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The group lead by Executive Researcher, YOSHIHARA Motojiro, and Senior Researcher, SAKURAI Akira, at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Kobe (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.) unraveled a neural correlate of Pavlovian conditioning. The feeding command neuron, which was discovered by the same group in the brain of fruit flies (Nature, 2013)1, was found to be hijacked by an originally-independent stimulus, leading to the conditioned response. Furthermore, the experimental system of Pavlovian conditioning made possible real-time observation of cell-cell connection for memory formation.
These results were published in Current Biology at 11 AM on August 4 (US Eastern Standard Time) in 2021.

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.), Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co., Ltd. (President: MOROHASHI　Hirotsune), and Waseda University (President: TANAKA Aiji) jointly developed the first transparent fiber-millimeter-wave-fiber system in the 100-GHz band using a low-loss broadband optical modulator with direct photonic down-conversion. The developed broadband modulator and photonic down-conversion technology were utilized to successfully demonstrate a high-speed transmission of more than 70 Gbit/s over a wired and wireless converged system consisting of two optical fiber links and a 20 m radio link at 101 GHz.

An international team of researchers from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Boston University, University of Leicester, Space Research Corporation, and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), led by Dr. James O’Donoghue, found that Jupiter’s intense aurora, the most powerful in the solar system, is responsible for heating the entire planet’s upper atmosphere to surprisingly high temperatures.

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.) has developed a broadband and high-precision terahertz (THz) frequency counter based on a semiconductor-superlattice harmonic mixer. It showed a measurement uncertainty of less than 1 x 10-16 from 0.12 THz to 2.8 THz. This compact and easy-to-handle THz counter operating at room temperature suits for various THz applications supported by the next-generation ICT infrastructure, “Beyond 5G / 6G”.

Researchers from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.), Network Research Institute, succeeded the first S, C and L-bands transmission over long-haul distances in a 4-core optical fiber with standard outer diameter (0.125 mm). The researchers, lead by Benjamin J. Puttnam, constructed a transmission system that makes full use of wavelength division multiplexing technology by combining different amplifier technologies, to achieve a transmission demonstration with date-rate of 319 terabits per second, over a distance of 3,001 km. Using a common comparison metric of optical fiber transmission the data-rate and distance produce of 957 petabits per second x km, is a world record for optical fibers with standard outer diameter.

NICT, along with ten other global leading-edge research and education networks in North America, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, signed a memorandum of understanding to join the Asia Pacific Oceania network (APOnet) and collaboratively improve high-speed network services in the Asia Pacific Oceania region.

The Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB) and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) will co-organize the Symposium on the Development of Frequency Resources 2021, under the theme of “Looking into the future ICT through Local (Rural) 5G and Beyond 5G / 6G” on July 9 at Meiji Kinenkan and on Zoom webinar.

[Highlights]
・Integrated cyber attack analysis platform "NIRVANA Kai" newly supports IPv6 and enhances its functions.
・Observation of IPv6 communications, collection of IPv6-related alerts, and real-time visualization of IPv6 networks
・Expected to simplify security operations in IPv6 networks.

Our dynamically changing lifestyle can make it hard for many to stay motivated on work and study, which calls for new intervention strategies. In a recent study published in BMC Psychology, researchers explore how nurturing feelings of gratitude can enhance motivation among college students. Their results show that a keeping a daily gratitude journal for only two weeks has a positive impact on academic motivations that can last months.