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Archive for September, 2007

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Cultural Interlude

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

31/08/2007 (still)

From cutting-edge deep-sea research to, well, the cutting edge (and deep-seated tradition) of making a katana, or Japanese sword.

Swordmaster

This is Sadanaga Kobayashi of Shimane Province, were one of the few remaining traditional forges is located, reviving a two-thousand-year old tradition.
[read on]

Posted in events, Japan without a Clue, Travel | 2 Comments »

Aliens of the Deep

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

Yokohama Exhibition Hall

31/08/2007

JAMSTEC, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth science and Technology, has its own SF club, and Tetsuya Miwa, from the Extremobiospheres Research Center (or XBR), is the president.

In the workshop which he chaired this afternoon, the boundaries between science and science fiction blurred in more than one sense.

The deep ocean has always seemed as alien to me as outer space, and it’s about as difficult to explore. Its inhabitants give most science fiction writers a run for their money. But footage of living deep-sea critters is still relatively rare and we are discovering new details all the time. For example, did you know that certain deep-sea squid have one red and one green eye? The green eye looks permanently into the abyss. And if you look at living fish under UV light, they reveal the most amazing patterns, implying that they see their world differently than we suspected. But these organisms are fragile: dead fish reveal little. To find out more about them we have to either go down there, or bring them up to us.

JAMSTEC does both: its (now missing) remote controlled vessel ‘Kaiko’ found amphipods at the bottom of the Mariana Trench at over 10,000 m deep, and the manned submersible ‘Shinkai 6500’ descends down to (guess what) 6,500m to collect specimens. Not only do these guys keep deep sea fish alive in hyperbaric chambers for up to three months, they establish tissue cultures.

And if you think that’s easy, think again. HeLa cells shrivel up at 300Atm, because the cytoskeleton crumbles. Enzyme binding is affected and calcium/sodium channels blunt under pressure. Cells can’t metabolize or signal in hyperbaric conditions without special adaptations. And it cuts both ways. (Saying that, I don’t see where they are going with the molecular research, because links are either restricted or in Japanese. Grrr.)

If you leave behind the conventional deep sea critters—as bizarre as they are—and venture into microbial ecologies, things get weirder still. By now most of us are familiar with the hydrothermal vents and the fantastic assemblies of organisms associated with them, including 3m long tube worms living in symbiotic relationship with chemotrophic bacteria.

But there are weirder things still.

Hyperslime—or rather HyperSLiME—is a technical term. It stands for ‘hyperthermophilic subsurface lithoautotrophic microbial ecosystem’. This sort of thing may have been the cradle of all life on Earth. Quite aside from the outrageous chemistry involved, pay attention to the subsurface bit. The research vessel DV ‘Chikyu’ is equiped to drill down into the upper mantle; and to look for subsurface microbes is part of its mission.

I leave it here. I have to go and get some air.

The D/V Chikyu, Jamstec

Posted in events, Japan without a Clue, Travel | 1 Comment »

Into the Swing

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

Pacifico Yokohama

31/08/2007

My karma seems to be turning around.

OK, that’s enough of the present tense. Most of my journal is actually written in past tense, and I’m finding that easier. After all, even if I’m jotting down things at the time, they’ve already happened.

I attended a surprisingly entertaining session on ethics and biotech, surprising myself by making it to the convention center in time for the 10 am start. Key quote: “If you allow panels of bioethicists to decide things, there will be no forward motion—except in places where there are no bioethicists.”

Both Robert Silverberg and Gregory Benford displayed a refreshing cynicism. Steven Baxter was in the audience (but kept quiet).

After that, I went to get a ‘Dining with a Difference’ ribbon, designed to make it easy to hook up for a night on the town (alas, today and tomorrow are party nights—I’m holding out for Sun/Mon). I also signed up as a volunteer. G. is right: the experience isn’t complete if you don’t volunteer. I have to work in order to make it work for me.

But volunteering would have to wait until tomorrow. Today, I would make the most of a crowded program.
[read on]

Posted in events, Japan without a Clue, Travel | 1 Comment »

Panels and Parties

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

30/08/2007

Sitting in a panel session at a science fiction convention feels exactly the same as sitting in a panel session at a scientific conference, or so it seems at first. The rooms are the same size, there are the same rows of standard-issue chairs—half-full—and there are glasses of water placed next to the speakers’ microphones on the standard-issue desks. Everyone looks sober, and people are wearing the same attire as I’ve seen during W3C 2007 in Banff.

But this is because it’s only the begining.

I should be paying attention, rather than doodle. The panelists are ready to start, and immediately I discover a difference: conference participants tend to be better prepared, but con panelists are way more fun. Who knew that one of my favourite writers is also an internet guru? (Shame that I lost my program notes.)

This first panel is titled ‘The Future of Computers’ and I’m listening with half-an-ear while fiddling with my Zaurus. There is no internet. The coin machine in the hotel lobby has no input, the computers in the lounge are frozen and so is the Zaurus, as soon as I plug in the wireless card.

I reckon it will be a while yet until the Singularity arrives…

After the panel, I go on an errand: out to the tourist information by the station where I feed 100¥ coins into the machines only to discover that they have no USB. Back to the convention centre to for some food only to find that the station was the better option. I miss the slide show about interstellar travel but realize once-and-for-all that I’m not at a conference when I watch the iado demonstration that follows:

Iaido Demonstration
.

