Ethological dynamics in diorama environmentsGrant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A)
Purpose and background of the research area
The purpose of this Research Area is to explore the skillful environmental and situational adaptive abilities expressed at the cellular level (here we call this "proto-intelligence") and to write down these abilities in a dynamical model. To this end, we will establish "diorama behavioral studies" and "coupled environmental dynamics" as methodologies, and create a new academic field, " Ethological dynamics in diorama environments" based on these studies. This is expected to clarify the mechanism of Proto-Intelligence. It is also expected to advance the technology of prediction and control of microbial behavior and provide knowledge that will contribute to overcoming health and environmental problems that develop in the panoramic environment (natural environment).
We will examine the effectiveness of Ethological dynamics in diorama environments by focusing on three areas: environmental red tide by microalgae, sperm motility in reproduction, and the search for novel cellular behaviors.
Hokkaido University
Research Institute of Electronic Science
Professor
Area RepresentativeToshiyuki Nakagaki
General Group Members
Principles of biofluid mechanics
Theory of active soft matter
Kyoto University
Research Institute for Mathematical
Sciences
Associate ProfessorKenta Ishimoto
Interdisciplinary research on environmental
red tide
National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Fisheries Research and Education Organization Senior ResearcherTomoyuki Shikata
MovieSperm cell
motility
Cutting-edge cell measurement and manipulation technologies
Tohoku University
Graduate School of Engineering Department of Finemechanics
Associate ProfessorKenji Kikuchi
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Graduate School Engineering Associate ProfessorKyosuke Shinohara
MovieThe Quest for protointelligence
Hokkaido University
Research Institute of Electronic Science
Professor
Area RepresentativeToshiyuki Nakagaki
Pickup
What's NewInformation
- 2024.11.4 Associate Professor Kenta Ishimoto (Team B01-2) gave an online public lecture for high school students as a part of a seminar series by The Japan Science Society.
- 2024.10.26 On October 26, 2024, Professor T. Nakagaki, a member of General Group, gave a lecture on “Behavioral Proto-intelligence Explored in the Study of Protist Behavior” at the 43rd Life Science Symposium “Exploring Primitive Sensation and Intelligence” held at Toho University Narashino Campus.
- 2024.10.16 In August 2024, Professor Nakagaki (B02-1) appeared on the YouTube channel “Yuru SEITAIGAKU Radio (chill ecology radio)” to introduce the behavior of protozoa and Cellular Ethological Dynamics in Diorama Environments.
- 2024.10.11 Prof. Takuji Ishikawa (Team B01-1) was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society
- 2024.10.10 Assistant Professor Mami Nomura (Yamagata University), a member of the Publicly Offered Research, received the 6th Materials and Devices Joint Research Award in 2023. This research was a joint research project with Associate Professor Yukinori Nishigami (Hokkaido University, at the time of the award, Assistant Professor) of Planned Research B01-1.
- 2024.10.8 On November 12th, 2024, associate Professor Yu Fukasawa will present his research on intelligent behavior in fungal mycelia. The presentation will be held in a science café format at "Bio-Life Salon (生きものサロン)" (organized by Professor Fujio Tsumori) at Kyushu University.
- 2024.10.4 Professor Ken-ichi Wakabayashi in the Publicly Offered Research group and his colleague found a link between changes in the regulatory mechanisms of ciliary motility in Volvocales algae with the evolution of multicellularity and an increase in Reynolds.
- 2024.9.26 Professor Yoshitaka Nishiyama in the Planned Research group A01-1 and his colleagues, in collaboration with Fisheries Technology Institute, have clarified the roles of photosynthesis in the production of extracellular reactive oxygen species, which are associated with fish mortality, in noxious red-tide-forming algae. The uncovered mechanism is expected to contribute to the development of methods that assess the fish-killing activity of the noxious red tides, as well as to the understanding of the mechanism of their formation in the sea.
- 2024.9.26 Professor Yoshitaka Nishiyama in the Planned Research group A01-1 and his colleagues, in collaboration with Fisheries Technology Institute, have clarified the roles of photosynthesis in the production of extracellular reactive oxygen species, which are associated with fish mortality, in noxious red-tide-forming algae. The uncovered mechanism is expected to contribute to the development of methods that assess the fish-killing activity of the noxious red tides, as well as to the understanding of the mechanism of their formation in the sea.
- 2024.9.24 The exhibition "ALL ROADS LEAD TO BIG CITIES," showcasing the research of Associate Professor Takaaki Aoki of the publicly offered group, had started at the "Shikon Shosai-kan" on the Hikone campus of Shiga University from September 3 to November 29, 2024. This event was reported by Chunichi Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun.
- 2024.9.17
Associate Professor Yu Fukasawa and his colleagues published a paper suggesting that fungal mycelia can recognize difference in spatial patterns.
These results bring us closer to the intelligent behavior of fungal mycelium. - 2024.9.12
On September 12th 2024, from 9:20 to 18:00, we held an international workshop entitled “Behavior and physiology of protists -experiments and models-” at the Sorbonne University (Paris, France) in collaboration with Professor Romain Brette (Sorbonne University).
