Latest news with #NobelPrize
14 minutes ago
- Business
Mitsui Fudosan to Open Hub for Chip Biz in Tokyo
News from Japan Economy Technology Jul 17, 2025 15:43 (JST) Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)--Japanese real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan Co. will launch a facility in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district in October to promote people's interchanges in order to strengthen the country's competitiveness in the semiconductor sector, officials have said. On Wednesday, the company said that it has established an organization, called Rise-A, for operation of the facility. Rise-A is headed by Nagoya University professor Hiroshi Amano, who developed blue light-emitting diodes and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014. "We'll provide a place where people from various fields can gather and hold discussions," Amano said at a press conference the same day. "The situation of power semiconductors (used for electric vehicles and others) is difficult to understand," he also said. "We can offer users important information by sharing latest developments." [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Nuke Deterrence 'Cannot Save Humanity': Hidankyo Member
Washington, July 16 (Jiji Press)—Nuclear deterrence 'cannot save humanity,' a senior member of a group of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors in Japan, said in a video speech at a meeting of scientists in Chicago on Wednesday. In the speech delivered in English, Masako Wada, assistant secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, urged policymakers around the world to 'take the leadership…toward human society free of nuclear weapons.' Wada stressed that members of Nihon Hidankyo, which won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, will work to arouse public opinion by talking to young people and sharing their own experiences. She criticized the emerging idea of nuclear sharing, in which U.S. nuclear weapons would be deployed in Japan, saying that Japan, which claims to be the only country to have been attacked with atomic bombs, may 'become an aggressor.' Professor David Gross of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics, said that Wada's speech was very moving and made him realize that what he and other scientists are discussing is a matter of human life. The meeting was attended by prominent scientists. Many of them voiced concern about the increasing risk of nuclear proliferation, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Iran-Israel conflict.
3 hours ago
- Politics
Nuke Deterrence Cannot Save Humanity: Hidankyo Member
Washington, July 16 (Jiji Press)--Nuclear deterrence "cannot save humanity," a senior member of a group of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors in Japan, said in a video speech at a meeting of scientists in Chicago on Wednesday. In the speech delivered in English, Masako Wada, assistant secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, urged policymakers around the world to "take the human society free of nuclear weapons." Wada stressed that members of Nihon Hidankyo, which won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, will work to arouse public opinion by talking to young people and sharing their own experiences. She criticized the emerging idea of nuclear sharing, in which U.S. nuclear weapons would be deployed in Japan, saying that Japan, which claims to be the only country to have been attacked with atomic bombs, may "become an aggressor." Professor David Gross of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics, said that Wada's speech was very moving and made him realize that what he and other scientists are discussing is a matter of human life. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Spectator
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Elizabeth Harrower – the greatest Australian writer you've never heard of
Elizabeth Harrower (1928-2020) became an Australian literary classic before she had fully established herself as an Australian writer. She had a rough childhood in Newcastle, New South Wales, and once contemplated lying on the road in the dead of night waiting to be run over. She described herself as a 'divorced child', saw her father Frank very rarely, despite his best efforts, and felt an inexorable loneliness during her days in the industrial city by the sea. Later she found herself in Scotland and loved it; and for much of the 1950s she lived in London. Returning to Australia, she enjoyed what seems like a romantic friendship with the novelist and playwright Kylie Tennant, a rollicking yarnspinner of a realist, though Tennant was appalled by the idea of her sitting in her room writing some horror story about a man. The book in question was her fourth novel, The Watchtower, and by the time it was published in 1966 Harrower was enjoying a close intimacy with Patrick White, who would be awarded the 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature. White was so intent on Harrower