In a fusion reactor, it is necessary to heat the plasma up to 100 million degrees Celsius and to control the plasma pressure and current profile to the optimum state for better confinement of the energy stored in the plasma. In this seminar, we will introduce plasma heating and current drive using electromagnetic waves as a method to control these plasmas.

Organisms that have transformed into anhydrobiosis, a physiological state in which they do not die even if they are parched, can not only withstand several years or more of aridity while maintaining the ability to revive, but can also withstand a variety of stresses, including high and extremely low temperatures, radiation, high pressure, and vacuum.　The nemuri chironomid (Polypedilum vanderplanki), which inhabits semi-arid regions of Africa, is the largest animal with anhydrobiosis capacity. In this talk, I would like to discuss the latest information on the study of the nemuriid lily. In particular, I will emphasize that the use of the lacewing as a model organism has opened the door to the identification of the gene responsible for anhydrobiosis.

Innovations in society and industry using IoT and AI, such as Society 5.0 and Industry 4.0, are attracting attention. It is important to know how to handle the large amount of digitized information, but at the same time, we need to improve the measurement and observation technologies to acquire information from the real world. This lecture outlines how optical fibers, which have played a role in the communication revolution, also have high potential as sensors.