The Jungle Book

Here in Japan, the particle accelerator where I work is actually made up of a chain of three accelerators: a linear accelerator to start with, a medium size circular (actually more like triangular) synchrotron and the main ring. 

In the main control room, whenever something goes wrong with the accelerator, a sort of alarm goes off to alert the operators. If the problem is with the linear section, an almighty elephant trumpet echoes through the room. If it’s further downstream in the first ring, a troop of monkeys invades the place. And to make things even more interesting, a lion roar announces problems with the main ring, but it sounds more like a kitten meowing. 

On a really bad day, the place feels like a scene from the Jungle Book. Who said scientists have no sense of humour?

Green, Yellow and Red

Autumn in Japan can be amazing especially in November when it’s quite dry and the famous “autumn leaves” change the landscape dramatically. Nature happily blends nuances of green, yellow and red to completely redecorate the scenery creating moments of breathtaking beauty. And then, like an artists in his moment of madness, it strips all the leaves from the trees and allows the canvas to rest for the winter.

In one of my travels around Japan I asked someone if the autumn leaves have appeared yet in the neighbouring forests. After a few seconds of contemplation, pointing towards the mountains he produced the most enlightening answer:

“Green, green, green, green... Yellow! Green, green, green, green... Red! Green, green, green, green... Yellow...”.

Not quite the right time, yet...

Hot Water

Here in Japan, next to where I work there’s a nuclear power station right on the shore of the Pacific Ocean. Its installed power is about 1 GW. Nuclear power plants usually run with an efficiency of about 30 – 35%, which means that for this particular one, about 2 GW of power ends up dissipated as heat. The cooling system dumps this heat in the ocean as hot water at 40 degrees centigrade or so. This is enough to keep a small bay nearby warmer throughout the year. It looks like this extra heat creates a small microclimate and fish and marine life tend to grow larger than normal. This might be just a local legend, but I’ve seen quite a few fishermen around patiently waiting for the big catch. I guess one could find a logical explanation for this. The extra heat creates a more hospitable environment for algae and other marine life which will grow more rapidly and abundantly. And with more food available, it is only normal for fish to grow larger.

Body Language

Unless you speak Japanese, the only real language you can actually use if you’re visiting Japan, is your body language. I’ve done pretty well so far miming food, or sleep or partial differential equations. But it doesn’t always work.

I started to get some dandruff, so I went to a big supermarket to get some antidandruff shampoo. It turned out it wasn’t as simple as I thought. My desperate attempts to show some flakes falling from my hair only attracted giggles from some otherwise very helpful shop assistants. Poor girls! I bet they thought I was looking for flea powder for monkeys... Eventually a quick google search solved the problem.

Things got even more interesting when I went to get a haircut. I was greeted by a very nice lady, who was obviously accustomed with more chatty customers. All I could do was smile back and nod every few seconds. Eventually our discussion came down to what I took as “How do you want your hair cut?”. Mime that! “Well”, I said trying my luck, “I like to keep it a bit longer, but not too long...”. After a while, her perplexed look told me I was running out of luck. As she stood there waiting, scissors in one hand and a big hair comb in the other, I realised I had this leaflet in my pocket from a concert I went to the night before. It was all in Japanese, but it had some pictures with several artists. “Here”, I said pointing at one of the pictures. “I want his haircut”. She quickly took the leaflet, put it next to the mirror and started meticulously cutting my hair. Every once in a while she would go back to consult the picture, probably wishing she had a 3D image of the guy, or at least a couple of police photos.

But sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can’t get by unless you can speak a few words. I’ve eaten something strange earlier this week and I started to feel very sick. I had to go to see a doctor. Now, how do you explain symptoms like vomiting and diarrhoea without the use of language? Well, I couldn’t. And my book of useful Japanese phrases wasn’t of much help either. Eventually they had to find an English speaking doctor, for an ignorant gaijin.

Relief!

Warnings

I’ve witnessed my first earthquake about a week ago. It was quite interesting. Everything started vibrating slightly as if the whole building was being shaken by a giant evil kid. It only lasted for a few seconds. I was just about to jump under a desk as instructed by my wise mother (who’s been through a 7.2 magnitude earthquake back in Romania in 1977).

My Japanese colleagues however were calm and unperturbed. That's probably because they’ve seen this happening every week or so. And also because a few seconds before, the Early Earthquake Warning System promptly kicked in. Of course, I had no idea what the voice on the loudspeakers was saying. But the system itself is quite clever. Using seismographs located everywhere in the country, the magnitude of the earthquake is quickly estimated, as well as the expected arrival time and intensity of the main shock wave at different locations. Then the warning signal is instantly sent out giving people precious seconds to get ready. At the same time, many automatic systems do their job, like slowing down trains and controlling elevators. Impressive!

Of course, sometimes these warnings go a bit too far. Like the other night for instance. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard this voice coming from the living room. I took my baseball bat ( :P ) and slowly opened the door. It turned out the voice was coming from this speaker, which I hadn’t noticed. It went on for about a minute and then it stopped. All in Japanese, of course. It was nearly midnight and thinking it must have been something important I went to the reception to get some answers. It turned out that a thunderstorm was coming our way. They just wanted to reassure their guests that everything was fine, and that loud thunders and flashing lights are quite normal during such a storm. Thanks a lot!