We will have next iTHES colloquim on 18th Wednesday this month. We invite Prof. Robert Sinclair from Mathematical Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology. He will give us the lecture entitled "Geometry before Euclid: How Life Explored and Conquered the Dimensionality of 3-Space." There will be other three short talks presented by iTHES members.

One-day iTHES workshop on the"Strong-Field Physics" was held on May 29, 2014, at room 433 in the main research building. More than 30 theorists and experimentalists from particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics and plasma physics got together, and discussed the current problems in the physics with strong fields: The topics include (i) vacuum birefringence in strong magnetic field, (ii) axion measurement by laser interferometer, (iii) strong magnetic field around neutron stars, (iv) magnetic field and gamma-ray bursts, (v) induced vacuum breakdown by high-intensity pulse laser, and (vi) astrophysical ZeV acceleration. There were very lively and constructive discussions during and after the talks among the people with different disciplines.

The 5the International Conference on Metamaterials (META’14) was hosted by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore on May 21-23. This is the largest international conference on metamaterial. There were many presentations and exchange of ideas on Metamaterials, Photonic Crystals and Plasmonics, and I also made a presentation about our research on asymmetric cloaking theory. I felt that these evolving disciplines are in harmony with the atmosphere of Singapore's rapid development.

I am Neill Lambert, a research scientist in CEMS and a research associate of iTHES. I am originally from the UK, and did my PhD in the University of Manchester. I moved to Japan as a researcher nine years ago, first working in the University of Tokyo before moving to RIKEN. My main interest is in harnessing quantum effects for new technologies. Primarily this is in the realm of nano-structures and devices like quantum dots and mechanical resonators. However, recently I became interested in the interdisciplinary field of biological physics, and I have published several works on quantum effects in photosynthesis and avian magnetoreception. This has led to new collaborations with physical chemists, computer scientists, and mathematicians. I look forward to applying this experience to new projects and problems in iTHES.