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

22 to 28 January 2007

MONDAY, 22 JANUARY

"Three-Component Coupling of Benzyne," Joshua Sacher, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Steve Weinreb, Department of Chemistry (863-0189).

(title to be announced), Wei Zhu, Rice University, 3:30 p.m., 216 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Thermo-Mechanical Analyses of Large and Complex Systems," Pan Michaleris, 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).

"Climate Change: Why is it Coming, What it Might Mean," Richard Alley, Penn State, 3:45 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (862-0797).

"Exploiting Model Systems to Address Human Diseases Caused by Disruptions in Fatty-Acid Trafficking," Paul N. Black (department-head candidate), Ordway Research Institute and Albany Medical College, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Frank Pugh, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-8252).

"Vitamin A in Early Life: Lung and Immune System Health," Catharine Ross, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., S-209 Henderson Building, Intercollege Graduate Program in Nutrition (865-3448).

TUESDAY, 23 JANUARY

"Commutative Algebra, Graphs, and Alexander Duality," Christopher Francisco (faculty candidate), University of Missouri, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Slow and Not-So-Slow Mixing in Flows on Surfaces: Part Two," D. Scheglov, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 216 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

RESCHEDULED FOR 24 JANUARY AT 4:00 P.M.:
"Unconventional Magnetism and Dynamic Generation of Spin-Orbit Coupling," Congjun Wu, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Jainendra Jain, Department of Physics (863-1162).

"Robust Inference Using Higher-Order Influence Function," Lingling Li, Harvard University, 4:00 p.m., 201 Thomas Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

"The Evolution of Human Skin Color: Shedding New Light on an Old Question," Nina Jablonski, Penn State, 4:00 p.m. (refreshments at 3:45 p.m.), 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Doug Cavener, Department of Biology (865-4562).

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

WEDNESDAY, 24 JANUARY

"Princeville Remembers the Flood" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

"Nanocomposite Inorganic-Organic Colloids for Bioimaging, Bioassays, and Drug Delivery," James Adair, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Paul Weiss, Department of Chemistry (865-3693).

"Saturation of the Gluon Density in the Limit of High-Energy Theory and Phenomenlogy," Anna Stasto, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: John Collins, Department of Physics (863-0783).

"Neuroscience/Neural Engineering 2007: Spike-to-Spike Correlation and Neural Coding -Basic Roles for Membrane and Circuit Dynamics," Eric Shea-Brown, New York University, 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).

"The Extraordinary Imperialism of the Clostridia," J. Glenn Songer, University of Arizona, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Brenda Love, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (863-1984 or email: BCL10@psu.edu).

NEW DATE and TIME (originally scheduled for 23 January):
"Unconventional Magnetism and Dynamic Generation of Spin-Orbit Coupling," Congjun Wu, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, 4:00 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Jainendra Jain, Department of Physics (863-1162).

THURSDAY, 25 JANUARY

"Integrated Ab-Initio Calculations and Statistical Thermodynamics for Designing Hydrogen Storage in Clathrates," Jae W. Lee, City College of New York (CUNY), 10:00 a.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering (863-1375).

"Three is Better Than One: Examining the Cellular Roles of Multiple TATA-binding proteins (TBPs) in the Methanogenic Archaeon, Methanosarcina acetivorans," Matthew Reichlen, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Greg Ferry, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-5721).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Research-Based Inquiry Physics Experiences (RIPE) for Elementary Students and Teachers," Stephen J. Van Hook, Bowling Green State University, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Rick Robinett, Department of Physics (863-0965).

"Confidence Bands in Nonparametric Time Series Regression," Zhibiao Zhao, University of Chicago, 4:00 p.m., 201 Thomas Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

FRIDAY, 26 JANUARY

"Soil Remediation: Centre County Kepone Superfund Site," Yunchul Cho, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (863-1601).

"The Cryogenic Dark-Matter Search: Methods, Results, and Future Directions," Darren Grant, Case Western University, 2:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Doug Cowen, Department of Physics (863-5943).

"The Best Mind Since Einstein: Richard Feynman’s Career" (video), 3:30 p.m., 211 Davey Laboratory, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library (865-7617 or www.libraries.psu.edu/pams/filmseries.html).

"Reading Nature's History Book: Reconstructing 19th-Century Vegetation Dynamics in Yosemite National Park," Andrew Scholl, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geography (865-3433).

SATURDAY, 27 JANUARY

"Metals in Your Brain: How to Stop Your Brain From Rusting Its Way to Alzheimer's Disease" (Frontiers lecture #1 of 5), James Connor, Penn State, 11:00 a.m., 100 Thomas Building, Eberly College of Science (863-0901 or www.science.psu.edu/alert/frontiers).

SUNDAY, 28 JANUARY

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