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

9 to 15 April 2007

MONDAY, 9 APRIL

"Identification of Putative G-Protein-Coupled Receptors," Tim Gookin, Penn State, 12:10 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Daniel Cosgrove, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Biology (863-3892).

"Inspiration from Nature: Natural Products in Drug-Discovery Efforts," Coran Watanabe, Texas A&M University, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Blake Peterson, Department of Chemistry (865-2969).

"A Variational Approach to Moving-Contact-Line Hydrodynamics," Tiezheng Qian, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 3:30 p.m., 216 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Pierce's Disease of Grapevine: Nanobiotechnology Yields New Clues about Xylella fastidiosa Biology, Cell Motility, and Host Colonization," Harvey Hoch, Cornell University, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-3761).

"How Close Are We to a Predictive Science of the Biosphere?," Paul Moorcroft, Harvard University, 3:35 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (865-5557).

"Intelligent Autonomy for Reducing Operator Workload," Mark Rothgeb, 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).

"Evaluation of Alternative Chemicals and a Cultural Strategy for Managing Gray Mold on Raspberries," Graham Sanders, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 111 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (865-2571).

"MicroRNA Pathways in Animal Development," Victor Ambros, Dartmouth Medical School, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Wendy Hanna-Rose, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-7904).

"Pigs to Policy or Policy to Pigs: When Science Comes after Vitamin-A-Program Implementation" (Pike lecture), Sherry A. Tanumihardjo, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., S-209 Henderson Building, Graduate Program in Nutrition (865-3448).

"Quantum Chromodynamics and Quantum Gravity," Hong Liu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 4:00 p.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

TUESDAY, 10 APRIL

(title to be announced), Jose Antonio Zapata, National Autonomous University of Mexico, 10:00 a.m, 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Moire Interference of Grid Fields and Scale-Invariant Spatial Representation," Kechen Zhang, John Hopkins University. 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Dezhe Jin, Department of Physics (865-7533).

"Elucidation of the Substrate-Recognition Mechanism in Insulin-Degrading Enzyme," Matthew Pond, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Juliette Lecomte, Department of Chemistry (863-1153).

"Getting Around the Guard Cell: A Tale of Transport and Tailbacks in the Cellular Metropolis," Michael Blatt, University of Glasgow (United Kingdom), 4:00 p.m., 100 Life Sciences Building/Berg Auditorium (with video-conferencing to Hershey College of Medicine), The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences (865-1626).

"On the Representation of a General Incompressible-Linearly-Elastic Material as a System of Fibers Embedded in an Incompressible Fluid," Charles S. Peskin, New York University, 4:00 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Coral Zooxanthellae as a Model for Eukaryotic Microbial Evolution," Todd C. LaJeunesse (faculty candidate), Florida International University, 5:15 p.m., 100 Life Sciences Building (Berg Auditorium), host: James Marden, Department of Biology (865-4562).

"The History of Science," Larry Lattman, formerly of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 5:30 p.m., 117 Hub-Robeson Center (HUB Auditorium), Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

WEDNESDAY, 11 APRIL

"Many Ways to See the World" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Earth Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

"Balloon-Borne Large-Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST): Cosmology from High-Altitude Balloons," Mark Devlin, University of Pennsylvania, 2:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Stephane Coutu, Department of Physics (865-7533).

"Neuroscience/Neural Engineering 2007: Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) for Communication and Control," Jonathan Wolpaw, New York State Department of Health and State University of New York, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Steven Schiff, Huck Institute + Penn State Neuroscience Institute + Departments of Neurosurgery + Department of Engineering Sciences and Mechanics + Department of Physics (863-4210 or 321-4884).

"New Insights into the Physics of Supernovae and their Remnants: A Comprehensive X-Ray Study of Supernova 1572," John "Jack" Hughes, Rutgers University, 4:00 p.m., 538 Davey Laboratory, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics (865-0418).

