[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - September 15, 2013
George Mokray
gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Sep 15 11:34:04 PDT 2013
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
---------------------------------------------------------
************************************************
Energy Upgrade Parties at the Sustainable Houses of Worship
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/09/1237718/-Energy-Upgrade-Parties-at-the-Sustainable-Houses-of-Worship
---------------------------------------------------------
************************************************
Event Index - full Event Details available below the Index
---------------------------
Monday, September 16
---------------------------
12pm "Cheap and Clean: How Americans Think About Energy"
5pm Askwith Forum: The Civil Rights Movement for a New Generation and Sneak Preview of Walden Media film, The Watsons Go to Birmingham
5:30pm Wall Street and the Housing Bubble
6pm Brian Ruttenberg: Probabilistic Programming and the Democratization of AI
7pm "Sous vide: savory and pastry applications"
----------------------------
Tuesday, September 17
----------------------------
9:30am C-Span Bus
11:45am Climate Change Returns to the U.S. Supreme Court Six Years after Massachusetts v. EPA: What Will the Courts Do?
12pm "Political Polarization and Racial Change."
12:30pm Is beautiful really usable? Understanding how aesthetics and usability influence user experience
2:30pm A Simple Theory of Growth in a Complicated World
4pm Oil and Honey: Notes from a Rapidly Changing Climate
4pm Urban Africa's Fall 2013 Interest Meeting
4pm Biomaterials by design - modeling, synthesis, testing
4pm Innovation, Reallocation and Growth
4:30pm Survival Migration: Failed Governance and the Crisis of Displacement
5pm “Walden's Carbon Footprint: People, Plants, Animals, and Machines in the Making of an Environmental Classic”
5:15pm Ancient & Medieval Studies Speakers Series | "Music, Manuscripts, and Megabytes: Unlocking sound in the 'Ars Mutandi' (1340-1420)"
6pm Boston Mayoral Candidate Forum on Transportation & Livable Communities
6pm Chomsky and Kimber on the Real Story of the Cuban Five
6:30pm Frontiers of Design Criticism
6:30pm Why Do People Hurt Themselves?
7pm The Start-Up Experience at MIT
7pm GreenPort Forum: Large-scale Development in Cambridge: Assessing the Impacts
7pm Cafe Sci's Innovation Cafe: Elon Musk's Hyperloop
--------------------------------
Wednesday, September 18
--------------------------------
7:30am Sustainability Breakfast Meetup
8:30am Advancing Federal Clean Energy Policy
8:30am PACE Green Energy & Green Buildings Forum
12pm Sanctions and the Iranian Nuclear Standoff
4pm Imaging of Cleared Biological Samples with the Ultramicroscope
4pm "Heterotrophic microbial communities as selective catalysts in the marine carbon cycle"
5:30pm Chasing Ice: Film Screening and Panel Discussion
5:30pm Lawrence Lessig Interviews Robert Kaiser
6pm HEEC Green Campus Tour
6pm From MIT to Andy's Room, the Birth and Evolution of Computer Graphics
6:30pm CambridgeREADS Author Event, Edwidge Danticat
7pm Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era
------------------------------
Thursday, September 19
-----------------------------
11:45am Conventional and Renewable Energy Development in Public Lands and in Offshore Waters: Regulatory Barriers and Opportunities
12pm Synoptic-scale circulation features associated with weather extremes in the extra tropics
12pm FAS Monthly Environmental Movies/Brown Bag Lunch Series
3:15pm HUCTW 25th Anniversary Events/Panel: What's Happening to the American Middle Class?
4pm Omar Wasow: Exploring Race and Community in the Digital World Workshop Series
4pm Middle East Seminar: The Conflict in Syria: Its Regional and International Implications
4:30pm Starr Forum- Strange Rebels: 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century
5pm "Designing and Computing Some Lines Going for a Walk"
5pm "CO2: Economics"
6pm Special Screening of PBS Ground-Breaking Documentary Latino Americans
6:30pm The Open City
7:30pm 10 Great Discoveries
--------------------------
Friday, September 20
--------------------------
HACKFit Boston
9 am The New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable Presents: Modernizing the Electric Grid in New England
11am Holyoke Center Freecycle
1pm Critical issues in Risk Assessment of Engineered Nanomaterials: Current evidence and remaining challenges
3pm From CO2 Hydrogenation by Solar Produced H2 to Photochemical Water Oxidation
3pm From CO2 Hydrogenation by Solar Produced H2 to Photochemical Water Oxidation
------------------------------
Saturday, September 21
-----------------------------
8:30am New England Symposium on Statistics in Sports
9am Energy Upgrade Work Party
9am Comedy Hack Day
10am 8th Annual Harvest Festival & Perennial Divide
----------------------------
Monday, September 23
---------------------------
12:15pm "Making Democracy in the Patent System: Comparing the Life Form Patent Battles in the US and Europe"
2pm Media Lab Conversations Series: Mark Bauman
4pm Gene Patenting, the Supreme Court's Myriad Decision, and the Future of Biotechnology: A Panel Discussion
4pm Optimal Taxation and Human Capital Policies over the Lifecycle
4:15pm Barwick Colloquium Series: Music and Neoliberal Capitalism
5:30pm Moral, Political, Scientific: What is Thoughtful Engineering?
7pm "Elasticity: Dessert = Flavor + Texture."
----------------------------
Tuesday, September 24
----------------------------
10am Water Quality - A Stakeholder Science Forum
12:30pm America’s Role in the Making of Japan’s Economic Miracle
6pm The Metropolitan Revolution
---------------------------------
****************************
Event Details
---------------------------
Monday, September 16
---------------------------
"Cheap and Clean: How Americans Think About Energy"
Monday, September 16, 2013
12:00pm - 1:30pm
Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, HKS, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
with Stephen Ansolabehere, Professor of Government, Harvard University.
Lunch will be provided.
ETIP/Consortium Energy Policy Seminar Series
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/cepr/
Contact Name: Louisa Lund
louisa_lund at hks.harvard.edu
-----------------------------------------
Askwith Forum: The Civil Rights Movement for a New Generation and Sneak Preview of Walden Media film, The Watsons Go to Birmingham
WHEN Mon., Sep. 16, 2013, 5 – 8 p.m.
WHERE 13 Appian Way, Cambridge
TYPE OF EVENT Film, Forum
BUILDING/ROOM Askwith Hall
CONTACT NAME Amber DiNatale
CONTACT EMAIL askwith_forums at gse.harvard.edu
CONTACT PHONE 617-384-9968
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION/DEPARTMENT Harvard Graduate School of Education
REGISTRATION REQUIRED No
ADMISSION FEE This event is free and open to the public.
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Education, Film, Special Events
NOTE Moderator: Joe Blatt, senior lecturer, HGSE
Discussants: Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Professor of History, Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
Tonya Lewis Lee, children’s book author and screenwriter; co-producer, film:The Watsons Go to Birmingham
Robert L. Selman, Roy E. Larsen Professor of Education and Human Development, HGSE
Randy Testa, Ed.M.’79, Ed.D.’90, vice president, Education and Professional Development, Walden Media, LLC
Fifty years ago, the March on Washington and the church bombing in Birmingham launched the modern civil rights movement. How can we bring this history alive for today’s students? Our panel will tackle this challenge, bookending a sneak preview of The Watsons Go to Birmingham, a film based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Paul Curtis. The film, created by Tonya Lewis Lee and Nikki Silver, and directed by Kenny Leon, is set in 1963 and is told through the eyes of a rebellious 12 year-old. Kenny’s family – his parents, nerdy younger brother, and angelic little sister – leave Flint, Michigan, to visit their grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama. It’s a road trip that will change their lives forever – in a year that helped to change a nation.
------------------------------------
Wall Street and the Housing Bubble
Monday, September 16, 2013
5:30p–7:00p
Harvard, Littauer M15, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Wei Xiong (Princeton)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Applied Theory Workshop (Joint MIT/Harvard)
For more information, contact:
Theresa Benevento
-----------------------------------
Brian Ruttenberg: Probabilistic Programming and the Democratization of AI
Monday, September 16, 2013
6:00 PM
hack/reduce, 275 Third Street, Cambridge (@ the old Kendall Boiler and Tank Building)
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/intelligence/events/128824012/
Probabilistic models form the foundation of modern Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. However, building and reasoning on models that represent large and complex scenarios is a daunting task for even the most expert and experienced programmers. As a result, there has been significant effort lately on the development of probabilistic programming languages, which allow probabilistic processes, models and algorithms to be specified using familiar programming language constructs. These languages are democratizing the AI field, enabling users with little ML and AI experience to easily construct and perform inference on large and complex probabilistic models.
In this talk, Brian will discuss the motivation for the advent of probabilistic programming languages, detail some of the major problems they are trying to solve, and will throw in a little theory for good measure. He will present many examples of the power of these new languages using Figaro, a free, open-source (BSD license), probabilistic programming language.
Bio: Brian Ruttenberg is a scientist at Charles River Analytics. His primary area of expertise is machine learning, data mining and probabilistic modeling. His current area of research focuses on exploring new representations and inference mechanisms in probabilistic programming languages, and applications of probabilistic programming to new fields such as cyber security and malware analysis. Prior to joining Charles River Analytics, he designed graphics and memory systems for Intel and Qualcomm Corporations. Dr. Ruttenberg holds a B.S.E. in computer engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Join NEAI for presentations and conversations about topics in artificial intelligence followed by study groups and networking. Share your projects, ask for help, help each other, and collaborate/commiserate over pizza and beer.
---------------------------------------
"Sous vide: savory and pastry applications"
Monday, September 16, 2013
7 p.m.
Harvard, Science Center Hall C, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Jordi Roca, El Celler de Can Roca
Members of the public are invited to attend a series of lectures by world-class chefs and food experts, inspired by the Harvard College General Education course "Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter." The lectures, while related, are not a replication of the course content.
All talks will take place in the Harvard Science Center (One Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, Hall C and overflow Hall E)
All talks will begin at 7:00 pm (unless otherwise noted).
Each talk will begin with a 15 minute lecture by a Faculty member of the course, which will discuss one of the scientific topics from that week's class.
Seating for all lectures (except the ticketed lecture with Ferran Adrià on December 2nd) is first come, first seated.
Questions regarding the public lecture series: candujar at seas.harvard.edu
----------------------------
Tuesday, September 17
----------------------------
C-Span Bus
WHEN Tue., Sep. 17, 2013, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
WHERE Science Center Plaza
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Common Spaces Initiative
COST Free and open to the public
NOTE The C-SPAN Bus is an interactive, multi-media learning center that brings C-SPAN’s coverage of public affairs to communities nationwide and teaches the public how to follow Washington Your Way. Visitors can learn about paid internship opportunities, ways to use C-SPAN resources for coursework and much more. Click here to watch the Bus in action!
Aboard the C-SPAN Bus, visitors will learn about the following programming and resources via HD-TVs, touch screen computers, laptops, and mobile devices:
C-SPAN’s in-depth public affairs event coverage
C-SPAN’s web offerings, including over 200,000 hours of archived video going back to 1987 through C-SPAN’s vast Video Library and Congressional Chronicle
C-SPAN’s original series: First Ladies: Influence and Image - Airing Mondays at 9pm ET on C-SPAN, it is a comprehensive biography of the women closest to each of the 44 presidential administrations
Ways to connect with C-SPAN including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, XM Radio, and mobile apps
Interactive quizzes to test your knowledge about the political process
LINK http://www.c-span.org/community/
--------------------------------------
Climate Change Returns to the U.S. Supreme Court Six Years after Massachusetts v. EPA: What Will the Courts Do?
WHEN Tue., Sep. 17, 2013, 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, HKS, Taubman Building, Nye A, 5th Floor, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Environmental Sciences, Law, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government, Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S) Richard Lazarus, Harvard Law School
CONTACT INFO mrcbg at hks.harvard.edu
-----------------------------
"Political Polarization and Racial Change."
Tuesday, September 17
12 p.m.
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Speaker Series with Joan Walsh, writer, blogger, editor-at-large of Salon.com and a political analyst at MSNBC.
