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

20 to 26 March 2006

MONDAY, 20 MARCH

(Pritchard Fluid Mechanics Laboratory seminar title to be announced), Hong Ma, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Practice Talks for Site Visit," Interdisciplinary Research Groups, Penn State, 12:00 noon, S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Nanoscale Science/MRSEC and Department of Physics (863-8999).

"Redox Properties of Natural Organic Matter," Don Macalady, Colorado School of Mines, 12:00 noon, 117 Earth-Engineering Sciences Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

"The BAM1 and BAM2 Receptor-Protein Kinases are Required for Specification of the Early Anther-Cell Fate in Arabidopsis," Carey Hendrix, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 106 Wartik Laboratory, host: Hong Ma, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Physiology (863-3892).

"From Tropics to Tundra, Seedling to Tree, and Molecule to Ecosystem to Globe: How Constraints from Trade-Offs, Stoichiometry, and Biophysics Make Plants Behave Simply in a Complex World," Peter Reich, University of Minnesota, 1:25 p.m., 100 Life Sciences Building (Berg Auditorium), Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (865-5557).

"Water on Mars" (Polycom presentation), Michael Manga, University of California, 2:00 p.m., 436 Deike Building, Penn State Astrobiology Research Center (863-8761).

"Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis with Chiral Organometallics," James Morken, University of North Carolina, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Xumu Zhang, Department of Chemistry (865-4221).

"Simulation of Binary-Black-Hole Mergers," Frans Pretorius, University of Alberta (Canada), 3:00 p.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Quantum-Hall Physics in Rotating Bose Condensates," Susanne Viefers, University of Oslo (Norway), 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Jainendra Jain, Department of Physics (863-1162).

"Bioinformatics, Molecular Evolution, and Comparative Genomics," Wojtek Makalowski, Penn State, 3:35 p.m., 158 Willard Building, Institute for Computational Science (865-1172 or www.ics.psu.edu/springsem.html).

"Genomic Imprinting: Conflicts Between Maternal and Paternal Gene Interests," Gavin Kelsey, Babraham Institute (United Kingdom), 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Anton Nekrutenko, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"The Effect of Walnut Intake on Factors Related to Prostate and Vascular Health in Men at Increased Risk for Prostate Cancer," Kim Spaccarotella, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., S-209 Henderson Building, Graduate Program in Nutrition (865-3448).

"Variability of the Bean Rust and Sources of Resistance to Bean Rust in Mozambique," Celestina Jochua, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 108 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (865-2571).

TUESDAY, 21 MARCH

"Annexins I and II Versus beta-2-Glycoprotein-1 as Bridging Molecules in the Phagocytosis of Apoptotic Cells," Xiaoxuan Fan, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Robert Schlegel, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"One-Dimensional Theory of the Quantum-Hall System," Anders Karlhede, Stockholm University (Sweden), 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Jainendra Jain, Department of Physics (863-1162).

"Pore-Pressure Feedbacks in Shearing Granular Media: Implications for Subglacial Till Deformation and Debris-Flow Mobilization," Neal Iverson, Iowa State University, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

"Principles and Structural Characterization of Protein and RNA Folding Pathways," Tobin Sosnick, University of Chicago, 4:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Philip Bevilacqua, Department of Chemistry (863-3812).

"From Little Bangs to the Big Bang" (Marker lecture #1 of 3), John Ellis, European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), 8:00 p.m. (followed by reception), Ballroom C at the Nittany Lion Inn, hosts: Murat Gunaydin and Mark Strikman, Department of Physics (865-7382).

WEDNESDAY, 22 MARCH

"Material Mystery: Inside the Art and Science of Glass," Carlo Pantano, Penn State, 12:00 noon, Penn State Downtown Theatre Center (127 S. Allen Street), Office of the Vice President for Research (865-3477 or www.rps.psu.edu/unplugged).

"Electricity by the Trainload" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

"Design and Characterization of Polymer-Surface Chemistry for Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery," Joseph A. Gardells Jr., University of Buffalo, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Nick Winograd, Department of Chemistry (863-0001).

"Strategies to Search for Supersymmetry" (Marker lecture #2 of 3), John Ellis, European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), 2:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, hosts: Murat Gunaydin and Mark Strikman, Department of Physics (865-7382).

(Center for Dynamics and Geometry seminar title to be announced), Chris Croke, University of Pennsylvania, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Hybrid Organic Materials as Vehicles to Enter the Membrane Era of Separations" (Barrer lecture), William J. Koros, Georgia Institute of Technology, 4:00 p.m., 102 Thomas Building, Eberly College of Science and College of Engineering (865-4041).

THURSDAY, 23 MARCH

"How Transcription Factors Interact with the Nucleosome," Brian Hnatkovich, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Song Tan, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"L-Functions and Modular Forms," David Farmer, American Institute of Mathematics, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Looking Under the Hood: An N-Body Mechanic Tutorial," Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, Penn State, 12:30 p.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"New Catalysis Concepts of Broad Utility to Chemical Synthesis," David MacMillan, California Institute of Technology, 12:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Ken Feldman, Department of Chemistry (863-9637).

"On Cachazo-Douglas-Seiberg-Witten Conjecture for Simple Lie Algebras," Shrawan Kumar, University of North Carolina, 4:00 p.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Physics with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)" (Marker lecture #3 of 3), John Ellis, European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), 4:00 p.m. (refreshments at 3:30 p.m. in the Davey/Osmond overpass), 119 Osmond Laboratory, hosts: Murat Gunaydin and Mark Strikman, Department of Physics (865-7382).

(title to be announced), Dave Kimmel, University of Maryland, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Meteorology (863-8566).

(title to be announced), Yongcheol Park, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 202 Research West Building, Department of Geosciences (865-7965).

FRIDAY, 24 MARCH

"Host Diversity, Vector Diversity, and the Ecology of a Plant Virus," Allison Powers, Cornell University, 11:00 a.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Entomology (865-1895).

"Research in Progress Presentations," Sam Ridout and David DeGroot, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 127 Noll Lab, Noll Physiological Research Center (865-3453).

"On Using Expert Opinion in Ecological Analyses: A Frequentist Approach," Subhash Lele, University of Alberta (Canada), 12:20 p.m., 9 Life Sciences Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

"Nanoparticle Optical Properties and Biomolecule Detection: New Challenges for Theory," George C. Schatz, Northwestern University, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Barbara Garrison, Department of Chemistry (863-2103).

(Applied and Computational Mathematics seminar title to be announced), Min Chen, Purdue University, 3:30 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Project Poltergeist: The Mystery of Neutrinos" (video), 3:30 p.m., 211 Davey Laboratory, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library (865-7617 or www.libraries.psu.edu/pams/filmseries.html).

"The Remaking of the Gettysburg Battlefield Five Times Over! A Study in Landscape and Memory," Ben Dixon, State University of New York, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geography (865-3433).

SATURDAY, 25 MARCH and SUNDAY, 26 MARCH

(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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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 06-111

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