From the Publicly Offered Group, Professor Takashi Tominaga, and from the Planned Group, Professor Manabu Hori, Professor Katsuhiko Sato, and Professor T. Nakagaki gave presentations. - 2024.8.23 On August 23rd 2024, from 14:00 to 17:00, at the Tsukuba University Tokyo Campus, we held a discussion with Professor Ritsu Kamiya (Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo, Cell Biology) on the relationship between cell biology and mathematical modeling in the study of cell movement and behavior. The participants in the discussion were Drs. K. Shiba (A01-1), K. Shinohara (A02-1), K. Kikuchi (A02-2), M. Iima (B02-2), and T. Nakagaki (B02-1).
- 2024.8.16
【September 20-21, 2024】
The 6th Area Meeting will be held. - 2024.8.8 Professor Makoto Iima (Team A02-2) conducted outreach activities for high school students at the Open Lab. held at the Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University.
- 2024.8.2 Prof. Kazuo Inaba (Team A01-2) conducted outreach activities in his lecture for high school students at Shimoda marine research center, University of Tsukuba.
- 2024.7.27 Associate Professor Hironori Ueno (Team B01-1) introduced the field of "Ethological dynamics in diorama environments" in the university collaboration course "Explore the world of micro-organisms!".
- 2024.7.26 Associate Professor Hironori Ueno (Team B01-1) introduced the field of "Ethological dynamics in diorama environments" in the university collaboration course "Knowledge Exploration Course".
- 2024.7.16
Associate Professor Yu Fukasawa and his colleagues found that fungal mycelium may transmit information about the location of resources throughout the mycelium using electrical signals.
These results bring us closer to elucidating the mechanism behind the intelligent behavior of mycelium. - 2024.7.5 Prof. Daisuke Takagi of the University of Hawaii visited Prof. Ishikawa's lab in Planned Research Group B01-1.
- 2024.6.24 Associate Professor Yu Fukasawa and his colleagues found that fungal mycelia utilize multiple resources more efficiently when the resources were connected by mycelial network while the resource use efficiency was reduced when the network was disrupted. This result shed light on the reason why fungal mycelia develop large networking body.
- 2024.6.7 On June 7, 2024, Associate Professor Takaaki Aoki of the publicly offered group gave a gallery talk at the exhibition "ALL ROADS LEAD TO BIG CITIES" (June 3-November 29, 2024) at the Shiga University Institute of Economics and Business Administration "Shigadai Research Material Exhibition Corner. The event was reported in the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper.
- 2024.6.4 The 27th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held in University of the Ryukyu, Sesoko Station (Okinawa).
- 2024.5.28-29 A collective movement experiment using red tide algae in a diorama environment was conducted at the Higashi-Hiroshima Campus of Hiroshima University on May 28-29, 2024.
- 2024.5.29 A short video introducing the research project has been added to the FY2022 Publicly Offered Research Page.
- 2024.5.27 Publicly Offered Group Associate Prof. Takaaki Aoki will hold a workshop "Mathematical and Geographical Modelling environmental humanities in RIMS 2024" (June 3~4, 2024) at the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kyoto University. In this series of workshops, comparative studies between the movement of protists such as slime molds and the dynamics of human society have also been discussed.
- 2024.5.27 Publicly Offered Group Associate Professor Takaaki Aoki will exhibit his research in the exhibition "ALL ROADS LEAD TO BIG CITIES" (June 3 - November 29, 2024) at the Shiga University Institute of Economics and Business Administration "Shigadai Research Material Exhibition Corner".
- 2024.5.27 Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Group B02-1 talked with Dr. Masanao Yamaoka, who launched the innovative research on CMOS annealing computation at Hitachi, at the web media Linking Society, part of the Hitachi Group's Social Innovation Project to solve social issues. Discussion was made on the significance of mathematical modeling of protist behavior in order to extract autonomous de-centralized algorithms of prototype of intelligent behavior and (2) the future expansion of Hitachi’s new concept of computing.
- 2024.5.15 Professor Nobuhiko Suematsu (Meiji University), a research collaborator of Team B02-2, will give an invited lecture on ``Convection patterns created by photosynthetic microorganisms in response to light fields'' at the session ``Kitchen Earth Science: Experiments that generate diverse outcomes'' at the JpGU Meeting 2024.
- 2024.05.14 Associate professor Masaya Morita in the Planned Research group A01-1 and his colleagues reported in the coral Acropora digitifera sperm that substrates in protein kinase A leading to flagellar motility initiation, a prerequisite for fertilization, are common among animals.
- 2024.5.10 On May 10th, "Experimental Medicine Supplement: Practical Textbook for Imaging & Image Analysis to Acquire Correct Results" (Yodosha Co., Ltd.), which was written by lecturers of " Optical Microscopy Principle Training Course" cosponsored by Ethological Dynamics in Diorama Environments, was published. Dr. Atsushi Taniguchi (Group B02-1) wrote sections on microscope optical principle, various observation methods, and a part of appendix.
- 2024.04.22 Associate professor Masaya Morita in the Planned Research group A01-2 and his colleagues reported that the tabular reef-building coral Acropora hyacinthus group speciated, accompanied by the establishment of reproductive isolation supported by adaptive gene evolution.
