{"id":17109,"date":"2025-09-28T12:02:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T03:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/?post_type=news&p=17109"},"modified":"2025-09-28T12:17:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T03:17:58","slug":"%e3%82%89%e3%82%89%e3%81%bd%e3%83%bc%e3%81%a8%e6%9f%8f%e3%81%ae%e8%91%89%e3%81%ae%e6%9d%b1%e4%ba%ac%e5%a4%a7%e5%ad%a6%e3%83%95%e3%82%a7%e3%82%a2%e3%80%8c%e7%a7%91%e5%ad%a6%e3%82%92%e3%81%be%e3%81%aa-2","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/en\/news\/17109\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Yoshitaka Ito Gives a Lecture at the University of Tokyo Fair \u201cLearning Science\u201d at LaLaport Kashiwanoha"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u3000The University of Tokyo Fair \u201cLearning Science,\u201d a pre-event for the Kashiwa Campus Open Day, was held over two days on October 27\u201328 at LaLaport Kashiwanoha in Kashiwa City. From the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, Professor Yoshitaka Ito, Director of the Research Center for Cosmic Neutrinos, gave a lecture titled \u201cMessages from Space?! The Mystery of Ghost Particles!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Professor Ito giving a lecture at Crystal Court on the 2nd floor of LaLaport Kashiwanoha\u2019s main building<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Professor Ito\u2019s lecture was part of a special program called \u201cMystery Solving! Kids\u2019 Science Exploration Team,\u201d<\/em> a collaborative project with Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport Kashiwanoha, where faculty members from the University of Tokyo Kashiwa Campus visit and share fascinating topics not usually covered in school. About 20 families who registered in advance sat on mats laid out in Crystal Court, and along with walk-in attendees standing nearby, around 70 people listened attentively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Ito began by introducing a small device (about 10 cm square) that detects muons, a type of cosmic ray that comes from space. He explained, \u201cYou can observe cosmic rays passing through something the size of your palm about once per second.\u201d He then described neutrinos\u2014mysterious ghost particles\u2014as one of the elementary particles that make up matter. Neutrinos are generated in places where nuclear fusion occurs, such as the sun, and are extremely light and rarely interact with other matter, allowing them to pass through the Earth and almost anything else. His explanations were easy to understand and included occasional quizzes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also talked about efforts to detect neutrinos through rare reactions in a massive underground water tank located in Hida City, Gifu Prefecture. He mentioned that the next-generation detector, Hyper-Kamiokande<\/em>, is expected to be completed in a few years and showed photos of the newly constructed underground cavern. He pointed out that photomultiplier tubes (PMTs)\u2014light sensors used to detect the faint Cherenkov light emitted by electrons scattered by neutrinos\u2014were on display at the venue, encouraging attendees to \u201ctake a close look.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 40-minute lecture, elementary school students in the audience asked questions such as \u201cHow big is a neutrino?\u201d, \u201cWill you die if hit by gamma rays?\u201d, and \u201cDo neutrinos disappear when they collide with water?\u201d Professor Ito answered each question one by one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The detector used by Professor Ito for the cosmic ray observation demonstration.<\/strong>
When a cosmic ray passes through the upper and lower scintillators, the white LED briefly lights up brightly, allowing the phenomenon to be observed.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Professor Ito answered the question from an elementary school student.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Shoichi Ogio, Director of the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research (second from the left), explaining the 50-centimeter diameter photomultiplier tube.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Puzzle and papercraft corner set up in one section of the venue, offering hands-on fun for children and families.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Overall view of Crystal Court at LaLaport Kashiwanoha, where the lecture was held.<\/strong>
Next to the reception desk in the foreground, a 50-centimeter diameter photomultiplier tube is on display.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u3000The University of Tokyo Fair \u201cLearning Science,\u201d a pre-event for the Kashiwa Campus Open Day, was held over t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":17103,"parent":0,"template":"","taxo_news":[18],"tag_news":[],"class_list":["post-17109","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","taxo_news-topics","en-US"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/17109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"taxo_news","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/taxo_news?post=17109"},{"taxonomy":"tag_news","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tag_news?post=17109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}