Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species
Date: 2009-10-21
Speaker(s): Sean B. Carroll
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/5011
Abstract: The search for the origins of species has entailed a series of great adventures over the past 200 years. This talk will chronicle the exploits of a group of explorers who walked where no one had walked, saw what no one had seen, and thought what no one else had thought. Their achievements sparked a revolution that changed, profoundly and forever, our perception of the living world and our place within it.

Creating Spacetime
Date: 2009-10-25
Speaker(s): N/A
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/5039
Abstract: Our understanding of the physical world at the most fundamental level is based on two theories: quantum theory and general relativity. They are impressively successful when each is considered on its own, but in situations where both play a role, we are reduced to puzzles and absurdity. To the great frustration of researchers, candidate theories of quantum gravity produce more puzzles than answers. We shall tour of some of the problems, focusing on the role of spacetime and causality. We will consider the possibility that spacetime did not always exist but is instead emergent and explore how one can create a spacetime from a world with no notion of "here" and "there".

Programming Bits and Atoms
Date: 2009-10-20
Speaker(s): Neil Gershenfeld
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/5001
Abstract: Computer science has served to isolate programs and programmers from knowledge of the mechanisms used to manipulate information, however this fiction is increasingly hard to maintain as devices scale down in size and systems scale up in complexity. This talk will explore the consequences of exposing rather than hiding this underlying physical reality, in areas including logic automata, interdevice internetworking, intelligent infrastructure, digital fabrication and programmable matter. Breaking down these boundaries between bits and atoms can help improve not just the performance but also the relevance of information technologies for some of our greatest technological challenges and opportunities.

Quantum Foundations: From Plato's Cave to Bertlmann's Socks
Date: 2009-10-25
Speaker(s): Robert Spekkens
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/5038
Abstract: The mysteries of quantum theory run deep. Despite 80 years of research, there is still no consensus on its interpretation. This talk will explore some of the important issues in the foundations of quantum theory, from the idea that we have only a limited knowledge of a deeper reality, like the prisoner in Plato’s cave who sees only the shadows of objects and never the objects themselves, to John Bell’s famous discovery of the difference between quantum correlations and Dr. Bertlmann’s socks, namely, that whereas the mismatched colours of the doctor’s socks can be attributed to a decision at the sock drawer that morning, certain quantum correlations cannot be explained by a common cause, at least not without doing violence to some cherished principles of physics, such as the fact that causes cannot travel faster than the speed of light.

Life, the Universe and Nothing: Life, and Science, in an Ever Expanding Universe
Date: 2009-10-19
Speaker(s): Lawrence Krauss
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/4993
Abstract: Over the last decade our picture of the universe has changed almost as much as it had in the preceding century. As a result, our picture of the future, both of the universe, and life within it, has dramatically altered as well. This talk will begin by reviewing the recent revolutionary developments in cosmology, and then address several fascinating questions that have arisen as a result of our discovery that the dominant energy of the universe resides in empty space: Can life be eternal in an eternally expanding universe,? Are the laws of physics tailored for the existence of life? What will science in the far future tell us about the universe?

The Physics of Innovation
Date: 2009-10-25
Speaker(s): Richard Epp
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/5037
Abstract: Where does technology come from? Physics! Exploring basic mysteries such as "What is light?", "How can atoms exist?", and "What is space and time?" led to computers, wireless communication, mp3 players, lasers, medical imaging - indeed, virtually every "high tech" device on the planet. Join us in a celebration of the immense power of theoretical physics to transform our world for the betterment of humanity, and learn how current theoretical explorations may hold potential for even more fantastic innovations in the future.

The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent it Yourself!
Date: 2009-10-18
Speaker(s): Peter Diamandis
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/4986
Abstract: Based on the success of the Ansari X PRIZE (which stimulated the creation of billion-dollar private spaceflight industry) and more recently the launch of the $30M Google Lunar X PRIZE and the $10M Progressive Automotive X PRIZE, this talk explains how to incentivize breakthroughs. Traditional thinking, risk-aversion and incrementalism will cause the demise of companies unable to cope with the coming decades of disruptive innovation, while the rapid growth of key exponential technologies (Nano, Info, Bio) are empowering individuals and companies to do what only governments were able to achieve in past decades. Such technologies will drive a period of significant disruption and opportunity.

Whole Earth Discipline
Date: 2009-10-24
Speaker(s): Stewart Brand
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/5029
Abstract: Three profound transformations are under way on Earth right now. Climate change is real and is pushing us toward managing the planet as a whole. Urbanization—half the world’s population now lives in cities, and eighty percent will by midcentury—is altering humanity’s land impact and wealth. And biotechnology is becoming the world’s dominant engineering tool. In light of these changes, environmentalists are going to have to reverse some longheld opinions and embrace tools that they have traditionally distrusted. Only a radical rethinking of traditional green pieties will allow us to forestall the cataclysmic deterioration of the earth’s resources.

Does Reality Have a Genetic Basis?
Date: 2009-10-18
Speaker(s): S. James Gates Jr.
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/4984
Abstract: The ultimate construction, as a basis for fundamental theoretical physics is an imperfectly understood structure called "M-Theory" or "Superstring/M-Theory" (SSMT). In a quest to create a rigorous mathematical background for SSMT, new mathematical structures called "Adinkras" have been proposed as the appropriate objects to study. This study has led to the possibility that there exist a "DNA of Reality" which will be presented in this talk.

Mathematical Art and Artistic Mathematicians
Date: 2009-10-24
Speaker(s): Craig Kaplan
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/5028
Abstract: From prehistoric times onward, people have always found ways to incorporate mathematical thinking into art. Today, we have sophisticated mathematical machinery that we can use both to understand the rules that underlie historical patterns and to describe new designs of great beauty and originality. Better yet, computers can serve as a powerful artistic tool, helping make these mathematical visions a reality. This talk will explore some of the exciting contemporary work that lies in the intersection of mathematics and art. We will survey the creations of artists and mathematicians, working alone or in collaboration.

The Origin of the Universe and the Arrow of Time
Date: 2009-10-17
Speaker(s): Sean Carroll
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/4982
Abstract: One of the most obvious facts about the universe is that the past is different from the future. We can turn an egg into an omelet, but can't turn an omelet into an egg. Physicists have codified this difference into the Second Law of Thermodynamics: the entropy of a closed system always increases with time. But why? The ultimate explanation is to be found in cosmology: special conditions in the early universe are responsible for the arrow of time. This talk will be about the nature of time, the origin of entropy, and how what happened before the Big Bang may be responsible for the arrow of time we observe today.

Quantum Physics in Sixty Minutes
Date: 2009-10-24
Speaker(s): Damian Pope
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/5026
Abstract: Quantum Physics. Along with neuroscience and rocket science, it has a reputation of being abstract, inpenetrable and horrendously complicated. Even Einstein himself struggled to get his head around it. But, there’s hope! Using references from movies, books and art, this presentation will guide you through the quantum world and give an overview of science’s best theory of the subatomic world to date. Prepare yourself for a mind-bending journey.

Quantum Foundations: From Plato's Cave to Bertlmann's Socks
Date: 2009-10-25
Speaker(s): Robert Spekkens
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/5038
Abstract: The mysteries of quantum theory run deep. Despite 80 years of research, there is still no consensus on its interpretation. This talk will explore some of the important issues in the foundations of quantum theory, from the idea that we have only a limited knowledge of a deeper reality, like the prisoner in Plato’s cave who sees only the shadows of objects and never the objects themselves, to John Bell’s famous discovery of the difference between quantum correlations and Dr. Bertlmann’s socks, namely, that whereas the mismatched colours of the doctor’s socks can be attributed to a decision at the sock drawer that morning, certain quantum correlations cannot be explained by a common cause, at least not without doing violence to some cherished principles of physics, such as the fact that causes cannot travel faster than the speed of light.

Life, the Universe and Nothing: Life, and Science, in an Ever Expanding Universe
Date: 2009-10-19
Speaker(s): Lawrence Krauss
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/4993
Abstract: Over the last decade our picture of the universe has changed almost as much as it had in the preceding century. As a result, our picture of the future, both of the universe, and life within it, has dramatically altered as well. This talk will begin by reviewing the recent revolutionary developments in cosmology, and then address several fascinating questions that have arisen as a result of our discovery that the dominant energy of the universe resides in empty space: Can life be eternal in an eternally expanding universe,? Are the laws of physics tailored for the existence of life? What will science in the far future tell us about the universe?

The Physics of Innovation
Date: 2009-10-25
Speaker(s): Richard Epp
Link: https://pirsa.org/node/5037
Abstract: Where does technology come from? Physics! Exploring basic mysteries such as "What is light?", "How can atoms exist?", and "What is space and time?" led to computers, wireless communication, mp3 players, lasers, medical imaging - indeed, virtually every "high tech" device on the planet. Join us in a celebration of the immense power of theoretical physics to transform our world for the betterment of humanity, and learn how current theoretical explorations may hold potential for even more fantastic innovations in the future.