[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events

George Mokray gmoke at world.std.com
Sun May 13 14:39:35 PDT 2012


Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most  
Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater Boston  
area that catch the editor's eye.

Hubevents  http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.

If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events  
email gmoke at world.std.com

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Monday, May 14
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Webinar: System Approach to Prevent Safety and Quality Problems in  
Modern Automobiles
Monday, May 14, 2012
12:00p–1:00p
Web site:  http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_051412/system-approach-to-prevent-safety-and-quality-problems-in-modern-automobiles.html
Speaker: Qi Van Eikema Hommes, PhD

MIT SDM Systems Thinking Webinar Series

The MIT System Design and Management Program Systems Thinking Webinar  
Series features research conducted by SDM faculty, alumni, students,  
and industry partners. The series is designed to disseminate  
information on how to employ systems thinking to address engineering,  
management, and socio-political components of complex challenges.

About the presentation
Today's automobiles are characterized by complex Cyber Physical  
Systems (CPS), where numerous embedded devices are networked to  
control physical hardware components. These systems are software  
intensive, and typically developed by globally distributed large  
multidisciplinary teams. Many such systems already experienced quality  
and safety problems that could not be traced back to component  
failures. One such example is the recent Toyota Unintended  
Acceleration case.

In this webinar, Dr. Hommes will address the recently published ISO  
26262 Functional Safety for Road Vehicle, the industry's first attempt  
at providing safety assurance for the complex automotive electronic  
systems. It is a positive first step, and a number of areas can be  
improved by taking on a more systems approach. A system theoretic  
hazard analysis method, developed by Professor Leveson at MIT, is  
applied to the Adaptive Cruise Control system design, illustrating one  
of the directions to improve the safety and quality of future  
automobiles.

Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): SDM activities - sponsored by GSC
For more information, contact:  mit_sdm_webinars at mit.edu

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The role of tropical and subtropical eddy moisture transports in the  
general circulation
Monday, May 14, 2012
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-915, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Tiffany Shaw (Columbia Univ)

Abstract: We investigate the seasonal cycle of meridional moisture  
(latent heat) transport in the tropics and subtropics by disturbances  
to the zonal mean. Stationary transport by planetary scale waves is  
found to be large in the subtropical lower troposphere and dominates  
the overall poleward transport during summer. In addition westward and  
eastward propagating sub-planetary scale waves dominate in the tropics  
and midlatitudes, respectively. The analysis reveals that the seamless  
eddy moisture transport from the deep tropics to the pole represents  
the transport by distinct dynamical features.


The statistical transformed Eulerian mean formulation is used to  
assess the role of eddy meridional moisture transport in the general  
circulation. Eddy moisture transport increases the total mass  
transport by a factor of 2 to 3 in the subtropics and midlatitudes.  
The impacts are largest during Northern Hemisphere summer highlighting  
the important role of moisture transport by subtropical anticyclones,  
tropical and baroclinic waves in the general circulation.

MASS Seminar
The MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar (MASS) is a student-run weekly  
seminar series within PAOC. Seminar topics include all research  
concerning the atmosphere and climate, but also talks about e.g.  
societal impacts of climatic processes. The seminars usually take  
place on Monday from 12-1pm followed by a lunch with graduate  
students. Besides the seminar, individual meetings with professors,  
post-docs, and students are arranged. The seminar series is run by  
graduate students and is intended mainly for students to interact with  
individuals outside the department, but faculty and post docs  
certainly participate.

Web site: http://eaps-www.mit.edu/paoc/events/mass-seminar-tiffany-shaw-columbia-univ
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Atmospheric Science Seminars
For more information, contact:  Marty Singh
mssingh at mit.edu

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BUILDING TECHNOLOGY SPRING LECTURE SERIES: Computational Tools for  
Modeling and Control of Airflow in Buildings
Monday, May 14, 2012
12:30p–2:00p
MIT, Building 7-431, Long Lounge (AVT), 77 Massachusetts Avenue,  
Cambridge

Speaker: Dr.Sunil Ahuja, Senior Research Scientist at United  
Technologies Research Center, CT,
COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS FOR MODELING AND CONTROL OF AIRFLOW IN BUILDINGS

In most building energy modeling tools, indoor air is described by  
lumped models, assuming it to be well-mixed with a uniform  
temperature. This assumption tends to fail in buildings equipped with  
low-energy HVAC terminal units, such as displacement ventilation,  
radiant ceilings, etc. The air in zones equipped with such systems is  
often characterized by thermal stratification or buoyancy. We present  
computational tools for developing models of such flows, using model  
reduction techniques that have matured over the last few decades in  
the context of aerodynamic and turbulent flows. We illustrate the  
application of these models in control design and in assessing energy  
savings in buildings.

If time permits, the talk will also discuss computational tools for  
automated calibration of building energy models, otherwise an arduous  
task, using tools for uncertainty quantification and sensitivity  
analysis.

Bio: Dr.Sunil Ahuja is a research scientist at United Technologies  
Research Center (UTRC), where he is involved in research in the areas  
of model reduction and control of fluid flows, uncertainty  
quantification, and nonlinear dynamical systems. He received his Ph.D.  
from Princeton University, MS from Boston University, and BE from  
University of Mumbai, all in mechanical engineering. Some of his  
publications can be found at: http://sites.google.com/site/sdahuja.

Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture, Building Technology Program

For more information, contact:  Alexandra Golledge
617-253-0463
agoll18 at mit.edu

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"Integrating Science for Policy: The Changing Role of Education, and  
Thoughts from Working with the World Bank, PCAST, the National Climate  
Assessment and Others"
Monday, May 14, 2012
2:30pm - 4:00pm
Perkins Room 415, (Rubenstein Building, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK  
Street
A Seminar with Dr. Rosina Bierbaum, University of Michigan

Dr. Rosina Bierbaum is a Professor in the School of Natural Resources  
and Environment (SNRE), and in the School of Public Health at the  
University of Michigan.  She served as Dean of SNRE for 10 years,  
during which time she oversaw the creation of a new undergraduate  
Program in the Environment, five new dual Master’s degrees across  
campus, and tripled interdisciplinary research in the School.

Rosina is a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science  
and Technology (PCAST), and provides advice on how science, technology  
and innovation can lead to responsible and effective policy. Bierbaum  
is also a board member for the Wildlife Conservation Society, the  
Federation of American Scientists, The Energy Foundation, the Gordon  
and Betty Moore Foundation, and the Environmental and Energy Study  
Institute.  She is also a member of the International Advisory Board  
for the journal “Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment” and the  
Executive Committee for the Tyler Prize for Environmental  
Achievement.  Dr. Bierbaum co-directed the World Bank’s World  
Development Report 2010, which focuses on climate change and  
development, and is currently leading the Adaptation Chapter for the  
Congressionally-mandated U.S. National Climate assessment.

Bierbaum served in both the executive and legislative branches of  
Government for two decades--as the Senate-confirmed director of the  
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Environment  
Division, and in multiple capacities at the Congressional Office of  
Technology Assessment, ranging from Congressional Fellow to Senior  
Associate.

Contact Name:  Lauren Bloomberg
Lauren_Bloomberg at hks.harvard.edu
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Open Pediatrics: A game changer in critical pediatric care
Monday, May 14, 2012
3:30 PM to 5:00 PM (ET)
IBM Center for Social Business, 1 Rogers Street, Cambridge

Event Details
The IBM Center for Social Business welcomes Dr. Jeffrey P. Burns, a  
game changer in pediatric care with an amazing story to tell. He will  
share a journey that began as a dream to help pediatric medical staff  
who did not have access to critical knowledge they needed to save kids  
lives. While watching the Masters in 2009, he saw an interactive "see  
and do" web site he thought could do exactly what he wanted. As it  
turned out, this site was designed by IBM Interactive, with a group  
based in Cambridge. After a three-year collaboration between Dr. Burns  
and a Cambridge-based IBM Interactive team led by Adam Cutler, Open  
Pediatrics is a reality.

Open Pediatrics
“OpenPediatrics Project,” the soon-to-be-released web-based  
educational application, will be a resource for pediatric critical  
care givers around the world. By harnessing the reach of the Internet,  
access to the latest knowledge about effective health care will no  
longer be bottlenecked within the walls of institutions. It can now be  
shared instantly so that clinicians across the globe can gain access  
to life-saving information at any time.
The early 2012 beta launch of this comprehensive, continually updated,  
and peer-reviewed knowledge exchange platform will be dedicated to  
providing multimedia and interactive educational resources to  
physicians and nurses on optimal care of the critically ill child.   
More specifically, the overall objectives include providing  
information on demand, curricular learning maps for training  
clinicians, and a platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration  
between care providers around the world.

This beta release will include 1000 users in hospitals across six  
continents. A total of 9 modules will cover a range of topics  
pertinent to the care of critically ill children. Each topic will  
include expert content, including video lectures and demonstrations,  
pre- and post- topic knowledge assessments, and best practice  
protocols and guidelines. When applicable, a module will include a  
simulator or avatar-based simulations for more comprehensive and  
interactive learning.

This project is specifically designed to be a knowledge exchange  
platform, thus contributions in the content provided on the website  
will come from the best teachers from across the world.

About Jeffrey P. Burns, MD, MPH

Dr. Jeffrey Burns is Chief of Critical Care Medicine and the Shapiro  
Chair  of Critical Care Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston and  
Associate Professor of Anesthesia (Pediatrics) at Harvard Medical  
School. He is also the Program Director for the Fellowship Pediatric  
Critical Care Medicine at both institutions.

RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1653027249/?ref=enivtefor&utm_source=eb_email&utm_media=email&utm_compaign=invitefor&utm_term=readmore&invite=MTk2ODE0OS9nbW9rZUB3b3JsZC5zdGQuY29tLzA=

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The Impact of Pollution on Worker Productivity
Monday, May 14, 2012
4:00p–5:30p
MIT, Building E62-650, 100 Main Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Joshua Graff Zivin (UC San Diego)
Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Seminar in Microeconomic Applications

For more information, contact:  Theresa Beneventon
theresa at mit.edu

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Coal-CO2 Slurry Feed for Pressurized Gasifiers: Heterogeneous Kinetics  
in a high CO2/CO Environment and Impact on Carbon Conversion
Monday, May 14, 2012
4:15p–5:15p
MIT, Building 3-333, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Speaker: Cristina Botero, Mechanical Engineering Department, MIT
Center for Energy and Propulsion Research Seminar Series

Gasification of carbonaceous feedstocks such as coal produces  
synthesis gas (CO+H2) which can be used for the production of clean  
power, synthetic fuels, and chemicals. For high-P, high-T gasifiers of  
the entrained-flow type in plants with carbon capture, coal-CO2 slurry  
feed is an attractive alternative to the state-of-the-art coal-water  
slurry feeding system. System-level studies have shown that CO2 slurry  
feed leads to 15% lower oxygen-to-coal consumption, relative to a  
plant with water slurry feed. The gasification of char in CO2 has,  
nevertheless, been observed to be slower than that in steam. In  
addition, CO -which is present in larger quantities when the feeding  
system is CO2 slurry- is known to retard the gasification reactions.  
This talk will thus address the impact of CO2 slurry feed on the  
heterogeneous gasification kinetics -and ultimately on carbon  
conversion and oxygen consumption- in a pressurized, single-stage,  
entrained flow gasifier. The results from component-level simulations  
with a reduced order model (ROM) of the reactor will be presented,  
whereas Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetics were used to quantify the  
gasification rate at high-P, high-T, in a mixed gas environment.

SPEAKER BIO
Cristina Botero is a PhD Candidate at MIT's Reacting Gas Dynamics Lab.  
She earned an MSc. in Chemical and Bioengineering in 2007 from the  
University of Erlangen in Germany. Prior to coming to MIT, Cristina  
worked for General Electric's Global Research Center in Munich.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): RGD Lab

For more information, contact:  Jeff Hanna

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"Defending Behind the Device: Mobile Application Risks"
Monday, May 14, 2012
6:30 PM
Fidelity Center for Applied Technology - Adjacent to South Station,  
245 Summer Street, Boston

The Boston Google Technology Users Group is presenting "Defending  
Behind the Device: Mobile Application Risks".
On May 14th, Chris Wysopal, CTO of Veracode will talk about mobile app  
security entitled "Defending Behind the Device: Mobile Application  
Risks."
The event is hosted by GTUG, Fidelity and Kayak. Hack/Hackers Boston  
is a community sponsor.
We will also have a couple of developers demonstrate live device   
exploits.

This link will provide further information http://bit.ly/JfmOoQ

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Tuesday, May 15
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Microbial Facebook: Probing Bacterial Social Networks

WHEN  Tue., May 15, 2012, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard Medical School, Warren Alpert Building, Room 563, 200  
Longwood Avenue, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION  Health Sciences, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR  Hosted by the Graduate Students
SPEAKER(S)  Marvin Whiteley, University of Texas, Austin

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Going Feral on the Net: the Qualities of Survival in a Wild, Wired World
Tuesday, May 15, 12:30 pm
Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, second floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2012/05/battles#RSVP
This event will be webcast live at 12:30 pm ET at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/webcast 
  and archived on our site shortly after.

Matthew Battles, Managing Editor and Curatorial Practice Fellow at  
metaLAB (at) Harvard

How do we balance the empowering possibilities of the networked public  
sphere with the dark, unsettling, and even dangerous energies of  
cyberspace? Matthew Battles blends a deep-historical perspective on  
the internet with storytelling that reaches into its weird, uncanny  
depths. It's a hybrid approach, reflecting the web's way of landing us  
in a feral state—the predicament of a domestic creature forced to live  
by its imperfectly-rekindled instincts in a world where it is never  
entirely at home. The feral is a metaphor—and maybe more than just a  
metaphor—for thriving in cyberspace, a habitat that changes too  
rapidly for anyone truly to be native. This talk will weave critical  
and reflective discussion of online experience with a short story from  
Battles' new collection, The Sovereignties of Invention.

About Matthew
Matthew Battles is program fellow with metaLAB (at) Harvard, an  
academic and creative collaborative devoted to the exploration of  
technology in the arts and humanities, hosted by the Berkman Center.  
He writes about the historical, aesthetic, and cultural dimensions of  
cyberspace for such publications as The Boston Globe and The Atlantic  
Monthly. He spent eight years as a scholarly editor at Harvard's  
Houghton Library and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; as cofounder of  
the blog HiLobrow.com he has helped generate innovative literary  
publishing projects in print and online. The author of Library: an  
Unquiet History(Norton 2004), his forthcoming books include Letter by  
Letter (W. W. Norton), a sentimental and natural history of writing,  
and a short story collection, The Sovereignties of Invention (Red  
Lemonade).

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Sparse Recovery over Networks
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
4:00 PM (reception following)
MIT, Stata Center, Room 32-141, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

A. Kevin Tang, Cornell

LIDS Seminar

Abstract  Given that large scale networks such as the Internet and  
power grids have become ever more crucial for our society, it is  
critical to keep monitoring states of such networks to avoid possible  
system failure and to optimize performance. The scale and complexity  
of such systems raise the need to quickly infer component  
characteristics from indirect aggregate measurements.
Motivated by tomography problems in information networks, we first  
discuss sparse recovery with graph constraints in the sense that we  
can take additive measurements over nodes only if they induce a  
connected subgraph. We provide explicit measurement constructions for  
several special graphs including line, 2-D grid and tree. A general  
measurement construction algorithm is also proposed and evaluated. For  
any given graph G with n nodes, we derive order optimal upper bounds  
of the minimum number of measurements needed to recover any k-sparse  
vector over G.

Second, to deal with bad data detection in power grids, an iterative  
mixed L1 and L2 convex programming is used to estimate the true state  
by locally linearizing the nonlinear measurements. We give conditions  
under which the solution of the iterative algorithm converges to the  
true state. We also numerically evaluate our solution to perform bad  
data detections in nonlinear electrical power networks problems.

Besides their applications, both formulations significantly generalize  
the current compressive sensing framework: from complete graph to  
arbitrary graph (first part of the talk) and from additive linear  
measurements to nonlinear measurements (second part of the talk).

Biography  A. Kevin Tang received his undergraduate degree in  
electronics engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and  
his Ph.D. in electrical engineering with a minor in applied and  
computational mathematics from the California Institute of Technology.  
He is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical and  
Computer Engineering at Cornell, where his research interests focus on  
control and optimization of networks, including communication  
networks, power networks, and on-chip networks. His recent awards  
include a Michael Tien'72 Excellence in Teaching Award from the  
college of engineering at Cornell in 2011 and a Young investigator  
award from the US Air Force's Office of Scientific Research in 2012.

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"Towards the principles of self assembly"
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 3-370, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Michael Brenner, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences,  
Harvard University

MMEC SEMINAR SERIES (Mechanics: Modeling, Experimentation, Computation)

Web site: http://web.mit.edu/mmec/abstracts/Brenner.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MechE Seminar Series
For more information, contact:  Ray Hardin
xray at mit.edu

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"Addressing the Challenges Facing Public Education" by Kathleen  
McCartney
WHEN  Tue., May 15, 2012, 6 – 7 p.m.
WHERE  Cambridge Public Library, Main Library, 449 Broadway Street,  
Cambridge, MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION  Education, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special  
Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR  Harvard University and Cambridge Public Library
SPEAKER(S)  Kathleen McCartney, dean of the Faculty of Education and  
the Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development, Harvard  
Graduate School of Education
COST  Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO  Community at harvard.edu, 617.495.4955
NOTE  Part of the John Harvard Book Celebration. McCartney will  
discuss the challenges and issues facing the public education system.
Limited seating available. Seating is on a first-come, first-served  
basis. For more information, please emailcommunity at harvard.edu or call  
617.495.4955.
LINK  http://375.harvard.edu/375th-events

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MIT $100K Finale
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
6:00p
MIT, Kresge Auditorium, 50 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Come see the hottest MIT startups compete for the $100K grand prize at  
the MIT $100K Finale.

