Events Archive

Mar
24
2015
Peko Hosoi
 TBD
Mar
23
2015
Cory Dean
 TBD
Mar
12
2015
Geoffrey West
Mar
10
2015
Albert Libchaber
Mar
09
2015
Ken Burch
Mar
09
2015
Origin of life: From Geophysics to Biology
One of the deepest and most controversial questions of our time is that of the origin of life. In this lecture a hypothesis is presented, according to which the temperature gradients existing deep in the earth (which leads to plate tectonics and the formation of undersea thermal vents), also led to the origin and evolution of life around those vents. Movies and data will be shown of experiments in which various stages of this scenario are presented: how thermal gradients led to plate tectonics, to DNA possible amplification in the thermal vents, and to huge increase of molecular...
Feb
26
2015
Attosecond Science: Probing electron dynamics in complex systems
The emergence of attosecond spectroscopy has offered researchers a new experimental tool, which provides unprecedented temporal resolution for the direct measurement and control of electronic processes. Pioneering studies have obtained unique physical insights by taking...
Feb
24
2015
The Salt Life of Sea Snakes
Dehydration and lack of fresh water are key problems for vertebrates that have secondarily invaded marine environments. However, recent investigations of 9 species representing the principal clades of sea snakes indicate these reptiles do not drink seawater but will drink fresh water at variable thresholds of dehydration, which these snakes tolerate well. Marine reptiles were previously thought to remain in water balance without consuming fresh water owing to the ability of extrarenal salt glands to excrete excess salts obtained either from prey or from drinking sea water directly. Thus, species of marine snakes which...
Feb
23
2015
Enormous magnetic fields with bosons in hybrid lattices
  The integer quantum Hall effect (IQHE) is often described in terms of skipping orbits: 2-D electrons begin nascent cyclotron orbits, only to be interrupted by the material’s boundary, and instead reflect from the edge, beginning a partial orbit anew.  These classical skipping trajectories follow the systems boundary, and in the quantum limit connect to the...
Feb
19
2015
Studying superfluidity in cold-atom circuits
  Superfluidity, or flow without resistance, is a macroscopic quantum effect that is present in a multitude of systems, including liquid helium, superconductors, and ultra-cold atomic gases.  Here, I will present our work studying superfluid flow in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of sodium atoms....

Pages