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

16 to 22 September 2002

 

MONDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER

"From Toxin to Table Salt: The Molecular Biology of Perchlorate Reduction," Lauri Achenbach, Southern Illinois University, 11:15 a.m., 107 Sackett Building, Biogeochemical Research Initiative for Education (863-2171).

"Evaluating Common Landscape Trees for Susceptibility to Asian Longhorned Beetle," James Sellmer, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 10 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (863-3371).

"Conductive Polymer Composites for Electromagnetic Interference-Shielding Materials, Dan Welna, Penn State, 1:15 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Chemistry (865-1213).

"The First Black Holes," Tom Abel, Penn State, 3:00 p.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605).

"Single and Double Virtual Compton Scattering off the Nucleon," Marc Vanderhaeghen, University of Mainz (Germany), 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, Department of Physics (865-7533).

"Obesigenic Environments and Childhood Overweight," Leann Birch, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, Intercollege Graduate Program in Nutrition (865-3448).

"The Role of Coactivators, Chromatin, and Epigenetic Modifications in Estrogen-Dependent Gene Regulation," W. Lee Krauss, Cornell University, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Joseph Reese, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"How the Universe Began" (Marker lecture #1 of 3), Michael S. Turner, University of Chicago, 8:00 p.m., 102 Thomas Building, Eberly College of Science (865-0418).

 

TUESDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER

"A Dual Form of Ramsey's Theorem," Stephen G. Simpson, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 312 Boucke Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Songs, Sequences, and Time: A Look at the Neural Machinery of Vocal Control in the Songbird," Mike Fee, AT&T, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: David Weiss, Department of Physics (863-3076).

"Imaging Photosynthesis: New Insights into Earth History from Stable-Isotope Analysis of Plant Fossils," Hope Jahren, Johns Hopkins University, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Geosciences (865-9353).

"New Insights Into a Model Membrane: From Forced Unfolding of Spectrin to 'Marker-of-Self' Proteins," Mark Discher, University of Pennsylvania, 4:00 p.m. (refreshments at 3:45 p.m.), 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Graham Thomas, Department of Biology (863-0278).

"Plug-In Estimators for Regression Models with Independent Errors," Ursula Mueller, University of Bremen (Germany), 4:00 p.m., 60 Willard Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

"The Dark Side of the Universe: Dark Matter and Dark Energy" (Marker lecture #2 of 3), Michael S. Turner, University of Chicago, 4:00 p.m., 135 Reber Building, Eberly College of Science (865-0418).

 

WEDNESDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER

(title to be announced), Shan Yang, Penn State, 12:10 p.m., 317 Mueller Laboratory, host: Masatoshi Nei, (863-7334).

"AtXYL1: An Arabidopsis A-Xylosidase Active Against Xyloglucan Oligosaccharides," Javier Sampedro Jimenez, Penn State, Department of Biology, 12:20 p.m., 107 Wartik Laboratory, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Physiology (863-3892).

"Cosmic Inflation: The Dynamite Behind the Big Bang?" (Marker lecture #3 of 3), Michael S. Turner, University of Chicago, 4:00 p.m., 360 Willard Building, Eberly College of Science (865-0418).

 

THURSDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER

"Modeling and Optimization in Protein and Metabolic Engineering," Costas Maranas, Penn State, 12:15 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, host: Stephen Benkovic, Department of Chemistry (865-6553).

How Will Climate Change Affect Carbon Storage in Eastern Deciduous Forests?" Peter Curtis, Ohio State University, 2:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, host: Ken Davis, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Center for Advanced Carbon-Cycle Research and Education (863-7091).

"Advances in Understanding and Predicting the Weather: A Look into the Future," Dean Gulezian, National Weather Service, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Meteorology (865-0478).

"Experiment Designs for Model Selection," Derek Bingham, University of Michigan, 4:00 p.m., 102 Thomas Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

Neotectonics of Panamint Valley: Geomorphic Evidence for Active Slip on a Low-Angle Normal Fault," Eric Kirby, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 201 Research West Building (863-9902).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION
"The role of the Kunlun Fault During Intercontinental Deformation in Asia: Insights from the Eastern End," Eric Kirby, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., Department of Geosciences, (863-1665).

 

FRIDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER

"The Cartan Conformal Connection, the Yang-Mills Equations, and Bach Flat Space Times," Jerzy Lewandowski, University of Warsaw (Poland), 11:00 a.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605).

"The Molecular/Genetic Control of Developmental Patterning in the Drosophila Eye," Kevin Moses, Emory University, 11:00 a.m. (refreshments at 10:45 a.m.), 317 Mueller Laboratory, host: Zhi-Chun Lai, Department of Biology (863-0278).

"Evolution of Virulence of a Persistent Insect Virus," John Burand, University of Massachusetts, 11:15 a.m., 118 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Entomology (865-1895).

"The Holy Grail of the Hydrogen Economy," Dale Simbeck, SFA Pacific Inc., 2:00 p.m., C-213 Coal Utilization Laboratory, Department of Fuel Science (865-9136).

"Direct Calculation of pKa for Amino Acid Residues and Means of Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Implications for Enzyme Catalysis," Alexander Soudackov, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, Department of Chemistry (865-6442).

"An Unfinished Saga: Is New Physics Discovered in Muon g-2?" Michael Eides, University of Kentucky, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, Department of Physics (865-7533).

"Gold: Elements of a Social and Environmental History," Erica Schoeberger, Johns Hopkins University, 3:30 p.m., 301 Steidle Building, Department of Geography (863-1782).

(title to be announced), Haitao Fan, Georgetown University, 3:30 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics, (865-7527).

"Understanding Weed Spread: Examples at Two Spatial Scales," David Mortensen and Robert Humston, Penn State, 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, 3:35 p.m., Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (863-1601).

"D-Stampede: Distributed Programming System for Ubiquitous Computing," Umakishore Ramachandran, Georgia Tech, 4:00 p.m., 302 Pond Laboratory, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (865-9505).

"Genetic Variation and Clinical Exercise Training Adaptations," Jim Hagberg, University of Maryland, 4:00 p.m., 127 Noll Laboratory, Noll Physiological Research Center (865-3454).

 

SATURDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER and SUNDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER

(none)

 

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Additions or cancellations will be noted on weekly Science Seminar listings on the Web.

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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. Click here for additional information about Science Seminars, or for instruction on how to SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE.

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NOTICE: PRESS RELEASES AVAILABLE
Press releases occasionally are written for some of the lectures sponsored by the Eberly College of Science. If you would like to receive copies of these press releases in the future, send a note to Barbara K. Kennedy at SCIENCE@PSU.EDU. Your e-mail address will be added to a distribution list.

This publication is available in alternative media on request.

Penn State is an affirmative action, equal opportunity university. Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact the office in charge of the seminar in advance of your attendance. U.Ed. SCI 03-26

This issue of SCIENCE SEMINARS was produced by Andrew W. Elder and Barbara K. Kennedy.