living in your psychotic fantasies." You smile. She looks at you like you had the audacity, and at that point, she just yells at you.

"come on y/n let's go that crazy bitch is freaking me out."

before you can leave she thugs on your hair and it's almost like a automatic queue for you to thug on her hair and cuff her repeatedly in her face as you pounced on her, you can hear people screaming but all you hear is a eerily sound playing in your ear.

her friends try to attack you too, but you manage to grab one by the hair and slam her right next to emiko and have a vipers grip in both their hair.

it was probably the best fight you've ever gotten in, the first ever one, in fact. you never knew you had this much anger in you towards her, as her third friend tries to fight you, you could've swore you won a guinness world record for giving her the most disrespectfull-est back handed slap across her face it was so hard she stubbed back and the crowd just kept opening up a passage way for her to fall.

you would've cackled saying it was some anime type fight when a strong character punches a villain so hard they get sent flying miles away.

but you were too busy beating up emiko, the one you never knew made you hate a human more in your life.

and just to make her feel better, she did land some good punches at your face, causing your nose to bleed a lot and some blood to drip on the floor.

but nothing compared to her red ass tomato face, with her friend beside her.

as your pretty much wrestling her trying to stay on top of her to over power her, a hand wrapped around your waist trying to tug you off of emiko you tried to keep your hands solely on her but with this person trying to hold you back you where losing your patience.

when you finally felt satisfied with how badly you'd beaten emiko you let the person tug you off.

"try that again bitch before I rip every strand out of your fucking head." you say and you spat the build up of spit and blood in your mouth on her, you just watched as she layed on the floor embarrassed and crying like a idiot.

this is what she asked for, and now that she can't even beat her own game, she's crying? you're the victim here.

you can feel the music bass started to calm down as your brought to a more secluded place, as the persons hand at the small of your back erged you to move.

your hand reaches to your face as you try to wipe the blood coming from your nose, but it just smudges it.

"never pegged you the type t'fight." you hear a baritone voice speak to you, but you don't say anything back.

you hear the door close but your quick to get back up to find a bathroom to clean yourself up.

"Whoa, there cutie going back to fight s'more? stay here ill clean your face up, mean while suguru will keep you company."

you hear the door close again as you watched a black wolfcut haired guy come up to you, gently pushing you to sit back on the bed, grabbing nearby tissue to get as much blood off your face. " y/n l/n, right? what happened? one thing I hear is people quieting down, and then people are going crazy." he said softly, cleaning off your face "I put a bitch in her place." you say flatly, your tired and you honestly wanna go home and cry your heart out.

you feel like transferring to a different school after you completely lost your cool, but you know it's not your fault.

you hear that same baritone voice chuckle near you, and your blurry eyes can finally see clearly again. you're met with him having a tongue piercing, baggy pants, and a jersey t-shirt with black stud earrings with a God-like sculpted face.

you hear the door open again a now albino head coming in with a box that looked like a med kit, "alright doesn't look like you have any cuts on your pretty face but use this for your nose maybe it'll help stop the bleedin." a nasal decongestion that you sprayed in your nose to stop the slight burning you felt.

"sorry for getting blood on your floor." you say somewhat weakly. You just wanted to up and disappear. " Nah, s'ight, I'll clean that up later, anyways mind telling me how a fight broke out?, had the clear the party early from the ruckus everyone was causin. can't let the police shut this place down."

he says as he pulls out wet kleenex tissue to better clean your face, but you eventually take it out of his hand to do it yourself. but you stay quiet.

"Don't worry, your pretty little mind most people probably left by now, want a driv-"

"you should've kept everyone here. Now everybody's gonna be talking about this stupid fight." you say a frown adorning your face.

"y/n you do realize you are popular, right? people just don't harasse you like they do to us because you're kinda scary looking, in the attractive way of course!"

you let out a confused noise that you now cringe and beat yourself up to in your mind as you listen to these two fine men talk.

"like hell m'surpised you showed up to satoru's party. never thought you were the party type." suguru said as he watched you intensely. but you try to ignore it as gojo keeps lending a hand to clean your face.

"you looked fuckin hot I'm not gonna lie." sayoru lifted up his hands like he was surrendering, you almost let out a whole heartedly laugh at what he said.

"yo this the dolls' phone?" a black short haired man with a distinctive cut on his lip entered a frown on his face, he looked stoic and scary.

but he gently hands you the phone as you stretch your hands out to get your phone.

so say this partie was a little crazy to turning out to be a nice day by hanging out a little with satoru and suguru and his close friends like sukuna, toji, choso and some other buddies of his.

satoru dropped you off at your dorm, and as soon as you got back, you hit the shower and snuggled up in your bed.

your phone blowing up with people @ing you to the fight video, your not gonna lie to yourself, but you abolished her, you can see comments flowing in saying how you looked badass and how emiko was just embarrassing herself.

but aside from those comments, you got text from shoko, nobara, yuji and megumi asking you if you're okay and to explain everything. also receiving endless praise.

