Science Circle

Mathematics Club
2024-12-19 16:00 - 17:00, 2025-01-02 16:00 - 17:00, 2025-01-09 16:00 - 17:00, 2025-01-16 16:00 - 17:00, 2025-01-23 16:00 - 17:00, 2025-01-30 16:00 - 17:00, 2025-02-06 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Maths Club

SC Field Trip: Scientia
2024-12-21 10:00 - 11:00
Our field trip this week is to Scientia, our nearest neighbor in Second Life.
Scientia is the new name for Virtech, the virtual presence of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
We will arrive at the Scientia Central Plaza to begin our field trip: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Scientia/128/128/31
From the region’s website at https://virtual.caltech.edu/virtech
Scientia “is an experimental platform for online education, operated by the Virtual Reality Lab, which is a part of the Center for Data-Driven Discovery at Caltech. It was designed to furnish the Caltech community with an alternative to in-person interactions during the pandemic. Through the use of avatars, participants can visit a rich virtual space furnished to enable engaging experience as well as seamless social interaction. It is open to all members of the Caltech community and their approved guests, as well as the members of other academic communities by a special arrangement.”
From https://virtual.caltech.edu/virtech/virtech-and-second-life
“Caltech uses Scientia to experiment with various combined technologies for online learning, and virtual teaching labs in particular. A general consensus is that using virtual worlds for education can lead to better learning outcomes, as the students find the lectures and demonstrations more engaging and more memorable than those delivered through a standard video (e.g., YouTube) or conferencing (e.g., Zoom) platforms. VWs also provide a channel for the human interaction component of the learning process (both student to student and student to instructor) that is clearly superior to other online mechanisms such as the discussion threads, social media posts, or video conferencing, and that is their major strength. While such interactions are obviously not as good as those in the physical reality, they can be pretty close, once the participants get used to the platform and identify with their avatars.”

NO Classical Concert
2024-12-22 07:00 - 08:00, 2024-12-29 07:00 - 08:00 | The Lighthouse Café
cancelled for the holiday

Moon Base Meeting
2024-12-23 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-12-30 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-01-06 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-01-13 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-01-20 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-01-27 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-02-03 10:00 - 11:00 | Moon base

NO Mathematics Club
2024-12-26 16:00 - 17:00
Cancelled for holidays

SC Field Trip: Chemistry World
2024-12-28 10:00 - 23:00 | Chemistry World
Explore the region south of Science Circle with Mike Shaw. Chemistry World is contiguous with Science Circle at its southern border. It is a working educational region, serving about 160 engineering college students in freshman Chemistry labs annually. Originally designed by faculty at Texas A&M and Florida Tech, the region now boasts a total of 4 Chemistry Lab activities, conference areas suitable for peer-led Team Learning, an environmental recreation of the Tantramar Marsh, and many fun Chemistry Easter eggs.
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chemistry%20World/183/48/26

2024 Genome Editing Year in Review
2025-01-04 10:00 - 11:00 | Auditorium
2024 Genome Editing Year in Review
Every year there are new advances in genome engineering enabled by CRISPR/Cas and other editing systems. In this talk, the most important and interesting news in gene editing from 2024 will be presented. Come learn about Technology Advances, New Tools, Intellectual Property, and Target Genes and Modified Organisms from a practitioner in the field. This year’s emphasis will be on some of the developments most adjacent to the public.
Stephen Gasior, Ph.D.
Stephen’s previous talks

Classical Concert
2025-01-05 07:00 - 08:00, 2025-01-12 07:00 - 08:00, 2025-01-19 07:00 - 08:00, 2025-01-26 07:00 - 08:00, 2025-02-02 07:00 - 08:00, 2025-02-09 07:00 - 08:00 | The Lighthouse Café

Playing God: How Selenium Nanoparticles Change Plants, Heal People and Protect Nature
2025-01-18 10:00 - 11:00 | Auditorium
Presented by Anton Shiriaev Ph.D.
Around one billion people on Earth lack Selenium (Se) in their diet. In severe cases, Se deficiency causes diseases and disorders in humans. Se is not essential for plants, however, they metabolize toxic Se forms from the soil into bioavailable organic molecules. Consuming fruit and vegetables enriched with Se is one of the ways to overcome or prevent dietary deficit.
We engineered three strategies allowing enriching tomato fruit with Se: plant foliar spraying, vacuum infiltration and passive immersion. Additionally to traditional methods, we introduced the application of Se nanoparticles, produced chemically or created by tiny microbes (Stenotrophomonas maltophilia). We discovered that Se, besides elevating the nutritional value of tomatoes, triggers molecular machinery resulting in better fruit quality, and potentially prolonged shelf-life.
Come to explore with us
Why Selenium used to be called an “essential poison”?
What does Selenium have in common with cuckoo birds?
Why to design better tomatoes, our research group have dared to play God three times?
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Agrobacterium - The biography of a natural genetic engineer
2025-01-25 10:00 - 11:00 | Auditorium
Agrobacterium tumefaciens is the model organism of choice for plant genetic engineers for the better part of the plant biotechnology revolution. For this talk, I want to take you all on a remarkable journey through time chronicling the biography of this unassuming “natural genetic engineer” and how it aids the research of the genetic transformation of plant cells. Our journey will traverse a timeline of over 50 years, and will throw light on the scientific contributions from laboratories around the globe, including the stories of legendary scientists and their groups from across continents. The scientists in our story represent a diverse array of Life Science disciplines, from the traditional plant pathology, microbiology, and chemistry to evolved fields of excitement and excellence such as molecular biology, plant tissue culture, and plant metabolic chemistry.
What I hope to illustrate in my exciting story is how scientists across the world investigating Agrobacterium found intellectual eureka moments in the emergent field of plant molecular biology while birthing, nurturing and growing the field of plant recombinant DNA technology.
By Chandrakanth Emani

Seasons in the Solar System
2025-02-01 10:00 - 11:00 | Auditorium
Title: SEASONS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Presenter: Phil Youngblood, PhD
January is one time of the year when we most notice Earth’s seasons, but this phenomenon raises a lot of questions that are interesting to explore, such as:
— What is a season?
— What factors create seasons or affect how different the seasons are over the course of the year?
— Why does it get colder or hotter after the solstices, when the days are getting longer or shorter?
— How are seasons experienced by people and other living things in different parts of the Earth?
— Have seasons been the same over the history of the Earth? Will seasons continue on Earth into the far future?
— Do other planets or moons in the solar system experience seasons? How does this affect what we see from Earth or what someone would experience living near or on them?
— What would make us suscept that extraterrestrial planets have seasons? How might this influence whether or not there could be life there?
Join us to learn about what we know about seasons, contribute what you know or what you would like to know, and perhaps learn something you did not know about this fascinating topic!

Debate: Online Anonymity
2025-02-08 10:00 - 11:00 | Science Circle Forum
Tired of heated arguments around the dinner table? Getting bored of the blowhards on TV and social media? Wondering why everyone is yelling and/or crying about the state of everything? Then this is the event for you.
A debate in the Oxford Union style on the matter of anonymity on the internet
The Chamber proposes virtual spaces platforms should require documentation verifying actual identity when users register accounts.
John OConner for the proposition versus Mist in opposition
This will be a rational and measured debate to highlight the pros and cons of each side of the argument. Put away the (figurative) debate brass knuckles and the acrimony to participate in reasoned and civil discourse. Lincoln and Douglas would be proud.
Moderated by Stephen Xootfly