gaining recognition by winning the Miles Franklin award that he asked for his own entry, The Solid Mandala (the least successful of his major novels), to be withdrawn. But The Watchtower failed to win anyway. That novel, in all its black glory, was in fact the last piece of fiction that Harrower published, since she withdrew her next book, In Certain Circles, despite the fact that she had a publisher for it. Harrower's current reputation as a figure of interest has followed in the wake of Text Publishing not only reprinting the earlier books but finally publishing In Certain Circles in 2014. All of this Helen Trinca – the biographer of that most Mozartian of Australian expats, Madeleine St John – narrates with effortless clarity and élan. She makes Harrower's crowded, sometimes confusing life seem crystal clear. There is the rivalry with (and affection for) Shirley Hazzard; the friendship with figures ranging from Judah Waten to Christina Stead; and the constant murmur from White that she could write a wonderful book. It's interesting, too, that the actor Ben Whishaw loves The Watchtower and describes Harrower's work as 'incredibly moving'. It is certainly a big proposition to engage with. The Watchtower is an exercise in starkly expressionist prose which strains credulity with its portrait of the factory owner, who comes across to many readers as inhuman with his insanely casual proposal of marriage to one of the two sisters at the heart of the novel. The way they cope in this bizarre world of caricatures also confounds reality. Less fantastical, however, is The Long Prospect, the 1958 novel which Christina Stead liked. 'You have a remarkable sober acerbity… you are unique,' she told Harrower. The author of The Man Who Loved Children, with its weird masculine dialects, its intense evocation of girlhood and its foreshadowed aftermath, had every reason to see a parallel voice in The Long Prospect. It is the story of a 12-year-old girl, long-legged and super-bright, who forms an intense friendship with a chaste, empathic man of culture who plies her with Darwin and Plato and everything in between. They come to love each other, which prompts the girl's grand-mother, a baleful, self-centred woman, to imply abuse. This strange, challenging book has a somewhat wild structure; but the central flame keeps burning in a way that is moving for all its bravado. Clearly the Harrower of The Long Prospect could do anything. David Malouf defends her right to her own dissatisfaction with In Certain Circles, though it's clear that the paired couples and the cooler, sparkling dialogue was a technical advance. Trinca describes Harrower's delight at the late appreciation of her work, so skilfully effected by Michael Heyward of Text and the literary agent Jane Novak. This is a masterful biography by a writer who pulls no punches.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Al Was The Unluckiest Man I've Ever Known. Or Was He?
Alfred Nobel created the Nobel Prize near the end of his life as a public relations move. He had invented dynamite for mining and construction and did so with good intentions. Unfortunately, people used it as a weapon, killing thousands, and earning him the label, 'The Merchant of Death'. There was Alfred Binet, who invented the IQ test, with the intention of classifying children who need assistance. His test unintentionally fueled the eugenics movement and was a key tool for discrimination. There was Alfred Vanderbilt, who was one of the world's wealthiest young men and most eligible bachelor. He narrowly avoided boarding the Titanic, canceling his trip at the last moment. Unfortunately, three years later, he boarded the Lusitania, which was sunk by German U-boats. And then there was my friend, Al. Al was a fellow swimmer. He was 6'3", easygoing, and per my female friend 'handsome enough'. He had a good sense of humor and straw-like brown hair that was ravaged by chlorine. Al squeaked through high school and landed an athletic scholarship to our university. His father was a volatile alcoholic, the type who sings karaoke and is everyone's best friend in the first hour of drinking, and a belligerent monster for the remaining six. I saw it first hand when he came to town for a swim meet, which he overslept and missed. Al invited me to dinner, which was a bit unusual for 'parent's weekend'. In hindsight, I suspect he didn't want to endure it alone. Sure enough, his dad showed up at Applebees at 6 PM and was already blitzed, full of stupid ideas, and making inane, brutally awkward attempts to flirt with our waitress. He was a walking meme, stopping just short of wearing a varsity jacket and bragging about his high school touchdowns. It was a long two-hour dinner. I walked through the parking lot, exhausted, and immediately knew why Al had never touched alcohol. Then I winced, remembering the scene of me holding a cup of beer up to his face, playfully saying, 'Just one sip … c'mon.' As we walked to the car, I asked, with a bit of hesitation, 'So is your mom…more…normal?' 