Science Seminars is a weekly list of science-related seminars sponsored by colleges, research institutes, and other organizations throughout Penn State. Science Seminars is published by the Penn State Eberly College of Science as a service to Penn State and its surrounding communities

Science Seminars

28 January to 3 February 2008

MONDAY, 28 JANUARY

"Pumping Ethanol Production Up in Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.): Serial Analysis of Gene Expression Associated with Increasing Sugar Content," Antonio Vargas de Oliveira Figueira, University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), 12:10 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Mark Guiltinan, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Biology (863-7958).

"Sustainability: A Question of Perspective," Chris Uhl, Penn State, 1:30 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (867-0371).

"Discontinuous Solutions of Multidimensional Conservation Laws," Nick Costanzino, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 315 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Exploration of Plant-Pathogen Interactions at Multiple Levels Ranging From Molecules to Ecosystems," Seogchan Kang, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-6761).

"Randomness in Functional Analysis: Towards Universality," Roman Vershynin, University of California, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Mammoth Genomics," Stephan Schuster, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Richard Frisque, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

TUESDAY, 29 JANUARY

"Alternating Copolymerization of Substituted Stilbenes as a Route to New Precisely Functionalized Polymers," S. Richard Turner, Virginia Tech, 10:00 am, 301 Steidle Building, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (865-4992).

"Understanding and Tuning Protein Translocation Through the Ribosome," Lydia M. Contretas, Cornell University, 10:00 a.m., 102 Chemistry Building, Department of Chemical Engineering (865-2577).

"Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging: Functional Magnetic-Resonance-Imaging (fMRI) Studies of Episodic Memory," Nancy A. Dennis, Duke University, 1:00 p.m., 453 Moore Building, host: Michael J. Wenger, Penn State Neuroscience Institute (863-6023).

"Locating and Observing Optical Counterparts to Unmodeled Pulses: Targeted Transient Searches with Gravitational-Wave Data," Jonah Kanner, University of Maryland, 4:00 p.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

(title to be announced), Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

WEDNESDAY, 30 JANUARY

"Arctic Meltdown, Rising Seas: Threatened Lands, Threatened People" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

"Astrophysical Probe of New Physics: Cosmological Dark Matter and Anisotrophy," Shin'ichiro Ando, California Institute of Technology, 2:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Peter Meszaros, Department of Physics (863-9759).

"Use and Impact of Innovative and Highly Interactive Activities in Large Classes" (G. Montgomery and Marion Mitchell lecture), Sarma Pisupati, Penn State, 3:00 p.m., 301 Steidle Building, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (865-6546).

"Advanced Atom Interferometry for Measuring the Fine-Structure Constant and Testing Fundamental Theories," Holger Müller, Stanford University, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Ken O'Hara, Department of Physics (863-9759).

(title to be announced), Mike Hochman, Princeton University, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

THURSDAY, 31 JANUARY

"Focus the Nation: Global Warming Solutions for America," multiple speakers, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., HUB Auditorium, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (865-6546 or http://pennstatefocusthenation.org).

CANCELLED AFTER EMAIL DiSTRIBUTION:
"Millisecond Catalytic Reforming of Carbohydrates for Synthetic Fuels," Paul J. Dauenhauer, University of Minnesota, 10:00 a.m., 102 Chemistry Building, Department of Chemical Engineering (865-2577).

"The Ccr4-Not Complex: The Swiss Army Knife of mRNA," Jennifer Kruk, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Joseph Reese, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-1976).

(title to be announced), Tong Liu, University of Pennsylvania, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

CANCELLED AFTER EMAIL DiSTRIBUTION:
"Update on Tomato Breeding at Penn State," Majid Foolad, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 111 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (865-2571).

(title to be announced), Massimo Cassiani, Duke University, 4:00 p.m. (reception at 3:30 p.m. in 529 Walker Building), 112 Walker Building, Department of Meteorology (863-8566).

"Nanoengineered Metamaterials," Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Physics (863-9759).

"Revisionist (?) Plate Tectonics: Lessons from New Zealand," Kevin Furlong, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 202 Research West Building, Department of Geosciences (865-7965).

FRIDAY, 1 FEBRUARY

"Control of Breathing During Muscular Exercise: Nothing New?" Philippe Haouzi, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 127 Noll Laboratory, Intercollege Graduate Program in Physiology (865-3453).

"High-Throughput Infrared Techniques for Soil-Organic-Carbon Quantification and Molecular Structure Elucidation," Rupinder Randhawa, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (865-6541).

"Hypersurface Deformation Algebra in a Discrete Setting," Bianca Dittrich, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (Canada), 1:30 p.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

(title to be announced), Andrea Bonito, University of Maryland, 2:00 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Bioenergy Production Using Microbial Fuel-Cell Technologies," Bruce Logan, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building (reception at 3:30 p.m. in 319 Walker Building), Department of Geography (865-3433).

(title to be announced), Beth Shapiro, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 510 Mueller Laboratory, Penn State Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (863-5895).

SATURDAY, 2 FEBRUARY

"Global Warming and Our Future" (Frontiers lecture #2 of 6), Richard Alley, Penn State, 11:00 a.m., 100 Thomas Building, Eberly College of Science (863-0901 or www.science.psu.edu/alert/frontiers).

SUNDAY, 3 FEBRUARY

(none)

 

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Cancellations and additions will be noted on weekly Science Seminar listings on the Web at
< www.science.psu.edu/scisem/scisem.htm > or
< www.events.psu.edu/cgi-bin/cal/webevent.cgi?cmd=opencal&cal=cal250& >.

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Science Seminars is a weekly list of science-related seminars sponsored by colleges, research institutes, and other organizations throughout Penn State. Science Seminars is published by the Penn State Eberly College of Science as a service to Penn State and its surrounding communities.

For more information about Science Seminars, or for instructions on how to SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE, visit the links at http://www.science.psu.edu/scisem/scisemData.htm

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This issue of SCIENCE SEMINARS was produced by Barbara K. Kennedy and Kristen Devlin.