OIST x iTHEMS workshop series - Will We Find Answers? Exploring the Mysteries of the Universe and Life - Series 1 | Cosmic ray and Life project |

Through the course of evolution, new biological forms appear, diversify, spread to new regions, and ultimately go extinct.  A core engine of this process is the introduction of new biological novelties in the form of mutations to DNA sequences.  All of this plays out under a shower of particles incoming from space in the form of cosmic rays and their derivatives that varies in intensity in time and space, but the connections between these particles and biological evolution are not well understood.  In this talk I present hypotheses for how cosmic radiation may have varied over geologic timescales, particularly due to changes in the Earth’s heliosphere, consider possible implications for mutation and the evolution of life on Earth, and discuss how we might look for these.  Finally, I raise a more general question of what effects cosmic rays are having on biological systems right now.

A species' geographic range is a spatial manifestation of its niche — the environmental space over which it can maintain a positive rate of population growth. As the climate changes, these geographic ranges are expected to shift as populations track suitable habitats. Predicting such climate-driven range shifts is important for conservation planning and risk mitigation. The typical approach to modeling range shifts includes fitting environmental response curves for a species and then projecting these into future climate scenarios to predict where the species might move. In doing so, however, two critical factors are often ignored: the effects of biotic interactions and dispersal limitation. I will present two studies quantifying these effects. First, using a system of floating aquatic plants I show that species ranges depend not only on average climatological conditions, but also on the joint roles of competitor species and environmental fluctuations that can change our predictions of climate-driven range shifts. Second, I will present new results concerning the spatiotemporal dynamics of habitat corridor availability for plants tracking climate change in Japan, highlighting areas of importance for climate connectivity in the coming century.

This talk is a short introduction to the circumstellar habitable zone, its definition, historical context, and related concepts such as the Galactic Habitable Zone and Anthropic Principle. The presentation will also briefly explore the role of cosmic rays in affecting planetary habitability. The Daisyworld model will be used to illustrate the idea of habitability. Specifically, spatial and spherical modifications of this model will display how an exoplanet's orbital and rotational changes, including variation in inclination and eccentricity, influence insolation from solar radiation, similar to Earth's Milankovitch cycles. The final part will discuss the importance of understanding planetary boundaries, self-operating space, and tipping points, which are crucial for maintaining life-supporting conditions on Earth now.

In the intricate dance of molecular biology, the evolutionary conserved CCR4-NOT complex plays a pivotal role in regulating gene expression, acting as an orchestrator of mRNA decay, and a modulator of both transcriptional and translational processes. This talk delves into the multifaceted functions of the CCR4-NOT complex and the different regulatory modalities within animal physiology, elucidating its impact on gene expression dynamics and cellular responses to environmental stimuli including stress, development, and disease states. By examining the complex's role across different biological contexts, we uncover how it influences cellular resilience, adaptation, and overall organismal health. This exploration not only highlights the complexity of gene regulation mechanisms but also opens new avenues for understanding how organisms maintain homeostasis and respond to environmental challenges.

If cosmic rays induce mutational changes in cells, it should be possible to detect such an effect by comparing sea-level and deep underground mutation rates.   Does the overburden of the OIST Gallery provide sufficient reduction in the sea-level cosmic ray flux to permit a meaningful environment for such studies?   A combination of on-site, muon flux measurements, simulations and estimations of electron and neutron rock penetration have been undertaken to investigate this question.  The results of these considerations, which suggest that OIST is a suitable site, will be the subject of this presentation.

Healthy aging is an urgent need in rapidly aging societies. One cause of aging is cell aging. I will introduce how our cells age and how we can prevent it.

Stars with masses about that of the Sun become white dwarfs in the end, and some of them explode as supernovae. Supernovae are excellent "yardsticks" for measuring the universe, allowing us to conclude that the universe is expanding and filled with dark matter and dark energy. Stars with masses more than ten times heavier than the Sun explode as another type of supernova, forming a neutron star at the center. Neutron stars sometimes form a binary system, which merge by emitting gravitational waves and sometimes form a black hole. Supernovae are the origin of heavy elements relevant for human bodies and the Earth itself. Supernovae also emit cosmic rays that are dangerous for life in general but might have triggered the breaking of chiral symmetry in life. I will present these human activities to understand the universe with our research activities.

Imagine that you are in a room without information of time. The room is in a cave so that temperature and light-intensity are constant over time. Can you wake up tomorrow or day after tomorrow? In fact, most humans can wake up tomorrow and day after tomorrow almost regularly. It is because we have daily rhythms in our body. Biological experiments have shown that not only humans but also other many species on the Earth have these daily rhythms. In this talk, unsolved problems about the rhythms, and some approaches from the point of view of dynamical system will be introduced. Finally, I will introduce some recent study in literatures other than biological time, which might be of interest to you.

I believe evolutionary biology and astrophysics have a number of common interests. We are both dealing with a transient state (e.g. the biological diversity) that is constantly changing. We are both interested in the the processes that took place since the origin of life/universe to the present. We both try to infer past events based on current observations/data using theoretical and computational approaches. Here, I will introduce the basic ideas used to infer the past in evolutionary biology, especially on how molecular data (i.e.

DNA/protein sequence) can be used to reconstruct evolutionary history.

Coming soon...

The Universe is filled with high-energy charged particles, the so-called cosmic rays. The maximum energy of cosmic rays reaches about 2e20 electron volt, which means just one particle contains energy of 30 joules. Where and how these particles are accelerated up to that high energy are one of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics. It has been believed that cosmic rays with energy less than 3e15 electron volt are originated from supernova remnants in our Galaxy. However, recent measurements of cosmic rays and gamma rays revealed some new discoveries which are challenging to the supernova remnant origin. In this talk, I will review these new observational studies.

Exploring the persistence of living populations is a core pursuit in science. In this talk, I aim to shed light on life through the lens of the "invasion principle," which integrates various disciplines within population biology. I'll show how this principle applies across ecology, evolutionary biology, epidemiology, sociobiology, and economics. Additionally, I'll demonstrate its relevance to astrobiology and, time permitting, present an analytical approach to understanding the conditions necessary for the persistence of complex life forms.

Coming soon...

Coming soon...