the more obsessed you got with checking that one fight video posted of you, people were commenting along the lines of 'finally somebody shut her ass up' 'she was getting on my nerves fr'.

but another picture that made you go famous was a picture satoru toke of you, when he lead you to his room to clean you up, he snapped a picture of your bloody face you looked almost in a haze but people were eating that shit up.

post:

comments

shokoirieii: MY BADDIE Y/N😝😝, I'm afraid to say satoru, you have ate this picture up.

shokoirieii: y/n you should've came to me to clean your bueatiful face🙄

yujiitadori: omg what happend to angel y/n😣

suguru_geto:she went ballistic and was cool bout it

nanamibentobox: why are you violating peoples business satoru? you didn't even ask for consent before posting.

tojiflushitoru: she looks high but attractive.

y/nfanclud: she ate up I fear, SHE FUCKED THAT SHIT UP.

emikohatet: goo goo gaa gaa emiko got rocked😹

let's call it a night.

#gojo satoru x reader #jujutsu kaisen fluff #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Gas on the run – ALMA spots the shadow of a molecular outflow from a quasar when the Universe was less than one billion years old

Theoretical predictions have been confirmed with the discovery of an outflow of molecular gas from a quasar when the Universe was less than a billion years old.

A quasar is a compact region powered by a supermassive black hole located in the center of a massive galaxy. They are extremely luminous, with a point-like appearance similar to stars, and are extremely distant from Earth. Owing to their distance and brightness, they provide a peek into conditions of the early Universe, when it was less than 1 billion years old.

A team of researchers led by Assistant Professor Dragan Salak at Hokkaido University, Assistant Professor Takuya Hashimoto at the University of Tsukuba, and Professor Akio Inoue at Waseda University, has discovered the first evidence of suppression of star formation driven by an outflow of molecular gas in a quasar-host galaxy in the early Universe. Their findings, based on observations they made using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in Chile, were published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Molecular gas is vital to the formation of stars. As the primary fuel of star formation, the ubiquity and high concentrations of molecular gas within a galaxy would lead to a vast number of stars being formed. By ejecting this gas into intergalactic space faster than it could be consumed by star formation, molecular outflows effectively suppress the formation of stars in galaxies that host quasars.

“Theoretical work suggests that molecular gas outflows play an important role in the formation and evolution of galaxies from an early age, because they can regulate star formation,” Salak explains. “Quasars are especially energetic sources, so we expected that they may be able to generate powerful outflows.”

The quasar the researchers observed, J2054-0005, has a very high redshift—it and the Earth are apparently moving away from each other very fast. “J2054-0005 is one of the brightest quasars in the distant Universe, so we decided to target this object as an excellent candidate to study powerful outflows,” Hashimoto says. The researchers used ALMA to observe the outflow of molecular gas from the quasar. As the only telescope in the world that has the sensitivity and frequency coverage to detect molecular gas outflows in the early Universe, ALMA was key to this study.

Speaking about the method used in the study, Salak comments: “The outflowing molecular (OH) gas was discovered in absorption. This means we did not observe microwave radiation coming directly from the OH molecules; instead, we observed the radiation coming from the bright quasar—and absorption means that OH molecules happened to absorb a part of the radiation from the quasar. So, it was like revealing the presence of a gas by seeing the ‘shadow’ it cast in front of the light source.”

The findings from this study are the first strong evidence that powerful molecular gas outflows from quasar-host galaxies exist and impact galaxy evolution at the early cosmic age. “Molecular gas is a very important constituent of galaxies because it is the fuel for star formation,” Salak concludes. “Our findings show that quasars are capable of suppressing star formation in their host galaxies by ejecting molecular gas into intergalactic space.”

===

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in Taiwan and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI).

ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

TOP IMAGE....Artist’s impression of an outflow of molecular gas from the quasar J2054-0005 (Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)) Credit ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

LOWER IMAGE....The molecular gas outflow from the quasar includes hydroxyl (OH) (top). Due to the motion of the molecular gas toward the observer, the OH peak in the absorption spectrum (bottom, dashed blue line) appears at a shorter wavelength (solid blue line), a phenomenon known as the Doppler effect. (Illustration: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) modified from Dragan Salak, et al. The Astrophysical Journal. February 1, 2024) Credit ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) modified from Dragan Salak, et al. The Astrophysical Journal. February 1, 2024

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #astrophysics

[bpod-bpod]

Building Muscle

Different types of cells pattern our tissues, each decorated by the thousands of genes and proteins inside them. Transcription factors shape these patterns, helping to switch on sets of distinctive genes in different cells at different times. In these chunks of mouse leg muscle, for example, transcriptions factors like MAF help to create a mosaic of muscle fibres. Coloured stains highlight different type II fibres in red and green in the normal muscle on the left. Investigating further, researchers alter the pattern by removing a version of MAF – changing the balance of fibres (seen on the right). Our own muscles adapt to our lifestyle, changing the makeup of their fibres with the help of transcription factors. Learning more about these and the role of age and diet may help us to maintain healthy muscles for longer, fending off diseases like diabetes and muscular dystrophy.

