Friday Special Lecture for High School and University Students_2020
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Content List
Summer Semester Program 2020
#1 Mysterious structure of discrete dynamical systems [JP]
Discrete equations, such as recurrence relations, have long been commonly used to describe natural phenomena, but compared to differential equations, the mathematics required to analyze discrete systems is still poorly understood. This talk will introduce the mathematical role and curious properties of what are called "discrete dynamical systems," and explain their deep connections to other areas…
#2 Observe living cells with a super uber microscope［JP］
Our body is made up of about 37 trillion cells. Each cell is about 1/100 of a millimeter in size and invisible to the naked eye. Protein molecules working inside these cells are 1/1000 of the cell size, too small to be seen even with a microscope. Don't you want to see the molecules working inside a cell? I will talk about an amazing microscope that can make such a dream come true. NOTE: - T…
#3 Life in the Universe: How Many Stars Allow the Existence of Life? [JP]
How did the first life emerge from a non-living environment? How many stars in the universe allow the existence of life? This lecture views these ultimate questions from the perspective of cosmology. NOTE: - This lecture was conducted only in Japanese.
#4 Medicine and Society [JP]
Pharmaceuticals are products of science and technology, and there are many social systems to ensure their safe and secure use. Let's think about the relationship between science and technology and social systems, starting with the medicine we buy at a pharmacy in our daily lives. NOTE: - This lecture was conducted only in Japanese.
Winter Semester Program 2020
#5 Issues of Administrative Power from the Perspective of Countermeasures Against COVID-19 [JP]
Giorgio Agamben, an Italian philosopher, expressed his concern about the administration unilaterally declaring the state of emergency amid COVID-19 crisis and people getting accustomed to it, which provoked much criticism. This lecture discusses the role of administrative power by introducing Agamben’s study. NOTE: - This lecture was conducted only in Japanese.
Exploring how to make a brain-like tissues [JP]
We still don't know much about how the neural circuits in our bodies are made and how they work. To explore this, there has been a lot of research in recent years into creating brain-like tissues from stem cells. Is it possible to create tissues that mimics the function and structure of the brain? Let's think about it together. NOTE: - This lecture was conducted only in Japanese. ★Your shari…
#7 Interlingual comparison on modes of cognition［JP］
In this lecture, I will try to define "interactive mode of cognition" and "displaced mode of cognition". Based on comparisons among Japanese, English and French, I will try to explain how interactive mode of cognition is unique to each language in line with various phenomena. Through the understandings, we may consciously be able to overcome the differences between languages while acquiring forei…
#8 Considering Regional Invigoration: From the Perspective of Industrial Location [JP]
In recent years we often hear the terms "regional invigoration" and "local revitalization". When you think about the former, what does "invigoration" of a "region" mean to you? Starting from this kind of question, we will discuss with you issues over regions such as industrial location and migration of population. NOTE: - This lecture was conducted only in Japanese. ★Your sharing on SNS ma…
#9 COVID-19: A Potential Treatment Stemming from Basic Research at UTokyo [JP]
Human life has been threatened by the worldwide outbreak of an infectious disease with no remedy or vaccines. In what way can research contribute to overcoming this hardship? This lecture explains how Nafamostat was chosen to be developed as a potential treatment of COVID-19. NOTE: - This lecture was conducted only in Japanese.
#10 A New Encounter of Light and Materials: Invitation to the Frontiers of Optical Science [JP]
Light shows us strange and interesting appearances. People have been searching for the essence of "light" since ancient times. In the 19th century, light was shown to be electromagnetic waves, and in the 20th century, light was found to have an ultimate form called photons. The challenge to explore its true nature continued, and in 1960, we have a completely new kind of light: “laser”. Sixty year…
#11 The spread of group theory in mathematics -- Starting with the Fourier expansion --［JP］
In mathematics, a group is a set that has something called multiplication. The set of numbers is an example. Because groups can have anything that should be called multiplication, they appear in many situations. In fact, groups are one of the essential concepts for understanding various mathematics. Fourier expansion, on the other hand, is a method of representing a function on a number line by s…
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