Developed by the OIST Wave Energy Project, the Wave Energy Converter transforms wave power into reliable electricity.

Join the celebration, as we honor OIST's graduating PhD students from the class of 2018!

Solar cell coating minimizes leakage of pollutants.

PhD Student Han Yan in the Theory of Quantum Matter Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) put a fracton model in a curved space – where holography works for gravity. Yan checked if the properties also work for fracton models, and they did.    

Prof. Svante Pääbo presents his lecture, "A Neandertal Perspective on Human Origins", where he discusses methods to retrieve DNA from ancient bones and other tissue remains as well as sediments found at archaeological excavations. Genomic analysis of neanderthal bones unexpectedly reveals a hitherto unknown extinct Asian hominin group related to Neandertals, named “Denisovans.” Prof. Pääbo highlights the genetic discoveries made, and what they tell us about the evolution of modern humans.

Ancient and modern population genetic studies have recently shown that present-day Japanese populations originated by a mixture of two distinct gene pools, one related to the rice-farming Yayoi culture and the other related to the pre-Yayoi Jomon culture. Present-day Ryukyuans, including those from southern-most Miyako and Ishigaki islands, share this genetic composition with mainland Japanese, with higher contribution from the Jomon-related gene pool, but this composition is clearly distinct from that of indigenous populations from Taiwan. Prof. Krause explains how investigations into ancient genomes from Miyako-jima have shed light on when this this sharp genetic boundary developed.

Scientists in the OIST Marine Genomics Unit have decoded the genome of popular Okinawan seaweed umi-budo. Known for its eye-catching appearance and "popping" texture, the plant utilizes a specific set of genes to craft its unique form from just one cell.

The Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit has devised a machine learning software to segment, track, and analyze the movement of migrating cells. Named Usiigaci, a Ryukyuan word that means “tracing,” the software significantly outperforms existing programs and has many applications across biology and medicine.

Scientists used sharp glass needles to extract a GFP-labeled cell from C. elegans and recorded the neuronal response of the cell to varying salt concentrations by patch-clamp technique. In this study, the authors demonstrated that salt evoked regenerative all-or-none membrane depolarization in C. elegans chemosensory neurons. This video shows scientists extracting a cell from C. elegans in order to conduct whole-cell recording.

During cell division, the genetic material inside an animal cell assembles along the cell equator. In order for a cell to continue dividing after this precise moment, known as the “spindle assembly checkpoint,” conditions need to be just right. Otherwise, the genetic material will be split unevenly between the two resulting cells, instigating disease and even cell death.  

ABSTRACT: On a microscopic scale our world is governed by quantum physics. Apart from fundamental questions and ‘mysteries’ of quantum physics, learning how to control this microscopic world is also an opportunity for new applications and quantum technologies - potentially more powerful than their classical counterparts. In this lecture we discuss recent progress in building quantum computers and quantum simulators. We will focus on quantum optical systems of atoms and ions manipulated by laser light, providing prime examples of quantum systems, which can be controlled on the level of single quanta. This includes a discussion of trapped ions as a universal quantum processor, and digital and analog quantum simulation of strongly correlated quantum matter with atoms in optical lattices. We conclude by presenting recent theory-experiment results from Innsbruck, including quantum cloud programming of ion trap quantum computers and simulators. SHORT BIOGRAPHY: Professor of Physics with tenure, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, Austria, vice dean of studies (2001-2004), Head of the Institute of Theoretical Physics (1995-1999) Research Director, Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austria Academy of Sciences, Innsbruck, Austria (11/2003-present ); Managing Director (11/2009-1/2012) JILA Adjoint Fellow, Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, Boulder, Colorado (9/1994-present)

ABSTRACT: The Emerged field of Time Domain Astronomy Astronomy enjoys the reputation of being a romantic subject. By all accounts, it is currently in its golden phase with even greater promise as we start this new decade. What is less well known and less appreciated is that modern astronomy is a beneficiary of technological gains (primarily Moore's law, rapid developments in sensor technology) and in turn has contributed to the development of sensors and their physics (charge-coupled devices or CCDs, super-conducting detectors) and was an early entry into big data (through massive surveys). The speaker will make the case using the specific scientific example of "how did the Universe acquire the periodic table?" SHORT BIOGRAPHY: Over the past nearly two decades, along with his current students, post-doctoral fellows, former students, post-doctoral scholars and long term collaborators , he has worked on millisecond pulsars, old neutron stars, young neutron stars, brown dwarfs, soft gamma-ray repeaters, supernova remnants, gamma-ray bursts, new types of optical transients and instrumentation. His current focus is the public-private Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) aimed at an exploration of the transient sky (brighter than 21 mag). In development: STARE, a search for Galactic versions of Fast Radio Bursts (at OVRO, Palomar and other locations) and Kitt Peak EMCCD Demonstrator. Please also see: https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/~srk/