Written by John Ankers

Image from work by Shunya Sadaki and colleagues

Laboratory Animal Resource Center in Transborder Medical Research Center, and Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Cell Reports, March 2023

You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

#science #biomedicine #muscle #myocytes #muscle fibres #muscle fibers #immunofluorescence #diabetes #muscular dystrophy

[yujo-nishimura]

Tsukuba - Part 2

I am doing a course on creative nonfiction at the University right now and I thought it would be time to get the creative nonfiction I used to write out into the world. These are just bits and pieces of a short novella - nothing is proof-read and this was translated from German into English.

After the concert in Osaka, I received a message on my phone that said, "Meet me at the east exit." Knowing that I would have to wait for a while, I took my time leaving the hall and bought myself another beer at the exit just to keep myself occupied. The evening was colder than usual for this time of year. I wrapped myself in my scarf as the air buzzed with the heated excitement of the concertgoers slowly making their way home.

I stood at the east exit, clutching my beer. His little blue car was right by the door - he had driven here alone all the way. We never talked about his work. It was an unspoken agreement between us, just like we didn't talk about our age gap.

Tired from standing for so long, I wanted nothing more than to sit on the ground, but I knew it would only cause annoyance and people judging me. Some fans had come to the east exit, noticed his car, and now they were doing the same as me - standing around. I sent him a message.

"I'm here, but so are the others."

Just a few seconds later, I received a reply.

"Maybe you want to go to the hotel first, and we can meet there?"

"No problem. Did you make a reservation?"

He had told me just before he left that he would book a double room for the two of us, but he hadn't told me where or if we would split the costs.

"The Marriott. Reservation under your name," was the reply I received, and from the brevity of the message, I immediately sensed that those were all the details I would get for now.

Several taxis drove past on the street beside me, many of them occupied. The fans around me stood closer together now. Some more of them had noticed the car, and perhaps they had multiplied like bees—one had informed the other, and now they were all slowly coming here, hoping to see him.

I stepped to the side of the road, looking hopefully in the direction from which the cars were coming, determined to extend my arm as soon as a taxi came into sight. For a while, nothing happened, and then suddenly I heard a loud sigh and screaming. The gate to the east exit had opened and H. was standing by his car. I turned around briefly, he didn't see me, didn't want to look over the fans to see me, and I showed no interest either. At least he was early enough for us to be able to buy something to eat.

Just as he got into his car and the bodyguards kept the screaming crowd at bay, a taxi stopped right in front of me.

"Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel, please," I said as I got in. Suddenly excitement burned within me. Who would be faster?

I arrived after ten minutes. I entered the lobby and didn't see him at the entrance or the reception. So I had won the little race—maybe only because my taxi driver was a true Osaka resident who knew the city like the back of his hand and bombarded me with all sorts of information in broken English during the ride. He probably thought I was a tourist and that it was my first time here. This was the sixth or seventh time I had visited Osaka, and when I asked for a receipt in Japanese as I got out, he was very disappointed and embarrassed that he had been trying to speak English with me the whole time. I thanked him anyway for the city tour and his efforts—forced hospitality was always better than hostility.

I didn't like the lights in the hotel. There were ornate chandeliers with LED lights—it was supposed to be chic and elegant, but the bright light contradicted that. Leather chairs were arranged around glass tables—I knew why H. had chosen this hotel—it perfectly matched his taste. Sterile cleanliness and elegance. It felt like being in a museum— you may look, but don't touch anything.

At least the bar looked friendly, and I longed for a Japanese shochu on the rocks—as soon as I checked in, I would treat myself to one or maybe two.

I approached the friendly receptionist, smiled, and said that the reservation was under my name. She checked and nodded kindly, then asked, "Honeymoon Suite?"

I sighed at his audacity.

"Yes, I suppose so."

"It has already been paid for by card. Here's your key, room 545. Will your husband be checking in later?"

"I hope so."

She laughed, but I was serious.

#novella #short story #japan #love story #prose #original prose #creative writing #yujowriting #shortstories #writers on tumblr #writing as therapy #female writers #writerscommunity #creative nonfiction

[brianbrianbrain]

hi hi i'm 君たちはどう生きるか posting again! anyways this is mostly plugging the book (to myself also because i haven't read it yet, haha) by going through cool facts on Wikipedia.

following IDs are all screenshots of text from the Wikipedia article for How Do You Live?

ID. After the conclusion of World War II, the book underwent several changes such as vocabulary and was republished in 1945 by Mira-sha Publishers.[5] In practice, that meant removing mentions of imperialism, criticism of capitalism, unpatriotic behaviour, and references to the problems of class.[6] The English translation from 2021 is based on the original. End ID.

idk about you but nothing excites me more than when i get to read something that they wanted to remove "mentions of imperialism, criticism of capitalism, unpatriotic behaviour, and references to the problems of class" from.

