Imagine a picture with nine spots with three spots in each row. Without lifting your pencil, all nine spots should be connected by no more than three straight lines. Some people think that the line must not extend outside and must go through each spot’s center. Testing these guesses could solve the problem.

When hiring a new employee, Thomas Edison would invite the person over a bowl of soup. He would not offer the job if the person put salt on the soup before tasting it because Edison did not want people who depend on their guesses. Instead, he wanted to hire people who test their guesses consistently.

Producing new ideas often become limited by putting emphasis on guesses. The image with nine spots shows that any guess can be tested. Most people think the nine spots cannot be connected by one straight line, but it is possible. First is to cut and put them in a straight line, then draw a line through them. Second is move a brush with paint across them. People can be open to possibilities by accepting that many things must be taken for granted. Until people try proving their guesses, they will never see numerous possibilities.

Uchino Kanako really loved to explore the sea. Ever since she visited Miyake-jima, she has become very interested in the sea. With her growing interest, she read a book about Nainoa Thompson and the Hokule’a. She learned about the successful sail of Hokule’a with the traditional navigation skills that Nainoa Thompson learned in Satawal. She became interested in the traditional navigation skills, so she made up her mind to see the Hokule’a in Hawaii.

She studied ocean ecology at the University of Hawaii. At that time, the Hokule’a was back from its long travel. She was trained to be part of the crew and participated to repair the Hokule’a. The Hokule’a was planning to travel from Hawaii to Micronesia, and then to Japan in 2007. She was asked to be part of the crew which made her feel honored.

On their way to Okinawa, they became familiar with the movement of the stars, the waves, and the wind direction which are part of the skills they needed as they travel.

Ashura is a statue with three faces and six arms. This can be found in Kofukuji Temple. It is considered one of the most famous Buddhist statues in Japan. This three-faced statue shows three different emotions. The emotion of the left face is a young angry man. Second, the right face expresses pain and regret. Lastly, the front face shows repentance.

Many buildings and statues in Kofukuji Temple have been destroyed by natural disasters. While the Ashura remains strong up to this day.

Ashura is light that is why it could be carried easily during an emergency. It stands 153 centimeters tall and weighs 15 kilograms. This was believed to be one of the reasons why it is able to survive for almost 1,300 years. Although its original colors have faded over the past years, people can still see its original colors and how it looked before through its replica that can be seen in Nara National Museum.

The Hayabusa project in 2003 was considered an ambitious one. The Hayabusa was sent to space to get a soil sample from a tiny asteroid named Itokawa. Asteroids like Itokawa that have been existing since the beginning of the solar system were believed to help solve mysteries of the system’s origin.

Getting to Itokawa and collecting soil samples was almost impossible. Their first landing attempt to Itokawa caused damage to Hayabusa. They tried to get a sample again after a week and they were able to succeed.

When Hayabusa was heading home, its fuel began to leak. The battery almost failed, too. Fortunately, the team managed to solve the problems. However, things got much worse after a few days. Their communication was cut off for 43 days. They were able to regain their communication, however, they had to stay in space for three years more since they missed the opportunity to re-enter the Earth. On June 13, 2010, the Habayusa had safely landed on Earth.

Installation art is typically strange and disrupts people’s lives. It is usually seen in ordinary streets and buildings. It is sometimes called as an urban prankster.

A famous example of this is the installation art of the Merlion Statue in Singapore. A Japanese installation artist named Tatzu Nishi copied and created the Merlion Statue in 2011. The statue was placed inside a hotel room. Many people had become interested in it. Because of that, the hotel room was opened to the public from March 13 to May 15, 2011.

Nashi explained his art by saying that art is not limited to museums and galleries, its home is the people who are connected to the environment.

Mark Jenkins, an American installation artist, said that he created this kind of art because he wanted people to notice the world around them and understand it on a deeper level. He also described installation art as a stage wherein the people who see it are the actors. They become actors through their reactions and response to art.

Antipersonnel mines are under or on the ground and explode when stepped on to injure or kill people or animals. Many people who are injured by mines die slowly while others live in misery. To stop the misery, the Ottawa Treaty was signed and took effect in 1999. However, it is important to know how to eliminate the mines.

Hirose Shigeo, who has been building robots for many years, had an idea. He has been helping to eliminate mines since the 1990’s. His first mine-removing robot was called Titan IX. A snake-type robot was also being developed by Hirose. To help Afghanistan, the Japanese government joined Hirose and formed a study group to remove mines in 2002. They watched how the people find, dig, and disarm the mines. It was very dangerous, so Hirose thought of using mine-removing robots. When Hirose explained how Titan IX could eliminate mines, the Afghan people did not agree. They said it was too expensive and very difficult to fix when broken. But the main problem was they thought it would take away their mine-removing jobs.

Hirose worked on to solve the problems and developed a robot which he called Gryphon V. It is simple, cheaper than Titan IX, can easily be fixed, and uses its movable arm to mark where the mines are located. Workers will not lose their jobs because they can still remove the mines using their tools. Some scientists, researchers, and engineers from Japan have been working and making progress in developing different types of mine-removing robots. They believe that time should not be wasted, so they are working fast to remove mines around the world.