Capital Science and Other Lectures - Tracks

DR. HEIDI CULLEN - SEEING CLIMATE, SEEING CHANGE: COMMUNICATING CLIMATE SCIENCE IN A CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPE The financial collapse of 2009 brought with it major changes in the economic, political, as well as media landscape. This talk will explore how these ongoing changes have affected the public’s perception of climate change as well as discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the United States as world leaders gather in Paris later this year for United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-21). One of those challenges will require creating new models for science journalism and one of those opportunities may require a redefinition of what it means to be a scientist. Dr. Heidi Cullen, Chief Scientist, Climate Central

Dr. Robert P. Kirshner Clowes Professor of Science, Harvard University The expanding universe was discovered at Mount Wilson almost 100 years ago. But there is something new! In the past 20 years, astronomers have found that cosmic expansion is speeding up, driven by a mysterious “dark energy” whose nature we do not understand. Dr. Kirshner, one of today”s preeminent astrophysicists, is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (sponsored by Google, among others), as well as the 2014 James Craig Watson Medal of the National Acad- emy of Sciences for “service to astronomy.” Partial funding for Carnegie Observatories' 2015 Astronomy Lecture Series was provided by The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation. The lectures were hosted by A Noise Within (http://www.anoisewithin.org/). Video production by Neighbors Video Services (http://www.neighborsvideo.com).

Dr. Juna Kollmeier Staff Scientist, Carnegie Observatories Black holes remain among the most enigmatic objects in the universe. Using both computer simulations and traditional analytic theory, Dr. Kollmeier is making major discoveries showing how tiny fluctuations in density in the early universe have become the galaxies and black holes that we see after 14 billion years of cosmic evolution. In this Lecture, Dr. Kollmeier will review our basic knowledge of black holes and explore outstanding mysteries regarding their formation and structure. Partial funding for Carnegie Observatories' 2015 Astronomy Lecture Series was provided by The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation. The lectures were hosted by A Noise Within (http://www.anoisewithin.org/). Video production by Neighbors Video Services (http://www.neighborsvideo.com).

Dr. Matthew P. Scott President, Carnegie Institution for Science Carnegie Astronomy is also part of Carnegie Science and the study of all living species. From ancient single-celled organisms evolved multicellular animals whose immense numbers of specialized cell types—skin, muscle, nerve—allow division of labor. Each cell type forms in the right place, is suited to its task, and activates certain genes. Powerful cell-to-cell communication systems organize structured tissues such as lungs, limbs and brain. Dr. Scott will discuss half-billion-year-old genes that have been gradually modified to give rise to the vast diversity of animals. Partial funding for Carnegie Observatories' 2015 Astronomy Lecture Series was provided by The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation. The lectures were hosted by A Noise Within (http://www.anoisewithin.org/). Video production by Neighbors Video Services (http://www.neighborsvideo.com).

Dr. John Mulchaey Staff Scientist Carnegie Observatories The light we see with our eyes only tells a small part of the Universe's story. To get a complete picture of how the Universe works, astronomers must study objects over the full range of light, the electromagnetic spectrum. This includes gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, micro- waves and radio waves. Each type of light requires different instruments, and provides unique information about the source that emitted it. Dr. Mulchaey will explain how Carnegie astronomers and their colleagues are combining observations across the electromagnetic spectrum to help solve the mysteries of the Universe. Partial funding for Carnegie Observatories' 2015 Astronomy Lecture Series was provided by The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation. The lectures were hosted by A Noise Within (http://www.anoisewithin.org/). Video production by Neighbors Video Services (http://www.neighborsvideo.com).

Speaker: Dr. Matthew P. Scott Why do we look like our parents? We inherit particular versions of genes that shape our growth. For a long time these genes were unknown and it was suspected that each class of animals would have distinct “designer genes.” Explosive progress has identified hundreds of genes that work together to shape animal growth, sculpting their tissues and organs, even the instincts embedded in brains. Surprisingly, scientists have found that many designer genes have been highly conserved during evolution. Some genes play similar roles, like controlling heart or eye development, in diverse animals. Different animals use related genes for related purposes because their common ancestors did. Damage to the designer genes can lead to birth defects, cancer, and neurodegeneration, so exploring how body-shaping genes function leads to new types of medical diagnosis and treatment.

Speaker: Noam Elkies In a musical canon – be it “Three Blind Mice” or the climax of a Bach fugue – a tune acts as its own harmony. Thinking about how canons work leads us to look at musical structure from points of view usually associated with science and mathematics rather than the arts. The lecture will be illustrated with diagrams as well as musical examples (including recordings, live performance and improvisation), and will require no technical background in either music or mathematics. Dr. Elkies references two other videos in his presentation. The first, Ray Chen | Franck Violin Sonata | 4th Mvt | Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition | 2009 is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpCf3FZytQ4 The second is no longer available. It had been located at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tHHOgom54k

Speaker: Paul Fuchs A remarkable set of molecular mechanisms converts sound waves into electrical signals and encodes frequency content within the inner ear. “Feedback” by tiny cellular amplifiers can cause the ear to produce sound, while the brain employs a unique mode of neuronal inhibition to partially deafen the ear. These and other observations have led to important insights into how we hear, how this process can go wrong, and what we hope to do about it.