ID. This book is one of the "Nihon Shoukokumin Bunko" series that intended to convey knowledge and ideas of free and progressive culture to school children in Japan (Shoukokumin literally means younger citizens). However, many of the works were discouraged by the rise of Japanese militarism in 1930s.[5]

Political scientist Masao Maruyama praised the composition in which a child named Koperu observes reality and naturally portrays the process of discovering various things. He also commends how this complements the main character's discoveries, which are conveyed in the form of letters from the child's uncle. Moreover, the question "How Do You Live?" which is also the title of this book is not only the ethical problem of "how to live", but also about the kind of social scientific awareness to live. It is evaluating the problem of existing.[9]

According to author Yoshino Genzaburō, How Do You Live? was not originally conceived as a literary work, but was intended as a book on ethics. However, according to Takada Riko, this book is also a liberal arts theory written for students of former junior high school during the height of culturalism. Takada focused on the privileged family environment and the "high" social class of the heroes. Those were drawn by the author, who was inspired by the people during his time at Takashi Associated Junior High School (now a high school attached to the University of Tsukuba). He mentioned that this book is intended to resonate with educated boys, which, during that era, was a limited number of privileged citizens.[10]. End ID.

very fancy, very cool. free and progressive culture!! idk what culturalism is lol. evidently Miyazaki was also writing from the "privileged family environment."

ID. Legacy: The novel appears in one of the scenes of the Studio Ghibli animated film also titled How Do You Live?, but titled internationally as The Boy and the Heron (2023). Although the novel appears in-universe and serves as a major plot point, the film is otherwise not connected to the novel and is not an adaptation.[13] The release of the film led to increased sales and reprints of the book in Japan. It was sold in large quantities in the Mercari marketplace app. Iwanami Shoten announced that the total circulation of the book reached 1.8 million copies, making it the number one book on Iwanami Bunko.[14] End ID.

i've heard that obviously the plots are very different but that there are still tons of parallels! definitely not expecting a straight adaptation, they are in very different settings and mediums.

other random thoughts: i should learn japanese lol. and read the original original. fuck hey where do i find this anyways. idk i'll figure it out. do you think the library has this

ok but yes i'm genuinely considering... i got a calendar in mandarin from my mom for christmas... i should brush up my mandarin + my spanish by doing translations... start learning japanese and practice with more translations... to round it out to 5 languages i should also get on russian like i said i would a while ago... i do know the korean alphabet but i can't do the words...

#book recs #reminder to finish the rb of other random thoughts #君たちはどう生きるか #ghibli #the boy and the heron #how do you live #image described

[renownusa]

Still love these as much as the first time seeing Nakai-San’s Stella at Tsukuba on Auto Otaku circa 2007 in college when I was supposed to be studying. Little over a decade later and dreams realized, provided a small piece to the #RoughWorld universe in multiple versions of collaboration steering wheels to #RWB machines around the world. Here is @Dutchrwb63 beautiful smooth fender #964 with a #Renown 100 x @RWB_USA V3 steering wheel. 🍻 Can’t wait to see the RWB family in January in #Tokyo. 🏁 www.renownusa.com (at Renownusa.com San Francisco) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClAzF_hOPVP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#roughworld #rwb #964 #renown #tokyo

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

The Satanic Verses Murder

The release of Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses in 1988 proved hugely controversial. Though highly acclaimed in Rushdie’s home country of the UK, the Booker Prize-winning publication angered much of the world’s Muslim communities. On Valentine’s Day in 1989, the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa condemning the British author to death. Fortunately, Rushdie managed to survive several assassination attempts. In 1991, Khomeini’s successor Ali Khamenei issued another fatwa and multimillion-dollar bounty for anyone involved in the publication.  That included Hitoshi Igarashi, the man who translated The Satanic Verses into Japanese. On July 12 of that year, a cleaning lady found the Japanese scholar’s dead body at his office at the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture. 10 days earlier, Italian translator Ettore Capriolo was stabbed multiple times in his home, but survived. In 1993, William Nygaard, the man responsible for publishing the book in Norway, was shot three times outside his home. He eventually recovered and in 2018 charges were made against the two alleged perpetrators. Igarashi’s killer(s), however, has never been brought to justice.  

#The Satanic Verses Murder #Salman Rushdie #Ettore Capriolo #cold cases #unsolved mysteries

[stevebattle]

Duet Robots by Luigi Colani (1985), Expo’85 Fuyo Robot Theater, Tsukuba, Japan. The International Science and Technology Expo, held in Tsukuba in 1985, includes the Fuyo Robot Theater. This show features robot performers interacting with each other through light and sound, moving about on wheels, set to a fast paced musical score. In imitation of man and woman, the duet robots perform a romantic dance, complete with glowing, beating hearts. Their distinctive design exemplifies Colani's concept of biodesign, characterized by organic shapes. “The invention of biodesign in the broadest and traditional sense in Japan derived from the roots of Shintoism and the Japanese notion of "kimochi", that is to say a sensibility for the atmospheric. Western culture considers ratio to be the nucleus of all human activity. By contrast in the Far East, the belief is that nothing endures unless created through kimochi as the manifestation of the universal energy or ki in our own psyches. For only this marriage of the emotional and the world of things will create something lasting that is likewise in line with our spirit. Apparently I seem to have had a not insignificant influence on the radical and deep-rooting revival of these ideas in Japan – particularly when it comes to biodesign combined with the most modern technology and production methods. The connection between my design philosophy and Japan is thus very close, in both practical and intellectual terms.” – Luigi Colani, ANOTHER CLOUD BREAKING NEO IMPULSE HAS TO COME, a conversation between Colani and Albrecht Bangert, April 6, 2005.

