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/

OIST scientists have gained new insight into the abnormal brain activity underlying Parkinson’s disease. In a mouse model of the disease, the scientists observed that one group of neurons in a particular brain region--the striatum–fire in sync and dominate the overall activity of that region. When striatal neurons are stimulated continuously, they exhibit this abnormal behavior. By stimulating the neurons in precise pulses, the researchers observed that the neurons returned to their normal activity pattern, with groups of cells firing in turn.    

ABSTRACT: With more than 2 million species already described, and many more millions undiscovered or extinct, the size of the Tree of Life is immense. Throughout much of human history our species has felt a deep connection to the other species on our planet. The Tree of Life has now emerged as a grand symbol and organizing principle for biodiversity, one that deftly threads scientific and cultural meaning, providing a unique connector to the public. Yet it required over 150 years from the time of Darwin who referred to “The Great Tree of Life” in the mid 1800s to actually build the first tree of all life in 2015. Put simply, building huge family trees of species is very hard, rivaling the most difficult problems in physics and astronomy. Thus, building the first tree of all named life (all 2.3 million species) was a true “grand challenge” or a “moonshot” for biology. Knowledge of the Tree of Life is also crucial for human survival and well-being – relationships have predictive value, with downstream practical benefits that include the discovery of medicines, crop improvement, improved approaches to conservation, and a better understanding of species’ response to climate change. Yet the Tree of Life is under immense threat in the Anthropocene. We are therefore working on several methods of engaging the public on the importance of biodiversity via the Tree of Life metaphor. No matter what scale and medium, the storytelling will convey why knowledge of the Tree of Life is important for human well-being and survival. SHORT BIOGRAPHY of Prof. Douglas Soltis Douglas Soltis is a Distinguished Professor in the Florida Museum of Natural History and Department of Biology at the University of Florida. He studies plant evolution using genomic and informatic approaches; interests include genome doubling (polyploidy), genome evolution, building the tree of life, and angiosperm diversification. Soltis has reconstructed relationships among major lineages of flowering plants. With others, he proposed a new classification for angiosperms (APG system). He worked with Chinese collaborators to build a tree of life for the plants of China. Soltis is part of a group that built the first-draft tree of life for all 2.3 million named species on Earth. He and others clarified the ancestral angiosperm via the Amborella Genome Project. He has also developed Tragopogon (Compositae) as a model for the study of polyploid evolution. He has over 500 publications, including papers in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Science and Nature; and 8 books. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Several of these areas are discussed in the following link: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/soltis-lab/doug-soltis/ SHORT BIOGRAPHY of Prof. Pamela Soltis She is a Distinguished Professor and Curator in the Florida Museum of Natural History and Department of Biology at the University of Florida. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, she focuses on evolutionary patterns and processes that have generated the Tree of Life of plants. She is passionate about the importance of the Tree for human well-being and sharing the grandeur of the Tree with college students and the public.

Researchers from the Biological Physics Theory Unit and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam conducted local linear analyses to reduce the complex posture movements of the nematode worm C. elegans to simpler components -- analogous to breaking spoken language into phonemes. The top video displays a snippet of posture behavior of C. elegans which is automatically decomposed into reversal, coiling and forward movements (bottom).

Many people came to the OIST Science Festival 2018 to enjoy the world of science.

Meet the Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit, as they investigate how intense light fields can alter matter in less than a blink of an eye! To find out more, visit https://www.oist.jp/research/research-units/fsu .

Dr. Johannes Schönke and Prof. Eliot Fried of the OIST Mathematics, Mechanics, and Materials Unit have introduced a new class of kaleidocycles into the world. They call them Möbius Kaleidocycles because they resemble the famous Möbius band, a geometrical object with a characteristic topology. These mystifying objects can be turned inside-out continuously and have unique mathematical properties. While classical kaleidocycles typically have six hinges, the new class of kaleidocycles can have seven or more. Not only are these objects beautiful to see, but they could also have very practical applications in a variety of fields.

Welcome to I²: the Innovation Square Startup Incubator at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST). I² is a facility where entrepreneurs from across the planet can come to come together to bring their ideas to market. With sophisticated laboratory facilities, state-of-the-art equipment and the knowledge of some of the world’s best scientists, OIST is the ideal location to develop your ideas to fruition. Coming together with established companies and experienced investors, I² can turn science into success! Learn more and apply to the Innovation Square Incubator  

Abstract: Human desire to communicate secretly is at least as old as writing itself and goes back to the beginnings of our civilisation. The struggle between code-makers and code-breakers had several times affected the course of history and the formidable mathematical task of breaking increasingly more complicated ciphers contributed to the development of computer science. I will describe briefly how people protected information in the past and how it is done today. Physicists play increasingly more important role in this field because the process of sending and storing of information is always carried out by physical means, for example, by sound, light or radio waves. In particular, eavesdropping can be viewed as a measurement on a physical object, in this case the carrier of the information. What the eavesdropper can measure, and how, depends exclusively on the laws of physics. Using quantum phenomena physicists managed to design and to implement a system which is regarded to be unbreakable. I will outline the basic principles behind quantum cryptography. Biography: Artur Ekert is the Professor of Quantum Physics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, UK. He is also the Director of the Centre for Quantum Technologies and Lee Kong Chian Centennial Professor at the National University of Singapore. He is one of the co-inventors of quantum cryptography, and his current research extends over most aspects of information processing in quantum-mechanical systems. He has worked with and advised several companies and government agencies. He is a recipient of several awards, including the 1995 Maxwell Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics and the 2007 Royal Society Hughes Medal. In 2016 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In his non-academic life, he is an avid scuba diver and pilot.