June 13th, 2009 § § permalink
 Tomorrow is the last day….
The mission of the World Science Festival is to cultivate and sustain a general public informed by the content of science, generic inspired by its wonder, dosage convinced of its value, sickness and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.
The World Science Festival, an unprecedented annual tribute to imagination, ingenuity and inventiveness, takes science out of the laboratory and into the streets, theaters, museums, and public halls of New York City, making the esoteric understandable and the familiar fascinating.
Opening night (last week) sounds awesome!
FEATURING Alan Alda • Marin Alsop • Christine Baranski
Joshua Bell • Danny Burstein • Glenn Close
Todd Ellison • Yo-Yo Ma • Marcus Printup • Anna Deavere Smith
National Dance Institute • The Inspirational Voices of Abyssinian Baptist Church
Performance directed and produced by Damian Woetzel HONORING Edward O. Wilson, explorer, poet and champion of the natural world on his 80th birthday read moreÂ
World Science Festival
May 5th, 2009 § § permalink
Harvard Graduate School of Education – Visiting Scholar Lecture
Thursday May 7, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
208 Longfellow Hall, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Appian Way, Cambridge MA
DID DARWIN MEET WAGNER? Â ON EVOLUTION, EDUCATION AND BECOMING
Edvin Ostergaard — composer and science educator — will explore the 1859 parallel emergence of the idea of evolution in Darwin’s _The Origin of Species_ and in Richard Wagner’s opera “Tristan and Isolde.” Â The talk will also address the potential of bringing together biology and music in teaching about evolution and becoming.
Edvin Ostergaard, a visiting scholar at HGSE, is Associate Professor in
Science Education, University of Life Sciences, Norway. Â His musical
compositions reflect an interest in the relationship between art and
science, as in “The Einstein Resoundings” (2005), based on Einstein’s 1905 physics; and “The Two Moons” (2006), based on Leonardo’s astronomical texts.
MIC Norway: Edvin Østergaard – Biography.
April 23rd, 2009 § § permalink
Nature and Inquiry member and ArtScience 100K Prize juror, dosage Nita Sturiale, viagra buy will take part in the ArtScience 100K Prize launch dinner tonight at Cloud Place in Boston. The international panel will brainstorm project directions for High Schoolers in the Boston area to take and run with as they work on their proposals for the competition.
Read more about the prize here.
April 23rd, 2009 § § permalink
Boston’s first “simul-café†is coming up this Sunday evening, just in time to kick off the Cambridge Science Festival.
Pick from three science cafe events starting at the same time, each based on the same theme: “Life as we don’t know it.â€
We’ve made it easy to enjoy your Sunday night. No lectures or technical jargon, only great venues, great food and drink, and great conversations. The only hard part is choosing!
THE CAFES:
Café Sci is Digging for Martians.
Sam Kounaves has spent a lot of time on Mars recently, whether it’s scratching the surface with the robotic Phoenix Lander or experimenting in simulated environments. All of this time is starting to pay off, as he uncovers evidence that increases the chance that we will find signs of life there soon. What could this life look like? How would it change our world back on Earth?
Starts at 7:30pm, Sunday, April 26
Tommy Doyle’s Kendall Square (www.tommydoyles.com)
1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02138
Validated parking in Kendal Square garage (by cinema on Binney Street)
Hosted by the public television science series NOVA scienceNOW, produced by WGBH. Watch online at: www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow
Get started by watching this video online: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0306/01.html
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Synthetic Biology: Recoding Life.
If you could use living cells to build anything, what would you build? We can read the language of DNA. And we’ve gotten pretty good at writing it…if only we knew WHAT to write, and how to get new designs to actually work. Peter Carr will give some examples of how this is rapidly changing, from his own work and others in the field of Synthetic Biology.
Starts at 7:30pm, Sunday, April 26
Cambridge Brewing Company (www.cambrew.com)
1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02138
Hosted by MIT’s Technology and Culture Forum: http://web.mit.edu/tac/
Get started by watching this video online: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3410/03.html
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At Sea with Symbiotic Outlaws: exploring the mysteries of a marine ménage à trois.
Much of modern biology is based on intense study of “model†organisms: lab rats, E. coli, fruit flies, and the like. But millions of other species live on our planet—some right here in our neighborhood—that have not read the textbooks and happily go about their lives without obeying the rules we’ve created for them. We’ll discuss the value of these unique life forms as provocateurs that encourage us to re-think the way that life can be organized.