#cybernetics #expo85 #robots #biodesign #1985

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

Question re the post about mass-produced vehicles generally not being sentient but sometimes becoming sentient if enough care and love was put into them and this being a concern for car modders: What qualifies as a "real vehicle"? I know even some 3-1/2" and 5" gauge live steam engines can pull a train with people on it. Do hobbyists who put thousands of hours into custom-built model locomotives often find that they are now parents to a living being that needs exercise and socialization?

You should probably be advised, right off the bat, that I am not a logical thinker and none of my headcanons/interpretations are consistent with the others.

I'm not so much good at "thought experiment" as "what would make a good fic?"

So I'm not sure exactly where the line is drawn—I'm open to ideas?—but I am inspired by one of @togetherness23's AUs where small models of Harold, Bertie, etc. adopt some Beatles. (It makes sense in context. Well, sorta. Well, that doesn't matter; it's delightful.)

Thus I propose the notion that, at small scales, you might give life to a lil' vehicle (even strictly a static model that can't "run" mechanically!). But it's a bit of... sub-sapient life, perhaps?

Like the difference between RC and the other toys...

... only even more exaggerated.

These "small-scale" vehicles and models don't talk, don't show any evidence of understanding humans' talk, and fail all formal intelligence tests.

But they have locomotion and will. They vroom back and forth or hover at very low heights to the ground, and they bond to their maker or other humans of their choice.

For they can be rather capricious and fey. Certainly they are so independent that they are super low-maintenance, as pets go. They are known to like disappearing (very annoying for the proud modeller!). Usually they turn up again sooner or later, but very much on their own time. Most of them are very coy about exhibitions and seem to prefer the privacy and comforts of home.

Some will run away from their owner more permanently, and may adopt some new human as "theirs." These little vehicles that run wild run the risk of becoming dirty and battered. But they don't require fuel and they are remarkably hardy. One disappeared from its creator in Uruguay in the '70s and reappeared over thirty years later in Japan, apparently with the intention of settling down with its creator's daughter, who had relocated in order to collaborate with fellow researchers at the University of Tsukuba.

There are at least a million of these lively little vehicles throughout the world, and rather than be as regulated as their larger road-, rail-, or flight-legal cousins, they are mostly ignored. If governments take notice of them at all, it is as subjects of research (are they a national security threat?—they don't seem to be) and as a pest problem.

Just spitballing. Anyone is welcome to borrow and refine the notion further.

#chatter #ttte headcanon #engine sentience #vehicular sentience #smol cars and trains #ooooooooooh! #the tv prop models must be sentient in this way! #ttte #the railway series

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Novel measurement technique for fluid-mixing phenomena using selective color imaging method

A novel measurement technique has been developed to visualize the fluid flow and distribution within two droplets levitated and coalesced in space using fluorescence-emitting particles. This technique enabled the estimation of fluid motion within each droplet, thereby revealing the internal flow caused by surface vibration when the droplet merging promotes fluid mixing. Details have been published in Scientific Reports. Generally, handling liquids requires containers. However, ultrasound technology can create a "lab-on-a-drop," an ultracompact testing environment, where multiple liquid droplets of several millimeters in diameter can float and mix in space, without the influence of a container. Researchers from the University of Tsukuba have developed a technique for merging two droplets, which are challenging to mix due to their small size in this lab-on-a-drop setup, and a method to measure their mixing using a selective color imaging method.

Read more.

#Materials Science #Science #Color #Materials characterization #Fluid dynamics #Fluids #Fluorescence #Liquids #University of Tsukuba #Acoustics #Acoustic levitation

[nanotechnologyworld]

The research team led by the University of Tsukuba has successfully developed a new method that can prevent the crossover of large fuel molecules and suppress the degradation of electrodes in advanced fuel cell technology using methanol or formic acid. The successful sieving of the fuel molecules is achieved via selective proton transfers due to steric hindrance on holey graphene sheets that have chemical functionalization and act as proton-exchange membranes.

