| CSC/SETI Institute Colloquium SeriesDecember 2008 | Dec. 3 | David Hinson, SETI Institute
The Weather on MarsIn this talk Dave Hinson will examine the weather on Mars using a combination of radio occultation data and wide-angle images obtained by Mars Global Surveyor during its final year of operation. These complementary observations provide a unique perspective on key atmospheric phenomena such as dust storms and winter weather systems (baroclinic eddies). This investigation is revealing the mechanisms through which eastward-traveling eddies influence both the timing and location of distinctive "flushing" dust storms that occur in the topographic basins of the northern hemisphere. | 
poster | Dec. 10
| Special Panel: Pete Worden, Pavel Podvig and Will MarshallNuclear Weapons and Space Weapons  
Our panellists will present three 15 minute technical and scientific
presentations on standard space and nuclear weapons capabilities and
effectiveness, national requirements and intentions, existing
conventions and potential future agreements, followed by 15 minutes for
questions and discussion. All discussions will be on unclassified or
declassified material.
Pete Worden will give a briefing on United States, Russian, Chinese and
other nations postures on weapons in space, nuclear and non-nuclear,
(from pistols in Soyuz capsules on up to Star Wars) how they have
evolved, why they have worked so far and how he sees them working in the
future, and how they can best be shaped in the future. Will Marshall
will talk about space agreements of the future and Pavel Podvig will
talk about the arsenals of different nations. | 
poster | January 2009 | Jan 14 | Dr. Laura T. Iraci
NASA Ames Research Center
Laboratory Studies of Water Ice Cloud formation under
Martian ConditionsWater ice clouds are an important part of the
martian hydrological cycle, influencing the water and energy
budgets. Microphysical models can be used to study the
connections between cloud formation and water distribution
throughout the system (for example, as surface frost
layers), but only if the intricacies of cloud formation and
growth are understood and properly parameterized. To that
end, we have performed laboratory studies of water ice
nucleation on a variety of surrogate materials and have
found that initiation of ice is more difficult than often
presumed. We will report these results, along with
preliminary growth rate observations. | | March 2009 | Mar. 4 | Richard Muller, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, UC Berkeley
Discovery of Strong Cycles in Fossil DiversityRichard Muller and his collaborators have recently analyzed the most complete record of marine animal fossils ever compiled, the "Compendium" of Jack Sepkoski, which lists all known fossil marine animal genera back 542 million years. When the fossil diversity (number of distinct genera) is plotted, it shows a very strong 62 Myr cycle. The cycle is particularly evident in the species that endured for relatively short times, as shown in the diagram below (published in Nature, vol 434, 208-210, 10 March 2005). 
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