- 2024.4.18
Professor Kazuo Inaba (Team A01-2) appeared on NHK E-TV's "Living Things Up! Super Micro Hunter - The Secret of Hair that Supports Life".
Using a microscope equipped with an 8K camera, he and the children observed sea urchin larvae, comb jellyfish, plankton, and more. - 2024.4.11-12
April 11-12, 2024. The Hokudai-NYCU Joint Workshop on Applied Mathematics between Department of Applied Mathematics, National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), Taiwan, and Research Center of Mathematics for Social Creativity, Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University, was held (at NYCU, Taiwan), and co-organized by our research area.
Assistant Professor Yukinori Nishigami of Group B01-1 and Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Group B02-1 participated and presented their results. - 2024.4.12
Bimonthly series on the ethological dynamics in diorama environments has started in the UP magazine.
The April issue includes the column 'A story of intelligence that begins from a cell' by Prof. Nakagaki, the area representative. - 2024.3.25 On March 25, 2024, Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Group B02-1 gave a lecture entitled "Exploring the way of life of protists: “Cellular ethological dynamics in diorama environments" at the Industry-Academia-Government Academic Exchange Forum of the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Bioscience and Biotechnology (100th Anniversary Meeting) and introduced research concepts in this field.
- 2024.3.23-24 Associate Professor Kenji Kikuchi (Team A02-2) participated as a lecturer in the 15th Transgrade Practical Course "Stereomicroscopic Observation of Quail Embryos" hosted by Associate Professor Keiko Numayama of Tohoku University Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering. We conducted outreach activities to 45 people. Representative Nakagaki, Professor Sato (Team B02-1), and Mr. Echigoya (Nakagaki Lab) also participated.
- 2024.3.21 The 5th Area Plenary Meeting was held at Tohoku University.
- 2024.3.1・3.8 Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Group B02-1, in cooperation with Assistant Professor Yukinori Nishigami of Group B01-1, introduced the ecology and smart behavior of protists to the public at the Sapporo Citizen's College 2024 Winter / CHIERIA Learning Volunteer Project Lecture "Microbes Change Our Future," on March 1 and 8, 2024. The actual observation of ciliates with a simple smartphone microscope by one person at a time was well received.
- 2024.2.23-24 Associate Professor Kenji Kikuchi (Team A02-2) participated as a lecturer in the "Fluorescence Microscope Assembly Training" hosted by Associate Professor Keiko Numayama of the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University, and conducted outreach activities to a total of 30 people, including junior high and high school students and teachers.
- 2024.03.26 Professor Yoshitaka Nishiyama in the Planned Research group A01-1 and his colleagues have clarified a new mechanism for the response of photosynthesis to strong light in a cyanobacterium.
- 2024.03.07
【March 27, 2024】
We would like to inform you that a symposium will be held at the 2020 Spring Meeting of the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science as follows.
Although it is on-site only, non-members of the Fisheries Society can also participate.
If you are interested, we would appreciate it if you could participate. - 2024.02.16 A Workshop on mathematical life science was held at University of Toyama in collaboration with other KAKENHI projects in Transformative Research Areas A.
- 2024.01.31 The special issue 'Ethological Dynamics in Diorama Environments' edited by Professor Takuji Ishikawa (Group B01-1) and Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Group B02-1) was published jointly by two journals: Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology and Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution jointly by two journals. Due to the novelty of the topics of special issue, this was an unusual collaboration between the two journals. Fifteen papers from members of our research project were also included. This special issue was also published as an e-book.
- 2024.01.31 Professor Takuji Ishikawa (B01-1) published a comprehensive review on the hydrodynamic mechanisms related to the behavior of swimming microorganisms including ciliates.
- 2024.01.31 Professor Takuji Ishikawa (B01-1) published a review article base on the history of biomechanics research on the behavior of swimming microorganisms, including ciliates, and discussed the current state-of-art and future direction of research.
- 2024.01.30 “The mysterious world of slime molds that approaches the “intelligence" of single cells” (broadcasted on November 13, 2022) will be rebroadcast on NHK E-Tele Science ZERO on February 4 and 10, 2024. This program introduces the research content of Group B02-01, and due to its popularity, it will be aired again on domestic terrestrial TV following the international broadcast on NHK WORLD-JAPAN on October 23, 2023.
- 2024.01.30 November 20th, Swiss high school students Gilles Lavanchy and Martion Molteni interviewed Professor T. Nakagaki of Group B02-2 and created and released an interview video "Interview Toshiyuki Nakagaki - Le BLOB -“(with French subtitles) introducing some of the research content.
- 2024.01.22 Assistant Professor Shiba Kogiku (Team A01-2) conducted outreach activities at Open campus in Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba.
- 2024.01.19
【March 21-22, 2024】
The 5th Area Meeting will be held in Sendai. - 2024.1.14 Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Group B02-1 served as Discussion Leader of the Biological Intelligence for Robotics Session at the Gordon Research Conference on Robotics "Physical and Computationally Intelligent Behaviour in Robots" (January 14-19, 2024, Ventura, CA), and gave a talk in the Bioinspired Intelligent Robots Session "Physical and Computationally Intelligent Behaviour in Robots". He conceptually introduced the prototype of intelligent behavior of protists and how it works.