#nanotechnolog #materialsscience #energy #engineering #chemsitry #researchanddevelopment #graphene

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

The strongest tag team of the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA captures the core of the most distant galaxy protocluster

The study of how individual stars are born and die in galaxies, how new stars are born from remnants of old stars, and how galaxies themselves grow are important themes in astronomy, as they provide insight into our roots in the Universe. Galaxy clusters, one of the largest structures in the Universe, are the assembly of more than 100 galaxies which are bound together through mutual gravitational force. Observations of nearby galaxies have shown that the growth of a galaxy depends on its environment in the sense that mature stellar populations are commonly seen in regions where galaxies are densely collected. This is referred to as the "environment effect." Although the environment effect has been considered an important piece to understand galaxy formation and evolution, it is not well known when the effect initiated in the history of the Universe. One of the keys to understanding this is to observe the ancestors of galaxy clusters shortly after the birth of the Universe; known as galaxy protoclusters (hereafter protoclusters), these are assemblies of about 10 distant galaxies. Fortunately, astronomy allows us to observe the distant Universe as it was in the past. For example, light from a galaxy 13 billion light-years away takes 13 billion years to reach Earth, so what we observe now is what that galaxy looked like 13 billion years ago. However, light that travels 13 billion light-years becomes fainter, so the telescopes that observe it must have high sensitivity and spatial resolution.

An international research team led by Assistant Professor Takuya Hashimoto (University of Tsukuba, Japan) and researcher Javier Álvarez-Márquez (Spanish Center for Astrobiology) has used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, observing visible and infrared light) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA, observing radio waves) to study the "core region" of the protocluster A2744z7p9OD. The protocluster A2744z7p9OD had been announced as the most distant proto-cluster at 13.14 billion light-years[1] away based on observations with JWST by another research group[2]. "However, we have not been able to observe the entire core region, the metropolitan area, with the largest number of galaxy candidates in this protocluster. It was unclear whether the environmental effects of galaxies had begun in this protocluster. So we decided to focus our research on the core region," says Hashimoto.

The research team first observed the core region of this protocluster using JWST. Using NIRSpec, an instrument that observes spectra at wavelengths ranging from visible to near-infrared, the team made integral field spectroscopy observations that can simultaneously acquire spectra from all locations within the field of view. The team has successfully detected ionized oxygen-ion light ([OIII] 5008 Å) from four galaxies in a quadrangle region measuring 36,000 light-years along a side, which is equivalent to half the radius of the Milky Way galaxy (Figure 2 left). Based on the redshift of this light (the elongation of the wavelength due to the cosmic expansion), the distance of the four galaxies from the Earth was identified as 13.14 billion light years. "I was surprised when we identified four galaxies by detecting oxygen-ion emission at almost the same distance. The 'candidate galaxies' in the core region were indeed members of the most distant protocluster," says Yuma Sugahara (Waseda/NAOJ), who led the JWST data analysis.

In addition, the research team paid attention to the archival ALMA data, which had already been acquired for this region. The data captures radio emission from cosmic dust in these distant galaxies. As a result of analyses, they detected dust emissions from three of the four galaxies (Figure 2, right). This is the first detection of dust emission in member galaxies of a protocluster this far back in time. Cosmic dust in galaxies is thought to be supplied by supernova explosions at the end of the evolution of massive stars in the galaxies, which provide the material for new stars. Therefore, the presence of large amounts of dust in a galaxy indicates that many of the first-generation stars in the galaxy have already completed their lives and that the galaxy is growing. Professor Luis Colina (El Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, CSIC-INTA)) describes the significance of the results: "Emission from cosmic dust was not detected in member galaxies of the protocluster outside the core region. The results indicate that many galaxies are clustered in a small region and that galaxy growth is accelerated, suggesting that environmental effects existed only ~700 million years after the Big Bang."

Furthermore, the research team conducted a galaxy formation simulation to theoretically test how the four galaxies in the core region formed and evolved. The results showed that a region of dense gas particles existed around 680 million years after the Big Bang, as shown in Figure 3(a). Figure 3(b) shows a zoom-in of Figure 3(a), and shows that four galaxies are formed, similar to the observed core region. To follow the evolution of these four galaxies, the simulation calculated physical processes such as the kinematics of stars and gas, chemical reactions, star formation, and supernovae. The simulations showed that the four galaxies merge and evolve into a single larger galaxy within a few tens of millions of years, which is a short time scale in the evolution of the Universe. "We successfully reproduced the properties of the galaxies in the core region owing to the high spatial resolution of our simulations and the large number of galaxy samples we have. In the future, we would like to explore the formation mechanism of the core region and its dynamical properties in more detail," says Yurina Nakazato, a graduate student at the University of Tokyo, who analyzed the simulation data.

Javier Álvarez-Márquez (Spanish Center for Astrobiology) says, "We will conduct more sensitive observations of the proto-cluster A2744z7p9OD with ALMA to see if there are any galaxies that were not visible with the previous sensitivity. We will also apply the JWST and ALMA observations, which have proven to be very powerful, to more protoclusters to elucidate the growth mechanism of galaxies, and to explore our roots in the Universe."