Startup showcase starts at 6pm
Finale show at 7pm

Event is free, no tickets required and open to the public!
Web site: www.mit100k.org
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, The MIT 100K

For more information, contact:  info at mit100k.org

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Using mapping to inform the world
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
6:00 PM
450 Dodge Hall, Northeastern University, 324 Huntington Avenue,  
Boston, MA 02115

Mapping has exploded over the last few years as new tools have made it  
much easier to show trends and explore changes, from the global level  
to local neighborhoods. Join us as experts show how maps can bring  
together citizens and journalists.

Speakers: Ben Berkowitz, co-founder and CEO of SeeClickFix of New  
Haven, which uses mapping and crowdsourcing to bring together  
citizens, public officials and journalists to identify and solve  
community problems.
Holly St. Clair and Christian Spanring of the Metropolitan Area  
Planning Council, who will talk about how journalists can make use of  
MAPC data and maps.
Moderator: Dan Kennedy, assistant professor of journalism at  
Northeastern University, blogger at Media Nation and media commentator  
for "Beat the Press" on WGBH-TV, the Huffington Post and other outlets.

RSVP at http://meetupbos.hackshackers.com/events/58524052/?fromms=1&a=me1.1_grp&rv=me1.1&_af_eid=58524052&__domain=meetupbos.hackshackers.com&_af=event

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Toy Product Design PLAYsentations!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
7:30p–10:00p
MIT, Building 10-250, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
The students and staff of MIT's 2.00b Toy Product Design class would  
like to invite you to the PLAYsentations 2012! At the PLAYsentations,  
teams of students will present 16 new toy product prototypes, all  
inspired by the theme of "imagination".

This year, the PLAYsentations are on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 in Room  
10-250 at MIT. The presentations will run from 7:30???10:00PM with a  
reception to follow. We encourage you to invite other colleagues,  
friends, and family. The PLAYsentations are centered around toy  
products, so kids are especially welcome!

Web site: http://web.mit.edu/2.00b/www/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): 2.00b Toy Product Design
For more information, contact:  2.00b Course Instructors
2.00b-admin at mit.edu

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Greenport Forum:  Does Change Have to Mean Sacrifice?  Finding  
fulfillment in an already full world
Tuesday, May 15
7 pm
Cambrdigeport Baptist Church, 459 Putnam Avenue, Cambridge (corner of  
Magazine St and Putnam Ave)

Cambridge City Councillor Craig Kelley

Concerned about environmental issues, in 1989 Craig Kelley went from  
being a Marine Corps Infantry Officer to canvassing for Greenpeace,  
from being a meat eater to being a vegetarian, from driving a four- 
wheel drive pickup truck to riding a bike.  For the past 20 years,  
he's tried to figure out how much of a difference those actions have  
made for him, for his family and how the world as he consistently  
falls short of his own expectations for living a climate changed  
life.  Join Craig and other environmentally concerned individuals for  
a discussion about lifestyle changes in a changing world.

For more information, contact Steve Wineman at swineman at gis.net

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Wednesday, May 16
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Bicycle Appreciation Breakfast
WHEN  Wed., May 16, 2012, 7:30 – 9:30 a.m.
WHERE  Au Bon Pain in Holyoke Center, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION  Athletic, Special Events, Sustainability,  
Wellness/Work Life, Working at Harvard
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR  CommuterChoice
COST  Free
NOTE  Please join the CommuterChoice Program at its annual Bicycle  
Appreciation Breakfast.
Bring your helmet for a complimentary breakfast, bike tune-up, raffle  
prizes & giveaways including a membership for Hubway, Metro-Boston’s  
public bike share system.
During Bay State Bike Week, please join our team at the 2012  
MassCommuter Challenge:masscommuterchallenge.org… by selecting  
“Harvard University” from the Employer/Institution dropdown menu.
LINK  commuterchoice.harvard.edu

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Geography of baroclinic instability and eddy mixing in the ocean
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Time: 12:10p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-915, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Speaker: Ross Tulloch

Sponsor(s): Oceans & Climate Sack Lunch Seminar
Web site: http://eaps-www.mit.edu/paoc/events/calendars/sls
Open to: the general public

For more information, contact: Dan Goldberg
617-253-2977
dgoldber at mit.edu

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

Private Sector Employment and Labor Demand in China: Evidence from  
Urban Housing Reforms
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
2:30p–4:00p
MIT, Building E51-376, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Lakshmi Iyer (HBS)

Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Development and Environmental Economics Workshop
For more information, contact:  Theresa Benevento
theresa at mit.edu

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Towards mechanically-tunable materials inspired by nature
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
3:30p–5:00p
SEMINAR 3:30 to 4:45 PM, RECEPTION 3:00 to 3:30 PM
MIT, Building 66-110, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Prof. LaShanda Korley (Case Western Reserve University)

MIT Program in Polymer Science and Technology (PPST) Polymer Seminar  
Series

PPST sponsors a series of seminars covering a broad range of topics of  
general interest to the polymer community,featuring speakers from both  
on and off campus.

We invite the polymer community at MIT and elsewhere to participate.

Web site: http://web.mit.edu/ppst/index.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: FREE
Sponsor(s): MIT Program in Polymer Science and Technology (PPST)
For more information, contact: Gregory Sands
(617) 253-0949
ppst-www at mit.edu

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

Opening Reception -- Through the Lens: Growth
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
7:00p–8:30p
MIT, Building E14, Mit Media Lab Complex, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
A photography exhibit by MIT students

The exhibited projects, realized by students of 4.343 Advanced  
Photography and Related Media, artistically explore systemic, socio- 
political, and psychological issues around concepts of growth.

Throughout the spring semester, MIT students investigated aspects of  
the ongoing transformation of the human environment since  
industrialization--on physical, psychological and systemic levels--and  
grappled with the concept of limited growth on a finite planet. The  
projects test photography's potential to understand and reflect our  
current state and possible systemic problems that originate from our  
modes of existence.

Exhibiting Students: Reem Abuzeid, Widya Anggraini, Lawrence Barriner,  
Feifei Feng, Danielle Hicks, Maggie Jordan, Sing Yeung Lau, Bin Li,  
Jeffrey H. Lin, Walter Menendez, Farre Nixon, Adam Sachs, William  
Sorensen, Misha Sra

This exhibition was made possible with the generous support of Charles  
Fendrock.

Also on view on the 5th floor of E14:
Final Projects of 4.341 Introduction to Photography and Related Media
Exhibiting Students: Jason U. Chiu, Aimee C Harrison, Kyle Hounsell,  
Linsey E. Jackson, Andy D. Kalenerian, Ryan O. Keating, Kameron L.  
Klauber, Bryan H. Lee, Naomi Lynch, Larry Pang, Alan Kwesi Phillips,  
Javier Ramos, Denise A. Rivas, Robin S. Shin, Evan P. Wang, Wei Zhao

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology, Department of  
Architecture

For more information, contact: Laura Anca Chichisan
617-253-5229
act at mit.edu

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

Science in the News Spring Lecture Series:  Neglected Diseases of the  
Bottom Billion
WHEN  Wed., May 16, 2012, 7 – 9 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard University, Pfizer Auditorium, Mallinckrodt Building,  
12 Oxford St, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION  Classes/Workshops, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR  Science in the News, sponsored by Harvard  
Medical School and the Graduate Student Council
SPEAKER(S)  Presentations given by groups of graduate students in the  
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
COST  Free
CONTACT INFO  SITNboston at gmail.com
NOTE  Hosted by Science in the News, a student run group at the  
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, our evening seminar  
series is free to the public! Discuss today’s hottest scientific  
topics, with seminars presented by current graduate students and aimed  
at a general audience. It's an interactive environment, so feel to ask  
questions at any point in the lecture! Hosted at Harvard University,  
Pfizer Auditorium, biweekly Wednesdays. See our website for the full  
schedule.
LINK  sitn.hms.harvard.edu…

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Thursday, May 17
---------------------

The Massachusetts Bike/Walk Summit Presented by MassBike and WalkBoston
Thursday, May 17, 2012
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM (ET)
24 Beacon Street, Boston

We are pleased to announce Massachusetts’ first ever Bike/Walk Summit  
on Thursday, May 17th from 10am -1pm in Nurses Hall at the State  
House. This event will be the central MassBike event for Bay State  
Bike Week and is co-sponsored by the two statewide biking and walking  
organizations, MassBike and WalkBoston (respectively). It will give  
local advocates from all corners of the state a chance to tell their  
legislators how important bike/pedestrian issues and legislation are  
for Massachusetts.

We’re looking forward to a great event that will provide a unique  
opportunity for citizens to come together and let their voices be  
heard (the specific legislative agenda is still being worked on). You  
can find some more tentative details here. This event is free and open  
to the public, and we highly recommend anyone interested in bicycling  
here in Massachusetts to participate. If you have any questions,  
please email events at massbike.org. More details to come soon!

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

Civic Media Lunch: Vinay Bhargava, "Citizens Fighting Corruption:  
Roles and Challenges for Civic Media"
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Time: 12:00p–1:03p
MIT, Building E15-344, 20 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Web site: RSVP: http://civic.mit.edu/event/civic-media-lunch-vinay-bhargava-citizens-fighting-corruption-roles-and-challenges-for-civic
RSVP required below to get food.
Speaker: Vinay Bhargava

Corruption, a universal problem, victimizes the poor bottom billion of  
the global population. These poor are bypassed by trickle-down growth  
strategies. They suffer chronic poverty. Corruption robs them of  
services and social safety benefits intended to alleviate their  
plight. Decades of efforts to reform government's own accountability  
systems to control corruption have shown limited results. The new  
frontier is to empower citizens and communities to hold the state  
accountable and make it responsive to their needs.

Drawing on his world-wide experiences, Dr. Vinay Bhargava will present  
examples of communities fighting corruption and share ideas on the  
huge unfulfilled roles and challenges for civic media to make a  
difference in this important movement.

Vinay Bhargava is currently Chief Technical Advisor and a Board Member  
at an international anti-corruption NGO -- the Partnership for  
Transparency Fund -- which supports CSOs to promote citizen engagement  
in fighting corruption.

He volunteers at the Partnership for Transparency Fund and is managing  
their "Citizens Against Corruption in South Asia" program which funds  
NGOs for anti-corruption projects.

He is a visiting professor at the Hiroshima and Kobe Universities in  
Japan delivering courses and seminars in foreign aid effectiveness.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Center for Civic Media

For more information, contact:  Andrew Whitacre

awhit at mit.edu

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

Quantification of Connectivity in the Coastal Ocean and its Ecological  
and Societal Application
Thursday, May 17, 2012
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 48-316, Vassar Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Dave Siegel, Earth Research Institute, University of  
California, Santa Barbara
Environmental Fluid Mechanics/Hydrology
Join us for a weekly series of efm/hydrology topics by MIT faculty and  
students, as well as guest lecturers from around the globe.

Many important science problems in coastal marine ecology and their  
related management applications require knowledge of the connectivity  
of one nearshore site with a nearby one. These connections can be via  
the transport of dissolved constituents from a pollution spill or by  
the transport of planktonic larvae linking metapopulations of a valued  
fish stock. Yet the quantification of coastal connectivity is often  
something not often considered by marine scientists. Here, we use high  
resolution numerical model solutions of the Southern California Bight  
to quantify Lagrangian transition probability density functions (PDFs)  
quantify connectivity among nearshore locations. These PDFs provide an  
encapsulation of the net transport of water masses consistent with  
known oceanographic patterns. We then use these source-sink  
determinations to explain the spatial structuring of nearshore marine  
communities and to place an economic value on spatial marine fishery  
management.

Web site: http://cee.mit.edu/events/60
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Civil and Environmental Engineering
For more information, contact:  Roberta Pizzinato
robertap at mit.edu

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

Science & Democracy in Turmoil: Restoring a Great American Relationship

Thursday, May 17, 2012
4:00pm - 7:00pm
Norton's Woods Conference Center at the American Academy of Arts and  
Sciences, 200 Beacon Street, Somerville
Register at http://scienceanddemocracylaunch.eventbrite.com/

President Kevin Knobloch and Board Chair James McCarthy invite you to  
join the Union of Concerned Scientists in celebrating the launch of  
the Center for Science and Democracy.
Welcoming remarks by Leslie Berlowitz, President, American Academy of  
Arts and Sciences

Featuring a conversation moderated by Steve Curwood, host of National  
Public Radio's Living on Earth, with distinguished guests:

Lawrence S. Bacow, President Emeritus, Tufts University
Jessica T. Mathews, President, Carnegie Endowment for International  
Peace
Harold Varmus, Nobel Laureate and Director, National Cancer Institute

Honoring Lewis M. Branscomb, Aetna Professor of Public Policy and  
Corporate Management (emeritus), John F. Kennedy School of Government,  
Harvard University

THE CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND DEMOCRACY is a bold new initative of the  
Union of Concerned Scientists to restore the essential role of  
science, evidence-based decision making, and constructive debate to  
American democracy as a means to improve the health, security, and  
prosperity of all Americans.

Contact Name:  Kathy Rest
KRest at ucsusa.org

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

Algorithms in nature: From systems biology to distributed computing  
and back
Thursday, May 17 2012
4:00PM to 5:30PM
MIT, Building 32-G449 (Kiva), 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Ziv Bar-Joseph, CMU
Abstract:  Computer science and biology have enjoyed a long and  
fruitful relationship for decades. Computational methods are widely  
used to analyze and integrate large biological data sets, while  
several algorithms were inspired by the high-level design principles  
of biological systems. In this talk I will discuss the similarities  
and differences between the mechanisms and objectives of biological  
and computational systems with a special emphasis on the distributed  
nature of both. Relying on these similarities, I will present a few  
example where studying in detail how biological systems solve  
computational problems leads to both, efficient algorithms and better  
understanding of biology. These examples include fault tolerance in  
distributed regulatory networks, the selection of a Maximal  
Independent Set (MIS) during fly development and routing in neural  
networks. In a number of these cases, the biological algorithm employs  
novel ideas that have not been widely explored computationally which  
improve upon state of the art computational methods.

Bio:   Ziv Bar-Joseph is an Associate Professor in the Lane Center for  
Computational Biology and the Machine Learning Department at the  
School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. His work  
focuses on the analysis and integration of static and temporal high  
throughput biological data for systems biology and on improving  
algorithms for distributed computational networks by relying on our  
increased understanding of how biological systems operate and what  
makes them robust and adaptable. Dr. Bar-Joseph has been the co-chair  
of the RECOMB meeting on Regulatory Networks and Systems Biology and  
is currently on the editorial board of Bioinformatics. He received his  
Ph.D. from the MIT in 2003. He was the recipient of the DIMACS-Celera  
Genomics Graduate Student Award in Computational Molecular Biology and  
the NSF CAREER award. Most recently he was named the 2012 recipient of  
the Overton prize in computational biology which is awarded annually  
by the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB).
Host: Nancy Lynch, CSAIL
Contact: Alex Cornejo, acornejo at csail.mit.edu

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

Superpower
Thursday, May 17th
7 pm
243 Broadway, Cambridge

Superpower */illustrates how the US has leveraged its position to  
ensure unilateral world domination through absolute economic and  
military superiority and government deception. It allows viewers to  
understand the US quest for global dominance through economic and   
military strategy exposed through review of historical events,  
personal  interviews, and analysis of US foreign policy.

Superpower/ presents a view of US foreign policy that lies in stark  
contrast to that depicted by corporate media, popular pundits, and US  
heads of state. Should citizens trust that their government will keep  
them safe, a government that keeps secrets, and lies, in the name of  
national security? Does the simple act of withholding information lead  
to a world of eroding civil liberties and corruption?

Superpower /shows a consistent pattern of US government deception.

Please join us for a stimulating night out; bring your friends!
free film, free refreshments, & free door prizes. [donations are  
accepted]

Why should YOU care? It's YOUR money that pays for US/Israeli wars -  
on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Palestine, Libya. Syria, Iran, So America,  
etc etc - for billionaire bailouts, for ever more ubiquitous US  
prisons, for the loss of liberty and civil rights...

http://rule19.org/videos/
------------------
Friday, May 18
-----------------

EAPS Senior Thesis Presentatons
Friday, May 18, 2012
9:00a–4:00p
MIT, Building 54-915, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Each senior in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science will give a 20  
minute talk presenting the results of his/her senior thesis.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)

For more information, contact:  Vicki McKenna
617- 253-3380
vsm at mit.edu

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

Languages for Social Computation
Friday, May 18 2012
2:00PM to 3:00PM
Refreshments: 1:45PM
MIT, Patil/Kiva Seminar Room (32-G449), 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Relevant URL: http://groups.csail.mit.edu/uid/seminar.shtml

Speaker: Sep Kamvar, MIT Media Lab

Abstract:  Some of the most interesting and useful technologies in the  
past few years have involved the large-scale coordination of people  
and machines. Programming languages, however, tend to focus on the  
machines.

Traditional programming language design assumes that people play one  
of two roles: programmers or end-users, not members of a decentralized  
computing system. As a result, programming -- or even thinking about  
-- such human-machine systems is awkward and laborious.

In this talk, I will discuss the challenges in developing a language  
that is intended to be executed by both computers and people. I'll  
present Dog, an instance of such a language, and Jabberwocky, the  
development stack in which it resides. And finally, I'll show some  
applications that are written simply in Dog, but would be difficult to  
write in other existing languages.

Bio:  Sep Kamvar is the LG Associate Professor of Media Arts and  
Sciences at MIT, and Director of the Social Computing Group at the MIT  
Media Lab. His research focuses on social computing and information  
management.

Prior to MIT, Sep was the head of personalization at Google and a  
consulting professor of Computational and Mathematical Engineering at  
Stanford University. Prior to that, he was founder and CEO of Kaltix,  
a personalized search company that was acquired by Google in 2003.

Sep is the author of two books and over 40 technical publications and  
patents in the fields of search and social computing. He is on the  
technical advisory boards of several companies, including Clever Sense  
and Etsy. His artwork has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art  
in New York, the Victoria and Albert Musem in London, and the National  
Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens.

Sep received his Ph.D. in Scientific Computing and Computational  
Mathematics from Stanford University and his A.B. in Chemistry from  
Princeton University.

Contact: Juho Kim, juhokim at mit.edu
---------------------
Saturday, May 19
---------------------
The 2012 Jr Solar Sprint race for Eastern Mass
Saturday May 19th ( rain-date Sunday May 20th)
11 am to 2:45 pm
MIT, Henry Steinbrenner Stadium & Track Cambridge

Contact hkv at basea.org

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

Playing for the Planet:  World Flutes Against Climate Change
Saturday, May 19
7:00 p.m.
Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston
Regular Admission: $20
Student/Senior Admission: $15

Steve Gorn (Hindustani bansuri),
Elizabeth Reian Bennett (Japanese shakuhachi),
Renaissonics (Renaissance music, featuring recorder virtuosi John  
Tyson and Miyuki Tsurutani)

Advance Ticket Orders Are Accepted Until 3 pm on May 19. Orders  
received after Wednesday, May 16 will be held at the door.

On Saturday, May 19, the sixth “Playing For The Planet” benefit  
concert will showcase master musicians from three widely different  
musical traditions in a rare evening of pan-cultural flute styles,  
with all proceeds going to benefit the environmental advocacy group www.350.org 
. The performers include Steve Gorn(Hindustani bansuri), Elizabeth  
Reian Bennett (Japanese shakuhachi), and the acclaimed Renaissance  
ensemble, Renaissonics, featuring the recorder virtuosity of John  
Tyson and Miyuki Tsurutani. The music begins at 7:00 pm, at Emmanuel  
Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston. Admission is $20; $15 students &  
seniors. For information, please call 781-396-0734. “Playing For The  
Planet” can be found on Facebook.

More information at http://www.warrensenders.com/journal/?page_id=4545

“Playing For The Planet: World Flutes Against Climate Change” is the  
sixth concert in an ongoing series of cross-cultural events produced  
by Boston-area musician and environmental activist Warren Senders.  
These concerts were conceived as a way for creative musicians to  
contribute to the urgent struggle against global warming. Their choice  
of beneficiary, 350.org, is focused on building global consensus on  
reduction of atmospheric CO2 levels — action which climatologists  
agree is necessary to avoid catastrophic outcomes. Because the climate  
problem recognizes no national boundaries, the artists represent  
musical styles from three different parts of the globe. While the  
performers present different melodic and rhythmic concepts, they share  
key musical values: listening, honesty, creativity, and respect. And,  
of course, they are all committed to raising awareness of the  
potentially devastating effects of global warming. It’ll be an evening  
of powerful and evocative music — from some of the finest musicians in  
New England and the world.

-------------------
Monday, May 21
-------------------

Did Democracy Promotion Cause the Arab Spring?
WHEN  Mon., May 21, 2012, 12:15 – 2 p.m.
WHERE  Malkin Penthouse, 4th Floor Littauer Building, Harvard Kennedy  
School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION  Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR  International Security Program
SPEAKER(S)  Heidi Lane, research fellow, International Security Program
CONTACT INFO  susan_lynch at harvard.edu
LINK  http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/5813/did_democracy_promotion_cause_the_arab_spring.html

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

"Colony Collapse Disorder."
6p.
Follow the Honey, 1132 Mass Avenue, Cambridge

Chensheng Lu

--------------------
Tuesday, May 22
--------------------

2012 GoGreen Awards
Tuesday, May 22
8:00 am to 9:30 am
MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

The annual presentation of awards to businesses and organizations for  
their sustainability initiatives.  A light breakfast will be served.

RSVP to 617-349-4604 or randers at cambridgema.gov

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

D-Lab Open Hours
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
12:00p–2:00p
MIT, Building E34, 2nd floor, 42 Hayward Street
Come chat with D-Lab staff or tour around the lab to learn about our  
work. D-Lab focuses on international development, appropriate  
technologies and sustainable solutions for low-income communities,  
mostly in developing countries. There are currently 16 academic  
offerings that make up the suite of D-Lab classes, falling into the  
broad categories of Development, Design and Dissemination.

Web site: http://d-lab.mit.edu/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): D-Lab
For more information, contact:  d-lab-innovators at mit.edu

***********

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

Upcoming

-------------
***********

The Age of Limits:  Conversations on the Collapse of The Global  
Industrial Model

Friday May 25th thru Monday May 28th, 2012

Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary, 190 Walker Lane Artemas PA

Dedicated to the pioneering work of Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers &  
Dennis Meadows
and their epochal 1972 report "The Limits to Growth."

http://ageoflimits.org/

Editorial Comment:  This is a way outside my geographic limits and is  
a conference that costs money but one of the subscribers suggested it  
and the subject and speakers are worthy of attention.

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

Data Therapy: Creative Ways to tell your Story with Data
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
6:00 PM
MIT Media Lab, E14-525, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge

Got data? Tired of using the same old bar charts to tell your story?
You need some Data Therapy!
Join MIT Media Lab researcher Rahul Bhargava for a workshop on making  
creative and compelling presentations of data.
We will cover: a process for picking appropriate data presentation  
techniques; real-world examples of various creative techniques; online  
tools to help you while designing your presentation; "group therapy"  
time to brainstorm about your specific needs.

RSVP at http://meetupbos.hackshackers.com/events/63236472/?a=ea1_grp&eventId=63236472&action=detail&rv=ea1&rv=ea1

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

June 2
Launch Party for Co-op Power Boston Metro East Local Council

Contact Lynn Benander at lynn at cooppower.coop for further information

--------------------------------
Resilience Circle Webinar: Small Group Organizing 101

Want to start a Resilience Circle or small group for your community?  
Join this conversation for tips, tools, and inspiration!

Tuesday, June 5
3pm EDT / 12pm PDT
Register at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/821608694

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

ANCIENT ANDEAN WISDOM FOR OUR TIMES

A talk by Don Alberto Taxo
Master teacher from Ecauador

CAMBRIDGE COHOUSING, 175 RICHDALE AVE., CAMBRIDGE
WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE 2012, 7.30 P.M.

Refreshments will be served

Don Alberto is a teacher and healer of the Andean Quechua peoples.  He  
speaks of the need for head and heart to unite, and to bring  
technology and wisdom together in healing our earth. He brings simple,  
ancient practices that open the doors of perception to our connection  
with all life, through gratitude and enjoyment.

NOTE: there are other opportunities to meet Don Alberto:
EVENING TALK, FRIDAY JUNE 8, 7.30 P.M., NEW VIEW COHOUSING, ACTON MASS.
PRIVATE HEALING CLEANSINGS, BY APPOINTMENT

For more intormation:
Events in Eastern Mass.--to make reservations etc.: Dori Smith,  dsmith at newview.org 
    978-835-5568
Don Alberto’s work:   www.ushai.com

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

NEW ENGLAND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FORUM (NEEJF)  ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE  
SUMMIT
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

All community activists and residents, environmental justice  
advocates, lawyers, policymakers and others interested in public  
health and the environment in low income communities and communities  
of color are invited to attend.

Individuals may register for the event online by visiting the online  
registration page: http://newenglandejsummit.eventbrite.com/.  There  
is no cost to attend the event. Food, childcare, and great company are  
included. The deadline to register is May 18, 2012. Travel  
scholarships are available for individuals and groups that need  
assistance to attend.

For the first time in New England, residents of low income communities  
and communities of color, together with community organizers,  
attorneys, public health and environmental professionals and  
government officials will assemble for a one- day summit on  
environmental justice.  At the Summit attendees will share ideas,  
learn from one another and plan future work to address environmental  
and public health issues that especially affect low income communities  
and communities of color. NEEJF is a collaboration of Alternatives for  
Community and Environment, Connecticut Coalition for   Environmental  
Justice and Rhode Island Legal Services.

For more information, please contact Steve Fischbach: neejforum at gmail.com 
  or 401-274-2652 ext.182

*************
----------------

Opportunity

---------------
*************

CEA Solar Hot Water Grants
Cambridge, through the Cambridge Energy Alliance initiative, is  
offering a limited number of grants to residents and businesses for  
solar hot water systems.  The grants will cover 50% of the remaining  
out of pocket costs of the system after other incentives, up to $2,000.

Applications will be accepted up to November 19, 2012 and are  
available on a first come, first serve basis until funding runs out.   
The Cambridge grant will complement other incentives including the  
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center solar thermal grants.  For more  
information, seehttp://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/additional-resources/solar-hot-water-grant-program

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

Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images

Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by  
having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera?   
With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more  
comfortable and less expensive to heat.  However, at $200 or so, the  
cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.

HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer  
Cambridge residents free thermal scans.

Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a  
hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras.  They will scan every  
building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or  
buildings or on a private way).  Building owners can view thermal  
images of their property and an analysis online. The information is  
password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.

Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images  
and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building  
owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their  
images and analysis for a small fee.

The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.

Go to Sagewell.com.  Type in your address at the bottom where it says  
"Find your home or building" and press return.  Then click on "Here"  
to request the report.

That's it.  When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will  
be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help  
you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to  
do about it.

With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money,  
not to mention comfort).

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

Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ

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

HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor  
Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to  
Cambridge residents.

During the assessment, the energy specialist will:

Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass  
Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on  
your energy bills.  You might as well use the service.

Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or  
call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729.  A Next Step Living  
Representative will call to schedule your assessment.

HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the  
services and rebates possible.

(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home  
Energy Assessment.  We won’t keep the data or sell it.)

(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call  
HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)


*********
-----------

Resource

-----------

Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide

SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green  
Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!

To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for  
sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha at sbnboston.org

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

Massachusetts Attitudes About Climate Change – An opinion survey of  
Massachusetts residents conducted by MassINC and sponsored by the Barr  
Foundation found that 77% of respondents believe that global warming  
has “probably been happening” and 59% of all respondents see see it as  
being at least partially caused by human pollution.  Only 42% of the  
state’s residents say global warming will have very serious  
consequences for Massachusetts if left unaddressed. The 18 to 29 age  
group is more likely to believe global warming is appearing and caused  
by humans compared to the 60+ age group.  African-American (56%) and  
Latino residents (69%) are more likely than white residents (40%) to  
believe global warming will be a very serious problem if left  
unaddressed.  The MassINC report, titled The 80 Percent Challenge:   
What Massachusetts must do to meet targets and make headway on climate  
change (http://www.massinc.org/Research/The-80-percent- 
challenge.aspx), contains many other findings.

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

Free Monthly Energy Analysis

CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track  
your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while  
controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly  
email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.

https://www.carbonsalon.com/

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

Boston Food System

"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post  
announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships,  
programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles  
or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's  
food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take  
place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."

The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food  
system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food,  
farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health,  
environment, arts, social services and other arenas.   Hundreds of  
organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on  
week-to-week is not always well publicized.

Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let  
everyone know about these activities.  Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of  
subscribers.  Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and  
other posting guidelines will be provided as well.

It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs

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

Artisan Asylum  http://artisansasylum.com/

Sprout & Co:  Community Driven Investigations

Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project  http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation,  
contact jmatthaei at wellesley.edu

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

Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston  http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/

********************************************
-----------------------------------------------------

Links to events at 60 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://www.BostonScienceLectures.com

Boston Area Computer User Groups  http://www.bugc.org/

Arts and Cultural Events List  http://aacel.blogspot.com/

http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php

http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template

http://sustainability.mit.edu/

http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/

http://green.harvard.edu/events

http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx

http://pechakuchaboston.org/blog/

http://boston.nerdnite.com/

http://www.meetup.com/

http://www.eventbrite.com/



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