We are concluding our week long taste of science festival with grand finale event.
We will have an afternoon full of demonstrations on interaction of biomolecules, dark matter and dark energy, and living fluid mechanisms. And then, a lesson on vaccines!
Drinks available for purchase. (Food will not be available.)
Take advantage of the early bird discount and purchase your ticket now. Ticket at the door will be 10$
Meet our great speakers:
Living fluid mechanics
Arnold Mathijssen
Postdoctoral research assistant at Stanford University, Department of Bioengineering
Many biological processes are controlled by fluid dynamics: starfish larvae generate their own flows to draw in food, bacteria battle currents to attach to surfaces and form colonies, and organisms can even communicate or synchronise via pressure waves. Here we will discuss the basic concepts of ‘living fluid mechanics’. The focus won't be on maths, but on ideas and new strategies we can learn from the fascinating world around us. Expect plenty of pictures, movies, and demonstrations!
A Shot In The Dark (the history of vaccines)
Michal Tal (Mikki)
Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
From the first Smallpox vaccine to current efforts to design vaccines against HIV, Ebola, and ZIKA we will discuss how vaccines work and the current controversy surrounding them.
Using lasers to illuminate the dark universe
Holger Mueller
Professor at Berkeley University, Department of Physics, Member of Molecular Biology at Berkeley Lab
Dark matter and dark energy are known to exist from multiple lines of astrophysical evidence, but nearly all details about this "dark sector" remain unknown. We'll talk about a family of new experiments, from table-top to slightly larger, that is designed to detect signatures of theories that explain the dark sector in terms of ultralight new particles.
The dating life of your molecules
João Rodrigues
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University, Department of Structural Biology
Online dating: answer a few questions, upload a picture or two, and a computer will find your Prince(ss) Charming, or fifty potential candidates. You then pick the interesting one(s), chat, and go on a date. Structural biology is not that different. Half Pixar and half Tinder, scientists are using computers to predict how, why, and which molecules interact inside your body. In this talk, we will see how this helps us understand how our bodies work, and how to fix them when they break.