Will this crystal give us bright future?

Will the search ship 'Chikyu'Chikyu, an about 56,700-ton deep-sea drilling vessel, bring hope from deep under the sea? We are waiting for the result of the prospective trial, drillng the hopeful crystal 'Methane hydrate'. The trial project has started at about 70km off the south east region around Atsumi Peninsula, Aichi prefecture.

People in Japan strongly hope that the icelike methane will become the "next generation" energy for Japan.

Methane hydrate was discovered only a few decades ago, and little research has been done on it until recently. By some estimates, the energy locked up in methane hydrate deposits is more than twice the global reserves of all conventional gas, oil, and coal deposits combined. But no one has yet figured out how to pull out the gas inexpensively, and no one knows how much is actually recoverable.

We hope that government and project team establish lauicelike methane as conventional energy.

Tribute to Whitney Houston

In a silent and dark banquet room, excited guests waited for their hosts to get inside. When the spotlight started to focus on the main entrance door, the song "I will Always love you" welcomed the bride and groom in a formal attire and holding a torch to ignite the candle. They held the torch together while entering the room.The couple rounded the hall to lit the candles on each guest's table. The moment Whitney reached the highest note of "And I will always love you," the couple was inflaming the main candle. Not only this couple but also all their guests felt the blissful happiness in the wedding ceremony. This was a typical scene in wedding parties in Japan.

Whitney Housten was one of the foreign singers who reigned Japan twenty years ago. Her golden age flourished during Japan's bubble economy.

 The most impressive movie that made her popular was "The Bodyguard." Many people went to the movie theater and bought her CD. She was one of the popular American singers in Japan. Her song reminds me of my studenthood. Twenty years have passed since I was a university student. I really feel that time flies like an arrow.

Tonight I'll try to reminisce my youth a little bit.