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

25 April to 1 May 2005

MONDAY, 25 APRIL

"Maize Phytochromes: Targets of Selection, Targets for Manipulation?" Tom Brutnell, Cornell University, 12:20 p.m., 106 Wartik Laboratory, host: Surinder Chopra, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Physiology (863-3892).

"Detecting the Invasive Potential of Non-Indigenous Plant Populations," Bruce Maxwell, Montana State University, 1:25 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (865-5557).

"Asymmetric Halogenation," Xianfeng Sun, Penn State, 2:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Xumu Zhang, Department of Chemistry (865-4221).

"Quantum Black Holes, Strong Fields, and Relativistic Heavy Ions," Dmitri Kharzeev, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Mark Strikman, Department of Physics (865-7382).

"Block Copolymers as a Tool for Nanomaterial Fabrication," David Newsham, Penn State, 3:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Ayusman Sen, Department of Chemistry (863-2460).

(title to be announced), Chris Beetle, Florida Atlantic University, 3:00 p.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605).

"New Invariants and Topological Classification of Gradient-Like Diffeomorphisms on 3-Manifolds," Viatcheslav Grines, University of Nizhni-Novgorod (Russia), 3:30 p.m., 122 Pond Laboratory, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Bare-Root Production of Woody Ornamentals: Improving Growth and Survival of Bare-Root Trees," Milica Dozic, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 108 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (863-3371).

"Exploring the Marine Microbial World, From Genomes to Biomes," Edward F. DeLong, Massachusetts Insitute of Technology, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Donald Bryant, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-1992 or 865-3072).

TUESDAY, 26 APRIL

"Averaging for Two-Scale Hamiltonian Systems with Wiggly Potentials," Valery Smyshlyaev, University of Bath (United Kingdom), 3:30 p.m., 122 Pond Laboratory, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Cold Atoms Without Laser Cooling: The Frontier of Buffer-Gas Cooling," Jack Harris, Yale University, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Nitin Samarth, Department of Physics (863-0136).

"Earthquake Nucleation and Rupture: Insights from Mining-Induced Seismicity," Eliza Richardson, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

"Nanascale Functional Imaging of Mitochondria in Living Cells," Ahmed Heikal, Penn State, 4:00 p.m. (refreshments at 3:45 p.m.), 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Rick Ordway, Department of Biology (863-5693).

"Shaping the Future: America's Environment Today," Christine Todd Whitman, formerly with New Jersey Government and U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, 5:00 p.m., HUB-Robeson Center Auditorium, Institutes of the Environment (863-0037).

WEDNESDAY, 27 APRIL

(title to be announced), Wei Hu, Penn State, 12:10 p.m., 317 Mueller Laboratory, host: Masatoshi Nei, Institute of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics (863-7334).

"Human Geography: People, Places, and Change, Volume 10: The World of the Dragon" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

"Ultrasensitive Biosensing at DNA-Modified Nanostructures," Shana Kelly, Boston College, 12:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Christine Keating, Department of Chemistry (863-7832).

(title to be announced), Richard Willson, University of Houston, 2:30 p.m. (refreshments at 2:15 p.m.), 108 Tyson Building, host: Antonios Armaou, Department of Chemical Engineering (865-5316).

"Lecture II: The Group of Contactomorphisms: Partial Order or Disorder?" Leonid Polterovich, Tel-Aviv University (Israel), 3:30 p.m., 122 Pond Laboratory, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Fate(ful) Decisions of CD4 T-Cells: Molecular Regulation of Effector Responses in the Helper Lineage of Lymphocytes," Mark Boothby, Vanderbilt University, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Avery August, Department of Veterinary Science (863-3539).

"Iron-Only Hydrogenase and the Prospects for Bioinspired Catalysts for Industrial Hydrogen Production," John Peters, Montana State University, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: J. Martin Bollinger, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"The Road to Embryonic Stem Cells, and Beyond," Gail Martin, University of California, 4:00 p.m., HUB-Robeson Center Auditorium, Eberly College of Science (863-4683).

THURSDAY, 28 APRIL

"The Photosynthetic Reaction Center from Heliobacterium modesticaldum: Photosynthesis in the Anaerobic World," Mark Heinnickel, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: John Golbeck, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

(title to be announced), A.J. van der Poorten, Macquarie University (Australia), 11:15 a.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Computational Bioorganic Chemistry," William Jorgensen, Yale University, 12:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Kenneth Merz, Department of Chemistry (865-3623).

"Gravitational Waves with Fixed-Mesh Refinement and Singularity Excision," Uli Sperhake, Penn State, 12:30 p.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605).

"A Square Lattice Becomes a High-Temperature Superconductor; What About a Triangular Lattice?" Takashi Imai, McMaster University, 4:00 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, host: Ying Liu, Department of Physics (863-0090).

"Edge Detections, Hierarchical Decompositions, and Multiscale Nonlinear Dynamics," Eitan Tadmor, University of Maryland, 4:00 p.m., 215 Thomas Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Imperatives for Atmospheric Sciences in the Next Decade" (Hussey lecture), Richard Anthes, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Meteorology (863-8568).

"Synaptic Function and Subcellular Trafficking of Kainate Receptors," Geoffrey T. Swanson, University of Texas, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: June Liu, Eberly College of Science + Department of Biology + Department of Biobehavioral Health + Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences + College of Health and Human Development + Department of Chemistry (863-8749).

FRIDAY, 29 APRIL

"Gravitational Radiation from Dynamical Black Holes," Sean Hayward, Penn State, 11:00 a.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605).

"Adoption of Pollution-Prevention Techniques: The Role of Management Systems, Demand-Side Factors, and Complementary Assets," Madhu Khanna, University of Illinois, 12:10 p.m., 215 Armsby Building, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology + Environment and Natural Resources Institute + Insitutes of the Environment (863-0291).

"A Field Evaluation Using Coal-Combustion Byproducts in Controlling Phosphorus Runoff From a Coastal-Plain Soil," Keisha Johnson, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (863-1601).

"Secretory Protein Folding and the Quality Control of Misfolded Glycoproteins," Ayaz Sayeed, Penn State, 1:00 p.m., 13 Life Sciences Building, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences (865-3155).

"Chern Character for Twisted K-Theory of Orbifolds," Jean-Louis Tu, Penn State and University of Paris 6 (France), 2:30 p.m., 113 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"The Structural and Optical Consequences of Lone Pairs in Heavy P-Block Metal Oxides," Josef Zwanziger, Dalhousie University (Canada), 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Sharon Hammes-Schiffer and Karl Mueller, Department of Chemistry (865-6554).

"Directed Microcompartmentation and Budding in Aqueous Two-Phase Vesicles," Scott Long, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Christine Keating, Department of Chemistry (863-7832).

"Convergence of Viscosity Solutions for Isothermal Gas Dynamics," Huang Feimin, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China), 3:30 p.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Policies in Motion, Urban Management, and State Restructuring: A Short History of a Trans-Local Model," Kevin Ward, University of Manchester (United Kingdom), 4:00 p.m., 301 Steidle Building, Department of Geography (863-1806).

SATURDAY, 30 APRIL and SUNDAY, 1 MAY

(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.

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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 05-132

This issue of SCIENCE SEMINARS was produced by Barbara K. Kennedy and Kristen Devlin.