TOP IMAGES....(Left) Artist's impression of the "metropolitan area" of the protocluster A2744ODz7p9 revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA. (Right) Artist's impression of what the "metropolitan area" will become tens of millions of years after the observed time. Credit: NAOJ CREDIT University of Tsukuba

CENTRE IMAGES....Galaxy formation simulations of the future of the core of A2744z7p9OD. (a) Gas density in a region similar to the proto-cluster A2744z7p9OD at a cosmological age of 689 million years. (b) A zoomed-in view of the core region in (a), corresponding to the region observed by JWST. The color map indicates the light distribution of oxygen ions. (b) to (d) show the evolution of the simulated object: the four galaxies gradually merge and evolve into a larger object. Credit: T. Hashimoto et al. CREDIT University of Tsukuba

LOWER IMAGES.... The background color image shows a map of the light intensity (redder color shows stronger emission) in the core region of the protogalactic cluster A2744ODz7p9, acquired with the NIRCam onboard JWST. The size of the image corresponds to about half of the radius of the Milky Way Galaxy. (Left) Contours show the distribution of light emitted by ionized oxygen, obtained with the NIRSpec instrument onboard JWST. 4 galaxies were identified at 13.14 billion light-years away. (Right) Contours show the distribution of dust emission from three of the four galaxies. The white circle in the lower left of the figure indicates the beam size of the ALMA data. Credit: JWST (NASA, ESA, CSA), ALMA (ESO/NOAJ/NRAO), T. Hashimoto et al. CREDIT University of Tsukuba

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #astrophysics

[singular-yike]

K-Kunimitsu

B-but of course~! There's not much I can say about them from an in-universe perspective, I'll be honest, we just don't know enough about them personally, but there's actually quite a lot to say about their inspirations.

So! Let's look at our commoner youkai exterminator:

Royal Court's Youkai Exterminator — Kunimitsu Ooya

To really understand Kunimitsu's basis, we have to understand the very poorly documented (in English anyways) "The Tale of Yasutaka Utou's Loyalty" (善知安方忠義伝) by Santō Kyōden.

Disclaimer

Since I could find literally nothing on the book in English. Everything here's gonna be based on my own translations of the Japanese/Chinese sources I found, so take it with a grain of salt.

(The English equivalent of its wikipedia page is on a woodblock print based on the story, and not on the actual book, so uh, make sure to read carefully folks)

(Normally I'd be more confident but I'm not reading an entire 17th-century novel written in pre-modern Japanese so y'all are gonna have to deal with a third-hand account)

The Tale of Yasutaka Utou's Loyalty

"The Tale of Yasutaka Utou's Loyalty" (善知安方忠義伝) is an Edo period yomihon novel series by Santō Kyōden. Its story was never actually completed, but was published anyways in 1806.

It is said to be based on the Noh play "Utoh" (善知鳥 Lit. "Auklets", also translated as "Birds of Sorrow") as well as the Masakado legends.

The story follows Taira no Masakado's children, Taira no Yoshikado (平良門) and Takiyasha-hime (滝夜叉姫), and their attempt in continuing their father's uprising; as well as the trials and tribulations underwent by Yasutaka Utou (善知安方) and his wife, as well as Yasutaka's loyalty (to what or whom I'm honestly unsure).

For the part of the story we actually care about, we start with the toad spirit Nikushisen (肉芝仙), who resides on Mount Tsukuba (筑波山). It saved up so much spiritual power over its 3000-year life, that it awakened to potent "toad magic" (yes toad magic).

After Masakado's defeat as an enemy of the imperial court, Nikushisen appeared before Yoshikado, who Masakado had kept a secret and thus saved, told him his origins, taught him toad magic and persuaded him to continue the rebellion.

(Note: Yoshikado is entirely fictitious, and never existed, although tales about him have existed for a while, hence his use in this tale)

Depicted below: An illustration showing Yoshikado (right) learning toad magic from Nikushisen, true form inside the frog (left)

In addition, Nikushisen possessed Yoshikado's sister, the Buddhist nun Kisaragi-ni (如月尼), transforming her into Takiyasha-hime. Together, they are the masterminds behind most of the misfourtunes in the book, and the main antagonists to Yasutaka and co.

(Note: Takiyasha-hime was a historical figure, but nothing was known about her other than the fact that she existed. These books are believed to be the origin of fiction using her as a character.)

Depicted below: Takiyasha-hime in one of the books (left), Nikushisen (as a toad) and Yoshikado on the right

Inspiration: Ooya Tarou Mitsukuni

With all this established, we can finally get into the pivotal scene and character Kunimitsu is based on: Ooya Tarou Mitsukuni.

In the story, Ooya Tarou Mitsukuni (大宅太郎光圀) is a fictitious retainer of the historical Minamoto no Yorinobu (源 頼信), who put down another rebellion attempt by one of Masakado's grandsons.

Mitsukuni was sent to the Soma clan's old imperial palace, an abandoned palace originally built for Masakado imitating the one in the imperial capital where the Emperor lives, to arrest conspirators of Yoshikado and Takiyasha-hime, who were gathering there.

To fight back, the siblings summoned and controlled the skeletons of countless fallen warriors to fight back against their enemies, chief amongst them Ooya Tarou Mitsukuni.

