The photons released by long gamma-ray bursts - the most powerful electromagnetic phenomena in the Universe - originate in the photosphere, the visible portion of the ‘relativistic jet’ emitted by exploding stars, according to simulations by RIKEN researchers.

The waveforms of circadian cycles in bacteria, flies and mammals become increasingly jagged as the temperature rises, two RIKEN researchers have predicted. This finding is a step toward solving the mystery of how circadian rhythms remain consistent under changing conditions.

Robotics Workshop organized by RIKEN was held on Sep. 12-13 at a beautiful campus of the International Institute for Advanced Studies (IIAS) in Kyoto.

Gilles Ferrand (ABBL/iTHEMS) and Tetsuo Hatsuda (iTHEMS) attended the workshop: Gilles gave a talk on "Virtual Reality and Robotics" and also conducted VR demo during the coffee breaks with Tetsuo as his assistant. All the 35 talks during the two days were "graphically recorded" in real time as the one attached for the Gilles case. (Some illustration company in Kyoto came to do this.) Although each coffee break was short (5-10 min), altogether six people could enjoy the VR of the supernova remnant. It was an interesting experience for us to interact with robotics engineers who have rather different way of thinking from the researchers in basic sciences.

Ade Irma Suriajaya (Chacha) is originally from Indonesia and shifted her field from aeronautical engineering to mathematics. We will introduce the beauty of mathematics, which Chacha has been eager to learn, going so far as to move from Indonesia to China and then onto Japan.