- 2024.01.10 Dr. Shikada (Group A01-1) and his colleagues created a video titled “Ecophysiology of Red Tide Plankton'' and published it on the website of Fisheries Technology Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency.
- 2024.01.04 November 23, 2023 Hirohashi (a member of publicly offered research group) give a public talk and demonstration of giant squid dissection for about 80 public audience, which was YouTubed on time.
- 2024.01.04 September 4-8, 2023 Hirohashi (a member of publicly offered research group) was invited to the 16th Biology of Sperm conference held at Stockholm as a plenary speaker to give a talk about "two types of males and two types of sperm in squids.
- 2023.12.20 December 20th, Professor T. Nakagaki of Group B02-1 wrote a popular science book introducing his research,”Thinking Slime Molds: Exploring the Roots of Biological Knowledge'' (written by Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Yamakei Bunko, Yama-to-Keikoku-sha).
- 2023.12.20-22 From December 20th to 22nd, 2023, the “Workshop on Taxis Behavior Equation in Hiroshima" took place at the Hiroshima University Phoenix International Center MIRAI CREA.
- 2023.12.17
December 17th, Professor T. Nakagaki of Group B02-1 participated in the Ig Nobel Prize official event “Ig Nobel Face-to-Face 2023 in JAPAN” at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, and introduced some concept of research project on Ethological Dynamics in Diorama Environments in the panel discussion “Why do people do science?
The event was broadcast on NHK TV News (7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.). - 2023.12.12 Associate Prof. Kenta Ishimoto (Team B01-2) published a Japanese translation of “Fluid Mechanics: A Very Short Introduction” (by Eric Lauga) from Iwanami Shoten, Publishers.
- 2023.12.11-12 December 11-12, Professor T. Nakagaki of Group B02-1 held an international workshop "Biological Physics of adaptive behavior in cells and higher organisms" as part of Hokkaido University-Bremen University Exchange Day with Professor H. G. Doebereiner of the University of Bremen.
- 2023.11.23
Associate Prof. Kenta Ishimoto (Team B01-2) and Prof. Makoto Iima (Team B02-2) have co-edited a special topic titled 'Advances in the Physics of Biofluid Locomotion' in the Journal of the Physical Society of Japan (JPSJ). The research teams led by Prof. Takuji Ishikawa (Team B01-1) and Prof.
Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Team B02-1) have also contributted to this special topic. - 2023.11.18-19 November 18-19, Science Agora 2023 (hosted by the Japan Science and Technology Agency, supported by Cabinet Office/Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology/Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry/Science Council of Japan/Keidanren/The Japan Association of National Universities/Federation of Japanese Private Colleges and Universities Associations, etc., held at Tokyo Daiba Telecom Center), we held a planned exhibition titled '' Towards learning from microscopic strategies of the single-cell, protists'' and introduced a part of our research project to over 500 visitors.
- 2023.11.15 The symposium "The survival strategies of unicellular organisms on a microscale" at the 61st annual meeting of Biophysical Society of Japan co-hosted by our research area was held in Nov 15th, 2023 at Nagoya Congress Center.
- 2023.11.8 On November 8th, the research content of Group B02-1 was reported in Yomiuri Shimbun (Newspaper) article ``Eureka Hokkaido University: Reconsidering intelligence through smart single cells.’'
- 2023.11.10 The Diorama-Ethology ciliate workshop was held in Nov 10th, 2023 at Gakushuin University and online.
- 2023.10.27 The research of Associate Professor Kenta Ishimoto (Team B01-2) of the planning group was introduced in the scientific magazine New Scientist.
- 2023.10.25-26 A joint seminar was organized by the Issac Newton Institute (Cambridge) and the Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kyoto University. Dr. Kogiku Shiba (University of Tsukuba), the leader of the planning group of this project, gave an invited lecture and introduced the results of his research on chemotaxis of sperm motility and research activities in the area of Ethological dynamics in diorama environments.
- 2023.10.24
October 24, 2023: NHK Science ZERO introduced our research project “The mysterious world of slime molds that approaches the “intelligence" of single cells”
(broadcasted on November 13, 2022) has been remade into "The Superpowers of Slime Molds" for overseas use, and it was broadcasted internationally on NHK WORLD-JAPAN.
This program can also be viewed on NHK+ and NHK On-Demand. - 2023.10.10
The workshop on the ciliates will be held in November 10th, 2023 at Gakushuin University.
Please visit the workshop webpage below. - 2023.10.9 On October 9, 2023, at "Scientists Festival that You Can Visit" (Akihabara, Tokyo)”, sponsored by the Japan Association for the Advancement of Science (JAAS) and supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Science Council of Japan, the Union of Japanese Societies for Biological Science, etc.), professor T. Nakagaki of B02-1 group gave a lecture titled “Cellular Ethological Dynamics for Proto-intelligence Observed in Diorama Environments" at the session "Interesting and Serious Scientists: The World of Ig Nobel Prizes”, and participated in the panel discussion, to show the research activities of our research project.
- 2023.10.7-8 The workshop for young scientists was held in Oct 7-8th, 2023 at Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba.
