[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events

George Mokray gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Sep 5 19:16:07 PDT 2010


MIT
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Antarctica's Geologic and Climate History from Isotopic Sedimentary  
Provenance Studies of Marine Sediments
Speaker: Professor Sidney Hemming
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 68-180
EAPS Department Lecture Series
Web site: http://eapsweb.mit.edu/news/dls.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
For more information, contact:
Jacqui Taylor
253-2127
jtaylor at mit.edu
------------------------

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
JENNIFER CHAYES
Microsoft Research New England

"Interdisciplinarity in the Age of Networks"

Everywhere we turn these days, we find that dynamical random networks  
have become increasingly appropriate descriptions of relevant  
interactions. In the high tech world, we see mobile networks, the  
Internet, the World Wide Web, and a variety of online social networks.  
In economics, we are increasingly experiencing both the positive and  
negative effects of a global networked economy. In epidemiology, we  
find disease spreading over our ever growing social networks,  
complicated by mutation of the disease agents. In problems of world  
health, distribution of limited resources, such as water, quickly  
becomes a problem of finding the optimal network for resource  
allocation. In biomedical research, we are beginning to understand the  
structure of gene regulatory networks, with the prospect of using this  
understanding to manage the many diseases caused by gene mis- 
regulation. In this talk, I look quite generally at some of the models  
we are using to describe these networks, and at some of the methods we  
are developing to indirectly infer network structure from measured  
data. In particular, I will discuss models and techniques which cut  
across many disciplinary boundaries.

Hosted by Mehran Kardar

Time: 4:15 pm
Place: Room 10-250

Refreshments @ 3:45 pm in 4-349 (The Pappalardo Community Room)

----------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Wind Energy Group-REPA

Speaker: Steve Taub, SVP GE

Time: 5:30p–7:00p

Location: 35-225

School year launch for the Wind Energy Group and Renewable Energy  
Projects in Action. Steve Taub will discuss the current playing field  
for renewable energy.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club

For more information, contact:
MIT Energy Club
energyclub at mit.edu

--------------------------

Friday, September 10, 2010

Common Cod Fiber Guild: Hyperbolic Crochet

Speaker: Diana Taimina

Time: 7:00p–9:00p

Location: 32-123

Daina Taimina, author of ?Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic  
Planes?, will join the guild to explore geometry and its historical  
connections with art, architecture, navigation, and motion, as well as  
the history of crochet, which provides a context for the significance  
of a physical model of a mathematical concept that has plagued  
mathematicians for centuries.

Daina Taimina is a professor of mathematics at Cornell University,  
Taimina regularly participates in art exhibitions and educational  
workshops related to her crocheted models. She was nominated as one of  
the "Most Innovative People and Organizations in the Science and  
Technology World in 2006."

You can learn more about her work please visit her web site.

Web site: www.commoncod.com

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MITKNIT

For more information, contact:
Shreya Dave
sdave at mit.edu

------------------

Harvard

Minds for Sale
Jonathan Zittrain , Professor of Law, Harvard Law School and Harvard  
Kennedy School and Professor of Computer Science, SEAS
When:
Sep 09, 2010 | 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Where:
Maxwell Dworkin G-125
Cloud computing is not just for computing any more:  you can now find  
as much human mindshare as you can afford out in the cloud, too.  A  
new range of projects is making the application of human brainpower as  
purchasable and fungible as additional server rackspace.  What are  
some of the issues arising as armies of thinkers are recruited by the  
thousands and millions?
Speaker Biography:
Jonathan Zittrain is Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the  
Harvard Kennedy School of Government, co-founder of the Berkman Center  
for Internet & Society, and Professor of Computer Science in the  
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is a member of  
the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society and is on the board of  
advisors for Scientific American. Previously he was Professor of  
Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University. His research  
interests include battles for control of digital property and content,  
cryptography, electronic privacy, the roles of intermediaries within  
Internet architecture, and the useful and unobtrusive deployment of  
technology in education. He performed the first large-scale tests of  
Internet filtering in China and Saudi Arabia in 2002, and now as part  
of the OpenNet Initiative he has co-edited a study of Internet  
filtering by national governments, "Access Denied: The Practice and  
Policy of Global Internet Filtering," and its sequel, “Access  
Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace.” His  
book "The Future of the Internet -- And How to Stop It" is available  
from Yale University Press and Penguin UK -- and under a Creative  
Commons license. Papers may be found at <http://www.jz.org >.
Host:
Salil Vadhan
Contact:
Gioia Sweetland
gioia at seas.harvard.edu
617-495-2919
-----------------

Tufts

The Internet Generation: Political Dropouts?September 9, 12:30 PM to  
2:00 PM
A talk by author Henry Milner

Location: Medford/Somerville Campus
Lincoln Filene Center
Rabb Room
Description: While access to information has dramatically increased,  
young people's sense of civic duty has been on the decline.

Join Henry Milner, author of The Internet Generation: Engaged Citizens  
or Political Dropouts? as he explores trends in political  
participation throughout North America and Europe.
-----------------------------------------

Other

> Next week, Bill McKibben and a team of students from Unity College  
> in Maine will be traveling to Washington D.C. to deliver one of the  
> original Carter panels to President Obama, asking him to reinstall  
> solar on the White House, and to follow this symbolic gesture with  
> substantial legislative action.
> We're calling it the Solar Road Trip, and we hope you'll be able to  
> celebrate with us when the panel makes a stop in Boston on its way  
> to D.C.
> Here are the details of the event:
> Date: Tuesday, September 7
> Location: Old South Church, Copley Square, Boston
> Schedule:
> 5:30pm - Bicycle pedal-powered climate rock band, Melodeego
> 6:00pm - Guest Speakers, including Bill McKibben, Tony Cortese of  
> Second Nature, representatives from Students for a Just and Stable  
> Future and Interfaith Power and Light
> 7:00pm - Screening of "A Road Not Taken," new documentary that tells  
> the story of the original Carter White House solar panel installation.
> Please join McKibben, Unity College students, the Carter solar  
> panel, and local organizations in Boston on September 7 to show that  
> Massachusetts supports a clean energy future!
> You should join us on Facebook by becoming a fan of our page  
> atfacebook.com/350org and follow us on twitter by  
> visitingtwitter.com/350
>
> To join our list (maybe a friend forwarded you this e-mail) visit http://www.350.org/signup
> 350.org needs your help! To support our work, donate securely online  
> at http://350.org/donate
----------------------------------

*Weatherization Barnraising*

*Saturday, September 11
*12:30-5:00 pm*

*Tot-Lot daycare and home on the same lot
*65 Chestnut St., Cambridgeport

*The federal government hasn't cut carbon yet, so let?s do it  
ourselves!*
  -
Help to weatherize a historic building and community resource
   -
Learn skills you can take back to your own home
   -
Make new friends
   -
Share food and celebrate with a live band

*The Work List Includes:*
  -
Seal skylights and big sliding windows
   -
Computer efficiency, light-bulbs, and water
   -
Close up two fireplaces

and much more?

*Sign up *here<https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFI3ZTc3dHgzTzBxX2lZcm1jRWctTGc6MQ 
 >
* or contact us at http://heet.cambridge@gmail.com** or at  
617-491-06761*

The Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) is a Cambridge-based co-op  
bringing neighbors together to weatherize our homes and take the  
energy future into our own hands.

----------------------------

Upcoming

CCS: A transitional solution for the climate and energy challenge?
September 13, 2010, 12-2:30 PM
Overview Remarks by: Chris Henderson, Deputy Consul-General, British  
Consulate-General Boston

Panel: Tony Meggs, MIT Energy Initiative (Moderator)
Howard Herzog, Sr. Research Engineer, MIT
Sarah Forbes, Sr. Associate and CCS expert, World Resource Institute
Dan Goldman, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer,  
GreatPoint Energy

Energy is essential to our way of life and imperative for economic  
prosperity and national security. However, energy security is  
threatened by overdependence on foreign oil, in addition to the  
impacts of climate change. Large-scale, clean energy solutions must be  
deployed to meet increasing energy demand and reduce pollution. Carbon  
capture and storage, a transitional solution for the climate and  
energy challenge, is the key to a secure energy future.

Workshop organized by the British Consulate-General Boston
Location
Cambridge Innovation Center
One Broadway, 5th floor
Cambridge, MA 02142

Registration
Please RSVP to Bridget.Gildea at fco.gov.uk by September 10th. Space is  
very limited, please RSVP early to secure a seat.
---------------------------------

http://peaceweek.info/
Global Telesummit for Building a Culture of Peace
September 14-21, 2010

Links to events at over 30 colleges and universities at Hubevents (http://hubevents.blogspot.com 
)
Thanks to Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering  
in the Boston Area (http://fhapgood.fastmail.fm/site02.html)
Boston Area Computer User Groups  http://www.bugc.org/



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