Today, I was one of 12 people who attended an intimate talk by Prof. Ryoji Noyori (Nobel Prize Winner for Chemistry in 2001) at our Tenpaku campus. He was welcomed by the research group leader Ohno.
The attendees were mostly from the Chemical Engineering, Science faculties, Pharmacy, and of course, myself in the Faculty of Foreign Studies.
Professor Noyori spoke for about 90 minutes and then answered questions, including my own on Japan's future with renewable energies. He asked which country I was from, and I explained that I was Scottish but have lived in Japan for over 2 decades. I compared Japan to Scotland and explained that while we are 2 island nations that Scotland is already carbon neutral with renewable energies and asked if he thought Japan could do similar things with wind, wave, hydroelectric, and tidal energies. He seemed to very much enjoy the question and explained that for climatic reasons, the most likely progress Japan will have with renewables will be PVs (Photovoltaic technology) by way of solar panels. He thinks that we need to create a common platform from where energy can be drawn and parties can establish a common system to work on.
Noyori sensei received his Nobel prize for his work on "chirally catalized hydrogenations," which, after some Wikipedia search revealed that he discovered how to help hydrogen bond to various elements with the use of catalysts to speed up and improve the process. What does that mean? Well, this process is used to make antibiotics like antibacterial lerofloxin and other drugs like antipsychotic agents.
He explained that in the field of STEM that we "must not allow foolish actors to bring our downfall," and we should do this by focusing on the basics at every opportunity. I think he was inferring that we must more regularly lift our heads and check we are going in the right direction. He explained that knowledge is different from just academia. This means that good ideas can come from everywhere and not only the elites of science and research.
We need to focus on R+D and D. Research and Development and Delivery. The stress was on delivery! Applied sciences need to be applicable to humanity and fulfill the needs of the people of whom science is researched in order to improve and maintain. We can do this by all being more agile (having the ability and skill to move in directions we want to be going) as well as more dynamic (moving with energy).
Knowledge is different from action, and universities should be more than certificates. We must affect society in meaningful ways.
I was particularly happy to hear him talk about serious considerations of Ethics (Rinri) and Legal progress. He mentioned serendipity, autonomy, and independence. Much of the talk was about our research (not his research) and the great implications that we have with each small step forward that we make. Kiyo kenkyu - small steps + progress.
The need for us to collaborate more and to compete less in order to progress is greater than the need for us to have individual claims to discoveries, patents, and licences. The dreaded (Gunchikenkyu) military research popped its head up for a moment as we were reminded that some places are at war now, and we, the scientific community, may get drawn into these conflicts because of governmental and other political decisions.
He stressed that as teachers, we should try our best to use all 12 months of the year to progress ourselves professionally by meeting others, making appointments, and visiting other academics and institutions through every opportunity, even during the "holiday periods". During peacetime is the time when we are allowed to do everything and this is exactly when we should do it.
The talk went on to talk about humanity's use of ENERGY and just to look out the window and see how we use it every single day. Making concrete for highways, buildings, roads, hospitals, plastics for packaging, and pwer for all the devices we use both at home and outside.
Of course, he is a chemist, and so he talked about Ammonia (NH3) and where it comes from. Nitrogen is easily taken from the air, but hydrogen is a bit trickier. Of course, his research was in hydrogenation and moving hydrogen in chemical processes, but all these things required ENERGY.
We need to look at ways to reduce industrial energy needs so we can match demand, we need to help society reduce their needs so we can meet their demands, and we need to develop security systems (weapons/communications/emergency response needs) to make the lives of people better. Of course, Japan is a country that suffers many natural disasters and is constantly recovering in one area or another, but we also need to think of outside our own country to the needs of humanity.
It was a pleasure to listen to a Nobel Prize winner and to be inspired to think about my own research and how I can perhaps make some change, no matter how small. A contribution is a contribution and step-by-step, we can make the world a better place.
Carbon neutrality is all about energy and making the world a better place for humanity.
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