CSC/SETI Institute Colloquium SeriesSign up to our mailing list for regular updates by clicking here. The colloquiums are free and open to the public, and run from noon to 1 pm on Wednesdays at the SETI Institute, 515 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View, California. Archive of past lectures, videos, slides: 2010, 2009, 2008/2007 Watch past lectures video on SETI Institute Channel on Youtube
 poster
for month of March 2010
03/17
What clays can tell us about past climate at Mawrth Vallis, Mars
Nancy McKeown, Earth and Planetary Science Department, UC Santa Cruz
Mawrth Vallis has one of the largest exposures of phyllosilicates on Mars. Originally observed by OMEGA, CRISM has refined the detections and allowed positive identification of several phyllosilicate minerals including nontronite, montmorillonite, and kaolinite, as well as hydrated silica, based on their distinct spectral characteristics. The textures and morphologies of these units have been characterized using HiRISE imagery. Nancy McKeown will discuss the identification and mapping of these phyllosilicates and their implications for past climate at Mawrth Vallis.
03/24
Exploring the Habitability of Icy Worlds: The Europa Jupiter System Mission
Bob Pappalardo, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NASA and ESA have recently selected the Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) as the next Flagship mission to the out solar system. The mission concept consists of a NASA-led Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) and an ESA-led Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO), which would execute a choreographed exploration of the Jupiter System before entering orbit around Europa and Ganymede, respectively. The mission's overall theme is: "The emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants," and JEO would focus on Europa with the goal: "Explore Europa to investigate its habitability." While the primary focus of JEO is to orbit Europa, the science return encompasses the entire Jovian system, especially as is relevant to the potential habitability of Europa. EJSM would shed new light on the potential habitability of icy worlds in our solar system and beyond.
 03/31/2010
Primordial Ice Reservoirs of the Solar System
David Jewitt, Department of Earth & Space Sciences and Inst. Geophys. and Planetary Physics, UCLA
We now know that ice in the solar system resides in at least three distinct reservoirs,
known as the Oort cloud, the Kuiper belt and the main-belt comets. Dr. Jewitt will discuss
the nature, distribution and significance of the ice, highlighting its connection to the
formation epoch, in a style intended to be sweeping and broadly accessible.
04/07/2010 Starship Life SupportHarry Jones, NASA Ames Research Center
Dr. Jones will report on the design and cost of a starship, with emphasis on life support systems. He will describe a multigenerational interstellar voyage to colonize a new planet. Nuclear propulsion is required. The mission is more feasible if a small crew travels slowly and lands with minimal equipment. Growing food is about as expensive as taking dehydrated food. Highly reliable life support can be achieved by providing spare parts and full systems. One small slow multigenerational interstellar voyage to colonize a new planet would cost about as much as the Apollo program. We can go to the stars!
04/14/2010 Marine Biodiversity and Pretty Pictures: A Report from Indonesia's Raja AmpatMark Showalter, SETI Institute
When SETI astronomer Mark Showalter is not looking up at Saturn and its rings, he prefers to spend his time looking down, preferably through the viewfinder of his underwater camera. Mark will present a slide show from his recent visit to Raja Ampat, a remote dive site in Indonesia recognized as having the highest marine biodiversity of any place on Earth.
04/21/2010 Titan: Outer-Planet Moon of MysteryJeff Moore, Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center
04/28/2010 Titan: Outer-Planet Moon of MysteryFarid Salama, NASA Ames Space Science Division
05/05/2010
Modeling the Effects of the Interstellar Medium on Engineered Signals of Extraterrestrial Origin
Dr. Samantha Blair, SETI Institute
Dr. Blair will discuss the impairments that can be imposed on signals of technological origin traveling through the interstellar medium (ISM). The ISM contains ionized regions where fluctuations in the electron density have a significant effect on signals propagating through the medium. Techniques developed by pulsar researchers over the last 2-3 decades were used to characterize the impact of these effects on engineered as opposed to natural signals like pulsars, and in particular, seek insights into the types of signals to expect based on their susceptibility to ISM propagation impairments.
05/19/2010
Latest results from the Mars Phoenix Lander Microscope
John Marshall, SETI Institute
Dr. John Marshall was a member of the Mars Phoenix Lander team that successfully landed in the north polar region of Mars last year. He will describe the data gathered by the microscope instrument which examined soil and ice from the landing site of the robot. Dr. Marshall will present the implications for geological and biological history of the Vastitas Borealis formation.
05/26/2010
The Maunder Minimum: Astrophysical Connection to Climate Change
Dan Lubin
06/09/2010
The Evolving Intersection of Physics and Biology
Jan Liphardt, UC Berkeley Physics Department
In April 1953, Watson and Crick largely defined the program of 20^th century biology: obtaining the blueprint of life encoded in the DNA. Fifty years later, in 2003, the sequencing of the human genome was completed. Like any major scientific breakthrough, the sequencing of the human genome raised many more questions than it answered. Dr. Liphardt will discuss some of the big open problems in cell and developmental biology, and he'll explain why approaches, tools, and ideas from the physical sciences are currently reshaping biological research. Super-resolution light microscopies are revealing the intricate spatial organization of cells, single-molecule methods show how molecular machines function, and new probes are clarifying the role of mechanical forces in cell and tissue function. At the same time, Physics stands to gain beautiful new problems in soft condensed matter, quantum mechanics, and non-equilibrium thermodynamics.
06/23/2010
Cosmic Microwave Background Measurements with the QUaD Experiment
Sarah Church, Deputy Director of KIPAC, Stanford University
The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation has enabled us to probe conditions in the early universe with incredible precision. The QUaD experiment is one of the first to report detailed measurements of the polarization of the CMB, which provides extra information that complements temperature measurements. Dr. Church will discuss the implications of the QUaD data and set the stage for what we can expect from future, more sensitive experiments.
|