-----------------------------------
Debt Challenges in the EU and the US and How the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Can Be Part of the Solution
WHEN Tue., Sep. 17, 2013, 12 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge St., Room S050, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Program on Transatlantic Relations of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
SPEAKER(S) Jay Ralph, member of the Board of Management, Allianz SE
CONTACT INFO atownes at wcfia.harvard.edu
--------------------------------------
Is beautiful really usable? Understanding how aesthetics and usability influence user experience
September 17, 2013
12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett Street, 2nd Floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2013/9/Bargas-Avila#RSVP
This event will be webcast live at 12:30pm ET
Ever come across a product that looked beautiful but was awful to use? Or stumbled over a something that was ugly as hell but just did exactly what you wanted? Ever wondered how these factors work together, and how they influence the experiences we create? Product usability and aesthetics are coexistent, but they are not identical. In this talk I will give you an overview over existing research in this field and present the latest findings that show how usability, aesthetics and affect work together to create great - or not so great - experiences.
About Javier
Javier Bargas-Avila holds a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and works as Senior User Experience Researcher & Manager at Google (Switzerland). Before joining Google he was the manager of the HCI lab at the University of Basel (Switzerland) from 2004 to 2011. He published over 20 peer reviewed papers in HCI journals and conferences covering topics such as user satisfaction, mental models in website perception, first visual impression of websites or webform usability. Since 2011 he is part of the YouTube UX research team, where he currently focuses on internationalization, monetization and analytics.
Specialties: user studies, usability studies, user experience, experimental studies, cognitive psychology, online surveys, online experiments, user satisfaction, web form usability, aesthetics, usability.
------------------------------------------
A Simple Theory of Growth in a Complicated World
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
2:30p–4:00p
MIT, Building E62-650, 100 Main Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Niko Matouschek (NW)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Organizational Economics
For more information, contact:
Theresa Benevento
theresa at mit.edu
-------------------------------------
Oil and Honey: Notes from a Rapidly Changing Climate
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
4:00pm
Sanders Theater, Memorial Hall, 1785 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
Bill McKibben, Educator, Environmentalist, Author of Eaarth and The End of Nature
Admission is open to the public, but tickets must be obtained from the Harvard Box Office. Tickets available starting Tuesday, September 3, at noon. Ticket limit of four per person. Tickets valid until 3:45 pm. Available by phone and online for a fee. See www.boxoffice.harvard.edufor more information.
Bill McKibben is the author of a dozen books about the environment, beginning with The End of Nature in 1989, which is regarded as the first book for a general audience on climate change. He is a founder of the grassroots climate campaign 350.org, which has coordinated 15,000 rallies in 189 countries since 2009. Time Magazine called him “the planet’s best green journalist” and the Boston Globe said in 2010 that he was “probably the country’s most important environmentalist.” Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College, he holds honorary degrees from a dozen colleges, including the Universities of Massachusetts and Maine, the State University of New York, and Whittier and Colgate Colleges. In 2011, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Bill grew up in suburban Lexington, Massachusetts. He was president of the Harvard Crimsonnewspaper in college. Immediately after college he joined The New Yorker magazine as a staff writer, and wrote much of the “Talk of the Town” column from 1982 to early 1987. He quit the magazine when its longtime editor William Shawn was forced out of his job, and soon moved to the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. He is a frequent contributor to various magazines including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, and Outside.
-------------------------
Urban Africa's Fall 2013 Interest Meeting
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 7-338, Stella Room, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Urban Africa is an official MIT student organization whose purpose is to explore urban planning and development in African cities!
The group acts as a space to explore practice-based and research interests in African cities within SA+P while linking to relevant groups at MIT and beyond. We do this through public events, academic discussions on planning and development issues, support of research initiatives and institutional linkages to other African based groups.
Upcoming events include presentations from SA+P students that conducted research in Mozambique and Ghana over the summer!
We look forward to seeing you there!
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Urban Africa
For more information, contact:
LaKisha David
336-988-8623
ltdavid at mit.edu
------------------------------
Biomaterials by design - modeling, synthesis, testing
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 3-370, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Markus Buehler
MMEC SEMINAR SERIES
MECHANICS: MODELLING, EXPERIMENTATION, COMPUTATION
Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT
Biological materials exhibit architectures at multiple length scales that give rise to exceptional properties such as mechanical resilience, mechanomutability and multifunctionality. We show how modeling has led the way to identifying the core principles that link the molecular structure of biomaterials at scales of nanometers to macroscopic length-scales through hierarchical structures. Exploiting these insights, we report a joint computational-experimental analysis to emulate biological composites, incorporating simple and fragile base materials to create synthetic composites with superior fracture mechanical properties. We use multi-material 3D printing to create specimens of our computer models and perform complementary laboratory testing. Our model predictions of fracture mechanisms and trends of the mechanical properties are in good agreement with the experimental findings. We also review recent work on the design of de novo silk materials, integrating a multiscale modeling and experimental approach towards the development of materials designed from the molecular scale upwards.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/mmec/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MechE Seminar Series
For more information, contact:
Tony Pulsone
617.253.2294
pulsone at mit.edu
------------------------------
Innovation, Reallocation and Growth
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
4:00p–5:30p
MIT, Building E18-202, 50 Ames Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Daron Acemoglu (MIT)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Macroeconomics Seminar
For more information, contact:
Theresa Benevento
theresa at mit.edu
---------------------------
Survival Migration: Failed Governance and the Crisis of Displacement
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
4:30p–6:00p
MIT, Building E40-464, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Alexander Betts
A session of the Myron Weiner seminar series. The talk will explore the challenge of responding to new drivers of cross-border displacement, such as environmental change, food insecurity, or generalized violence, that fall outside the existing refugee framework. He will explore a human rights-based framework through which to critically consider who, in a changing world, should be entitled to cross an international border and seek asylum.
Alexander Betts is University Lecturer in Refugee Studies and Forced Migration at the University of Oxford. He has worked as a consultant to UNHCR, OCHA, UNDP, IOM, UNICEF, and the Council of Europe, and received research grants from the MacArthur Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Economic and Social Research Council.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, Center for International Studies, Inter-University Committee on International Migration
For more information, contact:
Sarah Jane Vaughan
svaughan at mit.edu
----------------------------
“Walden's Carbon Footprint: People, Plants, Animals, and Machines in the Making of an Environmental Classic”
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Harvard, Robinson Hall, Basement Conference Room, 35 Quincy Street, Cambridge
Eric Slauter (University of Chicago),
Presented by the History of the Book Seminar, of the Mahindra Humanities Center
Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History Lecture
http://warrencenter.fas.harvard.edu/fsprogramschedule.html
----------------------------
Ancient & Medieval Studies Speakers Series | "Music, Manuscripts, and Megabytes: Unlocking sound in the 'Ars Mutandi' (1340-1420)"
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
5:15p–6:15p
MIT, Building 14-304, 160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Speaker: MIT Professor Michael Scott Cuthbert
Music of the late Middle Ages can call to us through its strange allure but its unfamiliarity and distance can lead listeners to apply anachronistic assumptions about interpretation and expression when listening to or studying the music. Many of the sources from the time are heavily damaged or incomplete and need reconstruction by musicologists, performers, and the audience to make sense of them. But reconstruction is inaccurate or impossible without an understanding of the norms of composition and performance of the time. These norms can be understood only by grappling with a large portion of the repertory at a time: a task that has daunted scholars who work from score to score, piece to piece, manuscript to manuscript. In this talk, Cuthbert will show how music researchers, guided by investigated questions and an ear for the music, can apply computer models to uncover surprising contradictions in the received views of music in the age of the Black Death and the Papal Schism.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Literature Section, SHASS Dean's Office
For more information, contact:
Arthur Bahr
253-3616
awbahr at mit.edu
-----------------------
Boston Mayoral Candidate Forum on Transportation & Livable Communities
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
Boston Public Library, Rabb Lecture Hall, 700 Boylston Street, Boston
Find out where Boston's mayoral candidates stand on the vital transportation issues that impact our communities.
------------------------------
Chomsky and Kimber on the Real Story of the Cuban Five
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
6:00p–8:00p
MIT, Building 10-250, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Noam Chomsky and Stephen Kimber
Stephen Kimber will be presenting his newly released book "What Lies Across the Water-The Real Story of The Cuban Five."
Noted American linguist, philosopher, and political scientist Noam Chomsky will be speaking with Kimber about the long history of terrorist attacks against Cuba.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Western Hemisphere Project
For more information, contact:
Fizzah Sajjad
hemisphere-manboard at mit.edu
-----------------------------
Frontiers of Design Criticism
WHEN Tue., Sep. 17, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Graduate School of Design
SPEAKER(S) Mimi Zeiger, Alexandra Lange, Florencia Rodriguez
COST Free and open to the public
NOTE Today the feedback, spin, and other acts of interpretation that were once the preserve of historians and other experts are often virtual, instantaneous, and open to input from a broad audience. What does this mean? Mimi Zeiger, critic and journalist based in Los Angeles, will consider expanded models of architectural criticism and discursive platforms. Alexandra Lange, New York-based critic and 2014 Loeb Fellow, will explain why architects should use Twitter and Instagram to show their influences — what they read, the design pilgrimages they make, the colleagues they admire — not just to promote themselves. Florencia Rodriguez, editor of Plot (Buenos Aires) and 2014 Loeb Fellow, will explore the question of criticism's social or disciplinary responsibility; should it be “useful”? A discussion will follow, with GSD student writers and bloggers. Moderated by Shantel Blakely of Harvard GSD Public Programs.
LINK www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/events/frontiers-of-design-criticism.html
----------------------------
Why Do People Hurt Themselves?
WHEN Tue., Sep. 17, 2013, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE The Biological Labs, Room 1080, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Conte Center at Harvard
SPEAKER(S) Matthew Nock, professor of psychology, Harvard University
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO kkelly at fas.harvard.edu
LINK https://harvard.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3gi2SaV05X8zK8R
--------------------------------
The Start-Up Experience at MIT - edgerton center seminars, course-num EC.074 - pre-frosh-thru-post-docs welcome!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
7:00p–9:00p
MIT, Building 4-402, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: hadzima;shyduroff;mccray;agar;delgado;siegel; plus new student & alum founders' cases weekly ...
edgerton seminars - EC.074 - the start-up experience at mit
see above - for more see edgerton center course pages at
http://web.mit.edu/Edgerton/www/Courses.html
and or mit reg's course pages at
http://student.mit.edu/catalog/mECa.html#EC.074
mit 6-credit seminar on tech start-ups at mit [previously ec.s02, and sem.089, dating back to 1993]; lead by sr. lecturer JOE HADZIMA '73, faculty advisor to the mit e-club; richard shyduroff, co-founder & co-director of the e-club, e-club-core students & alums, with live tech cases & post-mortems presented by mit, harvard & wellesley students; hard limit 20; limited listeners ... details? mail and and
Web site: web.mit.edu/e-club
Open to: MIT, Harvard & Wellesley students; limited listeners!
This event occurs on Tuesdays through December 10, 2013.
Sponsor(s): Entrepreneurs Club, Edgerton Center
For more information, contact:
richard shyduroff
-----------------------------
GreenPort Forum: Large-scale Development in Cambridge: Assessing the Impacts
Tuesday, September 17
7:00pm
Cambridgeport Baptist Church, 459 Putnam Avenue (corner of Magazine Street and Putnam Avenue), Cambridge
Representatives of the Cambridge Residents Alliance will summarize the results of their analysis of the combined impact of the multiple large-scale development projects projected for Cambridge over the next few years. Zoning reviews treat projects individually, with little effort to integrate the multiple impacts. However the overall impacts on residents is a consequence of the total increase in employees, residents, auto trips, bus rips, transit trips, exhaust pollution, noise and other factors. We will pay particular attention to the issues of increasing traffic congestion, loss of open space, and other issues important for the quality of life in Cambridgeport, Central Square, MId-Cambridge, and Area 4. Join us for a lively presentation by Jonathan King and Shelley Rieman.
Jonathan King is Co-Chair of CRA. A Professor of Biology at MIT, and a long time resident of Central Square, Jonathan has been particularly concerned with traffic congestion, saturation of public transit capacity, and advance of Kendall Square commercial development into previously residential neighborhoods.
Shelley Rieman is Secretary of the CRA and a member of the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association and GreenPort. She is a bilingual educator who has lived in Cambridgeport since 1980 and has helped organize Cambridgeport History Days.
The Cambridge Residents Alliance, Inc. http://www.CambridgeResidentsAlliance.org is a Cambridge non-profit 501c(4) organization representing more than 500 individuals and households concerned with maintaining Cambridge as a livable, affordable and diverse community. It formed in response to the large scale developments proposed for Northpoint, Kendall Square, MIT, Forest City, Central Square and Alewife Brook. Meetings are held monthly, together with periodic public forums.
GreenPort envisions and encourages a just and sustainable Cambridgeport neighborhood
For more information, contact Steve Wineman at steven.wineman at gmail.com
-----------------------------------
Cafe Sci's Innovation Cafe: Elon Musk's Hyperloop
Tuesday, September 17
7pm
Middlesex Lounge, 315 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/NerdFunBoston/events/139293302/
Tim De Chant from NOVA will be discussing Elon Musk's proposal for a new mode of high speed ground transportation, the Hyperloop. The Hyperloop is a capsule that rides on an air cushion through a tubular conduit at speeds over 700 MPH. Elon Musk, founder of Paypal, Tesla Motors, and CEO of SpaceX, calls “the Hyperloop” the 5th mode of transportation, an alternative to boats, aircraft, automobiles, and trains. According to the recently released Alpha design, a Hyperloop would enable travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 35 minutes, with an average speed between 600 and 700 miles per hour. According to the Alpha proposal, this amazing technology could be had for an estimated $6 billion. Is it possible? Does this technology even work? And if it does work, can it be constructed with such a relatively cheap price tag?
Tim De Chant is the Senior Digital Editor at NOVA and is the editor of NOVA Next. He has written for Wired, Ars Technica, The Chicago Tribune, and blogs about density at Per Square Mile. His research for NOVA on the Hyperloop has landed him most recently on NPR where he fielded questions about Musk’s dream machine from Science Friday’s devoted audience. (http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/08/16/2013/-hyperloop-hype-or-future-transportation.html)
CafeSci is a series of science cafes around the country produced by the folks at the PBS NOVA television series. They're bringing scientists and cutting edge technology entrepreneurs to present their work to the public in a fun and social format, over food and drinks.
--------------------------------
Wednesday, September 18
--------------------------------
Sustainability Breakfast Meetup
Net Impact Boston Professional Chapter
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
7:30 AM to 8:30 AM (EDT)
Pret A Manger, 185 Franklin Street, Post Office Square, Boston
RSVP at http://nibseptemberbreakfast-es2.eventbrite.com
Join us for our sixth informal breakfast meetup of 2013 to get sustainability professionals together for networking, discussion and moral support. It’s important to remind ourselves that we are not the only ones out there in the business world trying to do good!
So come, get a cup of coffee or a bagel, support a sustainable business and get fired up before work so we can continue trying to change the world.
This is an evolving event so your input and participation is more than welcome. Please share any thoughts or ideas with ecelano at netimpactboston.org.
--------------------------------
Advancing Federal Clean Energy Policy
Wednesday, September 18th
8:30am - 10:30am
WilmerHale, 60 State Street, 26th Floor, Boston, MA
RSVP at http://federalcleanenergypolicy2013-es2.eventbrite.com
Join the New England Clean Energy Council and The Pew Charitable Trusts’ clean energy program for an interactive policy discussion with the clean energy business community on pending federal policy issues as we move into the fall session.
Topics discussed at this meeting will likely form a platform for NECEC's 2013 DC Fly-In, scheduled for October 22nd - 23rd.
Introduction
Peter Rothstein, President, NECEC
Confirmed Panelists
Joe Dooley, Senior Associate, Clean Energy, The Pew Charitable Trusts
Mark Kalpin, Partner, Regulatory & Government Affairs Department and Co-Chair, Energy and Cleantech Group, WilmerHale
Todd Keller, Vice President, Federal Policy, Advanced Energy Economy (AEE)
Moderated by Janet Gail Besser, VP, Policy & Government Affairs, NECEC
-------------------------------------
PACE Green Energy & Green Buildings Forum
Come to this multi-speaker presentation and workshop on Property Assessed Clean Energy - PACE - financing for renewable and clean energy installations on buildings.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
8:30 - 11:30AM
District Hall in Boston's Seaport / Innovation District on Northern Avenue (near the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA))
Free - Sponsored by National Grid
What is PACE financing? Generously sponsored by National Grid, USGBC MA and the City of Boston bring to you a comprehensive presentation and accessible panel of experts to answer all the questions you have on this important subject.
8:30 a.m. – 9:05 a.m. Keynote Presentation:
Genevieve Sherman, Manager, Commercial & Industrial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE)
9:05 – 9:40 a.m. Keynote Address:
Derek Brown, CleanFund
9:40 – 10:50 a.m. PANEL
Moderator - Ward Strosser - ConEdison Solutions
Shawn Hesse - Architect – Emersion Design
Tom DiLello - Executive VP and Managing Director - Jones Lang LaSalle
Nalin Kulatilaka - School of Management – Boston University
Genevieve Sherman, Manager - C-PACE
Derek Brown, CleanFund
10:50 – 11:30 Q&A: open floor for questions from the audience.
Speakers:
Genevieve Sherman will focus on PACE program design and program options at the local municipal level and how they vary to meet the needs of individual communities and reflect differences in state laws. Genevieve will share the PACE process for a typical project beginning with a detailed energy audit that generates payback estimates for the individual energy measures identified by the audit. The property owner then decides what package of measures makes the most sense in combination with financing terms and approaches the mortgage holder for project approval for submission to the local government PACE program.
Ms. Sherman is the manager for Commercial and Industrial Property Assessed Clean Energy at the state of Connecticut's CEFIA (Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority)
Genevieve graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master in City Planning, where she developed innovative financing and governance strategies that engage commercial buildings in their energy production and consumption. Most recently as a consultant to Clean Energy Solutions Inc. and Earth Markets, both leading developers of energy efficiency programs in the United States, she conducted market research and outreach on behalf of utilities and state energy agencies to design new smart metering, information feedback, and energy efficiency programs. Genevieve holds a BA in Urban Studies from Columbia University.
Derek Brown will discuss PACE the financing process and show examples of real PACE projects such as the:
Connecticut state-wide commercial PACE program
California clean energy PACE program - the nation's largest
PACE financing for Prologis' corporate headquarters
Clean Fund financing for Edina, Minnesota commercial PACE program
Mr. Brown is the Managing Partner, Project Sourcing, at Clean Fund. Derek comes from the renewable energy industry where he worked with SunPower, Cogenra Solar and Fat Spaniel. Prior experience includes Apple, where he established and managed the European software business, and 3Com, where he pioneered the company's Macintosh products business. His career started in corporate finance with Smith Barney and venture capital with Whitney Ventures. Derek received his A.B. from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
------------------------------------------
Sanctions and the Iranian Nuclear Standoff
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
12:00p–1:30p
MIT, Building E40-496, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Suzanne Maloney, Brookings Institution
SSP Wednesday Seminar Program
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Security Studies Program
For more information, contact:
617-253-7529
valeriet at mit.edu
--------------------------------------
Imaging of Cleared Biological Samples with the Ultramicroscope
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 3-350, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Prof Hans-Ulrich Dodt, Vienna University of Technology
MIT Biomedical Laser Center Imaging & Spectroscopy Seminar
Prof. Dodt is one of the leading experts of light sheet microscopy imaging.
He will report on new developments in Ultramicroscopy to improve imaging of large cleared biological samples. Objective devices that allow high resolution imaging through 10 mm of clearing solutions are described as well as special optics to create extra thin light sheets.
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): EBICS (BE), MIT Laser Biomedical Laser Center
For more information, contact:
Hannah Merrick
4-0683
ebics-inquires at mit.edu
------------------------------
"Heterotrophic microbial communities as selective catalysts in the marine carbon cycle"
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 48-316, Parsons, 15 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Carol Arnosti, Professor, UNC Chapel Hill
Microbial Systems Seminar
Web site: https://sites.google.com/site/microbialsystems/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Civil and Environmental Engineering
---------------------------
Chasing Ice: Film Screening and Panel Discussion
WHEN Wed., Sep. 18, 2013, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE Science Center C, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Film, Lecture, Science, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard University Center for the Environment, Harvard Museums of Science and Culture, Office for Sustainability
SPEAKER(S) A conversation with Harvard climate scientists James Anderson, Peter Huybers, and Daniel Schrag
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO matthew at fas.harvard.edu
NOTE Join us for a free public screening of the award-winning documentary Chasing Ice (2012, dir. Jeff Orlowski), the story of National Geographic photographer James Balog's mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of climate change. Overcoming seemingly insurmountable weather conditions and technical challenges, Balog and his team of young adventurers deployed time-lapse cameras across the Arctic to capture the world’s glaciers as they melted over the course of several years. The imagery is stunning and alarming as the ice retreats and great mountains are seen breaking off and falling into the oceans.
Followed by a conversation with Harvard climate scientists James Anderson (Dept. of Chemistry & Chemical Biology), Peter Huybers (Dept. of Earth & Planetary Sciences), and Daniel Schrag (Dept. of Earth & Planetary Sciences; School of Engineering & Applied Sciences; Director, Harvard University Center for the Environment).
Free event parking is available (beginning at 5pm in the 52 Oxford Street garage.)
LINK http://environment.harvard.edu/ice
-----------------------------------
Lawrence Lessig Interviews Robert Kaiser
WHEN Wed., Sep. 18, 2013, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Austin 101 East, Harvard Law School
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Ethics, Humanities, Law, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
SPEAKER(S) Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership and director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics; Robert G. Kaiser, associate editor and senior correspondent, The Washington Post
COST Free and open to the public
NOTE Lawrence Lessig will interview Robert Kaiser about his two great books: "So Much Damn Money" (2009) and "An Act of Congress" (2013). "So Much Damn Money" is a depressing story about the incredible rise in the importance of money in Congress, while "An Act of Congress" is a much more optimistic account of Congress passing Dodd-Frank. How can both books be true? What does each tell us about the other? And what do both tell us about the possibility of sane or functioning government anytime soon?
LINK http://ethics.harvard.edu/news-and-events/lectures-and-events/detail/274
----------------------------------
HEEC Green Campus Tour
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM (EDT)
John Harvard Statue, 2 Kirkland Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://heecgreencampustour-es2.eventbrite.com
Come learn some ways Harvard is making "Green the new Crimson," with various sustainability initiatives happening throughout Harvard Yard!
Even if you've been on this tour before, come again to learn about new programs and meet some fellow EC members!
A special *THANK YOU* to Brandon Geller (Office for Sustainability) for leading us on this tour!
----------------------------------
From MIT to Andy's Room, the Birth and Evolution of Computer Graphics
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
6:00p–8:00p
MIT, Building N51, MIT Museum, 275 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Tom Sito, Professor of Cinematic Practice at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
Computer graphics has changed the way we experience media today. It is the difference between Steamboat Willie and Buzz Lightyear, between ping pong and PONG. University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts professor Tom Sito will trace the origins of computer animation - how the development of Sketchpad by MIT graduate student Ivan Sutherland paved the way for the use of computer animation in military research and academia, and made possible such movies as Toy Story and Avatar. The story of computer graphics is the story of a unique group of individuals -- math nerds, avant-garde artists, cold warriors, hippies, video gamers -- disparate types united by a common vision.
Signed copies of Professor Sito's book, Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation, will be available for purchase.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/museum/programs/calendar.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum
For more information, contact:
Josie Patterson
617-253-5927
museuminfo at mit.edu
------------------------------
CambridgeREADS Author Event, Edwidge Danticat
WHEN Wed., Sep. 18, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Cambridge Public Library
COST Event is free. Tickets Required. Limit of 4 tickets per person . Tickets valid until 6:15PM. Available by phone and internet for a fee. Call 617-496-2222 or reserve on line at www.boxoffice.harvard.edu
TICKET WEB LINK www.boxoffice.harvard.edu
TICKET INFO The Harvard Box Office 617-496-2222
NOTE Cambridge READS hosts a presentation by author Edwidge Danticat "Claire of the Sea Light".
LINK http://www.ofa.fas.harvard.edu/cal/details.php?ID=44129
------------------------------------
Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era
September 18, 2013
7pm
First Parish in Cambridge, 3 Church Street (Harvard Square), Cambridge
Joseph Nye of the Harvard Kennedy School examines the foreign policies of 20th century American presidents and assesses the effectiveness and ethics of their choices. He identifies two main types of presidential temperaments – transformational and transactional– and argues that both types were important in the development of the nation’s international power. What lessons from the American Century can we take into the unstable international arena of the early 21st century?
Cambridge Forum at http://www.cambridgeforum.org
------------------------------
Thursday, September 19
-----------------------------
Conventional and Renewable Energy Development in Public Lands and in Offshore Waters: Regulatory Barriers and Opportunities
WHEN Thu., Sep. 19, 2013, 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, HKS, Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Regulatory Policy Program (RPP) at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S) David Hayes, deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior (2009-2013)
CONTACT INFO mrcbg at hks.harvard.edu
----------------------------------
Synoptic-scale circulation features associated with weather extremes in the extratropics
Thursday, September 19, 2013
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)
Speaker: Stephan Pfahl - Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, Zurich
Extreme weather events have a major impact on society, but assessments of their future changes are still associated with substantial uncertainties. For better characterizing the dynamical conditions related to weather extremes and their representation in climate models, we investigate the linkage between such extreme events and associated atmospheric flow features. In particular, we apply simple metrics for quantifying the relevance of cyclones and atmospheric blocking for the occurrence of precipitation and temperature extremes.
MIT Atmospheric Seminar Series (MASS)
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-stephan-pfahl-eth
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate (PAOC), Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact:
mass at mit.edu
-------------------------------
FAS Monthly Environmental Movies/Brown Bag Lunch Series
Thursday, September 19, 2013
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Harvard, Mallinckrodt 102, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Join us for screenings of the most inspiring TED talks on a variety of environmental topics. Every 3rd Thursday of the month.
Contact Name: Gosia Sklodowska
gosia_sklodowska at harvard.edu
-------------------------------
HUCTW 25th Anniversary Events/Panel: What's Happening to the American Middle Class?
WHEN Thu., Sep. 19, 2013, 3:15 – 4:30 p.m.
WHERE Sackler Museum Lecture Hall, 485 Broadway, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Union of Clerical & Technical Workers
SPEAKER(S) Ann Bookman, director of the Center for Women in Political & Public Policy, UMass Boston; Lawrence Katz, Elisabeth Allison Professor Economics, Harvard University; Lisa Lynch, dean and professor of social and economic policy, Brandeis University
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO adrienne.landau at huctw.org
LINK www.huctw.org
---------------------------------
Omar Wasow: Exploring Race and Community in the Digital World Workshop Series
WHEN Thu., Sep. 19, 2013, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Emerson Hall 108, Harvard Yard
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Classes/Workshops, Education, Information Technology, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Department of African and African American Studies
SPEAKER(S) Omar Wasow, assistant professor, Department of Politics, Princeton University; co-founder, BlackPlanet.com
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO cdmartin at post.harvard.edu
LINK http://raceandtechnology.wordpress.com/workshops/
-------------------------------
Middle East Seminar: The Conflict in Syria: Its Regional and International Implications
WHEN Thu., Sep. 19, 2013, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, 1737 Cambridge Street, Second floor, Room K262, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
SPEAKER(S) Souad Mekhennet, associate, Program on Transatlantic Relations; reporter, columnist, New York Times, Der Spiegel, ZDF.
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO mivanova at wcfia.harvard.edu
LINK http://wcfia.harvard.edu/event/joint-seminar-middle-east-seminar-and-transatlantic-relations-seminar-09-19-2013
---------------------------------
Starr Forum- Strange Rebels: 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century
Thursday, September 19, 2013
4:30p–6:00p
MIT, Building 66-110, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
Book talk with Christian Caryl
In Strange Rebels, veteran journalist Christian Caryl shows how the world we live in today -and the problems that plague it- began to take shape in this pivotal year. 1979, he explains, saw a series of counterrevolutions against the progressive consensus that had dominated the postwar era. The year's epic upheavals embodied a startling conservative challenge to communist and socialist systems around the globe, fundamentally transforming politics and economics worldwide. Strange Rebels is a groundbreaking account of how far-flung events and disparate actors and movements gave birth to our modern age.
The Economist:
"A timely new book... Caryl tells this story with great skill. He moves effortlessly from one scene to another in this tumultuous year.... Anyone who wants to understand how this new world came into being needs to read Mr. Caryl's excellent book."
Christian Caryl is an American journalist who is widely published in international politics and foreign affairs. He has reported from some 50 countries and has held top posts in Moscow, Berlin, Tokyo and Washington. He is a senior fellow at the Legatum Institute in London, a contributing editor at Foreign Policy magazine and a senior research affiliate at the Center for International Studies at MIT. He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books.
Free and open to the public
Books will be sold at this event
Web site:http://web.mit.edu/cis/eventposter_091913_strangerebels.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies
For more information, contact:
starrforum at mit.edu
------------------------------
"Designing and Computing Some Lines Going for a Walk,"
Thursday, September 19, 2013
5:00 pm
MIT, Building Room 7-429, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Carl Lostritto, Assistant Professor, Rhode Island School of Design
Architecture/COMP Lecture
COMP - Computation and Design Discipline Group
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture
For more information, contact:
Onur Yuce Gun
oyucegun at mit.edu
-------------------------------
"CO2: Economics"
September 19, 2013
5:00pm - 7:00pm
MIT, Building 68-181, 31 Ames Street, Cambridge
Presenter Michael Greenstone
The Sinskey lab (Department of Biology) is hosting an open seminar series on CO2.
The complete series will feature different aspects of CO2 from 5 different research perspectives: 1) CO2 chemistry and the global carbon cycle; 2) Co2 in biological systems; 3) CO2 in the atmosphere; 4) CO2 in the oceans; 5) CO2 and its impact on politics and economics.
--------------------------------
Special Screening of PBS Ground-Breaking Documentary Latino Americans
WHEN Thu., Sep. 19, 2013, 6 – 8 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Sperry Room, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Film, Religion
SPONSOR HDS Nuestra Voz
CONTACT studentlife at hds.harvard.edu
NOTE Join Nuestra Voz of Harvard Divinity School and the David Rockefellar Center for Latin American Studies for an exclusive screening of the ground-breaking PBS documentary Latino Americans. Actor Benjamin Bratt narrates this landmark six-hour series, the first major television documentary to chronicle the rich and varied history of Latinos, who have for more than 500 years helped shape the United States and have become the country's largest minority group. Spanning from the 1500s to the present day, this is the story of early settlement, conquest, and immigration; of tradition and reinvention; of anguish and celebration; and of the gradual construction of a new American identity from diverse sources that connects and empowers millions of people today.
After the screening, join us for a very special conversation with series producer Adriana Bosch and associate producer Sabrina Avila to talk about the production process and the history and current state of Latinos in the United States.
-------------------------------------
The Open City
WHEN Thu., Sep. 19, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Graduate School of Design
SPEAKER(S) Richard Sennett
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO events at gsd.harvard.edu
NOTE Richard Sennett is a professor of sociology at New York University and the London School of Economics. Beginning in The Uses of Disorder (1970), and in subsequent books such as The Fall of Public Man (1977) and Authority (1980), he has used combined methods of ethnography, history, and social theory to examine the working class, the public realm, and the formation of identity in society. Turning to urban design and physical experience, he addressed the personal scale in The Corrosion of Character (1998), The Culture of New Capitalism (2006), The Craftsman (2008), and Together: The Rituals, Pleasures, and Politics of Cooperation (2012). This talk, on the theme of his next book, will describe open and closed systems in urban design and explore ways of practicing open design.
LINK www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/events/the-open-city-richard-sennett.html
--------------------------------
10 Great Discoveries
WHEN Thu., Sep. 19, 2013, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Phillips Auditorium, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
SPEAKER(S) David Eicher, editor-in-chief, Astronomy magazine
COST Free and open to the public
NOTE Forty years ago, the brainchild of journalism student Steve Walther, the first issue of Astronomy magazine, appeared on newsstands. He vowed it would be the most beautiful astronomy magazine in the world. Little did he know just how successful his magazine would be.
LINK http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/events/mon.html
--------------------------
Friday, September 20
--------------------------
HACKFit Boston
Sept 20-22
Spots are limited, register at http://hackfitboston2013.eventbrite.com/.
Love activity tracking and interested in working on startup concepts relating to the Withings Pulse, BodyMedia FIT, or RunKeeper app? Interested in connecting with hundreds of fun startup enthusiasts with a passion for fitness, sport, and activity? Looking for an action-packed weekend combining startup challenges with climbing, crossfit, and yoga?
Get ready for the first EVER startup-event with activity challenges, exercise classes, and expert mentorship from angels, VCs, and serial entrepreneurs. Register NOW for HACKFit Boston on Sept 20-22nd, and become a Legendary Startup Warrior.
Learn more at www.hack-fit.com.
---------------------------------
The New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable Presents: Modernizing the Electric Grid in New England
September 20, 2013
9 am to 12:30 pm
Foley Hoag LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, 13th Floor, Boston
In October of 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities issued a notice of inquiry (NOI) on electric grid modernization that sought to develop a vision for a modern grid in Massachusetts and a road-map to get there. The NOI launched a stakeholder process charged with exploring both grid-facing and customer-facing issues, as well as developing recommendations for the DPU.
On July 2, 2013, the MA Grid Modernization Steering Committee, comprised of the four investor-owned utilities and representatives from over 20 diverse stakeholder groups, filed a 141 page Final Report with the DPU. The Report includes 1) goals, opportunities, and barriers; 2) a clear taxonomy of a modernized grid including outcomes and enablers; 3) a snap-shot of utilities' current systems and technologies; 4) a joint fact- finding summary of advanced metering functionality and cost, as well as time-varying rates; and 5) extensive recommendations on a wide range of grid modernization issues, including the appropriate regulatory and cost-effectiveness frameworks to foster grid modernization.
Join us at our 136th Roundtable as we discuss the Report and the DPU's plans for adopting and implementing an appropriate grid modernization regulatory framework. The panel will be anchored by MA DPU Chair Ann Berwick, who will discuss the DPU's vision and its next steps. She will be joined by representatives from the MA Grid Mod Steering Committee who will discuss the findings and recommendations of the report, including those where consensus was reached and those where two or more options were delivered to the DPU:
Jamie Tosches, Assistant Attorney General, MA AGO
Peter Zschokke, Director, Regulatory Strategy, National Grid
Camilo Serna, VP Corporate Strategy, Northeast Utilities
Janet Besser, VP Policy and Govt. Affairs, NE Clean Energy Council
To provide additional perspective on grid modernization, we have invitedCommissioner Kelly Speakes-Backman, Maryland Public Service Commission, to kick-off the Roundtable by discussing Maryland's efforts to modernize its grid. Maryland utilities are currently involved in the widespread deployment of advanced metering infrastructure and a peak-time rebate program, among other grid modernization activities. Commissioner Speakes-Backman, who has been actively involved in Maryland's grid modernization efforts, also serves on RGGI and was previously the Clean Energy Director at the Maryland Energy Administration.
Free and open to the public with no advanced registration!!
----------------------------------
Holyoke Center Freecycle
September 20
11 am-2 pm
Harvard, Holyoke Center Information Center
Bring your unwanted office supplies and equipment to Holyoke Center and take away some you need! Also bring kitchen supplies including pots and pans, silverware, plates, crockery, glassware, books, CDs, clothing, toys, unopened cosmetics, non-perishable food, linens, tools and all other reusables! Harvard Recycling will deliver a good “seed supply” at 11 am and will take away all unclaimed goods at 2 pm. Help reuse, save your department money, and build community by FreeCycling!
--------------------------------
Critical issues in Risk Assessment of Engineered Nanomaterials: Current evidence and remaining challenges
Friday, September 20
1PM to 2PM
Northeastern University, 121 Snell Library, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Philip Demokritou, PhD, Associate Professor & Director, Center for Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology at the Harvard School of Public Health
Numerous reports and commissions have documented the explosion of discoveries in nanotechnology. Moreover, these discoveries are quickly moving out of the laboratory into commercial products and human and environmental exposures are inevitable. While a great deal of progress has been made over the last decade in terms of hazard identification and characterization of nano related risk, major knowledge gaps still exist and need to be bridged. The current nano risk assessment paradigm is based on the “raw materials” and needs to be expanded to take into consideration the environmental health implications across their life cycle. The current scarce population exposure assessment data need to be enriched. Rather than assessing the toxicity of specific nanomaterials, we need to examine the fundamental principles which govern their toxicity and link nanomaterial properties to bio-interactions. Moreover, it has become apparent that the environmental health and safety implications of nano-enabled products need to be assessed in parallel with nanotechnology and its applications. This will require a drastic change in the current modus operandi and requires joint efforts by all stakeholders involved – academia, industry and regulators.
This seminar aims to discuss the current risk assessment paradigm, identify critical issues for future research in this area and showcase data from multidisciplinary research projects taking place at the Harvard Nano-Center.
http://www.IGERT.neu.edu
---------------------------------
From CO2 Hydrogenation by Solar Produced H2 to Photochemical Water Oxidation
September 20
3:00 PM
Boston University, Room 901, 8 Street Mary’s Street, Boston
Refreshments served at 2:45 PM
Etsuko Fujita, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Many researchers consider the solar generation of fuels (solar energy stored in the form of chemical bonds such as hydrogen from water and reduced C1 products from CO2) as the best and essential solution for clean energy. While researchers in this field have achieved the efficient coupling of light absorption and charge separation with dark catalytic reactions to produce H2, CO, or formate as reduction products, sunlight-driven water splitting or CO2 reduction remains a formidable problem. We will discuss our recent results on CO2 hydrogenation with Ir and Co complexes and electrochemical H2 production by non-precious metal catalysts with low overpotentials and acid stability. Also a photochemical water oxidation mechanism via O-O bond formation avoiding the non-PCET step of Ru(IV)=O/Ru(V)=O will be discussed as a low energy pathway.
The research carried out at Brookhaven National Laboratory was supported under contract DE-AC02-98CH10886 with the U.S. Department of Energy and supported by its Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, & Biosciences, Office of Basic Energy Sciences.
Etsuko Fujita is a Senior Chemist and the group leader of the Artificial Photosynthesis group in the Chemistry Department at BNL, and the recipient of the 2008 BNL Science and Technology Award for outstanding research in solar fuels generation. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from Ochanomizu University, Tokyo and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research interests span solar fuels generation including water splitting and CO2utilization, mechanistic inorganic chemistry, and thermodynamics/kinetics of small molecule binding/activation. She is an advisory board member for several solar energy conversion projects in the US and Japan.
------------------------------
Water Entrepreneurship Workshop
Friday, September 20, 2013
3:00p–6:00p
MIT, Building E51-345, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge, MA
Join entrepreneurs, investors, researchers and students to learn about critical opportunities for business and innovation in the water sector.
Web site:http://waterclub.scripts.mit.edu/wp/events/event/imagineh2o/
Open to: the general public
Cost: $10 (free for MIT students/affiliates)
Sponsor(s): MIT Water Club, ImagineH2O
For more information, contact:
David Cohen-Tanugi
waterclub-officers at mit.edu
------------------------------
Saturday, September 21
-----------------------------
New England Symposium on Statistics in Sports
WHEN Sat., Sep. 21, 2013, 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Science Center
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Athletic, Conferences, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard University Statistics Department, Boston Chapter of the American Statistical Association, Section on Sports in Statistics of the American Statistical Association
LINK www.nessis.org
Editorial Comment: $40-20
----------------------------------
Energy Upgrade Work Party
Roxbury Presbyterian
Saturday, September 21st
9:00am-1:30pm
328 Warren Street, Roxbury
Roxbury Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church. The gorgeous Gothic church building was constructed in 1891 by John C. Spofford and William Swanson. The warm and caring congregation is led by the well-known Rev. Liz Walker. This event's tasks will include installing efficient light bulbs and water aerators, weatherizing doors, windows and attic hatches, repainting mortar and fixing computer system preferences. This is a rescheduled event.
Please sign up here: (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGVSZURVV0MtU1E2cHhkTmxVMmtFb2c6MA#gid=0).
----------------------------------
Comedy Hack Day
Saturday, September 21, 2013
9:00am - Sunday, September 22, 2013 5:00pm
MIT Media Lab, 6th Floor
RSVP at http://comedyhackday.org
Speaker: Baratunde Thurston
Comedy Hack Day, an initiative by Director's Fellow Baratunde Thurston'scompany Cultivated Wit, is two-day hackathon during which comedians, designers, and developers work together to build hilarious apps and hardware hacks. Participants brainstorm ideas and form teams Saturday morning (or the week leading into the event). They spend all of Saturday and part of Sunday developing their projects, grabbing a few hours of sleep in between. At the end, all the teams demo their work in what promises to be one of the most nerdy and awesome comedy shows you've ever seen.
--------------------------------
8th Annual Harvest Festival & Perennial Divide
Saturday, September 21st
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive, Mattapan
Each year the Boston Natural Areas Network invites our friends and community
partners to table at the Festival which includes…
The Perennial Divide, Boston’s largest plant swap
Family games and cider pressing
Workshops on urban beekeeping and vermaculture (worm composting)
Shopping for hard-to-find native plants, pumpkin compost and City Natives
honey
Community organizations sharing information about gardening and green space
offerings across the city
With several hundred gardeners in attendance, this is a wonderful opportunity to spread the word about your organization and what you have to offer. We're inviting community partners to table at the event and encourage participatory activities or demonstrations to draw a crowd! We ask everyone to arrive by 9:30 am, provide their own table, and stay with their table for the duration of the event. Chairs and canopies will be provided.
Want to table at the Festival? Please RSVP by September 14. Space is limited and tabling organizations will be accepted on a first-come first-served basis.
To RSVP or ask questions, email dana at bostonnatural.org or call 617-542-7696.
----------------------------
Monday, September 23
---------------------------
"Making Democracy in the Patent System: Comparing the Life Form Patent Battles in the US and Europe"
Monday, September 23, 2013
12:15pm - 2:00pm
Harvard, Maxwell Dworkin, Room 119, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Shobita Parthasarathy (University of Michigan, Ford School)
STS Circle at Harvard Lecture
http://sts.hks.harvard.edu/events/sts_circle/
Contact Name: Shana Rabinowich
sts at hks.harvard.edu
Sandwich lunches are provided. Please RSVP to sts at hks.harvard.edu by Wednesday at 5PM the week before.
-----------------------
Media Lab Conversations Series: Mark Bauman
Monday, September 23, 2013
2:00p–3:30p
MIT, Building E14-3rd Floor Atrium, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Mark Bauman
Media Lab Conversations Series
See details at http://www.media.mit.edu/events/2013/09/23/media-lab-conversations-series-mark-bauman
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Media Lab
For more information, contact:
Jess Sousa
events-admin at media.mit.edu
--------------------------
Gene Patenting, the Supreme Court's Myriad Decision, and the Future of Biotechnology: A Panel Discussion
WHEN Mon., Sep. 23, 2013, 4 – 5 p.m.
WHERE Austin 100, Harvard Law School, 1515 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Ethics, Health Sciences, Law, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Co-sponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, & Bioethics and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
COST Free and open to the public
NOTE Moderated by Dean Martha Minow of Harvard Law School, this event will focus on the impact of the Supreme Court's recent decision that naturally occurring DNA cannot be patented. Will this be a boon for patients and a burden for biotech companies? Will sufficient incentive remain for innovation? Will there be any practical change at all? Panelists will include Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and I. Glenn Cohen and Ben Roin, faculty co-directors of the Petrie-Flom Center.
--------------------------
Optimal Taxation and Human Capital Policies over the Lifecycle
Monday, September 23, 2013
4:00p–5:30p
MIT, Building E51-151, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Stefanie Stantcheva (MIT)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Public Finance/Labor Workshop
For more information, contact:
Theresa Benevento
theresa at mit.edu
------------------------
Barwick Colloquium Series: Music and Neoliberal Capitalism
WHEN Mon., Sep. 23, 2013, 4:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Davison Room, Music Library
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Music
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard University Department of Music
SPEAKER(S) Timothy Taylor, University of California, Los Angeles
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO musicdpt at fas.harvard.edu
LINK www.music.fas.harvard.edu
--------------------------------
Moral, Political, Scientific: What is Thoughtful Engineering?
Monday, September 23, 2013
5:30p–6:30p
Reception at 5pm
MIT, Building 66-110, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Joyce Chaplin, James Duncan Phillips Prof. of Early American History, Harvard University
This lecture is the inaugural event for the MIT Benjamin Franklin Project: Benjamin Franklin, Science & Public Culture. The Project is dedicated to the memory of Pauline Maier and William Kenan Jr., Professor of History at MIT.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Chemical Engineering Department
For more information, contact:
Faika Weche
617-253-3197
fweche at mit.edu
--------------------------------
"Elasticity: Dessert = Flavor + Texture."
Monday, September 23
7pm
Harvard, Science Center C, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Bill Yosses, White House Pastry Chef
http://www.seas.harvard.edu/cooking
----------------------------
Tuesday, September 24
----------------------------
Water Quality - A Stakeholder Science Forum
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
10:00a–12:30p
MIT, Building E38-300, 292 Main Street, Cambridge
The MIT Sea Grant Stakeholder Forums provide an opportunity for our funded researchers to present their research and current findings to their peers and the public. Audience members and other presenting researchers are encouraged to ask questions and engage in dialogue. The goal of the series is to promote peer-to-peer networking, to connect research to those who can benefit from and apply the findings of MIT Sea Grant funded research, and for MIT Sea Grant to receive input on outreach programs whose goal is to deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate (PAOC), Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact:
Darius Collazo
dcollazomit at gmail.com
------------------------------
America’s Role in the Making of Japan’s Economic Miracle
WHEN Tue., Sep. 24, 2013, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Bowie-Vernon Room (K262), CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge Steet, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Program on U.S.-Japan Relations co-sponsored by the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S) Yusaku Horiuchi, associate professor of government and Mitsui Chair in the Study of Japan, Dartmouth College
Michael Beckley, assistant professor of political science, Tufts University
Jennifer Miller, visiting assistant professor of history, Dartmouth College
CONTACT INFO wnehring at wcfia.harvard.edu
LINK http://programs.wcfia.harvard.edu/us-japan
---------------------------
The Metropolitan Revolution
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
6:00p–8:00p
MIT, Building 32-155, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Bruce Katz, director of the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, discusses his recent book, "The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros are Fixing our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy," co-authored with Jennifer Bradley.
"...A revolution is stirring in America. Across the nation, cities and the leaders who govern them are taking on the big issues that Washington won't- or can't- solve. They are reshaping our economy and fixing our broken political system.
"The Metropolitan Revolution is a national movement taking root in New York City, where efforts are under way to diversify the city's vast economy; in Portland, where sustainability solutions are being exported to other cities around the world; in Northeast Ohio, where worker-innovators are using the skills of the industrial age to invent cutting-edge materials, tools, and processes; in Houston, where a modern settlement house helps immigrants climb the employment ladder; in Miami, where leaders are forging strong ties with Brazil and other nations; in Denver and Los Angeles, where leaders are breaking political barriers and building world-class metropolises; and in Boston and Detroit, where innovation districts are powering economies for the next century. Katz and Bradley highlight success stories to share lessons and catalyze action." (Brookings Press)
Web site: http://metrorevolution.org
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:
Bettina Urcuioli
617-253-1933
bma at mit.edu
**********
------------
Upcoming
------------
**********
"John Kerry's Mission Impossible: Reimagining U.S. Policy in the Middle East."
Tuesday, September 24
12 p.m.
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Speaker Series with David Rohde, investigative journalist for Thomson Reuters and author of Beyond War: Reimagining American Influence in a New Middle East.
-----------------------------
Curated by the Crowd: collections, data, and platforms for participation in museums and other institutions
September 24, 2013
12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett Street, 2nd Floor, Cambridge
RSVP at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2013/9/metalab#RSVP
This event will be webcast live at 12:30pm ET.
hosted by metaLAB's Jeffrey Schnapp, Matthew Battles and Pablo Barría Urenda
Curarium is a collection of collections, an “animated archive,” designed to serve as a model for crowdsourcing annotation, curation, and augmentation of works within and beyond their respective collections. A web-based platform, Curarium aims to construct sharable, media-rich stories and elaborate arguments about individual items as well as groups of items within a corpora.
The first project to be ingested into Curarium is Villa I Tatti’s Homeless Paintings of the Italian Renaissance collection, a unique archive of photographs of “homeless” paintings assembled by art historian Bernard Berenson. Taking the collection and its metadata out of VIA and putting it into Curarium will allow engagement with a wider audience, which will then identify, classify, describe and analyze the objects in the collection, as well as reconstruct the stories of objects that have either disappeared or been destroyed.
About Jeffrey
Jeffrey Schnapp is the Faculty Director of metaLAB, and a Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and in the Department of Architecture at the Graduate School of Design. He is the author twenty-five books and several hundred essays, and in addition to playing a leadership role in the area of digital humanities since the early 1980s, he has pursued curatorial collaborations with the Triennale di Milano, the Cantor Center for the Visual Arts, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Canadian Center for Architecture. His Trento Tunnels project — a 6000 sq. meter pair of highway tunnels in Northern Italy repurposed as a history museum– was featured in the Italian pavilion of the 2010 Venice Biennale of Architecture and at the MAXXI in Rome in RE-CYCLE.
About Matthew
Matthew Battles is the Associate Director of metaLAB and a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. The author ofLibrary: an Unquiet History and Widener: Biography of a Library, he has written widely on the cultural and intellectual history of collections. He managed the publication program at Harvard’s Houghton Library, designing scholarly publications and exhibition catalogs and helping to design and stage exhibitions; he also served as senior scholarly editor for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
About Pablo
Pablo Barría Urenda holds a degree in Architecture by the Federico Santa María Technical University in Valparaíso, Chile, and a Masters in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is interested in the intersection between design and digital media, and has worked with metaLAB as an interface designer in a number of projects including Teaching with Things and Homeless Paintings.
------------------------------
Navy Ship Building: A Look at the Littoral Combat Ship
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
12:00p–1:30p
MIT, Buidling E40-496, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Rear Admiral Samuel J. Perez, Jr. US Dept.of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
SSP Wednesday Seminar Program
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Security Studies Program
For more information, contact:
617-253-7529
valeriet at mit.edu
-----------------------------
Correlated signals and causal transport in ocean circulation
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
12:10p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-915
Speaker: Thomas Haine (Johns Hopkins)
We present a framework for interpreting the time-lagged correlation of oceanographic data in terms of physical transport mechanisms. Previous studies have inferred aspects of ocean circulation by correlating fluctuations in temperature and salinity measurements at distant stations. Typically, the time-lag of greatest correlation is interpreted as an advective transit time and hence the advective speed of the current. We relate correlation functions directly to the underlying equations of fluid transport. This is accomplished by expressing the correlation functions in terms of the Green???s function of the transport equation. The result is a framework to interpret time-lagged correlation functions from oceanographic timeseries data. The approach provides insight into the generic task of interpreting correlation information in terms of causal mechanisms.
Sack Lunch Seminars EAPS Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate department -- A student-run weekly seminar series within PAOC. Seminar topics include all research concerning climate, geophysical fluid dynamics, biogeochemistry, paleo-oceanography/climatology and physical oceanography. The seminars usually take place on Wednesdays from 12.10-1pm. 2013/2014 co-ordinator: Kyle Armour (karmour at mit.edu)
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate (PAOC), Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact:
Kyle Armour
karmour at mit.edu
-----------------------------------
Engineering for All America”: Thoreau, Melville, and the Science of Surveying
WHEN Wed., Sep. 25, 2013, 1 – 3 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Maxwell-Dworkin Building, 2nd floor lounge, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Exhibitions, Humanities, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Collection of Scientific Instruments, Harvard Department of the History of Science
SPEAKER(S) Patrick Chura
NOTE The seminar will be followed by a tour of Harvard’s Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments. The seminar will discuss connections between engineering and literature, how science and aesthetics cooperated in mid-nineteenth century intellectual culture, and how our national literature was shaped by a synthesis of interlinked, cross-disciplinary forms of knowledge. Please RSVP to Sujata Bhatia atsbhatia at seas.harvard.edu.
---------------------------------
From Ritual Music to Ballads: Mountain Music of Caucasus Georgia
WHEN Wed., Sep. 25, 2013, 3:15 – 4:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Grossman Common Room, 51 Brattle Street, Cambridge, 2nd floor
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Music
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement
SPEAKER(S) Aurelia Shrenker, musicologist and Fulbright Scholar
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO rodriguez at dcemail.harvard.edu
--------------------------------
HUCTW 25th Anniversary Events/Panel: The U.S. Healthcare System in 2013
WHEN Wed., Sep. 25, 2013, 3:15 – 4:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Sackler Museum Lecture Hall, 485 Broadway, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Union of Clerical & Technical Workers
SPEAKER(S) Andrea Caceres, health care negotiations specialist, HUCTW; David Cutler, professor of applied economics, Harvard University; Nancy Turnbull, associate dean for education programs and senior lecturer, Harvard School of Public Health
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO adrienne.landau at huctw.org
LINK www.huctw.org
----------------------------
Character Analysis
WHEN Wed., Sep. 25, 2013, 4 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Humanities, Lecture, Theater
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) David Levine, 2013-2014 Radcliffe Institute Fellow, ECLA of Bard
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO 617.495.8212
NOTE David Levine is an artist whose work explores the conditions of performance and spectatorship across a variety of media, including theater, video, pedagogy, and visual arts. His most recent American project, Habit, transposed theatrical realism to a gallery setting, where spectators followed the ever-shifting drama through windows of a specially built house. He is the director of the studio component at ECLA of Bard, a liberal arts university in Berlin, where he is also a professor.
LINK https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2013-david-levine-fellow-presentation-2
--------------------------
Bio-Inspired Tensegrity Structures
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
4:00 p.m.
Boston College, Higgins 310, Physics Department, Newton
Cornel Sultan, Aerospace & Ocean Engineering, Virginia Tech
Tensegrity structures are assemblies of stretched tendons and disjoint bars that originated in the abstract art of the 1900’s. Today they are perceived as promising structural systems in areas ranging from space applications to bioengineering. In this talk the artistic context of the late 1800s and early 1900s is briefly revisited and tensegrity’s invention by artist Kenneth Snelson is discussed.
The presentation then focuses on tensegrity deployment (i.e. how they can be folded/unfolded). A deployment strategy inspired by the way biological organisms control motion via tendons and muscles is presented. First, the equations of motion are derived using analytical mechanics (i.e. Lagrange equations). Then, transition between folded and unfolded configurations is achieved ensuring quasi-static evolution. The tendon force variation is numerically solved for such that the system trajectory in the configuration space stays close to a continuous set of equilibrium configurations. Finally, some disadvantages of this deployment strategy and ideas that can be used to alleviate them are briefly discussed.
http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/schools/cas/physics/news-and-events/seminars-colloquia/09-25-13_coll_Sultan.html
-----------------------------
“The Impact of Environmental Regulation on U.S. Oil Refineries.”
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
4:10pm - 5:30pm
Harvard, Room L-382, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge
Richard Sweeney, Harvard University
Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy
http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k96249
Contact Name: Jason Chapman
Jason_Chapman at harvard.edu
For further information, contact Professor Stavins at the Kennedy School (617-495-1820), Professor Weitzman at the Department of Economics (617-495-5133), or the course assistant, Jason Chapman (617-496-8054), or visit the seminar web site.
----------------------------
20 Questions with Mario Livio
WHEN Wed., Sep. 25, 2013, 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Thompson Room, Barker Center 110, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Science, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard
SPEAKER(S) Mario Livio, astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute; moderated by Homi K. Bhabha with questions by Janet Browne, Anna Henchman, Robert Kirshner, Lisa Randall
COST Free and open to the public; seating is limited
CONTACT INFO humcentr at fas.harvard.edu, 617.495.0738
NOTE Mario Livio discusses his recent book "Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe."
Download a precirculated paper for this event: http://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Brilliant%20Blunders%20--%20Excerpt.pdf
LINK http://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/content/mario-livio-ibrilliant-blundersi
-----------------------------
FUTURE ENERGY - INVESTOR FEEDBACK FORUM
Wednesday, September 25
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge
RSVP at http://futureenergyboston.eventbrite.com
Future Energy, an Ultra Light Startups brand sponsored by Shell GameChanger, is a series of events that connects entrepreneurs, researchers, and private investors in the energy and clean-tech industries to develop and commercialize radical solutions to the world’s energy challenges.
At each Future Energy event, 8 startups present to a panel of energy and cleantech venture capital investors for feedback, advice, and networking. The audience votes on the best presenters who win prizes and media attention to help launch their business.
Audience: Entrepreneurs, Investors, Media. Service Providers, Open to all
Twitter: @crisdeluca #ulsboston
Applications to pitch can be submitted at http://ultralightstartups.com/future-energy/application-form/
Register using the promocode MSNERD for 50% off registration ticket
---------------------------------
SITN Lecture - Antibiotic Resistance: Super drugs for superbugs.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
6:30 PM
Harvard Medical Schoo, lArmenise Amphitheater,
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/NerdFunBoston/events/136910792/
Fall is here! And it's time once again for Science in the News' flagship series of fall lectures. Join us at Harvard Medical School at Longwood for the first of the series, Antibiotic Resistance: Super drugs for superbugs.
For those of you not familiar with SITN's lecture format, lectures are free, accessible, and open to the public. All lectures are given entirely by graduate students at Harvard and focus on hot topics in science research and news.
All lectures are on Wednesdays starting at 7 PM at the . A team of three graduate students each present a 30-40 minute segment, with breaks for questions and refreshments. The lectures last for about two hours, and are often followed by lab tours.
They will have light refreshments before the lecture (coffee, tea, cookies, etc.)
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/seminar-series/
--------------------------
A Conversation with Bruce Katz
WHEN Wed., Sep. 25, 2013, 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Kennedy School, Belfer Building, Starr Auditorium, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Joint Center For Housing Studies
SPEAKER(S) Bruce Katz
NOTE Founding director of the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program, Bruce Katz is the author of the new book "The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy," a distillation of his word on the emerging metropolitan-led "next economy" and its practitioners around the country working to produce more and better jobs driven by innovation, exports and sustainability.
------------------------------
Katsura Sunshine presents Japanese Rakugo comic story-telling in English
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
7:30p–9:00p
MIT, Building 32-123
Speaker: Sunshine Katsura
Sunshine is the first-ever Western Rakugo storyteller in the history of the "Kamigata" Rakugo tradition, based in Osaka, and only the second ever in the history of Japan.
Rakugo is a 400-year-old tradition of comic storytelling in Japan. A minimalistic performance art, Rakugo features a lone storyteller dressed in kimono, kneeling on a cushion, who, using only a fan and a hand towel for props, entertains the audience with a comic monologue followed by a traditional story.
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Foreign Languages & Literatures
For more information, contact:
Lisa Hickler
617-452-2676
fll-events at mit.edu
------------------------------
Thursday, September 26
------------------------------
Ethan Zuckerman: "Digital Cosmopolitanism and Cognitive Diversity"
Thursday, September 26, 2013
5:00p–7:00p
MIT, Building 4-231
Speaker: Ethan Zuckerman, director of the MIT Center for Civic Media
CMS/W Colloquium Series
New media technologies have sharply increased the number of people who are able to create and disseminate content. But they may not be leading to a more diverse media environment, as tools that allow us to tailor what content we see and what we ignore are becoming more powerful and more personal. The framework of cosmopolitanism suggests a way through this challenge ??? by examining perspectives we are exposed to and insulated from, we may be able to design tools and approaches that help readers increase their cognitive diversity and prepare themselves to tackle transnational challenges.
Web site: http://cmsw.mit.edu/event/ethan-zuckerman-digital-cosmopolitanism-cognitive-diversity/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
For more information, contact:
Andrew Whitacre
617-324-0490
cmsw at mit.edu
---------------------------------
"Dutch Mountains"
Thursday, September 26, 2013
5:30p–7:20p
MIT, Building 7-429
Speaker: Francine Houben, Founding Architect, Mecanoo Architects, Delft
Francine Houben directs her Mecanoo team with the ambition to design buildings with a strong respect for context: physically, historically and environmentally. In the lecture "Dutch Mountains" she will present her vision and the philosophy behind her work. She will take you along her increasingly international portfolio featuring also the recently opened Library of Birmingham integrated with the REP Theater in the UK; and the Dudley Municipal Offices in Boston and Wei-Wu-Ying Centre for the Arts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, both under construction.
Architectural Design Discipline Group Lecture.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture
For more information, contact:
617-253-7791
-------------------------------
The Ideation Framework
Friday, September 27, 2013
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
Harvard Innovation Lab, 125 Western Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/8326279125/es2/
How can you effectively learn if people will use (or buy) a new product idea before you built it? Josh Wexler, CEO of the Occom Group, will share the process that they use to help anyone (7th graders to C-level executives) validate new product ideas before they are built. He will tell the story of how a first time entrepreneur went from an idea to a fully functioning prototype that he then used to test with potential customers in about 2 days. Josh will discuss how this process drives clarity among a team and reduces the technical and overall risk of a project. Participants will be guided through a number of exercises to practice the process.
Brought to you by the i-Lab and Empower.
-------------------------------
The Menino Legacy: Down to the Wire
Thursday, September 26
6:30-8 pm
C. Walsh Theatre, Suffolk University, 55 Temple Street, Boston
with
Lawrence S. DiCara (partner, Nixon Peabody), Joan Vennochi (associate editor and op-ed columnist, The Boston Globe), Mary Anne Marsh (principal, Dewey Square Group)
and John Nucci (VP of Government Relations & Community Affairs, Suffolk University);
discussion moderated by Paul Grogan (President, The Boston Foundation) and introductions by James McCarthy (President, Suffolk University)
Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University kicks off its 2013 Fall series of lectures with undoubtedly the key local political discussion of the season. Boston's mayoral primary will have just ended two days before, giving the public barely over a month to determine which of the two finalists can best assume the seat proudly held for five terms by Mayor Thomas Menino, the City of Boston's longest running mayor.
When Menino announced last March that he would not seek reelection, his decision opened the floodgates to create a lengthy roster of mayoral candidates -- at one point 24 total -- and set the stage for a tumultuous and confusing campaign season. Now down to the wire after the primaries, the final election shall prove to be a pivotal one for the city. The outcome will not only determine how Boston best proceeds in serving its citizens. The results of this race will also set the tone for all those in the Commonwealth and beyond who frequent Boston as their place of work and play.
Paul Grogan, president and CEO of the Boston Foundation, moderates Ford Hall Forum's The Menino Legacy: Down To The Wire which includes the following participants: Lawrence S. DiCara, partner at Nixon Peabody, former Boston City Council president and mayoral candidate; Joan Vennochi, associate editor and op-ed columnist for The Boston Globe; Mary Anne Marsh, Democratic strategist and commentator; and John Nucci,Suffolk University's Vice President for Government and Community Affairs, former Boston City Council member and mayoral candidate. All these panelists have distinguished themselves as civic opinion-shapers. Suffolk University's James McCarthy will be on hand to introduce the evening's proceedings.
Further background information on the participants:
Paul Grogan is President and CEO of The Boston Foundation. He served as Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs at Harvard University, and was President and CEO of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). Grogan holds a master’s degree in administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was awarded a Bicentennial Medal from Williams College for his leadership in inner-city revitalization efforts. Grogan is a founder and director of The Community Development Trust, a director of New Profit Inc., and a trustee of Brandeis University. He previously served on the Boards of Williams College, FSG Social Impact Advisors, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Lawrence S. DiCara is a partner at Nixon Peabody where he practices real estate and administrative law. He has taught at Harvard, Boston University, and the UMass. DiCara is a former member and president of the Boston City Council and has served as a member of the Democratic State Committee for over 40 years. He is also former president of the Boston Latin School Association, the Greater Boston Council, Boy Scouts of America, and the Boston Theatre District Association. In recent years, he has received the Father of the Year Award from the American Diabetes Association and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Massachusetts Boys/Girls State Foundation.
Joan Vennochi is an op-ed columnist for The Boston Globe. She writes regularly about national and local politics and covers issues relating to business, law, and culture. Before joining the op-ed page, she wrote a column on the Globe's business page. Vennochi was City Hall bureau chief, State House bureau chief, and covered national politics. She began her career at the Globe as a researcher on the Spotlight Team, the newspaper's investigative unit; later, she shared in a Pulitzer Prize awarded to the team for local investigative reporting. Vennochi received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University and her J.D. from Suffolk Law School.
Mary Anne Marsh is a principal at Dewey Square Group and has more than 20 years of experience in public policy, communications, and electoral politics. Her experience includes providing strategic counsel to many national grassroots organizations for dozens of public policy campaigns and media relations to Fortune 500 companies. Marsh has also worked with numerous political clients such as John Kerry, Edward M. Kennedy, and Shannon O’Brien. She directed Victory ’92 for the Massachusetts Democratic Party and is a Democratic political analyst on FOX News. Her commentary and analysis can be heard on a variety of national and local media.
John Nucci is the Vice President of Government Relations and Community Affairs at Suffolk University and has been a prominent elected official in Boston for over 20 years. Nucci served for six years on the Boston School Committee, including four years as president, and was an at-large member of the Boston City Council for four years. He has been the elected Clerk of the Suffolk County Criminal Superior Court for the past 11 years. In addition to his elected positions, Nucci served for more than 20 years at Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) in Boston. He teaches in the graduate-level public administration program at Suffolk, is a graduate of Boston College and Suffolk University, and is a lifelong resident of East Boston.
James McCarthy is the ninth president of Suffolk University, beginning his tenure at the University in February 2012. He is committed to building a cohesive campus community, enhancing experiential learning, implementing new models of education, and using technology to complement the traditional Suffolk education. Before joining Suffolk University, President McCarthy served for five years as provost and senior vice president at Baruch College of the City University of New York. He was most recently the dean of the School of Health and Human Services at the University of New Hampshire. McCarthy has engaged in sociological research through Princeton University, the International Statistical Institute London, and Trinity College Dublin, and in a multitude of countries. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University, an M.A. for Indiana University, and an A.B. from the College of the Holy Cross.
For more information on Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, visit www.fordhallforum.org.
Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University Media Contact: Mary Curtin, 617-241-9664, 617-470-5867 (cell), marycurtin at comcast.net
Information about Suffolk University’s partnership with the Ford Hall Forum can be obtained by contacting Mariellen Norris, (617) 573-8450, mnorris at suffolk.edu.
--------------------------------
Urban Films: 5 Broken Cameras (2011)
Thursday, September 26, 2013
7:00p–9:00p
MIT, Building 3-133
This Palestinian-Israeli-French co-production presents a deeply-personal first-hand account of life and non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village surrounded by Israeli settlements. Filmed by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son Gibreel, the collaboration follows one family's evolution over five years of village upheaval. As the story unfolds---structured in chapters around the destruction of each one of Burnat's cameras---we witness Gibreel grow from a newborn baby into a young boy who observes the world unfolding around him with the astute powers of perception that only children possess. Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify and lives are lost in this cinematic diary and unparalleled record of life in the West Bank. Directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi. Winner, World Cinema/Directing, Sundance; Special Jury and Audience Award, IDFA; Nominated for Academy Award, Best Documentary Feature. 90 minutes; Hebrew and Arabic w/English subtitles.
Urban Planning Film Series
A mostly-weekly series showing documentary and feature films on topics related to cities, urbanism, design, community development, ecology, and other planning issues. Free.
Web site: urbanfilm.org
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:
Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
eglenn at mit.edu
--------------------------
Friday, September 27
--------------------------
The Good News on Climate Change
WHEN Fri., Sep. 27, 2013, 1 – 2:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Kennedy School, Taubman Building, 5th Floor, Nye ABC, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, Harvard University Center for the Environment
SPEAKER(S) Christiana Figueres, executive secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
CONTACT INFO bryan_galcik at harvard.edu
-----------------------------
Saturday, September 28
-----------------------------
Hull Wind Tours
Saturday, September 28
9-4pm
Hull 1, 100 Main Street, Hull
With over 17,000 MWhs of production since December 2001, Hull Wind 1 has served as a model community wind project for the nation.
Please join Executive Director of Action for Clean Energy, Andy Stern at Hull's first wind turbine, located at Hull High School for a 1 hour presentation/tour of Hull Wind 1.
Several local colleges will be in attendance and other environmental groups are encouraged to participate in this event.
Harvard 9am
MIT 10
BU 11
Suffolk 12p
Brandeis 1p
Tufts 2p
Emerson 3p
contact Andy Stern
astern at hotmail.com
510.673.2440
----------------------------------
Boston Fermentation Festival
Saturday, September 28
10am-2pm
Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Hall, 45 Brookside Avenue, Jamaica Plain
The free event will offer workshops and demonstrations of fermented foods, such as kimchi, cheese, pickle; and lectures by leading fermentation
specialists. Attendees will be able to listen to live music, eat at food trucks, and sample and purchases fermented foods, handmade fermentation rocks, and fermentation books from over a dozen vendors.
For more information, visit www.eglestonfarmersmarket.org/fermentation and
www.facebook.com/bostonferments or call (248) 219-8779
-----------------------------
Nerd Nite event
Monday, September 30, 2013
8PM
Middlesex Lounge, 315 Massachusetts Avenue, Central Square, Cambridge
$5
Talk 1 – “Science and Art: Bedfellows” by Alberta Chu
Talk 2 - “Genomics Social Networking” by Murray Robinson, PhD
More information at http://boston.nerdnite.com/2013/09/12/nerd-nite-93013/
--------------------------
Boston TechBreakfast
10/1/2013
8:00 am - 10:30 am
Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-TechBreakfast/events/128096822/
Want to see cool new technology? Want to interact with other cool techies, startups, and business folks? Have some time in the morning? Then come to TechBreakfast, a monthly breakfast in Baltimore, Columbia, DC, and Northern Virginia where entrepreneurs, techies, developers, designers, business people, and interested people see showcases on cool new technology in a demo format and interact with each other. "Show and Tell for Adults" is what we usually say. No boring presentations or speakers who drone on. This is a "show and tell" format where we tell people to show me, don't tell me about the great things they are working on. Each TechBreakfast begins at 8:00am and goes until 10:00am (although people usually hang around later). This event is FREE! Thank our sponsors when you see them!
------------------------------
HIMALAYA: MOUNTAINS OF LIFE - LECTURE AND PANEL DISCUSSION
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
4:00pm
Harvard, Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway, Lecture Hall B029, Cambridge
Kamal Bawa and Sandesh Kadur will share breathtaking photographs and stories from their new book, Himalaya: Mountains of Life, to spark a conversation about why the preservation of this land is so important, not just for us, but for the future of all life on Earth. Following their presentation, a panel of distinguished Harvard professors, representing the arts, humanities, and environmental disciplines, will lead a discussion with the authors on the interconnectedness of art and the humanities in building awareness of and potential solutions to global environmental challenges.
For additional information visit the HMSC website: http://hmsc.harvard.edu/event/himalaya-mountains-life-kamal-bawa-distinguished-professor-conservation-biology
Jointly-sponsored by the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture, Office of the Arts at Harvard, and the Office for Sustainability at Harvard.
-------------------------------
"Getting to Net Zero"- A Panel Discussion
Wednesday, October 2
6:30 PM
Cambridge Public Library, Main Branch, 449 Broadway, Cambridge
Please join Mayor Henrietta Davis, city public officials, and a diverse group of speakers to discuss Net Zero: the challenges and opportunities for our city.
To RSVP, go here: http://www.eventbrite.com/org/4619238903?s=17280101
----------------------------------------
Let's Talk About Food Festival: Can New England Feed Itself? How Close Can We Get to Sustainability?
Thursday, October 3
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Forum, Trinity Church in the City of Boston, 206 Clarendon Street, Boston
We talk about local and sustainable. Shop at the Farmers Markets and buy sustainable seafood. Yet today, much of our food still comes from other regions and countries. We often don’t know where it comes from and how it is grown.
What would it really take for New England to feed itself? Is it even possible? What would it mean for our eating habits, the landscape and the local economy? Can our farmland even keep up with the population?
On Thursday, October 3 at 6 pm, we’ll explore all of these questions at a Town Hall Forum at Trinity Church in Copley Square. This forum is part of the 2013 Let's Talk About Food Festival, sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture.
Distinguished list of speakers at the event include:
Chef and Wholesome Wave CEO Michel Nischan, a James Beard Award-winning chef, author and restaurateur who has become a catalyst for change in the sustainable food movement.
U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree (ME), a long-time advocate for local farms
Gregory Watson, Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture
Amanda Beal, director of the By Land and By Sea Project and a member of Food Solutions New England.
Brian Donohue, Associate Professor of American Environmental Studies at Brandeis University
Timothy Griffin, Associate Professor and Director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy
Glynn Lloyd, Co-Founder of City Growers and CEO of City Fresh Foods
John Piotti, Executive Director of Maine Farmland Trust
This event is free but we ask people to register in advance at http://www.LetsTalkAboutFood.com
--------------------------------------------
Boston Local Food Festival
4th Annual Boston Local Food Festival
Sunday, 06 October, 2013
11:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston
What You'll Find at the Festival
Freshly harvested produce and seafood from farmers and fishermen
Scrumptious, $6 servings, featuring locally grown foods
Entertaining demonstrations and competitions by chefs and other food experts
Lively local music of many cultural tastes
Engaging exhibitions and playful activities for the kid in all of us
Interactive workshops featuring local food leaders
Food-inspired arts and crafts
Recycling and sustainable practices for minimal waste
See more at: http://bostonlocalfoodfestival.com/about-the-festival/#sthash.zLticdKu.dpuf
Event Contact Katrina Kazda
Email: katrina at sbnmass.org
------------------------------
Money & Power: A Debate
with Hedrick Smith (Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The New York Times) and Yaron Brook (President, Ayn Rand Institute);
moderated by Rachael Cobb (Chair, Suffolk University's CAS Government Dept.)
Thursday, October 10, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Modern Theatre, Suffolk University
Associate Professor Rachael Cobb (Chair, SU CAS Government Dept.) moderates a critical debate between former New York Times journalist Hedrick Smith and Ayn Rand Institute President Yaron Brook on money and power. Smith argues that a pro-business power shift in Washington and a change in the American business ethos away from stakeholder capitalism to shareholder capitalism has created a harmful economic divide in America. Brook counters that today’s mess is a product, not of capitalism, but of empowering the government to restrict free enterprise and dole out favors to preferred groups. Smith offers ideas for reviving middle class power and prosperity, while Brook tells us how laissez-faire capitalism offers individuals on all levels of ability the greatest promise of prosperity in this incredible debate on wealth and power in the 21st century.
For more information on Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, visit www.fordhallforum.org.
Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University Media Contact: Mary Curtin, 617-241-9664, 617-470-5867 (cell), marycurtin at comcast.net
Information about Suffolk University’s partnership with the Ford Hall Forum can be obtained by contacting Mariellen Norris, (617) 573-8450, mnorris at suffolk.edu.
-----------
About Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University:
Ford Hall Forum is the nation's oldest free public lecture series. The Forum provides an open venue for sharing opinions and discussing controversial points of view. It advances the First Amendment through freedom of expression, encouraging attendees to engage directly with speakers. Ford Hall Forum discussions illuminate the key issues facing our society by bringing to its podium knowledgeable and thought-provoking orators from a broad range of perspectives. These experts participate for free, and in settings that promote a culture of involvement in a non-partisan environment.
The Forum began in 1908 as a series of Sunday evening public meetings held at the Ford Hall, which once stood on Beacon Hill in Boston. While the original building no longer exists, the public conversations have continued throughout the Boston area with the generous support from state agencies, foundations, corporations, academic institutions, and individuals. In its 104th year of programming, the Forum continues to build upon its partnership with Suffolk University. Suffolk is now housing the Forum's administrative offices just a block away from where the original Ford Hall once stood.
Ford Hall Forum programs are made possible through the generous contributions from individual members as well as corporations and foundations, including Compass Eight, The Fred & Marty Corneel Fund, Helen Rees Literary Agency, Iron Mountain, LCMG Certified Public Accountants, The Lowell Institute, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, North Hill, Penny Pimentel, The Pfizer Foundation, Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation, Prince Lobel & Tye, Suffolk University, and WBUR 90.9 FM.
For more information on Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, visit www.fordhallforum.org. Information about Suffolk University’s partnership with the Ford Hall Forum can be obtained by contacting Mariellen Norris, (617) 573-8450, mnorris at suffolk.edu.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Energy Upgrade Work Party
Second Church of the Nazarene, Dorchester
Saturday, September 28th
9:00am-1:30pm
44 Moultrie St
Dorchester
A stop on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War, Second Nazarene Church in Dorchester needs an energy upgrade. Join HEET and Co-op Power to help the church reduce energy bills and energy use. The church has a dirt-floor basement that is exhaling a lot of cold air and moisture into the building. Learn how to install a vapor barrier in the basement inexpensively and easily. A variety of other work will also be taught.
Sign up here: (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFUteWN0Q1BEVHluZnRJb0RrSE5wM1E6MA#gid=0)
-------------------------------
[MIT Energy Club] 101 Lecture Series: Carbon Capture
October 02, 2013
12:00p–2:00p
MIT, Building 3-133
Mike Stern, a graduating PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering, will be giving a talk on carbon capture as a way of combating rising carbon emissions.
Sponsored by: MIT Energy Club
Admission: Open to the public
For more information: Contact MIT Energy Club
energyclub at mit.edu
--------------------------------
Gideon's Promise and Peril: Meeting the Mandate for Indigent Defense
Friday, October 11th, 2013
Harvard Law School, WCC 2036 Milstein East Cambridge, MA
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Gideon v. Wainwright, in which the Court ruled state courts were obligated to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants who could not otherwise afford it. The logic of this unanimous decision has had far-reaching implications for the way we think about justice in the United States and held such promise to those of us dedicated to the fairness of our judicial system. On October 11th, we will gather here at Harvard Law School for an all-day conference: "Gideon's Promise and Peril: Meeting the Mandate for Indigent Defense."
More information at http://www.charleshamiltonhouston.org
---------------------------------
Honk! FESTIVAL OF ACTIVIST STREET BANDS
October 11 through 14, 2013
a wide variety of events planned
in Somerville & Cambridge
FREE AND OPEN TO ALL
(Somerville & Cambridge, MA) Time to mark the calendar for the eighth annual HONK! Festival (www.honkfest.org) which will take place from October 11-14 throughout the neighborhoods of Somerville and Cambridge. Founded in 2006 in Davis Square by members of the Somerville-basedSecond Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band (www.secondlinebrassband.org), HONK! is a rousing socio-political music spectacle which features social activist street bands from all over who come together to share their different approaches to merry making while also instigating positive change in their communities.
This year several new national and international groups will be featured, as well as returning festival favorites, some who are local and several who come from afar. In the works are many concerts, one very large parade, some mini parades, a roundtable discussion, and much more. The preliminary HONK! schedule, which will be finalized in early September, can be found at www.honkfest.org/schedule/. This year ALL events will be free!. The festival is rain or shine and open to all.
As of this writing, a few late summer/early fall activities are in place, for those who would like to get involved early on:
HONK! Kickstarter campaign: details can be found at www.honkfest.org/kickstarter. This year's goal is to reach $12,000 by early October. Last year, HONK! far exceeded its Kickstarter campaign. Individuals can donate and subscribe to receive notices by going through the HONK! website.
HONK! Volunteer Appreciation Pep Rally: tentatively scheduled for the evening of September 15 at Sprout, 339R Summer St. near Davis Square, Somerville (www.thesprouts.org). More information will be available after Labor Day weekend.
For more background information on HONK!'s origins, visit www.honkfest.org/about/.
-----------------------------
Energy Upgrade Work Party
Emmanuel Church of Boston
October 13th - Time TBA, around 1pm-5pm
15 Newbury Street
Boston
Emmanuel Church of Boston has the most beautiful Sanctuary and chapel we've ever been in. As an additional plus, the artist who builds the Bread and Puppets' puppets has a studio in the basement. A truly amazing place to be. We'll teach you how to install pipe insulation, and how to save energy in many other ways.
Sign up here: (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEdrVnFLeW1neWtxVjNMSVl6WE1DOVE6MA#gid=0)
---------------------------
Sustainable House of Worship Workshop
October 19
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 116 South Street, Foxborough
RSVP at Register at
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e81d32ua44d430ff&llr=s4blzzbab
Would your congregation like to lower its utility bills? Would you like to do what you can to decrease your use of fossil fuels, and the contribution they make to global warming? Are you interested in learning more about solar energy?
MIP&L's Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) workshop covers all this and more, showing you how to evaluate 24 questions that will give you a comprehensive view of your house of worship's energy us and the largest opportunities for savings.
In this half-day session conducted by Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light (www.mipandl.org) you will learn:
How to track your energy use, cost and carbon footprint
How to find no-cost and low cost projects that can have a big impact on your electricity and heating bills
How to evaluate energy using equipment and systems to determine whether they should be updated
Incentives, rebates and other financial help available through utility companies
How to get solar panels with no upfront cost
There is $10 per person fee to attend the workshop, payable during online registration through PayPal or by check. Light refreshments are included. Doors open at 8:30am and the program starts at 9am.
You will receive a set of worksheets to help you evaluate opportunities for saving energy and a CD with all the workshop materials and other helpful resources.
The October 19 workshop will be held at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 116 South Street in Foxborough. Register at
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e81d32ua44d430ff&llr=s4blzzbab
Who should attend: Parishes are encouraged to send two members from their environment committee, property committee or Vestry. Other members who are interested are also welcome.
-----------------------------------
Sensing Wonder, Serious Play: Ecology and Children’s Literature
October 25, 2013
Harvard, Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
A Graduate Student Conference hosted by Harvard University's American Studies Program the will explore children’s literature through an ecocritical lens, giving priority to the ways in which these texts illustrate the relationship between nature and children. The Conference is accepting paper submissions through September 15 – visit the website for more information.
http://www.sensingwonder.us
Contact Name: ecoconferenceharvard at gmail.com
---------------------------------
Crowds and Climate: Mobilizing Crowds to Develop Ideas and Take Action on Climate Change
November 6-8, 2013
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts USA
More information at http://www.climatecolab.org/conference2013
-------------------------------
Sustainable House of Worship Workshop
November 16
St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church, 1073 Tremont St, Roxbury
Would your congregation like to lower its utility bills? Would you like to do what you can to decrease your use of fossil fuels, and the contribution they make to global warming? Are you interested in learning more about solar energy?
MIP&L's Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) workshop covers all this and more, showing you how to evaluate 24 questions that will give you a comprehensive view of your house of worship's energy us and the largest opportunities for savings.
In this half-day session conducted by Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light (www.mipandl.org) you will learn:
How to track your energy use, cost and carbon footprint
How to find no-cost and low cost projects that can have a big impact on your electricity and heating bills
How to evaluate energy using equipment and systems to determine whether they should be updated
Incentives, rebates and other financial help available through utility companies
How to get solar panels with no upfront cost
There is $10 per person fee to attend the workshop, payable during online registration through PayPal or by check. Light refreshments are included. Doors open at 8:30am and the program starts at 9am.
You will receive a set of worksheets to help you evaluate opportunities for saving energy and a CD with all the workshop materials and other helpful resources.
The November 16 workshop will be held at St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church, 1073 Tremont St, Roxbury. Registration will be available soon and if you are interested in attending this one, emailjimnail at mipandl.org to be notified when registration opens.
Who should attend: Parishes are encouraged to send two members from their environment committee, property committee or Vestry. Other members who are interested are also welcome.
************
--------------
Opportunity
--------------
************
Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!
Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch. No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.
For more information checkout.
https://sites.google.com/site/somervilleyogurtcoop/home
---------------------
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
--------------------------------------------------
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/
Cambridge Civic Journal http://www.rwinters.com
http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php
http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template
http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
http://green.harvard.edu/events
http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx
http://boston.nerdnite.com/
http://www.meetup.com/
http://www.eventbrite.com/
http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/calendar
http://harddatafactory.com/Johnny_Monsarrat/index.html
http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/
More information about the Act-MA
mailing list