Advancing Frontiers | Virtual Laboratory

The first step on the road to becoming a scientist is an insatiable curiosity about why things happen the way they do. There have been many examples of a simple experiment leading to a breakthrough scientific discovery. Here, you can get a taste of the work that made these women scientists famous, and there'll also be a quiz to test your knowledge. Come inside the Virtual Laboratory, and take your first step to becoming a great scientist!

To see the Virtual Laboratory, you will need the Flash plug-in. Click here if you do not have it.

		Ume Tange: Virtual Science Lab Let's make colored water! As a child, even more than playing with dolls or playhouses, Ume Tange liked such games as making red or blue colored water by squeezing blades of grass or nuts and making scales from a saucer and a thin stick. Let's do a chemistry experiment to see how the young Ume made colored water:

		Kono Yasui: Virtual Science Lab Try it yourself! When Kono Yasui was in the research department of the Women's Higher Normal School, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University lent her a device called a microtome, which was used to cut very thin slices of tissue so that they could be examined under a microscope. Using the microtome, she prepared numerous microscopic slides of plant tissue, carefully drew what she observed through the microscope, and finally completed a research paper accompanied by 120 painstaking drawings. Drawing with her own hand what she observed with one's own eyes doubtless helped her to refine her observations. Here you will learn how to observe and sketch some common plants, much as Kono Yasui did. (This discussion is related only indirectly to the subject of Dr. Yasui's research.):

		Michiyo Tsujimura: Virtual Science Lab Let's see how the temperature of the water affects the taste of the tea. Let's look at the chemistry behind a good cup of tea. There are a number of different varieties of tea, including black teas from India and Sri Lanka, Chinese teas of various types, and Japanese green teas. Each must be brewed a certain way to yield the best flavor and aroma. This is because the optimum temperature and brewing time depends on the chemical makeup of the tea. Even the brewing of Japanese green tea varies depending on the type of tea leaves used. For the best taste, fine green tea made from the newly emerged "first leaves" of the season should be brewed differently from bancha, a coarse tea that uses older leaves and stems.:

		Toshiko Yuasa: Virtual Science Lab Let's build a Wilson cloud chamber to see radiation. Working under Frédéric Joliot-Curie, Toshiko Yuasa used a Wilson cloud chamber to get her first glimpse of the path of a beta particle--an experience she never forgot. Experiments using Wilson cloud chambers are common in schools, and they can even be carried out at home. Read on for simple instructions. (This discussion is related only indirectly to the subject of Dr. Yuasa's research.):

		Katsuko Saruhashi: Virtual Science Lab Let's Get to Know the Earth System! Katsuko Saruhashi's research career began with the question, "What makes it rain?" Here, we'll explore the mechanism of rain and the circulation of the earth's atmosphere. (This discussion relates only indirectly to the subject of Dr. Saruhashi's research.):

		Tuneko Okazaki: Virtual Science Lab Let's learn about DNA replication! Tsuneko Okazaki and her husband Reiji Okazaki carried out numerous experiments to shed light on the mechanism of DNA replication. During these experiments, they discovered small fragments that appear early in the process. These "Okazaki fragments," as they are known, play an important role in DNA replication. Let's have a look at the structure of DNA and the process of DNA replication.:

		Keiko Yanagisawa: Virtual Science Lab Let's make plants move! Why can't flowers and plants move on their own? Why can't they make sounds? Does it hurt when a flower is cut? In fact, some plants do move. The leaves of the sensitive plant droop when touched, and those of the butterwort close up to trap any insect that lands on them. You can make some plants move. Try these experiments:

		Fumiko Yonezawa: Virtual Science Lab Let's experiment with saltwater to see how salt crystals are formed. Fumiko Yonezawa spent many years researching the properties of amorphous solids--that is, solids that are not crystalline in structure. However, almost all the solid materials familiar to us in our everyday lives are either crystalline in structure or mixtures that include crystalline solids. To get to know crystalline substances better, let's experiment with saltwater to see how salt crystals are formed. (This discussion is related only indirectly to the subject of Dr. Yonezawa's research.):

		Mizuho Ishida: Virtual Science Lab Let's learn about faults and earthquakes! To gain a better understanding of what causes earthquakes and how to predict them, Mizuho Ishida created a model showing the configuration of the tectonic plates under the Japanese archipelago. This was recognized as a major contribution to the field and came to be known as the Ishida model. Let's look at various earthquake and fault models and the Ishida model itself to better understand the movement of the earth's crust and its effects.:

		Chiaki Mukai: Virtual Space Mission Let's learn about gravity! There is no gravity in space itself, but spaceships contain air, and the resistance of this air creates an extremely low level of gravity inside the spaceships--about one thousandth to one millionth of that found on Earth. This gravity is so slight that astronauts do not feel it. In the gravity-free environment of space, various extraordinary phenomena that cannot be imagined on Earth occur. Let's look at some of these phenomena: