A Mouse Dancing Between Elephants: MobiTV and the Technology that Married the Wireless and Media Industries

Tuesday, October 30, 4-5p. Phillip Alvelda , MobiTV. MIT: Stata, Star Conf. Rm. (32-D463). Details & Abstract.

A Beginner's Guide to Open Science (not for beginners but by beginners).

Sunday, November 4, 3:30p. Cameron Neylon. MIT: Stata Center (32) 155. Details & Abstract.

Is this blog reaching anyone?

If not, I will discontinue it.

Computer (and Human) Perfection at Checkers

Monday, November 5, Noon. Jonathan Schaeffer. Chinook. Harvard:Maxwell Dworkin G115. Details & Abstract.

The Physicist in Industry and Other Adventures

Tuesday, November 13, 4p. Ira Farber. Brandeis University: Abelson 131, 415 South Street, Waltham. Details.

An Introduction to Biological Materials

Tuesday, October 30, 4p. Debbie Chachra. Brandeis University, Abelson 131, 415 South Street, Waltham. Details & Abstract.

Mars Phoenix: Following the Water

Thursday, November 15, 7:30p. Rebecca Siddons & Michael Krushinsky will speak. They are one of the pairs of science teachers selected to be part of the Phoenix mission. An Observatory Night. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Phillips Auditorium. 60 Garden St. Details.

Bioscience and the Alteration of Human Limits

Thursday, November 8, 5:15-7:15p. Laurie Zoloth. Reservations required. Harvard Divinity School, Common Room, Center for the Study of World Religions, 42 Francis Avenue. Details.

The Mechanical Cell

Wednesday, November 7, 3:30p. Jane Kondev. Radcliffe Institute, 34 Concord Ave. Details.

Aerodynamics of Falling Paper and Insect Flight

Wednesday, October 31, 3:30p. Jane Wang. Jane Wang Research Group. Radcliffe Institute, 34 Concord Ave. Details.

Musicophilia

Monday, November 5, 7:30p. Oliver Sacks. First Parish Church in Cambridge, 3 Church St. Details.

Dripping Jetting Drops and Wetting: The Magic of Microfluidics

Thursday, November 1, 5-6p. David Weitz. Background Reading. Harvard: Pfizer Lecture Hall, 12 Oxford St. Details.

Scientific Publishing in the Biosciences

Friday, November 9, 1-6p. A forum. Harvard Medical School, Tosteson Medical Education Center, Walter Amphitheater. Details.

Continental Scale Wind Power: Resources and Production Variations

Tuesday, November 6, 9:30-11a. Juha Kiviluoma. JFK School of Govt., Belfer Center Library, Littauer-369. Details & Abstract.

Our Place in Space

Thursday, November 1, 7p. Meredith Hughes. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Philips Auditorium, 60 Garden St. Details.

Social Learning and Traditions in Wild Capuchin Monkeys.

Thursday, November 1, Noon. Susan Perry. The Lomas Barbudal Capuchin Monkey Project. Harvard: Center for the Environment Seminar Rm., Room 310, 24 Oxford St. Details.

The Changing Carbon Cycle: How Fast Will Atmospheric CO2 Increase?

Monday, October 29, 4:15p. Inez Fung. Harvard Science Center, Lecture Hall A, 1 Oxford St. Details & Abstract.

Weather Festival.

Saturday, October 27, 10a-3p. Poster. Among many other events, third grade students at Dexter and Southfield Schools will perform a medley of weather songs. Performance begins at 1:25 in the Clay Center Lecture Hall. Clay Center Observatory, 20 Newton St., Brookline. Details.

Visual Scene Understanding: from 'Agnosia' to 'Photographic memory'

Monday, October 29, 4-5p. Aude Oliva. MIT: 46-3002. Details & Abstract.

The Logic of Biological Networks

Tuesday, October 30, 4-5p. Jehoshua (Shuki) Bruck. MIT: Stata Center (32) 141. Details.

Hearing Gesture: How Our Hands Help Us Think

Wednesday, October 31st, 3:30p. Susan Goldin-Meadow. Goldin-Meadow Lab. BU: 64 Cummington St., Rm. 150. Details TK.

Labeling, Discovering, and Detecting Objects in Images

Monday, October 29, 2:45-3:45. Bryan Russell. MIT: Stata Center, Kiva/Patil (32-G449). Details.

Two Easy Classification Tricks To Simplify the Practitioner

Monday, October 29, 4-5p. Ali Rahimi. Supplementary Reading: On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study. MIT: Stata Center, Star Conference Rm. (32-D463). Details. Note time change.

The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature

Tuesday, October 23, 5-6p. Steve Pinker will discuss his new book The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. Harvard Science Center B. Details.
(Warning! Details =18.60 MB!!)

New methods for the controlled delivery of tactile stimuli

Tuesday, October 23, 3p. Vincent Hayward . MIT: 46-5056. Details & Abstract.

Computerized Voting Machines

Wednesday, October 24, 2:50-4p. Barbara Simons. Tufts: Halligan 1111. Details & Abstract.

Communicating in Space

Thursday, October 25, 3-4p. Scott Hamilton, MIT Lincoln Lab Optical Communications Group. MIT: 36-428 (Herman Haus Rm.) Details & Abstract.

The Presettlement Forest of the Northeast

Thursday, October 25, 11-Noon. Charlie Cogbill, historical ecologist.
Harvard Forest Seminar Room, Harvard Forest, Petersham, MA. Details.

Caring for Urban Trees

Monday, October 22, 6:30-8:30p. (ie, the trees growing on the strip between the sidewalk and the street). Nina Bassuk. Franklin Park Golf Clubhouse, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway. Details & Abstract.

Song diversity and singing performance: why variable and stereotyped signals coexist

Friday, October 26, 4p. Bruce Byers. Tufts: Barnum 104, Medford Campus . Details.

Healthcare Underwater: The Katrina Experience

Wednesday, October 24, 5:30p. James Aiken, Louisiana State University.
Tosteson Medical Education Center, Countway Library, 260 Longwood Ave. Details.

Synthetic Biology: Cellular and Molecular Engineering

Monday, October 22, 1:30p. George Church, William Shih, and Pam Silver. Harvard Medical School, Goldenson 122, 1st flr., 250 Longwood Ave. Details.

50 Years of Nuturing Science

Friday, November 9, 8:45-5:30p. A symposium marking the 50th Anniversary of the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation. Harvard Medical School, Conference Center. RSVP. Details.

Parallel Architecture and its Role in Cognitive Science

Tuesday, Nov. 6, 6p. Ray Jackendorff. MIT: 46-3310. Details.

Visual Scene Understanding: from "Agnosia" to "Photographic memory"

Tuesday, October 30, 4p. Aude Oliva. MIT: 46-3002. Details.

Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion

Sunday, November 18, 2p. Loree Griffin Burns. Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St. Details.

¡Descubriendo la Biodiversidad! Learning about Biodiversity!

Sunday, November 4, 2p & 3:15p. Brian Farrell and Irina Ferreras, Harvard Herbaria. Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St. Details.

Hidden Diversity

Saturday, November 1, 9:30-Noon. Benjamin Wolfe. Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St. Details.

Ethnobotany: Ancient Wisdom and Modern Medicine.

Tuesday, October 30, 6p. Michael Balick. Background Reading. Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford St. Details.

The Visual Representation of Natural Scenes

Friday, October 26, Noon. Andrew Hollingworth. MIT: 46-3002, 43 Vassar St. Details.

Genetics of Forebrain Development

Wednesday, October 24, 6p. John Rubenstein. The Rubenstein Lab. MIT: 46-3002, 43 Vassar St. Details.

Timing in the auditory cortex: From synapses to behavior

Monday, October 22, 2p. Tony Zador. MIT: 46-3002. Details.

Pollution and Marine Life

Tuesday, October 16, 7p. Susan Shaw. New England Aquarium, Harborside Learning Lab. Details.

A Life Decoded: My Genome, My Life

Wednesday, October 31, 7p. J. Craig Venter discusses his A Life Decoded: My Genome, My Life.
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave. Details.

Fragrence: History, Mystery, and Design

Friday, October 19, 8:30-4p. Speakers. Poster. Elm Bank Horticulture Center, Wellesley. Details.

Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club

Saturday, November 10, Event begins at 5p. Chip Taylor, director of Monarch Watch. Potluck, member slides. Massachusetts Audubon Broad Meadow Brook Sanctuary in Worcester. Details.

Saw-whet Owls

Wednesday, October 17, 7-9p. Kathy Clayton-Seymour, Banding Station Manager, Audobon Society. Drumlin Farm, 208 South Great Road, Lincoln. Details.

Physical Views of the Biology, Geology, and Chemistry of Earth’s Carbon Cycle

Wednesday, October 24, 3:30p. Daniel Rothman. The Rothman Lab.
Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, 34 Concord Ave. Details.

Visualizing Ultra-Scale Data

Thursday, October 24, 4p. Kwan-Liu Ma. Initiative in Innovative Computing, 60 Oxford St., Rm 330. Details & Abstract.

Aging and Longevity

Monday, October 15, 6-8p. Mildred Community Center, Mattapan. Details.

Boston's Emerald Necklace: A Walking Tour

Sunday, October 21, 10a-1p. Jim Gorman, Boston Architectural College. Session 1: Park St. T station; Session 2: Back Bay Fens. Details.

Searching for gravitational waves with LIGO

Thursday, October 18, 4:15-5:30. Erik Katsavounidis. MIT: 10-250. Details.

When the Desert was Green

Wednesday, October 17, 4-5p. Farouk El-Baz. MIT: 54-915. Details.

Bioballistics: An Exercise in Scaling

Tuesday, October 16, 1:20-2:00. Steve Vogel. Radcliffe Gymnasium, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Details.

A Repeat of the 1918 Flu Epidemic

Monday, October 15, 4-5p. John Barry, author of The Great Influenza. Stata Center (32) 155. Details.

Optimization Problems in Social Networks

Friday, October 19, 1-2p. David Kempe. MIT: 32-G575. Details.

Bioelectronic Interfaces: The Next Frontier

Wednesday, October 24, 7p. Mark Reed. MIT: Stata Center 32-123. Details.

A Mobile Phone Ecosystem

Thursday, October 18, 7-9p. Jamey Hicks. MIT: E51-325 (Tang Center). Details.

Moving towards a Solar Economy in Massachusetts

Monday, October 22, 6-8p. A panel discussion with representatives of government and industry. RSVP by Friday, Oct. 19. Marriott Copley, 110 Huntington Ave. Details.

MIT Energy Night

Friday, October 12, 5:30-8p. Over forty presenters showcasing MIT research and startups. The MIT Museum. Details.

Modeling Cooperation for First and Second Lives: Suggesting a General Case

Tuesday, October 16, 12:30p. Oliver Goodenough. RSVP required for physical attendance. Event webcasts and remote participation. Podcast audio & video. Berkman Center Conference Room, 23 Everett St., 2nd Floor, Cambridge. Details.

Gambling: face to Face or Interface?

Wednesday, October 17, 7-9p. Ben Mezrich, Natasha Dow Schull, and Maressa Hecht Orzack. MIT: 10-250. Details.

Engagement, Stickiness and Adherence: Keeping users entranced, even when it's for their own good

Wednesday, October 17, 2:50-4p. Timothy Bickmore. Tufts: Halligan 111. Details.

Stream Processing: Efficiency through Locality

Thursday, October 25, 4-5p. William Dally. MIT: Stata Center (32) 123. Details.

A Reverse Notice and Takedown Regime to Enable Public Interest Uses of Technically Protected Copyrighted Works

Tuesday, November 6, 4:30p. Pamela Samuelson. MIT: Stata Center, Patil/Kiva Rm. (32-G449). Details & Abstract.

Adaptive visual models for finding people (& other objects)

Friday, October 26, 4p. Deva Ramanan. MIT: Stata Center, Star Seminar Rm. (32-D463). Details.

The Many Faces of Chemistry

Sunday, October 21, 1p and 3p. Bassam Shakhashiri. The "Science is Fun" Lab. Museum of Science, Cahners Theater. Details.

Some Recent Research on Lung Cancer Stem Cells

Thursday, November 1, 11a. Carla Kim. Museum of Science, Gordon Current Science & Technology Center. Details.

The Jesuit and the Skull

Tuesday, October 9, 7p. Amir Aczel will read from The Jesuit and the Skull, his book on Teihard de Chardin. Background Reading (Scroll down). Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St. Details.

11th International Symposium on Wearable Computers

Thursday-Saturday, October 11-13. Hyatt Harborside. Details.

Elevator Pitch Contest

Saturday, October 13, 8:30a-10p. Stata Center. Details.

Improving Human Health through Translational Research

Friday, October 12, 3:30p. Peter S. Kim, President, Merck Research Labs. MIT: Edgerton Hall (34) 101. Details.

Mobile Sensor Networks: Cooperative Sensing and Control

Friday, October 12, 2:15-3:15p. Noami Ehrich Leonard. MIT: 3-370. Details & Abstract.

Tiny Technologies & Medicine

Thursday, October 11, 6p. Sangeeta Bhatia. MIT: Sidney-Pacific Multipurpose Rm. 70 Pacific St. Details.

Global Warming from an African Perspective

Wednesday, October 10, 4-5:30p. George Philander. MIT: Wong Auditorium, E51-115. Details.

Exploring subpolar climates with robot Seagliders, high-res numerical simulations, and satellites

Tuesday, October 8, 1-2p. Peter B. Rhines. MIT: 5-324. Details.

How Underwater Vehicle Design is Responding to Current Environmental Issues

Wednesday, November 14, 6p. James Morash. MIT Museum. Details.

New Lessons in Cancer Research

Wednesday, 6p. Jacqueline Lees. MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Ave. Details.

Life and the Evolution of the Universe.

Wednesday, October 17, 4p. Juan Perez-Mercador, Centro de Astrobiology, Spain. Background Reading. Harvard: Biological Laboratories Lecture Hall, 16 Divinity Ave. Details.

Puzzles and Problems of Ongoing Global Sea Level Change

Thursday, October 11, 4p. Carl Wunsch. Harvard: Haller Hall, 20 Oxford St. Details.

Reproductive conflict, demography, and the evolution of menopause

Thursday, November 1, 4p. Michael Cant. Harvard: Main Lecture Hall, BioLabs Bldg. Details.

Into the Cool

Thursday, October 11, 4p. Eric Schneider will discuss his new book "Into the Cool" and the role of thermodynamics on evolution, ecology,economics, and life." Harvard: Main Lecture Hall, BioLabs Building. Details.

Energy Transitions Past and Future

Tuesday, October 9, 5:30p. Cutler Cleveland. Tufts: Mugar 200. Details.

First Meeting of the Boston OSGeo users group

Wednesday, October 17, 7p. MIT Museum, "MIT360" space, 265 Mass. Ave.

More On Three-Dimensional Gravity

Wednesday, October 10, 2-3p. Edward Witten. MIT: 26-100. Details.

Earth System Revolutions: Key Turning Points in the History of our Planet

Tuesday, October 9, 8:30a-6p. The Symposium has three sections: Earth System revolutions in the the past, the present, and the future. MIT: 10-250. Details.

Multi-cellular Logic Circuits

Wednesday, October 10, 2:50-4p. Jonathan Yedidia. Tufts: Halligan 111. Details.

Robotics and the Future of Space Exploration

Monday, October 22, 4-5p. Jeff Norris. Stata Center, Star Conf. Rm. (32-D463). Details & Abstract.

Large-Scale Music Identification: Algorithms and Applications

Friday, October 19, 1:30-2:30p. Eugene Weinstein. MIT: Stata, Star Conference Rm. (32-D463). Details.

Engineering the Revolution: A WPI Robotics Symposium

Tuesday, October 16, 8a-2:30p. Speakers. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Odeum, Campus Center. Details.

A New Field in Communications

Thursday, October 11, 7p. Vladimir M. Stojanovic. Verizon Labs, 40 Sylvan Rd., Waltham. Details & Abstract.

The Next Wave of the Robot Revolution

Wednesday, October 10, 6:15-8p. Keynote by Rod Brooks. Five Other Industry Speakers. MIT: Stata Center, Kirsch Auditorium, 1st flr., 32 Vassar St. Admission fee. Details.

Demonstrating On-Orbit Robotic Servicing - 136 Days on Orbit With Orbital Express

Friday, October 5, 1-2p. Lt Col Fred G. Kennedy, USAF, DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office. Background Reading. MIT: 35-225. Details & Abstract.

Enabling User Innovation through Improved Design Environments

Fridat, October 5, 2-3p. Scott Klemmer. MIT: Stata Center, Patil/Kiva Seminar (32-G440). Details.

The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony

Thursday, October 4, 7:30p. Harvard: Sanders Theatre. Webcast. Details.

Sex Differences in Human Behavior: Biosocial Origin Theory

Wednesday, October 10, 3:30p. Wendy Wood. Radcliffe Institute: 34 Concord Ave. Details.

Mind Bugs: The Science of Ordinary Prejudice

Wednesday, October 3, 3:30p. Mahzarin R. Banaji. Radcliffe Institute: 34 Concord Ave. Details.