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PPPL's Science-on-Saturday Lecture Series on Tap for 2011

Take the chill off wintry Saturdays by learning about hot topics such as inertial confinement fusion energy, evolutionary medicine, the neuroscience of magic, and human vs. computer in Jeopardy! competitions. These and other topics will be featured during the 2011 Science-on-Saturday lecture series beginning January 8 at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).


The series, in its 27th year, includes nine talks on several Saturdays from January through March. The free talks are geared toward high school students, but open to everyone. They begin at 9:30 a.m. in PPPL’s Auditorium. Doors open at 8 a.m. Students, teachers, parents, and community members are welcome to attend any or all of the lectures. PPPL’s Ronald Hatcher, Kathleen Lukazik and James Morgan co-organized the series. "Science on Saturday has become a tradition in the Princeton community. Multiple generations have the opportunity to hear world-class scientists present their research," Morgan said. "These lectures inspire all ages."

The 2011 Science-on-Saturday schedule follows:
 
January 8 “Major Themes in Evolutionary Medicine,” Professor Steve Stearns, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University
 
January 15 “Electrons, Camera, Action: Advanced Microscopy Techniques for Understanding Structure-Property Relationships in Energy-related Materials,” Professor Mitra Taheri, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia
 
January 22 “Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions,” Dr. Stephen L. Macknik, Director of Behavioral Neurophysiology, and Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde, Director of Visual Neuroscience, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix
 
January 29 “The Robotic Scientist: Can Scientific Discovery Be Automated?” Professor Hod Lipson, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Computing & Information Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
 
February 5 “Bug-free Computer Chips: Boole Meets Moore,” Professor Sharad Malik, Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University
 
February 12 “KrF Lasers and Inertial Confinement: Another Path to Clean Fusion Energy,” Dr. John Sethian, Head, Fusion Technology Section, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.
 
February 19 “Words, Tools, and the Brain: Why Humans Aren’t Just Another Ape,” Professor Sabine Kastner, Department of Psychology and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University
 
February 26 NO PROGRAM — DOE’s NEW JERSEY REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE BOWL
 
March 5 “Exploring The Changing Biology on a Melting Antarctic Peninsula,” Professor Oscar Schofield, Coastal Ocean Observation Laboratory, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
 
March 12 “An Overview of DeepQA: How Watson Could Play Jeopardy!” Dr. David Ferrucci, IBM Research Senior Manager, Semantic Analysis and Integration Principal Investigator, DeepQA, T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.
 

The Laboratory is on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus off U.S. Route 1 in Plainsboro and not on the University's main campus in Princeton. The lectures usually last, with questions, about two hours. Registration is on-site prior to each session. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. PPPL is a federal facility. Heightened security measures are presently in effect at the Laboratory. Upon arrival, all adult visitors must show a government-issued photo I.D. This could include a passport or a driver's license. Non-U.S. adult citizens must show a photo I.D., plus provide the following information: citizenship, date of birth, and place of birth. For the welfare of both our staff and visitors, PPPL security staff retains the right to inspect vehicles and personal packages such as briefcases, satchels, book bags, and purses.


Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy facility managed by Princeton University for the DOE Office of Science, collaborates with researchers across the globe to develop fusion as an energy source for the world, and conducts research along the broad frontier of plasma science and technology. PPPL also nurtures the national research enterprise in these fields, and educates the next generation of plasma and fusion scientists. Fusion is the process that powers the Sun and other stars. In the interior of stars, matter is converted into energy by the fusion, or joining, of the nuclei of light atoms to form heavier elements. https://www.pppl.gov