Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.
The 35th Public Lecture of the Faculty of Science
Yuichi Iino (Director of Public Relations Office 2022 / Professor, Department of Biological Sciences)
The 35th Public Lecture titled "The Future Illuminated by Science" was held in a hybrid format on March 10, 2023. This is an annual event held by the Faculty of Science and Graduate School of Science to convey the excitement of science to the general public. Looking back, three years ago in March 2020, just before the 32nd Public Lecture of the Faculty of Science, the event was suddenly postponed due to the outbreak of a new type of coronavirus infection. To avoid overcrowding, the number of participants was limited and the lecture was held in person at Koshiba Hall in the Faculty of Science Building No. 1 and simultaneously broadcast on the Faculty of Science YouTube channel.
The public lecture (upper left: Project Associate Professor Haruo Ishitani, right: Associate Professor Takekazu Kunieda, lower right: Assistant Professor Kentaro Komori)
First, Project Professor Haruo Ishitani (Department of Chemistry) introduced the method of continuous flow synthesis, an efficient method of chemical synthesis with few by-products, in his lecture entitled "Continuous Flow Chemistry: The Way to the Future of Chemical Production. He also explained specific examples of development and discussed the prospects for the future society. Next, Associate Professor Takekazu Kunieda (Department of Biological Sciences) introduced tardigrades, an animal with unimaginable endurance, as "Deciphering Survival Strategies of Space-Tolerant Tardigrades," and explained the results of his research into the molecular mechanisms of their strength, which are gradually becoming clearer and more interesting. Finally, Assistant Professor Kentaro Komori (Research Center for the Early Universe) gave a presentation entitled "Listening to the Reverberations in the Universe: The Present and Future of Gravitational Wave Observation," in which he explained the principle and results of his research on the large and delicate scale of detecting extremely weak gravitational waves from black holes and other distortions in faraway space. The lecture introduced the principle and the results of the observation. The questions were asked from various viewpoints by Slido to avoid confusion among the participants, and it seemed to be an effective time to share questions and deepen understanding among the audience.
This time, the number of visitors on the day of on-site participation was 48. On the other hand, the peak number of simultaneous online viewers via the YouTube channel was 153, and the number of views at the end of the live streaming was 1281. In the results of the survey, many people expressed their delight at the first on-site event in a long time, saying that "the on-site participation was even better than expected. In addition, visitors had an opportunity to see the renewed Science Gallery, and as we had expected, many of them visited and viewed the gallery.
Under the supervision of the Communications & Public Relations Committee of the Faculty of Science, the Public Relations Office and the Information Technology Team collaborated in the preparation, recording, and distribution of this lecture. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all those who viewed the lecture both onsite and online, and to all those who assisted in various ways.
Faculty of Science News, May 2023