'She was. Yes.' 'Was?' I instinctively asked, thinking she'd become an alcoholic too. 'She died when I was 9. Ovarian cancer.' I nodded and got quiet, realizing this ridiculously nice guy had probably endured a terrible childhood. I knew his sister had left home at 12 to live with his grandmother for reasons unnamed. Al noticed me looking bummed out and gave me a half smile, 'Hey. It is OK. I'm all good.' I suppose he didn't want my pity. He'd probably gotten enough of that already. One month later Our college swim team was doing a mixer party with the women's lacrosse team. It was fun — your typical party scene, with lots of laughing, talking, and loud music. It looked just like those American parties you've seen in movies. A few girls were walking around in lacrosse pads. One teammate was shamelessly walking around in a Speedo and goggles, with a beer bong poised at the ready. Eventually, the night turned south as it often does with so much drinking. A couple of the lacrosse girls' boyfriends had become jealous of this mixer. They showed up to start trouble, trying to push through the front door. There was a bunch of shouting. No fists were thrown thankfully. But a few girls began crying and fighting with their partners. It was a total vibe kill. We decided to get out of there before things got worse. Two of us left with Al around midnight, who was the DD as always. He dropped us both off that night and I thought nothing of it. The next morning, I got an ominous text, 'Did you hear about Al?' Al had been hit by a drunk driver on the way back to his house. He'd been T-boned at high speed on his driver-side door. He was in the hospital with a broken leg, collar bone, shoulder, and two broken ribs. He was alive. He'd walk fine. But his shoulder was never right again and his swimming career was over. I stopped by to see him and he looked like a shell of himself on the hospital bed. His eyes were sunken, hair disheveled, and hanging over his swollen face. We hung out and talked for a bit. He was out of it from the pain meds and fell asleep mid-conversation. I saw his dad at the hospital that day, sober for once. The good news is that life went on as normal. He eventually returned to class and hung out with us. But not without great cost to him. Al didn't have the prestigious accolades of history's famous Alfreds. In fact, his background was mostly the opposite: absent of wealth, stability, and the type of love a kid needs. He inherited and then endured great misfortune. There was a time when I thought Al was the most unlucky guy I'd ever met. I was sure he'd break at any moment. How couldn't he? Yet, he's gone on to be quite successful. He has kids and a loving wife. And despite all the hardship, he's always had a great attitude. He has lived in defiance of the groundwork for so much sorrow. I know many others, who are born into relative privilege and spared of major tragedies, myself included, who have struggled to appreciate their lives at times. My father-in-law is one of the happiest men I know, despite having a troubled and turbulent childhood. He's a big storyteller and relays everything interesting from his life. Yet he has a DMZ line drawn on his childhood. We know nothing. That's how bad it was. People forget that luck, good or bad, is all a construct. It isn't actually a proven thing — in the sense of a mystical universe choosing favorites among us. Luck is just probability playing out in real time. It's more accurately defined as how humans choose to describe their lives. It's also a decent proxy for how people frame their problems. For example, those who believe in good or bad luck tend to be more cynical and less happy. The name Alfred isn't intrinsically unlucky. I just looked up a bunch of Alfreds from history and cherry-picked those who'd had the most bad luck. It was a whimsical way of framing a narrative, just as people do with their own life stories. I've heard from many readers over the years, who had horrible childhoods and lives —going through unimaginable trauma and disappointment. Yet many have gone on to be quite happy. I've also heard from people with lives you'd give anything for. I've tended to downgrade my definition of problems as life has improved. It's another pesky byproduct of hedonic adaptation. Yesterday, I caught myself cursing up a storm while setting up a new soundbar. You'd have thought I just caught someone cheating on me. I'd lost sight of how first-world, and truly spoiled I sounded. It is in the quieter moments, when sleep is elusive that the mind can wander and wallow in misery and egregious mistakes. I am reminded that happiness and contentment require intent. Life is messy and complicated, and one cannot feel better simply by comparing themselves to those less fortunate. It takes more work. It is a sense of presence in the moment, gratitude, perspective, lifestyle, community, and purpose that I have found the most happiness, as my unlucky friend Al did. But he'll be the first to tell you how lucky he is. Solve the daily Crossword