Starts at 7:30pm, Sunday, April 26
Atwoods Tavern (www.atwoodstavern.com)
877 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Hosted by Harvard’s Science in the News: www.hms.harvard.edu/sitn/
Get started by watching this video online: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0305/04.html
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SPECIAL EVENT ON WEDNESDAY
Picked out your café for Sunday? Save your Wednesday too…
NOVA: Meet the Producers
Starts at 6:30pm, Wednesday, April 29
WGBH Studios, One Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135
Catch a preview of NOVA’s 36th season and NOVA scienceNOW’s fourth season (premiering June 30, 2009) followed by a discussion with the filmmakers. Director of the WGBH Science Unit and Senior Executive Producer NOVA and NsN, Paula Apsell, Senior Science Editor of NOVA and NsN, Evan Hadingham, and Senior Producer for NsN, Julia Cort, will discuss what it takes to produce two of television’s most critically-acclaimed science programs with moderator Philip J. Hilts, Director of MIT’s Knight Science Journalism program. After the discussion, meet the team in the WGBH Yawkey Atrium during a light reception. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. RSVP at: http://support.wgbh.org/site/Calendar?view=Detail&id=101861
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Cafe Sci encourages open, easy-to-understand conversation. No lectures. No PowerPoint. No technical jargon.
Cafe Sci is free and open to all.
Bring your friends, tell your neighbors, post this message, and pass it along.
Cafe Sci is an ongoing series.
To be added to the e-mail list write to getinvolved@wgbh.org.
Find other science cafes at www.sciencecafes.org.
March 3rd, 2009 § § permalink
Weaving Science into Sculpture with artist Nathalie Miebach
Wednesday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m.
Museum of Science, Boston
What do basket weaving, climate change, and sculpture have in common?
Artist Nathalie Miebach literally weaves scientific data related to
meteorology, climate change, and astronomy into brightly colored,
three-dimensional sculptures.  Come hear how – and why – she creates these
singular pieces that expand the boundaries of how scientific information
can be represented and what art can mean.Â
One of Miebach’s sculptures “Temporal Warmth: Tango Between Air, Land, and
Sea†is on display in the Museum exhibit halls through April 12.
This program is part of the Museum’s ongoing “When Science Meets Art”
series. Â It is free and open to the public. Â Seating is limited. First
come, first served. Â Free seating tickets available to the general public
in the Museum lobby beginning at 5:45 pm the evening of the program. For
more information, visit mos.org/events.
About the Artist
Nathalie Miebach holds a Master of Art Education and a Master of Fine Arts
from Massachusetts College of Art. She is the recipient of the
International Sculpture 2006 Outstanding Student Award, an LEF grant, a
two-year fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center, a Bemis Center for
Contemporary Arts Residency in Omaha, NE, and the Berwick Research
Institute Residency in Boston. She is currently the Artist in Residence at
Amherst College. Her work has been shown nationally and throughout New
England and has been reviewed in Art in America and Sculpture magazine.
She is represented by the Nielsen Gallery in Boston and the Reeves
Contemporary Gallery in New York City.
Artist Statement
“My work focuses on the intersection of art and science and the visual
articulation of scientific observations or theories. Using methodologies
and processes of both disciplines, I translate scientific data related to
physics, astronomy, or climate change into three-dimensional structures.
My method of translation is principally that of weaving–in particular
basket weaving–as it provides me with a simple, yet highly effective grid
through which to interpret data into three-dimensional space.
