SETI Institute Colloquium Series Videos

Ross A. Beyer, SETI Institute and NASA AmesGoogle, Inc., has released Google Earth 5.0 which contains a Mars 3D mode. Working with engineers at Google, we helped collect, parse, and organize the vast store of Mars geospatial data available to the public into a form that could be used by Google Earth. The Mars mode presents data acquired both from orbit and on the surface, presented fully integrated into the Google Earth geospatial browser. Ross will cover a brief history of the project, take you on a detailed tour of all of the features, and answer your questions about using Mars mode for science, education, or fun, as well as answering questions about how to view your own data in the client. The team behind this talk includes NASA Ames engineers Matt Hancher and Michael Broxton.play video

Scott Sandford, NASA Ames Space Science DivisionThe Stardust mission successfully returned samples from Comet Wild 2 in 2006. Studies of these samples have confirmed the presence of organics, some of which appear to be similar to those found in meteorites and some of which looks unlike anything seen in extraterrestrial materials before. The presence of D and 15N excesses in many of the organics suggests they have an interstellar chemical heritage. The nature of these organics, and their possible relationship to interstellar environments will be discussed.play video

Franck Marchis, UC Berkeley and the SETI InstituteSince the discovery of Ida’s companion Dactyl in 1993, the number of known multiple asteroids has been continuously increasing and ~165 of them are now known. Since 2003, Dr. Marchis and his colleagues have been conducting a large survey of these interesting and diverse populations using various ground-based telescopes and techniques, such as high angular resolution imaging, lightcurve photometry, and VIS/NIR spectroscopy, and also the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes. Dr. Marchis ' talk will cover the latest insights into these multiple systems, such as the sizes and shapes of their components, their bulk-density and their orbital parameters, which are key to understanding how they formed and evolved.play video

Dr. Jack Lissauer, Space Sciences Division, NASA Ames Research CenterThe observed properties of giant planets, models of their evolution, and observations of protoplanetary disks all provide constraints on the formation of gas giant planets. The four largest planets in our Solar System contain considerable quantities of hydrogen and helium, which could not have condensed into solid planetesimals within the protoplanetary disk. The preponderance of evidence supports the core nucleated gas accretion model of formation of the giant planets. According to this model, giant planets begin their growth by the accumulation of small solid bodies, as do terrestrial planets. However, unlike terrestrial planets, the growing giant planet cores become massive enough that they are able to accumulate substantial amounts of gas before the protoplanetary disk dissipates. During this talk, Dr. Lissauer will present the first models of giant planet formation that account for both the planet's internal energy budget and gas flows within the protoplanetary disk.play video

Ron Greeley, Regent's Professor, Arizona State UniversityWindblown dunes, ripples, and erosional features are seen on Earth, Venus, and Titan, while on Mars these features are ubiquitous and reflect the dominant agent of surface modification. Although the fundamental process is similar, the environments on these planetary objects are substantially different. Simulations conducted in the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory at NASA-Ames, coupled with field work and modeling, enable analyses of wind-related features and processes on planetary surfaces.play video

Don Backer and Jill TarterJill Tarter will talk about the large survey SETI observing programs to be undertaken by our in-house team over the next decade, the SETI observing projects from external proposers that have been allocated array time during this current observing period, some recently suggested 'far out' SETI observing strategies (not all relating to the ATA), our first thoughts about beginning OpenSETI, our recent successful demonstrations with SonATA0, and our plans for moving forward towards a Software Defined Radio Telescope (SDRT).Don Backer will talk about early science with the ATA, which has focused on transient source searches, broad-band spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei objects (AGNs) and diffuse atomic hydrogen in clusters of galaxies. Exploratory observations of the linear polarization of AGNs have been done in a program that will probe intergalactic magnetic fields. A special transient source program was conducted -- the Fly's Eye -- to look for giant pulses from distant galaxies.play video

Dr. Sachindev ShenoyMIPSGAL is a survey of the Galactic plane at 24 and 70 microns using Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) Space Telescope. This is one of the most sensitive survey in the mid-infrared of our Galactic plane. In this talk, Dr. Shenoy shall describe the science requirements, strategies, and data reduction of the survey program. He will outline some of the science topics that can be explored by the community using his team's data. In particular he will talk about the discovery of over 8000 Debris Disk candidates in the Galactic plane using the MIPSGAL 24 micron point source catalog.play video

Prof. Roger Blandford, Stanford Linear Accelerator and Physics, Stanford UniversityBlack holes are popularly associated with death and destruction (excluding romances dealing with the redemptive properties of wormholes). However, their conventional astrophysical role is now seen as regenerative and they play a major role in the formation and evolution of galaxies stars and, arguably, organic molecules. Some possible ways in which they may impact the research of the SETI Institute will be discussed and ways in which they may have played a role in the history of our solar system will be briefly discussed. play video

JoAnne Hewett, Professor at SLAC, Stanford UniversityExtra dimensions of space may be present in our universe. Their discovery would dramatically change our view of the cosmos and would prompt many questions. How do they hide? What is their shape? How many are there? How big are they? Do particles and forces feel their presence? This lecture will explain the concept of dimensions and show that current theoretical models predict the existence of extra spatial dimensions which could be in the discovery reach of present and near-term experiments. The manner by which these additional dimensions reveal their existence will be described.Watch video

