RIKEN opens its doors to the general public
As part of the national Science and Technology Week, the RIKEN institutes open their doors to the general public every year. Each institute organizes displays and presentations to introduce its research with the objective of building a good relationship with the local community and to attract the interest of children, the scientists of the future. In 2008, RIKEN had a total of 17,884 visitors, well in excess of the previous year’s number.
Wako Institute
Crafting animals using colored silk cocoons
More than 100 laboratories within the Wako Institute presented their research using display panels and interactive demonstrations. Two cutting-edge research projects which attracted wide interest in the press recently were presented in easy-to-understand lectures aimed at a lay audience: Kiminori Ushida (Unit leader, Ushida Environment Eco-Soft Material Research Unit, Advanced Science Institute) presented ‘Surprise, surprise – Mucin from jellyfish’ and Tomoko Abe (Team leader, Accelerator Applications Research Group Radiation Biology Team, Nishina Center for Accelerator-based Science) presented ‘Plant transformers–yellow cherry blossoms and salt resistant rice plants’. Interactive events such as the ‘Deep sea experience’ and ‘Get DNA from broccoli’ attracted many families with children, giving the usually quiet campus a bustling atmosphere. 2008 saw more than 9,000 visitors, a significant increase from previous years.
Tsukuba Institute
Visitors receiving an introduction to mice
This two-day event at Tsukuba Institute attracted more than 1,340 visitors, who enjoyed looking through microscopes at iPS cells and ES cells, a hot topic in recent years, and listening to talks about plants growing in extreme environments. The lectures by Takashi Hiroyama, researcher at Cell Engineering Division, titled ‘Universal cells – iPS and ES cells’ and by Yoshimi Benno, the head of Microbe Division, titled ‘The ageing of the intestine–the story of poo’ attracted audiences that filled the hall. The Tsukuba Institute open day was resoundingly successful in presenting to the general public the importance of science, and especially of the BioResource Center.
Harima Institute
Tour of the SCSS accelerator
The SPring-8 site at the Harima Institute was opened to the general public under the banner of ‘The Frontier of Science: SPring-8’. There was a guided tour exploring the secret of the large-scale synchrotron facility, organized games using polarizer and sonic waves, and lectures dealing with such topics as identifying the origin of an agricultural product using SPring-8. The event attracted large numbers of participants, and the RIKEN original eco-bags and SPring-8 stationery goods distributed at the tour of the SCSS accelerator, the prototype of the X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL), were very popular. Overall, about 3,600 visitors came in 2008 to enjoy the large park-like campus.
Yokohama Institute
Observing the crystallization of proteins
The Yokohama Institute held its open day in collaboration with the Yokohama City University Graduate School. Cutting-edge research for medical applications was explained to the audience in two lectures: Yasuyuki Ishii (Team leader, Research Center for Allergy and Immunology) and Yusuke Nakamura (Director, Center for Genomic Medicine) spoke, respectively, on ‘Eradication efforts for cedar pollen allergy’, and ‘Gentle to each patient–personalized medicine’. More than 70 laboratories participated with such projects as a seminar on infectious diseases across national borders, tours of the gene analysis and plant science laboratories, which are usually off limits to the general public, as well as various displays and an event to observe the crystallization of proteins. All were enjoyed by families and students. An unprecedented 2,064 people visited this year, and most seemed very keen, asking a lot of questions of the scientists in attendance.
Kobe Institute
Craft class
Kobe Institute organized a wide variety of programs including introductory displays and craft classes to show off their research activities. Shigeo Hayashi (Group director, Laboratory for Morphogenetic Signaling, RIKEN center for Developmental Biology) and Masaaki Suzuki (Program sub-director, Molecular Imaging Science Program) spoke, respectively, on ‘Insects - tiny creatures that tell us the secrets of generation and regeneration’ and ‘Observing inside the body with molecular marking’. Displays of experimental animals, radiation measuring of everyday items, and a presentation on ‘occurrence and diseases’ also attracted large audiences who listened keenly to the explanations made by the researchers. At the Science Cafe, where visitors were encouraged to talk to each other on a themed topic, this year’s theme, ‘Do you want to know your genetic makeup?’ generated lively discussion among the visitors. Though it was a cold and rainy day, the overall visitor number was 1,076.
Sendai Facility
Planetarium craft class
The theme of the Sendai Facility’s open day was ‘Let’s explore the world of Terahertz’. The small facility had 192 visitors, many more than expected. Kenichiro Maki, a researcher on the Terahertz Sensing and Imaging Team, gave a lecture entitled ‘Terahertz technology–making visible the invisible’ and explained the possibility of terahertz light which may contribute to our future society, in an easy-to-understand dialog style. Also on offer were hands-on experiment areas with terahertz waves and gyro effects as well as a planetarium craft class for primary school children, all of which helped visitors feel the wonder of science, something they do not normally encounter in everyday life.
Nagoya Facility
Demonstration of care assistant robot ‘RI-MAN’
The Nagoya facility open day included displays on its research activities, and a look inside some of its research facilities. Visitors learned about the care assistant robot ‘RI-MAN’, which can pick up and carry a person using its tactile senses, a brain-robot that can learn, and a robot whose mobility comes from the eyes of a bat, all demonstrated and explained by the researchers. At the hands-on craft class, participating children made rockets using PET bottles, which led to a lively competition between them. There was a total of 536 visitors, from young children to the elderly, who enjoyed ‘a day with science’.