Keiko Nakamura
    This year’s theme is observation—not simply looking at something with the eye, but pondering the meaning of that which one has seen. In Talk, Mr. Minato looks the question “What is observation?” through the eyes of a photographer. Our fascinating conversation ranged from the topic of photographs, which condense a single instant, to that which was not seen during the instant of photography becoming visible. A portrayal requires time, and incorporating a judgment of beauty by creating a circuit between eye, brain, and hand is also known in the world of science. It was pointed out that photography includes time in the form of rediscovery. This gave me a perspective for those times I consider the relationship between observing and knowing.
    Research has a discussion regarding the vertebrates’ response to the great change in their environment when they moved from sea to land with the method of adjusting calcium by converting their gills to parathyroid glands. It is a distinctive trait of living creatures to skillfully use whatever is on hand to adapt.
    As is described in BRH News, research has begun with a focus on us living creatures moving to land, particularly insects. Another research topic is providing visibility to metabolism, which proficiently incorporates decomposition, by attaching a marker to molecules. This gives me a real sense that we live in an age in which we can link that which we have seen with our eyes and microscopes to the movements of molecules.
    In Scientist Library, we find how Dr. Akazawa has created a new field in science utilizing the sensations from our daily lives, such as making human remains come alive, by employing the disciplines of engineering, anatomy, and informatics in addition to archaeology to examine fossils.
    One example of observation is using computer graphics to express the functions of molecules in the cell. We discovered that cells are a complex site into which many molecules are packed, and that they are a very large space for a single molecule. We continue new trials for viewing cells using these two bits of knowledge. We also reevaluated the image of Biohistory, BRH’s symbol, from the perspective of observation.
    There is also a biohistory lecture for medical students. They will know that life is the basis of medical treatment and that philos exists, as they enjoy our various contrivances.
    From seeing to observing…we search for a new view of life, humankind, and nature.