- 2023.10.2 October 2, 2023, in the popular series "President Interview No. 107: Expanding possibilities by changing your perspective ~ Two perspectives and knowledge to find clues to solutions" in the magazine "People and Systems" published by NTT Data Engineering Systems, Inc., the research of Planned Research group B02-1, "Skillful behavioral abilities of protists including slime molds" was introduced.
- 2023.9.27 September 27, 2023, (NPO) hello tomorrow Asia Pacific SUMMIT 2023 (held at National Gallery Singapore, Singapore) Alternative Intelligence Session “Brainless, but capable of complex decision-making” by Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Hokkaido University) of B02-1 group gave a Keynote Speech “Capable of remembering, anticipating, and deciding, to think that single-celled organisms are stupid would be wrongful,” followed by a panel discussion “Hidden in plain sight: intelligence as we don't know.” He introduced some of the research in this area.
- 2023.9.15 The 4th Area Plenary Meeting and the 3rd Discussion Meeting were held at Hokkaido University.
- 2023.09.15 On September 10, 2023, Professor Nishiyama of Group A01-01 appeared on NHK Science ZERO and introduced algae biofuel production.
- 2023.9.12 Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Hokkaido University) of B02-1 group wrote an article about research in this area and scientific research in general, in the Hokkaido Shimbun's evening column “GYOGANZU (Fisheye)”.
- 2023.9.8 Prof. Kazuo Inaba (A01-2 group) was awarded the Zoological Society of Japan Award 2023.
- 2023.9.3 Associate Professor Shinichiro Maruyama in the Publicly Offered Research group and his colleagues have identified a new pathway by which sugar is released by coral symbiotic algae. This pathway involves the largely overlooked cell wall, showing that this structure not only protects the cell but plays an important role in symbiosis and carbon circulation in the ocean.
- 2023.9.1 On August 26th, 2023, research on "skillful behavior of protozoa" by Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Hokkaido University) of B02-1 group was introduced in the video content of the web media "Rike Lab".
- 2023.9.1 Dr. Kazuhiro Aoki (A01-1 group) and his colleagues found that the spread of a red tide is caused by changes in the diurnal vertical migration (DVM) pattern of the causative phytoplankter. The results were published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin.
- 2023.8.22 On August 22nd, 2023, assistant Professor Yukinori Nishigami (Hokkaido University) of B01-1 group, jointly with B02-1 group, accepted overseas students (9 students from university and high school) supported by SAKURA Science Program (JST) and conducted a hands-on learning program on ecology and behavior of protist.
- 2023.8.10 Associate Professor Hironori Ueno (Group B01-1) introduced the field of "Ethological dynamics in diorama environments" in the university collaboration course "Let's observe the world of micro organisms!".
- 2023.7.19 The 20th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held in Fisheries Technology Institute (Goto).
- 2023.7.11-12 July 11-12, 2023. The joint research meeting International Workshop on Applied Mathematics was held at Hokkaido University between the Department of Applied Mathematics, National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, and Research Center of Mathematics for Social Creativity, Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University, which was co-organized by this research area. Associate Professor Katsuhiko Sato of the Planned Research Group B02-1 presented the results, and Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki participated and exchanged opinions.
- 2023.7.2 Associate Professor Katsuhiko Sato and his colleagues in B02-1 group found that nematodes transfer to insects using an electric field. This result provides an important insight into the mystery : how is small organism that slowly crawls on the ground able to spread around the world?
- 2023.6.27 In April 2023, UK based organization [Braintastic! Science] piloted their new show for children, Amazing Animals, at the Edinburgh Science Festival, featuring the work of B02-1 group (Professor T. Nakagaki).
- 2023.6.20 List of Achievements for FY2022" is now available.
- 2023.6.3 Associate Professor Hironori Ueno (Group B01-1) introduced the field of "Ethological dynamics in diorama environments" in a university laboratory tour of the SS Science Club of Toyota Nishi High School which is a super science high school (SSH).
- 2023.5.18 The 18th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.
- 2023.4.4
【2023.05.10 Publish】
A book related to protists, the subject of research by Ethological Dynamics in Diorama Environments, entitled "Dictionary of Protists" (Asakura Shoten) has been published. Seven members of the the planned research group and the publicly offered research group were involved in the project as editors and authors. - 2023.4.2 April 2, 2023. The research of Assistant Prof. Yu Fukasawa et al. of the publicly solicited group was published in Nihon Keizai Shinbun "Mushroom conversation? Electrical potentials were detected".
- 2023.3.24 The research team led by Assistant Prof. Yu Fukasawa (Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University), a member of the publicly solicited group issued a press release.
- 2023.3.30 Associate Professor Hironori Ueno (Group B01-1) gave a lecture in "Meeting for development of teaching materials using microorganisms" - observation of microorganisms contained in water from a nearby pond using a microscope.In this lecture, we introduced the research activities of "Ethological dynamics in diorama environments".
- 2023.3.16-17
March 16-17, 2023
The third area meeting was held online for research exchange. - 2023.3.15 Assistant Professor Yu Fukasawa (Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University), a member of the publicly solicited group, has published 2 papers.
- 2023.3.10 The research team led by Assistant Prof. Yu Fukasawa (Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University), a member of the publicly solicited group issued a press release.
