Richard Hahn Atomic-Layer Engineering of Cuprate Superconductors. The Last 20 Years in Neutrino Science - 419th Brookhaven Lecture on: Brookhaven National Laboratory In this talk, Hahn reviews highlights of the last 20 years in neutrino science and discusses a few ideas for new precision neutrino experiments, some of which will involve collaborative efforts of his group in the Chemistry Department and colleagues in the Physics Department.
The 40th Anniversary of Moore's Law on: This year marks the 40th anniversary of Moore's Law, Gordon E. Moore's 1965 observation and prediction about the exponential growth in the power of semiconductor technology. Moore observed that semiconductor technology had doubled in power every year and predicted that it would continue along this developmental path. Originally named Moore's Law several years later by the physicist Carver Mead, that simple observation has proven to be the bulwark of the world's most remarkable industry. In 1975, Moore updated this to a doubling about every two years. History has thus far proven Moore's law correct, and this special conversation between Moore and Mead looks back on the past 40 years on what has made this electronics revolution possible.
David Goodstein California Institute of Technology Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil on: Caltech In a recent Watson Lecture, David Goodstein--Caltech vice provost, professor of physics and applied physics, and Gilloon Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor--discussed his theory that the world will start to run out of cheap, conventionally produced oil much sooner than most people expect, possibly within this decade. He will also explore the likely consequences if he is correct.
Conversations with Berkeley Faculty: Ken Goldberg on: UC Berkeley Webcasts UC Berkeley's Ken Goldberg, Professor of Industrial Engineering, joins Conversations host Harry Kreisler for a discussion of his dual careers as an industrial engineer who designs robots and an artist whose creations use robots to stimulate understanding of technology's impact.
Barton Zweibach MIT String Theory for Pedestrians Part I on: CERN In this 3-lecture series I will discuss the basics of string theory, some physical applications, and the outlook for the future. I will begin with the main concepts of the classical theory and the application to the study of cosmic superstrings. Then I will turn to the quantum theory and discuss applications to the investigation of hadronic spectra and the recently discovered quark-gluon plasma. I will conclude with a sketch of string models of particle physics and showing some avenues that may lead to a complete formulation of string theory.
Darrell Jan California Institute of Technology, NASA NASA Life Sciences Research In Bioengineering on: Caltech Dr. Darrell Jan, AEMC Project Manager, Biomedical and Environmental Technologies at JPL, presented this lecture as part of the 0.1 Seminar series. He gives an overview of the current efforts to leverage advances in microelectronics and biotechnology toward future NASA missions, which will require technologies that enable humans to live and function effectively in space for much longer periods and with reductions in size, mass, and power.
Impact of the Secure Border Initiative on: Discovery Channel As construction along the border with Mexico begins under the Secure Border Initiative, Jorge Ribas looks at how new technologies could work better than the barriers in place...
Ivan Bozovic Brookhaven National Laboratory Atomic-Layer Engineering of Cuprate Superconductors - 415th Brookhaven Lecture by Ivan Bo_ovi_ on: Brookhaven National Laboratory Copper-oxide compounds, called cuprates, show superconducting properties at 163 degrees Kelvin, the highest temperature of any known superconducting material. Cuprates are therefore among the high-temperature superconductors of extreme interest both to scientists and to industry. Research to learn their secrets is one of the hottest topics in the field of materials science. May 17, 2006
The Rise of Silicon Valley: From Shockley Labs to Fairchild Semiconductor on: On February 13, 1956, co-inventor of the transistor William Shockley formally announced the establishment of Shockley Labs, Silicon Valley's first semiconductor company. In their modest Quonset hut laboratory on San Antonio Avenue in Mountain View, Shockley's hand-picked team of some of the nation's brightest young scientists and engineers developed innovative technologies and ideas that forever changed the way we live, work and play. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this pivotal event in the history of our region, join technology historian Michael Riordan in a conversation between early Shockley employees and associates Jim Gibbons, Jay Last, Hans Queisser, and Harry Sello.
An Evening with Robert Price: The Control Data Story in Conversation with Mel Stuckey on: Control Data's story is one of innovation harnessing the imagination, ingenuity and energy of its people to meet the technology needs of customers and the urgent needs of society. As chairman of the board and CEO, Robert Price was one of Control Data's veteran leaders who effectively blended business strategies with technological innovation.
Brain Damage, Smoking Habits Linked on: Discovery Channel A small study of stroke victims shows how damage to a certain section of the brain could actually help people kick their cigarette habits.
Sally Baliunas Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Monsters, Dwarfs, and Everything in Between on: WGBH Forum Inside the nucleus of an atom, the laws of quantum mechanics successfully describe the domain of the incredibly small. Yet the same laws influence the very large, including such objects as stars. Lowell Lecture #3.
Wolfgang Bichmann KfW Development Bank HIV/AIDS on: World Bank Thailand and Uganda have both had remarkable successes in scaling up activities against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
David Gross University of California, Santa Barbara, Kavli Institute The Discovery of Asymptotic Freedom and the Emergence of QCD on: Nobelprize.org David J. Gross held his Nobel Lecture December 8, 2004, at Aula Magna, Stockholm University.
Denise Grady New York Times Venom that Swims on: New York Times Science reporter Denise Grady hears a few venomous fish tales at the American Museum of Natural History.
Seeing Mars Better Than Ever on: Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA's newest Mars spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, is providing an unprecedented view of the surface of Mars.
Shane Ross California Institute of Technology Shane Ross: The Interplanetary Transport Network on: Caltech Shane Ross, graduate student in control and dynamical systems at Caltech, discussed how to identify and traverse a vast array of low-energy passageways that winds around the sun, planets, and moons that is created by the competing gravitational pull between celestial bodies. Space travel along these corridors would slash the amount of fuel needed to explore and develop our solar system.
Half a Century of Disk Drives and Philosophy: From IBM to Seagate on: Over the past 50 years, disk drive technology has come a long way. Success came from scientific discoveries (and a little luck!), but those discoveries would have ended up on the drafting floor without the practical, real-world leadership that partnered science with manufacturing. A true leader first recognizes a cause whose time has come and then must convince a diverse bunch of people that, in their hearts, they share with you a goal worth striving for. Today, it's exciting to read about pixie dust and molecular computing, but we also need the kind of get in front leadership that brought the hard drive to commercial success before these new discoveries can be useful outside the research lab.
David W. Lightfoot National Science Foundation The Birth and Death of Languages on: National Science Foundation David W. Lightfoot discusses how and why languages live and die. Even as languages are dying in unprecedented numbers, new languages are constantly emerging as existing ones diverge into different forms.
Robert Barlow State University of New York Human Blindness: How Horseshoe Crabs May Lead to Cures on: WGBH Forum Horseshoe crab eyes have told us a great deal about how we see. Their ability to see better at night is a remarkable property we do not possess.
Richard Dawkins Oxford University The universe is queerer than we can suppose on: TedTalks Biologist Richard Dawkins makes a case for 'thinking the improbable' by looking at how our human frame of reference -- the things we can perceive with our five senses, and understand with our eight-pound brain -- limits our understanding of the universe. Think of it: We can't see atoms, we can't see infrared light, we can't hear ultrasonic frequencies, but we know without a doubt that they exist. What else is out there that we can't yet perceive -- what dimensions of space, what aspects of time, what forms of life? Dawkins calls the human-size frame of reference 'Middle World': between the microcosmos of atoms and the macrocosmos of the universe. Middle World thinking limits our ability to see the universe in terms of the improbable, whereas 'in the vastness of astronomical space and geological time, that which seems impossible in Middle World might turn out to be inevitable.'