"Novel Insights Into Long-Standing Observations on Blood-Cell Emergence in the Murine Embryo," Mervin Yoder, Jr., Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Bob Paulson, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (863-6306).

THURSDAY, 12 APRIL

"Chemistry of Biological Adhesion," Deborah Leckband, Univeristy of Illinois, 10:00 a.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory (863-1375).

"Managing Research and Development for Growth," Ryan R. Dirkx, Arkena Inc., 11:15 a.m., 26 Hosler Building, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (865-4992).

"Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Excess Electrons in Clusters," Daniel Neumark, University of California, 12:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Will Castleman, Department of Chemistry (865-7242).

"The Role of Negative-Elongation Factor (NELF) in Pausing RNA Polymerase II in Drosophila," Saikat Ghosh, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: David Gilmour, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-8905).

"Fermion Pairing with Ultracold Atoms" (Whitfield lecture), Randall Hulett, Rice University, 4:00 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, host: Kurt Gibble, Department of Physics (865-7533).

"Muscle and Blood: Mechanics and Electrophysiology of the Heart by the Immersed Boundry Method," Charles Peskin, New York Univeristy, 4:00 p.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Recent Developments in the Lasso-Type Penalized Models," Hui Zou, University of Minnesota, 4:00 p.m., 201 Thomas Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

"The Global Energy Landscape: A Point of View (Shoemaker lecture), Steven Hinchman, Marathon Oil Corporation, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering (863-2273).

(title to be announced), Bruce Wielicki, NASA Langley Research Center, 4:00 p.m. 112 Walker Building, Department of Meteorology (863-8566).

"Ion Conduction and Selectivity in Potassium (K+) Channels" (Preistley lecture #1 of 2), Roderick MacKinnon, Rockefeller University, 8:00 p.m., 100 Life Sciences Building (Berg Auditorium), Eberly College of Science and Department of Chemistry, (863-3209).

FRIDAY, 13 APRIL

"Endocrine Regulation of Pheromone Production in Bark Beetles,"Gary Blomquist, University of Nevada, 11:00 a.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Entomology (865-1895).

"The Health, Risk Factors, Exercise Training, and Genetics (HERITAGE) Family Study," Jack H. Wilmore, University of Texas, 11:15 a.m., 127 Noll Laboratory, Noll Physiological Research Center (865-3453).

"The Development of Soil Water Repellency in Amended Sand-Based Rootzones," David Moody, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (863-1601).

"Principles of Gating in Potassium (K+) Channels" (Preistley lecture #2 of 2), Roderick MacKinnon, Rockefeller University, 1:00 p.m., 101 Thomas Building, Eberly College of Science and Department of Chemistry (863-3209).

"Median Spaces and Property T," Indira Chatterji, Ohio State University, 2:30 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Ultrafast Electron Crystallography (UEC) Applied To Fatty Acids and Phospholipids Films," Alexei Main, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: John Asbury, Department of Chemistry (863-6309).

"The Elegant Universe: Welcome to the 11th Dimension" (video), 3:30 p.m., 211 Davey Laboratory, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library (865-7617 or www.libraries.psu.edu/pams/filmseries.html).

(title to be announced), Richard Falk, Rutgers University, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Biodiversity Dynamics and Land-Use Changes in the Amazon: An Interdisciplinary Project," Jane Read, Syracuse University, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geography (865-3433).

SATURDAY, 14 APRIL

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Explore Space" in HUB Alumni Hall and Davey Laboratory + "BioDays" in Osmond Laboratory, Penn State, 10:00 a.m., NASA + Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics+ Department of Biology + Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology + Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences + Eberly College of Science + Penn State Outreach (865-0418 or 863-3650).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Fire and Ice: Exploration of the Solar System" (Friedman lecture), Carl Herrmann, Johns Hopkins University, 3:15 p.m., 100 Thomas Building, Eberly College of Science (865-0418).

SUNDAY, 15 APRIL

(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 07-115

This issue of SCIENCE SEMINARS was produced by Leta A. Krumrine and Melissa Arnett.