- 2023.3.10
Assistant Professor Nishigami of Group B01-1, Associate Professor Sato, Professor Nakagaki, Postdoctoral Researcher Atsushi Taniguchi, Postdoctoral Researcher Charles Fosseprez, and graduate students of Group B02-1 gave a class to 40 students at Hokkai High School as part of the Hokkaido University Academic Fantasista Project (in collaboration with the Hokkaido Shimbun).
The theme was "Exploring the Ecology and Behavior of Protists", and participants learned hands-on through laboratory practice and lectures. - 2023.3.8
Assistant Professor Nishigami of Group B01-1, Associate Professor Sato, Professor Nakagaki, Postdoctoral Researcher Atsushi Taniguchi, Postdoctoral Researcher Charles Fosseprez, and graduate students of Group B02-1, in cooperation with the SSH project of Keisei High School in Hokkaido, accepted 14 foreign high school students (India and Australia) of the JST Sakura Science Program and others for a one-day experience.
The theme was "Exploring the Ecology and Behavior of Protists", and participants learned through laboratory practice and lectures. - 2023.2.23 The research by Prof. Nakagaki et al. in Group B02-01 was reported in the Mainichi Newspaper in an article titled "Amazing Ability of Slime Molds: 'Intelligence' Learned from Single-Celled Organisms", which was published online on the 21st.
- 2023.2.19 Professor Nakagaki, a member of Group B02-01, gave a talk on "Clever Single Cells" to elementary school students as part of the science club activity of "Team Kujira-go" an NPO (nonprofit organization) that conducts hands-on learning activities on marine ecosystem and environment for children, who will be responsible for future science.
- 2023.2.17 One-day workshop on mathematical life science was held at Kyoto University in collaboration with other KAKENHI projects in Transformatice Research Areas A.
- 2023.2.15 The research team led by Prof. Shinya Sato (Team B01-2) in the Planning Group issued a press release.
- 2023.1.28-29 Math & Modeling Lecture in Sendai was held.
- 2023.1.18 Two presentations related to this project, presented at the Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics in 2022, were selected as "Noteworthy Research in 2022" in Nagare, the Journal of the Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 41, No. 6 (2022)!
- 2023.1.15 January 15, 2023. The research of Professor Nakagaki et al. of B02-01 group was published in Nihon Keizai Shimbun "Learning from Living Things No.13 -The Optimal Route Guided by Slime Molds-".
- 2023.1.12 A study on "force-sensing cilia" (Prof. Ishikawa of Group B01-1 participated) was published in Science.
- 2022.12.8 The workshop on gamete cell motility for the members of our research area was held at Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba.
- 2022.12.7
Published December 10, 2022
Associate Prof. Kenta Ishimoto (Team B01-2) published a book “Microbial Fluid Mechanics: Exploring Motion, Shape and Flow of Life” (Saiensu-Sha) - 2022.11.18 Lecture video for junior and senior high school students by the Council of Joint Usage/Research Centers in National Universities (JURC)- As part of the Knowledge Base [SUGUWAKA Academia] series, Assistant Professor Nishigami (Group B01-01) and Postdoctoral Researcher Taniguchi (Group B02-01) , Prof. Nakagaki (Group B02-01) and others created and published “Ethological Dynamics in Diorama Environments at a Glance".
- 2022.11.13 On November 13, 2022, Prof. Nakagaki and others from the B02-01 group appeared on NHK TV program SCIENCE ZERO and introduced our research project.
- 2022.11.10 Prof. Takuji Ishikawa (Team B01-1) received the Fluid Science Research Award
- 2022.11.4 November 4, 2022 Exhibited at Science Agora sponsored by JST: We were able to welcome more than 550 visitors in two days.
- 2022.11.2 Professor Kazuo Inaba (Team A01-2) appeared in the NHK BS Premium program "Humanience: 4 Billion Year Plan" and his research on cilia was introduced.
- 2022.11.1
November 05-06, 2022
We will exhibit at "Science Agora 2022", one of the largest science events in Japan, in collaboration with Prof. Nakagaki's lab in Team B02-1 and Ethological dynamics in diorama environments (project number 406). - 2022.10.29 One-day Workshop on Cellular-level ethological dynamics towards "proto-intelligence" was held at Kyoto University.
- 2022.10.25 The research group of Assistant Professor Kogiku Shiba (Team A01-2) and Professor Kazuo Inaba (Team A01-2) have issued a press release on the scientific paper published online in "Current Biology".
- 2022.10.25 Sinior Scientist Tomoyuki Shikata (Planning Team A01-1) conducted an outreach activity to elementary school students (the Miiraku elementary school).
- 2022.10.11、2022.10.17 Senior Scientist Tomoyuki Shikata (Planning Team A01-1) was interviewed by the Asahi Shimbun about the harmful red tide in Hokkaido last autumn. The result was published in the morning edition and the electronic edition of the Asahi Shimbun.
- 2022.10.2 The research by Prof. Noritaka Hirohashi, a member of the publicly offered research group, was featured in the Sankei Shimbun's Close-Up Science section as a special feature article titled "The Reality of the Giant Squid of the Deep Sea in Reproduction" (web version and 10/2 Kanto morning edition and 10/17 Kansai evening edition).
