Jeffery Fawcett received "FY2020 Researcher Incentive Award (桜舞賞)" on March 17, 2021 for his achievements in the "Study of genome evolution using large-scale genomic data". Congratulations!

-- Imagining and prototyping future information storage devices based on scientific theories.--

The first prototype of the Useless Prototyping Studio, "Black Hole Recorder," has been completed and is now on display at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation from March 14 (Sun.) to 21 (Sun.), 2021.

The "Useless Prototyping Studio", which uses seemingly useless prototypes to visualize the possibility that curiosity about the unknown can create the future, has created its first prototype, the "Black Hole Recorder," a future information storage device. The outline and background information are available on a special website released today, March 12. In addition, as an opportunity for the general public to view the recorder, it will be exhibited at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in Koto-ku, Tokyo, from March 14 (Sunday), the birthday of Albert Einstein and the death anniversary of Stephen Hawking, the two scientists who developed the basic theory of black holes.

The Black Hole Recorder is a prototype black hole storage device developed with an eye to the future where black holes can be controlled and used as a device to store information. Based on the motif of a phonograph, it implements a device that can record huge amounts of data. In addition to storing large amounts of information, it is also capable of retrieving the information it has captured. Since the invention of writing thousands of years ago, humans have evolved the media and technologies for recording information from paper, printing, photography, phonograph, video, and data. In recent years, developments have been made to see how large a quantity of information can be stored. And in the future, we can think of the possibility of a time when black holes can be used as information storage and carried around in our pockets.

On March 16th, Prof. Takahiro Morimoto from the University of Tokyo gave an online talk on geometric nonlinear optical effects. First, he introduced topological states of matter and the notion of the Berry connection to the audience. He explained how these concepts lead to the quantization of observable quantities in the linear-response regime so that the audience learned the background to understand his main research works. After the introduction, he talked about several geometric nonlinear effects in topological states beyond the linear response theory. In particular, the shift current stems from the geometric nonlinear response, and the quantized circular photogalvanic effect can be realized in specific Weyl semimetals. In addition to the theoretical concepts, he also discussed experimental observations, such as perovskite-based solar cell materials and chiral multifold fermion compound RhSi. During and after the talk there were interactive discussions, and more than 25 participants attended this well-presented talk.

Reported by Chen-Hsuan Hsu (CEMS, RIKEN) and Ching-Kai Chiu