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

19 to 26 February 2007

MONDAY, 19 FEBRUARY

"The Analysis of Arabidopsis Meiotic-Gene Function," Hong Ma, Penn State, 12:10 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Daniel Cosgrove, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Biology (863-3892).

"Chemistry and Biology of Carbohydrate-Based Vaccines," Sutang Cai, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Blake Peterson, Department of Chemistry (865-2969).

"Epiphytic Populations of Ice-Nucleating Bacteria on Barley and Their Dissemination into the Atmosphere," Vasileios Bitas, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-3761).

(title to be announced), Guan Qin, Texas A&M University, 3:30 p.m., 216 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Using Lasers to Control Reaction Products," Anne Kaintz, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Tom Mallouk, Department of Chemistry (863-9637).

"Curvature-Free Upper Bounds for the Length of Stationary Objects," Regina Rotman, Penn State, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Size Effect in Domain-Engineered Crystals," Wenwu Cao, Penn State, 3:35 p.m., 203 Sackett Building, host: Lyle N. Long, Department of Aerospace Engineering (865-1172 or www.ics.psu.edu/springsem.html).

"Atomic Molecular Dynamics of Blood-Clotting Proteins," Coray Colina, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Craig Cameron, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-8705).

"Reducing the Energy Density of the Diet for the Treatment of Obesity," Julie Ello Martin, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., S-209 Henderson Building, Graduate Program in Nutrition (865-3448).

TUESDAY, 20 FEBRUARY

"Waring's Problem Over Function Fields," Trevor Wooley, University of Michigan, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Magnetic Nanostructures Probed on the Atomic Scale," Cyrus Hirjibeheddin, IBM Almaden Research Center, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Nitin Samarth, Department of Physics (865-7533).

"Principal Results and Methods in Non-Uniform Hyperbolicity: Part Two," Yakov Pesin, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 216 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Gene Flow and Species Boundaries in the Hydrothermal-Vent Environment of the Eastern Pacific and Mid-Atlantic," C. Rob Young, Harvard University, 4:00 p.m. (refreshments at 3:45 p.m.), 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Chuck Fisher, Department of Biology (863-0278).

"Post-Newtonian Initial Data with Wave for Numerical Relativity," Bernard Kelly, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 4:00 p.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Reconstructing Taiwan: A New View of a Classic Orogen," Tim Byrne, University of Connecticut, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

(title to be announced), Narayanan Veeraraghavan, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, hosts: Philip C. Bevilacqua and Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, Department of Chemistry (863-3812).

WEDNESDAY, 21 FEBRUARY

"Transforming Legacy Code for Security," Vinod Ganapathy, University of Wisconsin, 10:00 a.m., 113 Information Sciences and Technologies Building (Cybertorium), Department of Computer Science and Engineering (865-9505).

"The Impact of Air-Sea Coupling on Tropical Intraseasonal Variability: Simulation and Predictability," Kathy Pegion, George Mason University and Institute of Global Environment and Society, 11:15 a.m., 541 Deike Building, Earth Systems Science Center (865-0478).

"Last Stand: Heroes at Ballona Wetlands" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

"Underground Science at Sudbury-Neutrino-Observatory Laboratory (SNOLAB) and Progress Toward a Search for Neutrino-Less Double-Beta Decay in Target Nucleus 136Xe," Richard Sinclair, Carleton University, 2:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Stephane Coutu, Department of Physics (865-7533).

"Entropy of Conservative Endomorphisms," Jon Aaronson, Tel-Aviv University (Israel), 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

UPDATED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Neuroscience/Neural Engineering 2007: Translational Neuroengineering and Devices for Epilepsy," Brian Litt, University of Pennsylvania, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Steven Schiff, Department of Neurosurgery + Department of Engineering Sciences and Mechanics + Department of Physics (863-4210 or 321-4884).

THURSDAY, 22 FEBRUARY

"Thermal Transport in Complex Fluids," David Venerus, Illinois Institute of Technology, 10:00 a.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering (863-1375).

"Bacterial Zipcodes: Peptide-Based Protein-Localization Signals," Jay Russell, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Kenneth Keiler, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-0787).

"Mining Information from Numerical Simulations of Unequal-Mass Black-Hole Binaries," Ulrich Sperhake, Friedrich-Schiller University (Germany), 1:30 p.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Analysis of Oscillatory Fluid Flow Through Porous-Rock Samples: A Technical Review of Experimental Results," Insun Song, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 202 Research West Building, Department of Geosciences (865-7965).

"Biocomplexity in Action: Pattern Formation and Microbial Ecology at Yellowstone's Hot Springs," Nigel Goldenfield, University of Illinois, 4:00 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, host: Reka Albert, Department of Physics (865-7533).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Evolutionary Biology, Insecticides, Vaccines and the Future of Malaria," Andrew F. Read, University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom), 4:00 p.m., 100 Life Sciences Building (Berg Auditorium), host: Eddie Holmes, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and Department of Biology (863-3650).

"Old and New Results on Optimal Curves," Hector Sussmann, Rutgers University, 4:00 p.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

FRIDAY, 23 FEBRUARY

"'Swiss-Cheese' Inhomogeneous Cosmology and the Dark-Energy Problem," Tirthro Biswas, Penn State, 11:00 a.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Metabolic Syndrome in Children: Will the Real Definition Step Forward Please?" Silva Arslanian, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 11:15 a.m., 127 Noll Laboratory, Noll Physiological Research Center (865-3453).

"Are All Forage Mixtures Created Equal?" Atila Deak, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 101 Agricultural Science and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (865-6541).

"Separable Quantum States and Parametrization of Positive Matrices," Michael Tseng, University of Texas, 2:30 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Journey to Mars" (video), 3:30 p.m., 211 Davey Laboratory, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library (865-7617 or www.libraries.psu.edu/pams/filmseries.html).

"Nonclassical-Multidimensional Shocks," Mark Williams, University of North Carolina, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

(title to be announced), Ruth Gilmore, University of Southern California, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geography (865-3433).

(title to be announced) Sergei Tabachnikov, Penn State, 4:40 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

SATURDAY, 24 FEBRUARY

"Earth and Mineral Sciences Expedition (EMEX) 2007 Open House," 8:00 a.m., 14 Deike Building, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (865-6546; registration requested but not required).

"Brain Repair: Hopes and Challenges" (Frontiers lecture #5 of 5), Gong Chen, Penn State, 11:00 a.m., 100 Thomas Building, Eberly College of Science (863-0901 or www.science.psu.edu/alert/frontiers).

SUNDAY, 25 FEBRUARY

(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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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.

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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 07-87

This issue of SCIENCE SEMINARS was produced by Leta A. Krumrine and Kristen Devlin.