- 2022.10.1 Associate Prof. Kenta Ishimoto (Team B01-2) received the 11th Hiroshi Fujiwara Prize for Mathematical Sciences
- 2022.9.22 Associate Professor Kenji Kikuchi (Team A02-2) and his colleagues presented a research paper entitled "Reciprocating intestinal flows enhance glucose uptake in C. elegans" with Professor Takuji Ishikawa (Team B01-1).
- 2022.9.10 On Saturday, September 10, Dr. Taniguchi and Dr. Charles Fosseprez, postdoctoral fellows of group B02-01, accepted a one-day college experience (five students) from Hokkaido Keisei High School, a super science high school, and conducted a hands-on course on an overview of "Ethological dynamics of protists in diorama environments".
- 2022.9.2 Senior Scientist Tomoyuki Shikata (Plannning Team A01-1) was interviewed by the Nishinippon Shimbun about the harmful red tide in a coastal area of Kyushu this summer. The result was published in the morning edition and the electronic edition of the Nishinippon Shimbun.
- 2022.8.28 Associate Professor Hironori Ueno (Group B01-1) gave a lecture "Let's look into the world of microorganisms" - introduction of various microorganisms and their research, observation of microorganisms in water using a microscope - at the Miyoshi City Library Learning Exchange Plaza "SunLive". In this lecture, we introduced the research activities of Ethological dynamics of protists in diorama environments.
- 2022.8.26 Professor Nakagaki of Team B02-01 will give a lecture on "Ethological dynamics of protists in diorama environments" for high school students at "Academic Fantasista 2022," a project promoted by Hokkaido University and the Hokkaido Shimbun as part of the "Science and Technology Dialogue with the Public" project by the Cabinet Office.
- 2022.8.25 Dr. Yuasa, Dr. Onizuka, and Dr. Kitatsuji (TeamA01-1) conducted outreach activities at a work-study program held at Hatsukaichi Municipal Ohno Junior High School.
- 2022.8.20 On August 20, 2022, the Plenary Meeting, with the participation of 74 in-person and 14 online, was held at Hokkaido University.
- 2022.8.24 Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki introduced research results and concepts related to our project on the website “RIKE Lab - Research Institute for Ideal Working Style in Science -"
- 2022.8.21 Prof. Kazuo Inaba (Team A01-2) conducted outreach activities at a lecture for high school teachers held at Hakodate Shirayuri Gakuen Junior & High School.
- 2022.8.15 Associate Professor Kenji Kikuchi (Team A02-2) participated as an online lecturer in "Field Biology of the Northern Sea, Intertidal Zone in Summer 2022" organized by Research Center for Marine Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, and conducted outreach activities to a total of five 2nd to 4th year undergraduate students from national, public and private universities.
- 2022.8.6 Assistant Professor Shiba Kogiku (Team A01-2) conducted outreach activities at Open campus in College of Biological Sciences, University of Tsukuba.
- 2022.8.5 Prof. Kazuo Inaba (Team A01-2) conducted outreach activities at an open lecture for high school students held at Shimoda marine research center, University of Tsukuba.
- 2022.8.4-6 Dr. Kitatsuji, Dr. Sugimatsu, and Dr. Yuasa (Group A01-1) observed a diurnal vertical migration of the toxic red tide dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi in the Yatsushiro Sea by R/V Yoko-Maru of the Fisheries Research and Education Agency on 4-6th August in 2022.
- 2022.8.1-5 Associate Professor Kenta Ishimoto (Team B01-2) conducted outreach activities at Mathamatics Public Lectures at Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kyoto University.
- 2022.7.25 Prof. Noritaka Hirohashi, a member of the publicly offered research group, conducted outreach activities for 13 high school students as a part of the STEAM project organized by Matsue Higashi High School.
- 2022.7.22 Publicly Offered Research, 2022FY has been adopted.
- 2022.7.21 The 11th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held.
- 2022.7.6
Prof. Ishikawa (Team B01-1) wrote a commentary article on diorama environment.
ScienceDirect - Bacterial behaviors in confined diorama environments - 2022.7.1
Published July 1, 2022
Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Team B02-1) introduced research concepts related to our field in the general interest magazine "Mathematics Seminar" (Nippon Hyoron Co., Ltd.). - 2022.6.30
Published June 30, 2022
The research by Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki et al. of the painting Team B02-1 was introduced as "Do organisms without brains have intelligence?" in "The Forefront of Life Science: Challenging the Wonder of Being Alive" by Team Pascal, published by Asahi Sensho (Asahi Shimbun Publications). - 2022.6.24 Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Team B02-1) together with Associate Prof. Takaaki Aoki, Faculty of Education, Kagawa University, Associate Prof. Naoya Fujiwara, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Tohoku University, and Prof. Mark Fricker, Oxford University, presented their research paper, "A model for simulating emergent patterns of cities and roads on real-world landscapes.
- 2022.6.18 Assistant Professor Nishigami of Team B01-1, Professor Nakagaki of Team B02-1, Postdoctoral Researcher Atsushi Taniguchi, Postdoctoral Researcher Charles Fosseprez, Graduate Student Shun Echigoya, et al.
