The bird flu virus is often found in the droppings of ducks in parks, but it is not easily transmitted to humans. However, once the chickens in a poultry farm are found to be infected, why is it that all the chickens are killed in an effort to stop the infection from spreading to humans? In this lecture, we will discuss the familiar topic of "glycans," the third life chain along with genes and proteins, from the perspective of glycobiology.

　For the inherent contribution of engineering in improving the standard of living, it is necessary to give due consideration to the value system of the culture and customs of the society in which the technology will be used. In the case of constructing a drinking water facility in a developing country, where women are responsible for fetching water and there are restrictions on women's behavior due to local customs, this paper will show how the layout plan of the facility can be changed by introducing a gender perspective.

　The terahertz band is an electromagnetic wave region that exists between the electronics and optics domains. The development of light sources and detection technology in this region has lagged behind, and it has been called an unexplored electromagnetic region. In recent years, however, significant progress has been made with the development of femtosecond laser technology. In this lecture, I will introduce the generation of THz electromagnetic waves from organic ferroelectrics and a new method for visualizing ferroelectric domains using the generated THz waves. In addition, recent topics on polarization control of terahertz electromagnetic waves using the interaction between light and matter will be introduced.