July 07, 2010 

SETI Archive: seti.org/talks

The Evolving Intersection of Physics and Biology

Jan Liphardt, UC Berkeley Physics Department

In April 1953, Watson and Crick largely defined the program of 20^th century biology: obtaining the blueprint of life encoded in the DNA. Fifty years later, in 2003, the sequencing of the human genome was completed. Like any major scientific breakthrough, the sequencing of the human genome raised many more questions than it answered. Dr. Liphardt will discuss some of the big open problems in cell and developmental biology, and he'll explain why approaches, tools, and ideas from the physical sciences are currently reshaping biological research. Super-resolution light microscopies are revealing the intricate spatial organization of cells, single-molecule methods show how molecular machines function, and new probes are clarifying the role of mechanical forces in cell and tissue function. At the same time, Physics stands to gain beautiful new problems in soft condensed matter, quantum mechanics, and non-equilibrium thermodynamics.

1. Dale Cruikshank: Outer Solar System Ices
2. Adrian Brown: Poles of Mars
3. Bruce Damer: Simulating Life's Origin
4. Laurance Doyle: Mongolian and other Historic Solar Eclipses
5. Daniel Rasky: Augustine Commission - The Way Forward on US Manned Spaceflight
6. Sergei Dubovsky: Observing String Multiverse with Astrophysical Black Holes
7. Conny Aerts - Asteroseismology
8. Carol Stoker - Phoenix Mission and Habitability
9. ames Benford - Interstellar Beacons
10. Brad Bailey - Life in Basaltic Glass in the oceanic basins
11. Nancy McKeown: Mawrth Vallis, Mars
12. Bob Pappalardo: Europa Jupiter Orbiter
13. David Jewitt:- Solar System Primordial Ice Reservoirs
14. Harry Jones: Starship Life Support
15. Jeff Moore: Mysteries on Titan
16. Farid Salama: Interstellar Clouds
17. Mark Showalter: Marine Biodiversity
18. Jen Blank: ChemCam on Mars Science Lab Rover
19. Pete Worden, Pavel Podvig, Will Marshall: Nuclear Weapons and Space Weapons
20. Samantha Blair: Interstellar Medium Interference
21. Jon Jenkins: Kepler Worlds
22. Dan Lubin: Maunder Minimum
23. Monika Kress: Habitable Planets
24. Intersection of Physics and Biology - Jan Liphardt
25. Mark Marley: Atmospheres of Brown Dwarfs and Exoplanets
26. Sarah Church: Polarized Cosmic Microwave Background
27. Peter Jenniskens: Hayabusa Reentry
28. Don Lowe: Late Heavy Bombardment
29. Mark Krumholz: Star Formation Rate
30. Heather Knutson: Exoplanet Atmospheres
31. David Des Marais: Exploring Mars for Habitable Environments
32. Ralph Lorenz: Titan Unveiled
33. REU Students Review 2010
34. Nick Kanas: Psychology of Spaceflight
35. Rus Belikov: Beyond Kepler - Imaging Exo-Earths
36. Bill Colson: Free Electron Laser Communications
37. David Korsmeyer: NASA Future Human Missions
38. Pascal Lee: Haughton-Mars Project
39. Chris McKay: Titan - Past, Present, Future
40. Nathalie Cabrol: Lakes on Mars
41. Margarita Marinova: Martian Dichotomy
42. Ellen Howell: Radar videos of asteroids

Carl Sagan Center/SETI Institute Colloquium Series

Attend a colloquium! They are FREE, open to the public and held from noon to 1pm, every Wednesday at the SETI Institute, 515 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View, California.