- 2022.6.17 Associate Professor Kenta Ishimoto (Team B01-2)'s lecture video for junior and senior high school students "Quickly Understand Academia. Quickly Understand Fluid Mechanics - The World of Microorganisms -" is now available.
- 2022.6.14
【2022.10.29】 International workshop
One-day Workshop on Cellular-level ethological dynamics towards "proto-intelligence" - 2022.6.14 Research by Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki et al. of Project Team B02-1 was introduced in President online as "Rational Behavior without a Brain - An Amazing Single-Celled Organism that Won the Ig Nobel Prize Twice".
- 2022.6.14 Authors: Yusuke Ushijima (Japan Meteorological Business Support Center, Meteorological Research Institute) and Yutaka Yoshikawa (Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University :Team A01-1)
- 2022.6.11 Research exchange meeting was held in Sendai.
- 2022.6.10 The 10th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held in Sendai.
- 2022.6.6 Associate Professor Ishimoto (Team B01-2) of the Planning Team made a press release.
- 2022.6.2 Associate Professor Hironori Ueno (Team B01-1) conducted outreach activities at a Senior High School Affiliated to AICHI UNIVERSITY of EDUCATION.
- 2022.5.29
Published May 29, 2022
Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Planning Team B02-1 introduced their research in the general-interest magazine "Ale -Genre indefinite culture magazine-". - 2022.5.19 The 9th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held.
- 2022.5.1
Published May 1, 2022
Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Team B02-1) introduced their research in the magazine "Eureka" (published by Seidosha). - 2022.5 Technical support for sperm chemotaxis research was provided among Teams A01-2, A02-2, and B01-2 to help strengthen collaboration.
- 2022.4.20 Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Planning Team B02-1 presented "Online Science Cafe "Schrödinger's Wednesday (Wednesday Night Live 19:30-21:30)" and exchanged opinions with participants on the theme "Formulation of proto intelligence by Ethological Dynamics in Diorama Environments".
- 2022.4.16 The 8th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held.
- 2022.4.2 Associate Professor Kenji Kikuchi (Team A02-2) cooperated in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper "Nono-chan's DO Science: Why can water striders walk on water?".
- 2022.3.11-14 Technical assistance on ciliate swimming observation and mechanistic modeling was provided among Teams B01-1, B01-2, and B02-1 to promote stronger collaboration.
- 2022.3.11-12,18-19 Associate Professor Kenji Kikuchi (Team A02-2) participated as a lecturer in the 10th transgrade training course "Fluorescence Microscope Assembly Training" organized by Associate Professor Keiko Numayama, Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University, and conducted outreach activities to a total of 49 participants including junior high and high school students and teachers.
- 2022.3.17 The 7th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held.
- 2022.02.17 The 6th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held.
- 2022.01.27 The 5th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held.
- 2022.01.11 On January 11, 2022. Assistant Professor Yukinori Nishigami (Research Group B01-1)., together with graduate students Mr. Shun Echigoya, Associate Professor Katsuhiko Sato (Research Group B02-1).), and Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Research Group B02-1)., hosted six students from the Hokkaido Keisei High School, a super science high school, for a one-day university training program at the Institute of Electronic Science, Hokkaido University.
- 2021.12.23 23 Dec. 2021. Research by Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Research Group B02-1) and his colleagues has been published in Research News, Hokkaido University Homepage. Two Ig Nobel laureates discuss "Research that makes people laugh and then think"
- 2021.12.21 Dec. 21, 2021. Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki's (Research Group B02-1) research was introduced in "Kawaijuku Mirai-buku Plus Mirai-buku", a website for introducing "Outstanding Research Achievements" in collaboration with the Cabinet Office.
- 2021.12.16 The 4th General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held.
- 2021.12.15-16 Associate Prof. Hironori Ueno (Team B01-1) conducted outreach activities at a high school attached to Aichi University of Education.
- 2021.12.14 Associate Professor Kikuchi of the Planning Team made a press release.
- 2021.12.13 Q&A for Publicly Offered Research Application has been posted.
- 2021.12.11 Associate Prof. Kenta Ishimoto (Team B01-2) received the MIMS Mimura Award.
- 2021.12.04 Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Research Group B02-1) introduced his views on proto-intelligence at the panel discussion and talk event of "Challenge Field Hokkaido Seminar: What is fusion? Dec. 04, 2021, Sapporo.
- 2021.11.27 The 3rd General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held.
- 2021.11.25 Publicly Offered Research information has been released.
- 2021.11.24 We have released the site of Ethological dynamics in diorama environments.
- 2021.11.01 Planned Research has been released.
- 2021.11.01 This area has been adopted by the Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A).
- 2021.10.30 Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Research Group B02-1) and his group's research was introduced in the second volume of the book "Let's Talk about Disability! - Disability and Welfare as Considered by 'Kotonone'" edited by Kikuo Satomi, published on October 30, 2021.
- 2021.10.30 NHK BS1 World Documentary "Slime mold: A genius without a brain" televised the research of Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki and his group (Research Group B02-1).
- 2021.10.25 Associate Professor Hironori Ueno (Team B01-1) conducted an outreach activity at Aichi Prefectural Obu Higashi High School.
- 2021.10.21 The 2nd General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held.
- 2021.9.16 The 1st General Group Meeting (Regional Executive Committee Meeting) was held.