“Central to this work is my desire to explore the role visual aesthetics
play in translation of science information. By utilizing artistic
processes and everyday materials, I am trying to both question and expand
the boundaries of traditional visual translations of science data (e.g.,
graphs, diagrams), while at the same time provoking the viewer and myself
to rethink expectations of what kind of visual vocabulary is considered to
be in the domain of ‘science’ or ‘art’.â€
More about Nathalie’s presentation
More about  Science Meets Art series at MOS
February 13th, 2009 § § permalink
  Presented by the Harvard Alumni Association and Harvard’s Origins of Life InitiativeÂ
Saturday, March 7, 2009Â 2:00 PM;Â
New Location: Science Center, CambridgeÂ
The Harvard Alumni Association presents a discussion of cutting edge discovery straight from the labs of Harvard. By combined advances in biology, chemistry, genetics, geology, and astronomy, the Origins of Life Initiative works to find answers to questions pertaining to just that — the origins and future of life on earth and throughout the universe. This exciting half-day program will begin with keynote speaker J. Craig Venter, who is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century for his invaluable contributions to genomic research. Two panels will follow featuring prominent faculty who will discuss recent advances in understanding life – from other planets that might support life to how living cells emerge. Â
For More Information, please visit:Â
Origins of LifeÂ
HarvardScience: Origins of LifeÂ
George ChurchÂ
Dimitar SasselovÂ
HHMI: Jack SzostakÂ
The Szostak LabÂ
J. Craig VenterÂ
George WhitesidesÂ
If you have any questions about Alumni Events programs, please email haa_alumnieducation@harvard.edu or call 617-495-1920 or check out our web site for more information on our events post.harvard.edu/alumnievents.
January 15th, 2009 § § permalink
David Edwards and Aurélie Edwards, mind Mayor Thomas M. Menino and The Cloud Foundation, visit this in association with Le Laboratoire, Paris &
the Idea Translation Lab at Harvard University announce the launch of the ArtScience 100K Innovation Prize for Boston Public School Students.
“THE MOTORS OF INNOVATION ARE CHARACTERIZED BY A CREATIVE PROCESS THAT IS NEITHER COMPLETELY AESTHETIC NOR SCIENTIFIC, NEITHER INDUCTIVE NOR DEDUCTIVE, BUT A MIX OF EACH.
THE BOSTON 100K ARTSCIENCE INNOVATION PRIZE PROMISES TO CATALYZE INNOVATIVE THINKING AMONG THE TEENS OF BOSTON’S PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS BY ENCOURAGING THEM TO DREAM IN THAT SPACE WHERE ART AND SCIENCE MEET.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOSTON 100K ARTSCIENCE INNOVATION PRIZE CONTACT:
Carrie Fitzsimmons
carrie dot fitzsimmons at lelaboratoire dot org
International Director for Strategy
Laboratoire Management International
647 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
4, rue du Bouloi
75001 Paris, France
Le Laboratoire
September 17th, 2008 § § permalink
Harvard Museum of Natural History
NEW EXHIBITION: Language of Color
Opening Friday, September 26
Whether it’s the brilliant blue wings of a butterfly, the scarlet feathers of a tanager, or the stripes of a zebra, animals display color in vastly different ways and for different reasons. This exhibit combines dramatic specimens from across the animal kingdom with computer interactives, hands-on activities, and a stunning display of live dart frogs. Visitors will learn how color and its perception have co-evolved, resulting in a complex and diverse palette used to camouflage, startle predators, mimic other animals, attract a mate, or intimidate a rival. Through September 6, 2009.
Exhibition Opening lecture by Dr. Hopi Hoekstra
Nature’s Palette: the Biological Significance of Color
Thursday, Sept. 25, 6:00 pm.Free and open to the public.
The range of colors we see in nature is striking and beautiful, and it also drives how plants and animals communicate with one another.  With examples of her own research on the genetic architecture of rodents, Hopi Hoekstra, Associate Professor of Natural Sciences and Curator of Mammals in Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, will discuss the many ways that color is made, used and perceived  — and why that’s where the true elegance and ingenuity of natural selection lies.
Harvard Museum of Natural History
26 Oxford Street Cambridge, MAÂ 02138
www.hmnh.harvard.edu
August 11th, 2008 § § permalink
This fall will mark the launch of GLIMPSE, an interdisciplinary journal of visual perception that has been brewing in the back of my mind for almost 8 years. With the help of friends and a slew of enthusiastic volunteers and interns, GLIMPSE examines the functions and processes of vision and its implications for being, knowing, and constructing our world/s. Each theme-focused journal issue features articles and essays, artists’ visual essays, interviews, and reviews from the physical sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Beginning last January, GLIMPSE’s team convened to slog through such foundational issues as coming up with a name for the journal, a logo and layout design, a web site, a secret wink, a patron saint (St. Lucy), selecting themes for the first 6 issues, and beginning to invite people to contribute articles, essays, reviews, visual essays, etc.
