Science News 2011（English）

2011年　5分　Science News 2011（English） 　Professor Shibata’s group uncovered the true nature of our sun using both observational and theoretical approaches. 暮らし 学習／教育 サイエンス ニュース Kazunari Shibata　Professor of Graduate School of Science　Director of Kwasan and H　　Andrew Hiria　Doctoral course of Graduate School of Science Kyoto University　　Professor of Graduate School of Science　Director of Kwasan and H

The nuclear power plant accident triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake has drawn new attention to renewable energy. According to a study by the Ministry of the Environment, among the various types of renewable energy, wind power has the highest introduction potential by far with an installed capacity of 1.9 billion kW. However, introduction would require legal acts, supporting projects, and technological innovation. At Kyushu University, a large-scale demonstration facility for a wind power system called the wind-lens turbine was completed at the Ito Campus. While providing power to the campus, tests to increase the scale of the system will be conducted. For the next stage, Professor Yuji Ohya, one of the developers of this system, plans to build an offshore wind farm in Hakata Bay to conduct field tests, and also has a concept to establish a Multi-source offshore energy farm on the Genkai Sea in the future.

Among the many reports of abnormal weather patterns in the Arctic, one piece of news that spread throughout the world in spring 2011 was that the ozone hole above the Arctic Circle had expanded to its largest size ever, with possible consequences on Europe, North America, and Japan. Why did such a significant depletion of the ozone layer occur where it was previously deemed unlikely? What kind of impact did this have on Japan? What is going to happen with the Arctic ozone hole? Dr. Hideaki Nakajima of the National Institute for Environmental Studies has been monitoring ozone over the North and South poles in collaboration with environmental scientists from around the world, answers these questions.

RIKEN and Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) have completed Japan's first X-ray free electronic laser (XFEL) facility, named SACLA, which had been under construction at Harima Science Garden City since 2006. XFEL is said to be the “dream light,“ a completely new form of light for humankind. What kind of light is XFEL? What will it make possible? What distinguishes SACLA from competing XFEL facilities in the United States and Europe? These are the questions that are answered in this program.

The next-generation supercomputer “K” being developed by RIKEN and other institutes placed first in a ranking announced in June evaluating super computer performance.

The biggest hurdle to utilize solar power generation is the cost. The next-generation of solar cells is expected to be organic-based designs and cheap and simple to mass produce.

High-rise buildings which are several hundred kilometers away from the epicenter of the earthquake were seen swaying for more than 10 minutes on March 11. The soft ground brought this phenomenon.