This scene is famously (even moreso than the original story) depicted in a woodblock print by the famed ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi, simply titled "The Soma's Old Imperial Palace" (相馬の古内裏). (This by the way is what the English version of the books' wikipedia page is actually on, ugh)

In Utagawa's depiction, only Takiyasha-hime (left panel) is present, while the many skeletons are instead one giant skeleton (centre & right). In the middle, fighting against it, is Mitsukuni (left) and fellow warrior Araimaru (荒井丸) (he's unimportant to us though).

SO! Now we can finally look into how Mitsukuni inspired Kunimitsu.

First off, name: Obviously, they share the same family name, Ooya (大宅), a fairly common surname that means "large mansion". The given name Kunimitsu (都光) is just the name Mitsukuni (光圀) sliced in half and swapped in order.

However, while "mitsu" is still written with the same character, 光 (light); "kuni" is written with a different one: 都 (capital city) in Kunimitsu and 圀 (country) in Mitsukuni. This swap was likely to distance Kunimitsu from Mitsukuni, as well as to strengthen their ties to the imperial capital of Devanagara.

Kunimitsu's occupation as a youkai exterminator is likely based on Mitsukuni repelling the skeleton army/giant skeleton that Takiyasha-hime (and Yoshikado) sends after him.

Finally, the pose Kunimitsu is in is actually nearly identical to that of Mitsukuni in the following woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, often considered "the last great master of ukiyo-e". Interestingly this version keeps the skeleton army.

Tying Things Up

While I could've certainly just drawn the parallels between Mitsukuni and Kunimitsu and called it a day, "The Tale of Yasutaka Utou's Loyalty" is actually quite influential to Len'en in general.

In fact, it ties together Chouki, Fumikado, Sese and Kunimitsu, perhaps you've noticed them as well? So think of it as laying the groundwork for analysing all of them, and thanks for bearing with me.

In any case, here are some other curious points that I'll point out about Kunimitsu:

The symbols on their crown (the Fujiwara dynasty's crown) are likely Sanskrit, I can't read Sanskrit though so I've no idea what it says, and I can't identify them with any characters just from what I have online either

Kunimitsu seems to have a personal grudge against the Senri Shrine, having "a score to settle with them", although it's unclear why

They extermination youkai to demonstrate that people no longer need the Senri priests

They're apparently talented in the kitchen as well as with a sword

So, that concludes all I have, let's look forward to learning more soon, hopefully~

#len'en project #len'en #kunimitsu ooya

[mysticstronomy]

WHAT IS COSMIC GHOST THEORY??

Blog# 189

Wednesday, May 4th, 2022

Welcome back,

The effect that nearly massless, subatomic particles called neutrinos have on the formation of galaxies has long been a cosmological mystery—one that physicists have sought to measure since discovering the particles in 1956. 

But an international research team including the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) Principal Investigator Naoki Yoshida, who is also a professor in the department of physics at the University of Tokyo, has created cosmological simulations that accurately depict the role of neutrinos in the evolution of the universe. Their study was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal. 

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) cosmologist Dr. Shun Saito, an assistant professor of physics and a researcher on the team, says the work is a milestone in the process of simulating the formation of the structure of the universe. Saito is also a visiting associate scientist at the Kavli IPMU.

The team used a system of differential equations known as the Vlasov-Poisson equations to explain how neutrinos move through the universe with different values assigned to their mass. The technique accurately represented the velocity distribution function of the neutrinos and followed its evolution over time. The researchers then examined the effects of neutrinos on galaxy formation and evolution. 

Their results showed that neutrinos suppress the clustering of dark matter—the undefined mass in the universe—and, in turn, galaxies. They found that neutrino-rich regions are strongly correlated with massive galaxy clusters, and that the effective temperature of the neutrinos varies substantially depending on the mass of the neutrino. 

The researchers say that the most stringent experiments used to estimate neutrino mass are cosmological observations, but those can only be relied upon if simulation predictions are accurate.

“Overall, our findings are consistent with both theoretical predictions and the results of previous simulations,” says Dr. Kohji Yoshikawa from the Center for Computational Sciences at the University of Tsukuba and lead author of the study. “It is reassuring that the results from entirely different simulation approaches agree with each other.” 

“Our simulations are important because they set constraints on the unknown quantity of the neutrino mass,” says Saito from Missouri S&T. “Neutrinos are the lightest particles we know of. We only recently learned neutrinos have mass from the discovery featured in the 2015 Nobel Prize in physics.” 

That prize awarded two scientists, including Kavli IPMU Principal Investigator Takaaki Kajita, who is also the Director at the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, for their separate discoveries that one kind of neutrino can change into another, which showed that neutrinos have mass.  

“Our work might ultimately lead to a robust determination of the neutrino mass,” Saito says. 

Originally published on scitechdaily.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, May 7th, 2022)

"A 'GALAXY' IS UNMASKED AS A PULSAR!!"

#Astronomy #astrophysics #astrophotography #spaceX #spacecraft #atmosphere #outer space #Sunspot #space #international space station #alternate universe #Parallel Universe #universe #white universe #The Sun #nasasocial #nasa 2020 #NASA