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

15 to 21 October 2007

MONDAY, 15 OCTOBER

"Turning Over a New Leaf: Genetic Regulation of Vegetative Phase Change in Arabidopsis and Maize," Scott Poethig, University of Pennsylvania, 12:10 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Teh-Hui Kao, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Biology (863-1042).

"Detection of Aphid Proteins Associated with Vector-Specific Transmission of Cereal Yellow Dwarf Luteoviruses," Xiaolong Yang, U. S. Department of Agriculture and Cornell University, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-6761).

"A New Proof of the Morse-Bott Inequalities," Augustin Banyaga, Penn State, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"The INK4/ARF Locus in Cancer, Aging, and Other Diseases," Norman Sharpless, University of North Carolina, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Anton Nekrutenko, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-4752).

"Introduction to Loop Quantum Gravity," Abhay Ashtekar, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-960 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Local Government Approaches to Reducing Greenhouse-Gas Emissions," Carl Hess and Mark Whitfield, State College Borough Government, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (863-7091).

"The Making of the Fittest: DNA and Evolution in Action," (Marker lecture #1 of 2), Sean B. Carroll, University of Wisconsin, 5:30 p.m. (reception to follow), 112 Kern Building, host: S. Blair Hedges, Department of Biology (865-4562).

TUESDAY, 16 OCTOBER

"Strong Gravity and the Belinsky-Khalatnikov-Lifshitz (BKL) Conjecture," David Sloan, Penn State, 10:00 a.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Roots at Large: Exploring the Community Consequences of Plant Plasticity Underground," Hans de Kroon, Radboud University (The Netherlands), 12:30 p.m., 118 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (863-3371).

"Introduction to Mass Problems," Steve Simpson, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Introduction to KAM Theory: Part One," Andrey Gogolev, 3:30 p.m., 216 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Vortices and Persistent Currents: Rotating a Condensate Using Photons with Orbital Angular Momentum," Kristian Helmerson, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Ken O'Hara, Department of Physics (863-9759).

"Ramanujan's Series for 1/Pi: A Survey," Bruce Berndt, University of Illinois, 3:35 p.m., 315 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"A Drought's Impact on Sediment Infilling of Lake Powell," Lincoln Pratson, Duke University, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

"Endless Flies Most Beautiful: The Role of Cis-Regulatory Sequences in the Evolution of Animal Diversity" (Marker lecture #2 of 2), Sean B. Carroll, University of Wisconsin, 4:00 p.m., 100 Life Sciences Building (Berg Auditorium), host: S. Blair Hedges, Department of Biology (865-4562).

"What is a Shock Wave?" Kris Jenssen, 5:15 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

WEDNESDAY, 17 OCTOBER

"Exploring High-Latitude Climate from Above and Below: Altimetry to Seagliders" (videoconference), Peter Rhines, University of Washington, 12:00 noon, 541 Deike Building, Office of the Dean of the Graduate School and Worldwide Universities Network (865-6718).

"Alaska: The Last Frontier" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

"Fruit of the Vine or Pickle Juice: Modern Physical Chemistry Applied to Full-Wine-Bottle Analysis," Matthew Augustine, University of California, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Alan Benesi, Department of Chemistry (865-0941).

"Exploring Subsurface-Contaminant Fate and Transport Processes at Multiple Scale," Philip M. Jardine, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 4:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, Center for Environmental Kinetics Analysis (865-1781).

"Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid-A (GABA-A) Receptors, Gephyrin, and the Stability of GABAergic-Synapses," Angel De Blas, University of Connecticut, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Gong Chen, Penn State Neuroscience Institute (865-7039).

"The Mass-Radius Relation of Very Low-Mass Stars," Mercedes Lopez-Morales, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 4:00 p.m., 538 Davey Laboratory, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics (865-0418).

THURSDAY, 18 OCTOBER

"Workshop in Dynamical Systems and Related Topics," various speakers, 9:30 a.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"The Timing System of the European Global Navigation Satellite System, Galileo," Andreas Bauch, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Germany), 10:10 a.m., 26 Hosler Building, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (865-4992).

"Modular Relations, Functional Equations, and Equivalent Identities," Bruce Berndt, University of Illinois, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"C^0 Symplectic Topology: Part Three," Peter Spaeth, Penn State, 12:10 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"High-Tunnels Season Extension, or a Poor Man's Greenhouse," Bill Lamont, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 108 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (865-2571).

"Polymer Electronics for Ultrasensitive Chemical and Biological Sensors," Timothy M. Swager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 12:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Ayusman Sen, Department of Chemistry (863-2460).

"Bulk Production and Modification of Inorganic Nanowires for Photoelectrochemical Energy-Conversion Applications," Mahendra Sunkara, University of Louisville, 2:30 p.m., 110 Wartik Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering (863-1375).

"What Does the Future Hold for Restricted Patterns?" Zvezdelina Stankova, Mills College, 2:30 p.m., 113 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"One Bulb? Two Bulbs? How Many Bulbs Light Up? A Discrete Probability Problem from a Pharmaceutical Company," M. B. Rao, University of Cincinnati, 4:00 p.m., 201 Thomas Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

"On the Greenfield-Wallach and Katok Conjectures," Giovanni Forni, University of Maryland, 4:00 p.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"The Physics of Atomic Clocks," Andreas Bauch, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Germany), 4:00 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, host: Kurt Gibble, Department of Physics (863-9759).

(title to be announced), Anne Thompson, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Meteorology (863-8566).

"Variation in Deformation Front Structures: Examples from the Zagros Simply Folded Belt, Iran, and the Sawtooth Range, Montana," Caroline Burberry, Imperial College London (United Kingdom), 4:00 p.m., 202 Research West Building, Department of Geosciences (865-7965).

(title to be announced), Sarah Koch, Cornell University, 5:00 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

FRIDAY, 19 OCTOBER

"Workshop in Dynamical Systems and Related Topics," various speakers, 9:30 a.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Corrections to the Friedmann Equations from Loop Quantum Gravity," Victor Taveras, Penn State, 11:00 a.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Understanding a Conversion Experience: How European Honey Bees Become Africanized," Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, United States Department of Agriculture, 11:10 a.m., 107 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Entomology (865-1895).

"Arterial-Baroreflex Function During Exercise: Influence of Aging," Paul Fadel, University of Missouri, 11:15 a.m., 127 Noll Laboratory, Intercollege Graduate Program in Physiology (865-3453).

"Looking at Biosignatures of the Archaean," Hiroshi Ohmoto, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 341 Deike Building, Penn State Astrobiology Research Center (865-4074).

"The Copenhagen Interpretation: Quantum Physics vs. Relativity" (video), 3:35 p.m., 211 Davey Laboratory, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library (865-7617 or www.libraries.psu.edu/pams/filmseries.html).

"Polyhedral Discretizations for Diffusion Equations in Heterogeneous Media," Yuri Kuznetsov, Univeristy of Houston, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

SATURDAY, 20 OCTOBER

"Workshop in Dynamical Systems and Related Topics," various speakers, 9:30 a.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

SUNDAY, 21 OCTOBER

"Workshop in Dynamical Systems and Related Topics," various speakers, 9:30 a.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

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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.

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This issue of SCIENCE SEMINARS was produced by Melissa Arnett, Kristen Devlin, and Barbara Kennedy.