21:00. The first party of the convention is shaping up nicely, taking place in the harbour lounge with spectacular views of the port. Helicopters fly over the canal, low enough to skim the surface. Any moment now I expect one of them to appear from behind the wall, bearing down on us like in the movies.

It’s sub-tropically warm (bliss) and I’ve relocated outside to the smoker’s corner. The air is like silk. All that’s missing is a big-ass cigar like that fella is smoking over there. That thing must be over a foot long.

Big-ass cigar!

Hang on, he’s coming over…

He offers me one of those cigars and I think Christmas has come early. We talk for two hours—it takes that long to smoke it. For some reason, we end up discussing career options. G has dug that I don’t enjoy being a ‘housewife’ in a village next to a bomb factory and lays out various paths for me: cheese making in Wales (too much competition), rearing carp in ponds warmed by waste heat from power stations, clock making, long-distance lorry driving…

I stop him there.

He also gives me a short introduction into fandom, which is a sub-culture all of its own and may well be the most interesting thing about a convention (rather than a conference). I mentally review my schedule and decide that it’s worth signing up as a volunteer for a few hours, to see how a Worldcon ticks behind the scenes.

G assures me that the volunteer ribbon is as good as a backstage pass.

Posted in events, Japan without a Clue, Travel | Comments Off on Panels and Parties

Japan Without a Clue

Monday, September 17th, 2007

<START TRAVELOGUE>

Virgin Atlantic to Narita

29/08/2007: Journey to Yokohama

I was duped out of 1,500¥ by the downstairs exchange office at Heathrow, which offered a lousy rate. I an attempt to turn around my bad karma (everything’s gone wonky in the past three days—ever since that writers’ group meeting where I presented the first 3 chapters and synopsis of my ‘novel’ to exacerbated cries of “Whatever you do, don’t show that to anybody!”), I gamely tried to take the Keisei line and tackle the Tokyo subway system all the way to Yokohama, which would have saved me almost 2,500¥.

I don’t know whether that would have represented good value, seeing that I spent about an hour trying to figure out the subway system before chickening out and ending up on the bus instead. Since I do not have a guide book (that karma thing again) and consequently no maps, I wondered whether that was a good decision.
[read on]

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Cultural Readjustment

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

Culture Contrast

Did I just bow when leaving the shop?

I’m going through a period of cultural readjustment. Earlier, struggling with my ailing hardware and seeing that John works for an internet company, I snapped at him: “I don’t know why I have to put up with this crap. You do realize we’re living in the twenty-second century—”

I think I can be forgiven, having just returned from Worldcon in Japan…

Posted in computers and gadgets, Japan without a Clue, Tadley Times, Travel | 1 Comment »

Things that are mildly annoying:

Friday, September 14th, 2007
  • You discover 3000 ¥ in your wallet that you’ve saved up for the airport express after you return home.
  • You discover 3000 ¥ in your wallet at the airport but there are no cigarette machines.
  • The rain does follow you home.
  • The USB on my home machine has crapped out as well, so there is no picture of the day (I have a choice between running the modem or connecting the card reader).

But seriously, I had a great time and I’m trying to collect my thoughts before starting to write about it. For the relatively uninitiated, Worldcon and Japan are equally crazy experiences, and when the two collide it’s spectacular.

And Japan has me by the throat. Whizzing around the country for a week on a railpass is barely sufficient. It’s a little sad that—in all that craziness— I didn’t really have the time or inclination to read and learn more. It was only during the last couple of days that I would really have been able to get stuck into the phrasebook. My bad, because a few simple phrases go a long way and it isn’t really that difficult. However, it takes a little while to get an ear for the language.

My worse (and my own fault) that I got hit by culture shock just before reaching Tokyo.

Well, I say it again. We’ll have to go back one day. Preferably for longer. And definitely better prepared.

Posted in Japan without a Clue, Travel | Comments Off on Things that are mildly annoying:

Two Near-misses

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

Crap: Tsukiji fishmarket was closed today, which I found out when I got there. Sumo wrestling is sold out too.

As if that wasn’t enough, the equivalent of a monsoon is washing over Tokyo right now, and all the Goth girls have sought shelter (sigh).

I guess we’ll have to come back (hubby and I) and do it all again!

By the way, tomorrow, the weather is said to be fine. Of course—I’m leaving and the rain will follow me to the UK 😉

Posted in Japan without a Clue, Travel | Comments Off on Two Near-misses

Another Photo of the Day

Monday, September 10th, 2007

View from Himeji Castle:

IMGP4124

Behold! I’m in Tokyo and have access to free internet. But do I want to spend my final two days blogging?

Naaah. You’ll just have to wait 😉

Just one thing. Today was the last day on my Japan Rail Pass and I had a lump in my throat as I stepped off the Shinkansen for the final time. I will miss riding the world’s fastest trains which run more frequently that the Northern Line.

Over the years, I have suffered much at the hands of British Rail 🙁

Posted in Japan without a Clue, Travel | Comments Off on Another Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

IMGP4060

I’ve uploaded a batch of photos. Update: please don’t look at them on Flickr just yet. I’m unable to rotate at the moment (who’s installed XP on the crappy machines at the Tokyo Inn? They keep acting up), so I’m going to mark all the side-on pics as private for now.

A proper travelogue will follow when I’m back home. It’s too late to start blogging now.

Posted in Japan without a Clue, Travel | Comments Off on Photo of the Day

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