Dr. Jeffrey Van Cleve, Ball Aerospace & Technologies CorpThe Kepler Mission http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov is designed to detect transits of Earth-size planets orbiting in the "habitable zone" (HZ) around main-sequence stars of apparent visual magnitude 9 through 14, of F through M spectral type, by means of differential photometry of ~100,000 stars in the constellation Cygnus. Jeff will discuss the box in temperature-diameter space ("The Corral") that Kepler was designed to search, and show the population of extrasolar planets known from ground-based radial velocity and gravitational lensing observations. He will present a calculation of the distance between Earth and the nearest transiting planet likely to be discovered by Kepler, and compare it to results of an all-sky planetary transit survey mission similar to TESS (The TESS PI has commented that "...when starships transporting colonists first depart the solar system, they may well be headed toward a TESS-discovered planet as their new home"). He will end with some speculation on why the end of the nominal Kepler mission coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar (and possibly the end of the world as we know it) on Dec. 21, 2012.Watch video

Dr. Laura T. Iraci, NASA Ames Research CenterWater ice clouds are an important part of the martian hydrological cycle, influencing the water and energy budgets. Microphysical models can be used to study the connections between cloud formation and water distribution throughout the system (for example, as surface frost layers), but only if the intricacies of cloud formation and growth are understood and properly parameterized. To that end, we have performed laboratory studies of water ice nucleation on a variety of surrogate materials and have found that initiation of ice is more difficult than often presumed. We will report these results, along with preliminary growth rate observations.Watch video

David Morrison, NASA Ames Research Center Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) are interesting to both planetary scientists and those who are concerned about protecting against their impacts. The first step, now well underway, is to find them (with the Spacegaurd Survey). Next we need to characterize NEAs using small spacecraft missions. We are especially interested in the sub-km NEAs, since they are the most likely to hit the Earth and also the most accessible targets for human flights beyond the Moon. This talk focuses on a low-cost rendezvous mission to NEA Apophis, with the goal of characterizing both the asteroid and its orbit.Watch video

David Hinson, SETI InstituteIn this talk Dave Hinson will examine the weather on Mars using a combination of radio occultation data and wide-angle images obtained by Mars Global Surveyor during its final year of operation. These complementary observations provide a unique perspective on key atmospheric phenomena such as dust storms and winter weather systems (baroclinic eddies). This investigation is revealing the mechanisms through which eastward-traveling eddies influence both the timing and location of distinctive "flushing" dust storms that occur in the topographic basins of the northern hemisphere.Watch video

Professor John Traphagan, Departments of Religious Studies and Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin“Culture” represents one of the most widely used, but often misunderstood, concepts when considering the nature of interactions and communications between different, and mutually alien, groups. Dr. Traphagan will discuss ways of conceptualizing culture from an anthropological perspective and apply his approach to thinking about both the process interstellar message creation and the interpretation of any transmission we might receive. He suggests that directions for future thinking on interstellar message construction should involve not only research on the explicit message intended, but direct consideration of the implicit information that is being conveyed along with the explicit message. Rather than only asking the questions, “What does ET mean in a message?” or “What information do we want to convey in a message from us to ET?” we should also be asking, “What are the implicit indicators and forms of information about ET and ourselves that are contained in any message sent or received?” In many respects, focus on how to interpret implicit information may be more important than how to interpret the explicit message, given the potential differences in culture and biology that might exist between ourselves and an extraterrestrial other, as well as the inevitable differences in personal intentions and interpretations that will be fundamental parts of contact on either side.Watch video

Eugene LallyLally was involved with the space program from the beginning in the United States starting in 1955, before Sputnik. Eugene worked with key people from Peenemunde and JPL and contributed many pioneering concepts when he was referred to as a Rocket Scientist. Eugene was considered a driving technical force and helped promote spaceflight through many papers delivered at American Rocket Society conventions. Eugene will discuss his personal story of the people and ideas (he worked with) that bought spaceflight out of the cradle and into reality.Watch video

Professor Charles Townes, UC Berkeley (1964 Nobel Prize winner for Physics for the invention of the laser)Professor Townes is the 1964 Nobel prize winner for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle. He is a former member of the SETI Institute board. His presentation will focus on the fact that many of the most important discoveries have been unpredicted surprises, hence we need to search intensely and hopefully. He will illustrate this with his own personal history, and other interesting examples that he knows well.Watch video

Professor Lynn Cominsky, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sonoma State UniversityNASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) mission was launched into orbit on June 11, 2008. GLAST's mission is to explore the most energetic and exotic objects in the cosmos: blazing galaxies, intense stellar explosions and super-massive black holes. All the instruments on board are working well, and details of the hardware for Large Area Telescope and the GLAST Burst Monitor are described, along with opportunities for ground-based astronomers to get involved with GLAST. Professor Cominsky will present the first exciting results from the mission.Watch video