Speakers: Dr. James Gates, University of Maryland, Department of Physics Dr. Larry Gladney, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Physics and Astronomy Dr. Herman White, Jr., Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Stunning new discoveries at the frontiers of physics, including the discovery that dark energy and dark matter constitute 95% of the universe, have profoundly challenged our understanding of fundamental physics. Either our view of empty space at the very smallest scales is wrong or our view that Einstein's theory of gravitation works on large distance scales is incorrect. The Three Cosmic Tenors will touch on string theory, particle physics and mathematical astrophysics to illuminate what the universe is made of and how it is evolving.

Dr. Juergen Knoblich Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology Winner of the 2009 Wittgenstein Prize, Dr. Knoblich was honored for his work on asymmetric cell division. A revolution is currently underway in the field of cancer research. Scientists have discovered unexpected roles for stem cells in cancer development that challenge current therapeutic approaches and open new avenues for cancer treatment. Dr. Knoblich has used the fruitfly Drosophila to identify the cellular defects that turn normal stem cells into cancer-initiating cells. He will explain the cancer stem cell hypothesis and its impact on treatment. He will also tell us how research in fruitflies has solved some of the greatest puzzles in biology, leading to a better understanding of cancer. Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Office of Science & Technology at the Embassy of Austria and the Austrian Science Fund FWF.

Jesse H. Ausubel, Director of the Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University The recently completed first Census of Marine Life was a cooperative international effort to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life. Program co-founder Jesse H. Ausubel will report on the most comprehensive answers yet to one of humanity's most ancient questions—"what lives in the sea?" The Census combined information collected over centuries with data obtained from 540 expeditions during the decade-long effort to create a roll call of species globally and in 25 biologically representative regions—from the Antarctic through temperate and tropical seas to the Arctic. The Census helped set a baseline for measuring future changes in Earth's oceans.

Persis S. Drell Professor, Stanford University The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is the world's brightest source of hard X-ray laser light. Not only is this light a billion times brighter than any previous hard X-ray source, it also comes in strobe-like pulses just a few millionths of a billionth of a second long. This combination of high intensity and ultrafast shutter speed allows scientists to make stop-motion images of very fast processes at a very small scale—the scale of atoms and molecules. Dr. Drell will focus on the conception, construction, and start up of the LCLS, as well as some of the first experimental results, with a view to the new frontier of science that this remarkable tool has opened.

Thursday, September 27, 2012 - 6:45 PM Balzan Lecture - From Here to Eternity Joseph I. Silk Institut d'Astrophysique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University Beecroft Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, University of Oxford Astronomers peer back into the past with the world's largest telescopes. They see billions of galaxies, and they find indications of evolution and youth. Before the first galaxies, more than ten billion years ago, there were the Dark Ages. And before then, the Big Bang. But there is much of the universe that we cannot probe. Dr. Silk will describe the universe that we see and give an astronomer's perspective on the universe that we cannot see. He will describe the past with some confidence, and will speculate about the future, as perceived by cosmologists. Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Embassies of Italy and Switzerland, and the Balzan Foundation.

Dr. Robert Hazen, Carnegie Institution for Science, Geophysical Laboratory The story of Earth is a 4.5-billion-year saga of dramatic transformations, driven by physical, chemical, and—based on a fascinating growing body of evidence—biological processes. The co-evolution of life and rocks, the new paradigm that frames this lecture, unfolds in an irreversible sequence of evolutionary stages. Each stage re-sculpted our planet's surface, each introduced new planetary processes and phenomena, and each inexorably paved the way for the next. This grand and intertwined tale of Earth's living and non-living spheres is only now coming into focus. Sequential changes of terrestrial planets and moons are best preserved in their rich mineralogical record. "Mineral evolution," the study of our planet's diversifying near-surface environment, began with a dozen different mineral species that formed in the cooling envelopes of exploding stars. Dust and gas from those stars clumped together to form our stellar nebula, the nebula formed the Sun and countless planetesimals, and alteration of planetesimals by water and heat resulted in the approximately 250 minerals found today in meteorites that fall to Earth. Following Earth's growth and separation into the core, mantle, and crust, mineral evolution progressed by a sequence of chemical and physical processes, which led to perhaps 1500 mineral species. According to some origin-of-life scenarios, a planet must evolve through at least some of these stages of chemical processing as a prerequisite for life. Once life emerged, mineralogy and biology co-evolved, as changes in the chemistry of oceans and atmosphere dramatically increased Earth's mineral diversity to the almost 5000 species known today.

Dr. Maria T. Zuber Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Since before the first single-celled organisms, the Moon has illuminated the night sky. Although the Moon is our nearest neighbor, it is far enough away that landing on it represented the pinnacle of human achievement. Studying the Moon helps us learn how other rocky planets formed and developed. Dr. Zuber will discuss our evolving understanding of the Moon from GRAIL, a dual-spacecraft mission that mapped the lunar interior from crust to core. Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism and The National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Dr. José R. Dinneny, Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Plant Biology We see plants everywhere in our daily lives, but half of the plant, the root system, is hidden from our eyes. Dr. Dinneny will discuss why studying roots is critical for our understanding of how plants respond to changes in the environment and why this knowledge may lead to the next green revolution.

Volcanic activity has been a continuous companion to mankind. A century ago, experimental Earth science began to redefine our understanding of the Earth’s interior. Although physical volcanology had been exclusively observational, new experimental science is making vast advances in the science of eruptive processes. Dr. Dingwell will guide us through some of the highlights of the last quarter century of experimental volcanology. Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Embassy of Austria, the Embassy of Switzerland, and the Delegation of the European Union to the United States.

Dance on a Volcano: A Quarter Century of Experimental First Ascents Dr. Donald B. Dingwell, Secretary General of the European Research Council, President of the European Geosciences Union, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Department of Earth and Environmental Science Volcanic activity has been a continuous companion to mankind. A century ago, experimental Earth science began to redefine our understanding of the Earth's interior. Although physical volcanology had been exclusively observational, new experimental science is making vast advances in the science of eruptive processes. Dr. Dingwell will guide us through some of the highlights of the last quarter century of experimental volcanology. Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Embassy of Austria, the Embassy of Switzerland, and the Delegation of the European Union to the United States.

Dr. Mildred Dresselhaus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics Nanoscience research investigates the behavior of materials at the atomic level. It has led to a dramatic increase in our understanding about why these materials behave differently from larger ones and how they could benefit society. Dr. Dresselhaus, winner of the 2012 Kavli Prize in nanoscience, will discuss this research.

Dr. Andrea Ghez University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Physics and Astronomy Lurking at the center of our galaxy is its most massive object—a supermassive black hole. More than a quarter century ago, astronomers first imagined that galaxies such as our own Milky Way might harbor massive, though possibly dormant, central black holes. Definitive proof lay in assessing the distribution and motion of matter at the center of the galaxy. Based on 15 years of high- resolution imaging, Dr. Ghez’s team has moved the case for a supermassive black hole at the galactic center from a possibility to a certainty. Although the stars orbiting close to the black hole appear to be massive and young, their origins are difficult to explain. Understanding them may provide key insights into the black hole’s evolution.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences It is a commonly held fallacy that bacteria are germs, but it has been estimated that out of more than 30 million microbial species, fewer than 100 are pathogens. The vast majority of bacteria are actually doing remarkable things and are essential both for our quality of life and that of the planet. You will be surprised to learn the extent to which our existence depends on these ancient and ubiquitous organisms. Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. (Original PowerPoint presentation available here: http://carnegiescience.edu/publications_online/NewmanCarnegieLecture2012.pptx)

2011 Nobel Laureate for Physics The Australian National University, The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mount Stromlo Observatory In 1998 two teams traced back the expansion of the universe over billions of years and discovered that it was accelerating, a startling discovery that indicated more than 70% of the cosmos was in the form of dark energy. 2011 Nobel Laureate for Physics Brian Schmidt, leader of the High-Redshift Supernova Search Team, will describe this discovery and explain how astronomers have used observations to trace our universe's history back more than 13 billion years, leading them to ponder the ultimate fate of the cosmos. Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with The Australian National University, and the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education

Winner of the 2010 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience, Dr. Eigler was honored for the development of atom manipulation and for the elucidation of quantum phenomena with precisely controlled atomic and molecular arrangements on surfaces. In 1959 Richard Feynman discussed a "great future" in which "we can arrange the atoms the way we want." In 1989, Feynman's "great future" was ushered in with the discovery of ways to manipulate individual atoms using a scanning tunneling microscope. Dr. Eigler was the first person ever to move and control a single atom. He will review the basics of scanning tunneling microscopy and describe how to extend its capabilities to include the construction of atomically precise structures through the manipulation of individual atoms.

SPECIAL EVENT A presentation by author and Washington Post science writer Marc Kaufman, followed by a discussion with Carnegie planet-hunter Paul Butler. Recent discoveries have convinced many astronomers that our galaxy is home to billions of exoplanets and that other galaxies have hundreds of billions more. The search is now on for distant planets in "habitable zones," where water is sometimes liquid and the possibilities for life are greatest. With a scientific consensus forming that these potentially life-sustaining planets also number in the billions, the logic for the existence of extraterrestrial life grows stronger all the time.

Dr. Carlo Ginzburg University of California, Los Angeles Department of History Winner of the 2010 Balzan Prize, Dr. Ginzburg was honored for the exceptional combination of imagination, scholarly precision and literary skill with which he has recovered and illuminated the beliefs of ordinary people in Early-modern Europe. How can we conceive a fruitful dialogue between the humanities and sciences? Dr. Ginzburg will look at the historian’s craft from new and unexpected angles and discuss whether double blind experiments, used in medicine to test drug effectiveness, can be applied to historical research. Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Embassies of Italy and Switzerland, and the Balzan Foundation.