Join Northwestern’s new Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics and guest lecturer Geoff Marcy from UC Berkeley for this fascinating program. Science fiction has deluged us with images of our Milky Way Galaxy teeming with habitable planets and populated by advanced civilizations engaged in interstellar communication, commerce, and conflicts.  Back in our real universe, Earth-like planets and extraterrestrial life have proved elusive.  None have been found.

This year, 2010, astronomers are launching the first searches for Earth-like worlds around other stars, using extraordinary telescopes on the ground and in space. A worldwide race for the first habitable worlds and extraterrestrial life has begun.

Friday, Feb. 5, 2010      3:30 – 5:00pm
Northwestern Univ., Tech Inst., 2145 Sheridan Rd., Evanston

Free and open to the public. Lecture will be followed by a special viewing session with the Dearborn Observatory’s historic 18.5-inch telescope at 6:15 PM.

“We start by examining what is usually meant by complexity in ordinary conversations and in most scientific discourse.  We consider the effective complexity of an entity, which is a kind of minimum description length for the regularities of the entity as opposed to features that are treated as incidental. The effective complexity depends, of course, on the level of detail at which the entity is described.  We inquire why, in a variety of situations, complexity seems to keep increasing.  An example is provided by the anthropological concept of social complexity.  We discuss whether it makes sense to place pre-industrial societies on a scale of social complexity and whether such societies acquire certain important traits in a more or less regular sequence.

Date/Time: Friday, January 8, 2010     4:00pm (reception at 3:30)

Location: Ryan Auditorium, Tech Institute, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL

This program, part of the Heilborn Symposium, is sponsored by the Northwestern University Department of Physics & Astronomy.   It is FREE and open to the public.  No registration is required.  Seating is limited.

Dr. Murray Gell-Mann: Murray Gell-Mann is one of today’s most prominent scientists.  He is currently Distinguished Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute as well as the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology, where he joined the faculty in 1955.  In 1969 he received the Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He is the author of The Quark and the Jaguar, published in 1994, in which his ideas on simplicity and complexity are presented to a general readership.

Among his contributions to physics was the “eightfold way” scheme that brought order out of the chaos created by the discovery of some 100 kinds of particles in collisions involving atomic nuclei.  Gell-Mann subsequently found that all of those particles, including the neutron and proton, are composed of fundamental building blocks that he named “quarks,” with very unusual properties. That idea has since been fully confirmed by experiment.  The quarks are permanently confined by forces coming from the exchange of “gluons.”  He and others later constructed the quantum field theory of quarks and gluons, called “quantum chromodynamics,” which seems to account for all the nuclear particles and their strong interactions.

Nanotechnology.   What is it?  What kind of impact might it have on our society, health and environment?

The Nanotechnology Town Hall Meeting series is designed to explore the many ways in which nanotechnology might impact our world.  Learn more about nanotechnology from leaders inthe field at the sixth public event in the series.

Date: Tuesday, January 12, 201o
Time: 5:30pm – 7:30om
Location: Pancoe ENH Bldg, Northwestern University, 2200 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL

Event is FREE but advance registration is required.  Register online or by calling 847-467-1031.

Featured guest speakers:

Franz M. Geiger

Dow Chemical Company Research Professor of Chemistry, Northwestern University

“Nanotechnology in Climate Change — the Easy Way Out?”

Laura L. Hodson

Nanotechnology Research Center, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

“Occupational Health Aspects of Nanomaterials — The NIOSH Perspective”

Jeff Morris

National Program Director fo Nanotechnology, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

“Nanotechnology and the Environment:  Future Directions in Understanding Impacts”

Discussion Moderator – Professor Laurie Zoloth

Professor of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, Professor of Religion, Director of center for  Bioethics, Science and Society, Northwestern University

Sponsored by the Northwestern University International Institute for Nanotechnology, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center,  and the Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence.

Dr. Chip Hilarides, Senior Director, Environmental Affairs,
Remediation and Venture Management at Georgia-Pacific,  will review the cause of mercury contamination, the investigation, the Bellingham Bay Pilot Project, remedial alternatives and
implemented remedies (integrated capping, habitat restoration and beneficial reuse project, monitored natural recovery), and dredging and habitat restoration plans.  Bellingham Bay is being used by national groups as a case study for “monitored natural recovery.”  Time permitting, he may also discuss decommissioning and demolition of the mercury cell chlor/alkali plant or a complex land for liability transaction with the upland and aquatic site.

Location: Northwestern University, Tech Institute A230, Evanston, IL
Date: Friday, November 13, 2009     Time: 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.

Co-sponsored by:

Northwestern Institute for Sustainable Practices (NiSP)

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department

Environmental Science, Engineering, & Policy Program (ESP)

Reducing energy use in buildings is a critical component of meeting carbon reduction commitments.  There are several ways of accomplishing this goal, each of which emphasizes actions by a different set of stakeholders.  This presentation argues that building users play a critical but poorly understood and often overlooked role in the built environment.  In the face of climate  change, this study shows that purely architectural solutions­, e.g.,  green buildings­, to be necessary but not sufficient.  To fully address the task ahead, it argues that architects need to develop professional expertise and seek ways of integrating user involvement in building performance.  Moreover, a system of professions standpoint suggests it may be wise for architects to claim this role before another group of building professionals does.

Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009     Time: 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Location: Northwestern University, Norris Center, Lake Room, 1999 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL

A presentation of the Northwestern University Environmental Policy and Culture Program.

Students for Ecological and Environmental Development (SEED) is pleased to announce its Fall Speaker event.  Environmental speaker Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeepers, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, and is the first among a new breed of environmentalist.  Join SEED and its co-sponsors for what is sure to be an interesting consideration of the rise of a new ‘Green Economy.’   From green jobs and technologies to weaning our reliance on carbon energy, Kennedy offers a bold vision to restore US economic might, safeguard our environment, and reestablish America’s role as an exemplary nation.

Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009     Time: 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Location: Northwestern University, Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., Evanston, IL

Tickets: Tickets are required to attend this event.  Tickets are free, and distribution to NU Students, Faculty, and the public will begin on November 23rd, 2009 at the Norris Box Office (847) 491-2305.

This program is sponsored by SEED in partnership with ISEN (Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at NU), One Book One Northwestern, NiSP (Northwestern Institute for Sustainable Practices), the Environmental Policy and Culture Program, and the Environmental Sciences and Engineering Departments.

This one-woman drama exposes the struggles and triumphs of the discoverer of radium and radioactivity, Madame Marie Curie — an academically impassioned, vehemently private, fervently Polish scientist, mother, and teacher.  From the political oppression of her childhood to scientific realization and fame to the tragedy that forced her into single motherhood as well as further world prominence, Manya’s story reveals a compelling journey.

by Susan Marie Frontczak

Date:  Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 15, 16, and 17th

Time:  8:00pm

Location:  Technological Institute, Ryan Auditorium, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208

Admission:  FREE open to the public, though it is best suited to adults and students ages 12 and up.

Directions and Campus Maps area available here.  Parking is available in most campus lots without a permit after 4 p.m.

This is a Storysmith Production presented by Northwestern University’s Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Manya follows last year’s performance of Copenhagen as part of a new outreach program at Northwestern called ETOPiA: Engineering Transdisciplinary Outreach Project in the Arts, designed to foster interdisciplinary dialogue between university and community exploring the role of science in society. This year’s production is supported by the following Northwestern University institutions: The Materials Research Center, the International Institute for Nanotechnology, the Alumni of Northwestern University, and The Graduate School.

Kimberly Gray, Northwestern University Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, addresses the topic “What will finally spark that Green Revolution?” in this special Science Cafe.

This is the first in series of discussions as part of the “One Book, One Northwestern” program.  This year the book selection is Thmoas L. Friedman’s “Hot, Flat, and Crowded – Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America. ”

Transitioning to the new booming Green Economy is well underway, but are the types of changes in design, production and products doing more than assuaging consumer guilt? Will dramatic improvements in energy efficiency really reap huge ecological benefits? While the green mantra of “innovate baby, innovate” holds some promise for the green revolution, there may be as much opportunity in the idea of the “heirloom economy” and the notion that “to leap forward, think backwards.”

Location:  Celtic Knot, 626 Church St., Evanston www.celticknotpub.com

Date:  Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Time: 6:30 – 8:00pm

Free but space limited to 50 people. First come first served; no reservations.

Getting there:  CTA Purple Line, Davis Street stop is closest.  Parking available in city lot across street next to Evanston Public Library.

In Unscientific America—the long awaited sequel to the bestselling The Republican War on Science—journalist and author Chris Mooney teams up with scientist Sheril Kirshenbaum to explain how religious ideologues, science-phobic politicians, a profit driven media, and hyperspecialized scientists have all helped create this dangerous state of affairs. They propose a broad array of initiatives to reverse the current trend, and bring about a greater integration of science into our national discourse — before it’s too late.

Title: Author talk with Chris Mooney – “Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future”

Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 Time: 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Location: Northwestern University, Technological Institute, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston

In collaboration with Northwestern University Science and Policy Action Network (SPAN)

Chris Mooney   Sheril Kirshenbaum

(Charlotte Ostersal photo)

In the ever-changing landscape of biological and medical research, the boundaries of bioethics are becoming increasingly blurry. From stem-cell research and cutting-edge surgical advances, to nanotechnology and personalized genomics, how do research and policy intersect to affect the lives of everyday citizens?Join experts Laurie Zoloth, Ph.D., Director of Northwestern University’s Center for Bioethics at Northwestern University and Mark Siegler, M.D., Director of The University of Chicago’s MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics for a timely and engaging conversation on these and other critical issues that face scientists, policymakers, and you. The discussion will be moderated by Gabriel Spitzer, science, health and environment reporter for Chicago Public Radio.

Date: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 Time: 6:00 – 7:30pm

Location: Thorne Auditorium, Northwestern University School of Law, 375 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago

Description: A “Science Conversation” brought to you by Science Chicago

More than 100 public and private institutions have come together to present Science Chicago, the world’s largest science celebration.  Designed to awaken the inner scientist in each and every one of us, thousands of dynamic and interactive activities will provide hands-on learning; spur thoughtful debate; enhance classroom learning; and build enthusiasm for the pursuit of cutting-edge science while establishing the critical value of science and math education. For more information, visit www.sciencechicago.com.