GLIMPSE has a new group of tireless interns for the summer that will be researching potential contributors and stalking them until they agree to contribute their work and ideas to our enterprise. Since I’d prefer not to stalk, harass, and extort people for content, I’d like to enlist your help in:
1) Submitting relevant works for an upcoming issue, OR
2) Encouraging others to submit their work
3) Subscribing to the journal
4) Getting the word out about GLIMPSE to your friends and colleagues
5) Suggesting relevant potential advertisers for our first issues
More details about the journal and our call for submissions are below.
Thanks for your time and ideas. Have a great summer, and watch the virtual newsstand for our first issue this fall!
Megan
Megan Hurst
editor@glimpsejournal.com
GLIMPSE: the art + science of seeing
http://www.glimpsejournal.com
______________________________________________________________________
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
GLIMPSE: the art + science of seeing
An interdisciplinary journal of visual perception
Upcoming deadline: June 20, 2008
GLIMPSE editors seek submissions for upcoming issues. Our intent is to bring current research and scholarship of “the visual” to a public forum consisting of academic and non-academic audiences alike. Since we strive to spark inquiry and dialogue across disciplines, it is important that our articles avoid jargon and be accessible to readers from diverse backgrounds. Stylistically, GLIMPSE is more like a magazine than an academic journal– however, in depth of content, we value conceptual precision and scholarly rigor.
SUBMISSIONS http://www.glimpsejournal.com/contribute.html
Themes for upcoming GLIMPSE issues:
Is the visual political? (Fall 2008) – Deadline June 20, 2008
China Vision (Winter 2009) – Deadline July 11, 2008
Cosmos (Spring 2009) – Deadline September 26, 2008
Revolutions in Visual Representation
Vision and Language
Iconoclasm
Visions
Vision and Ethics
Imagination
SUBMISSIONS http://www.glimpsejournal.com/contribute.html
GLIMPSE takes a uniquely lightweight and open approach to publishing. Our audience definition, review process, handling of copyright, contributor compensation, production and publication formats, and overall business model are low-overhead, technology-enabled, and pragmatically idealistic. You can read about how GLIMPSE is different from most publications at http://www.glimpsejournal.com/about.html
SUBMISSIONS http://www.glimpsejournal.com/contribute.html
GLIMPSE also has opportunities for issue- and theme-specific guest editors and graphic designers, for editorial, database and programming, design, and library science interns for summer and fall 2008. Visit http://www.glimpsejournal.com/contribute.html#staff for more information.
SUBMISSIONS http://www.glimpsejournal.com/contribute.html
UPCOMING GLIMPSE THEMES http://www.glimpsejournal.com/issues.html
ABOUT GLIMPSE http://www.glimpsejournal.com/about.html
May 9th, 2008 § § permalink
Thirsty for real conversation?  Come to Café Sci and join a lively discussion at a local pub.And you get to talk with your mouth full…with free appetizers, plus drink specials!THE TOPIC: Your body is remarkably perfect. That pair of arms you have for example. One left, one right. How did they know to grow that way? It’s as if each hand knew what the other was doing.If you look hard, you can find the recipe that helped your body turn out the way it did. It’s all right there in your DNA.We’ve all heard of DNA, but it is really just a little molecule. How does the recipe in this molecule get turned into you: a living, breathing creature? The race to understand this is leading to discoveries and tools that are rapidly transforming our ability to guide life itself.Join Café Sci as Harvard Medical School researcher Cliff Tabin brings us tales from the front lines of genetics. What is the limit of our capacity to direct the shape life takes? What does it look like when one species evolves from another? Does this mean we’re finally on the verge of growing wings?THE DETAILS:Café Sci meets in Inman SquareStarts at 6:30pm, Sunday, May 18The Thirsty Scholar, www.thirstyscholarpub.com 70 Beacon Street, SomervilleFREE FOOD! DRINK SPECIALS!This Sunday’s event is produced in participation with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences: www.amacad.org. Root for the Celtics! If they go to a game 7 with Cleveland we may have to reschedule this event. Café Sci encourages open, easy-to-understand conversation.  No lectures.  No PowerPoint. No technical jargon.Café Sci is free and open to all (21+ at Thirsty Scholar). Bring your friends, tell your neighbors, post this message, and pass it along.Café Sci is an ongoing series.To be added to the e-mail list write to getinvolved@wgbh.org.Find other science cafes at www.sciencecafes.org.Hosted by the public television science series NOVA scienceNOW, produced by WGBH. Watch online at: www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow