VILLAIN SCIENCEDr. Gershenfeld or how I learned to stop worrying and love science - march 1, 2013
Neil Gershenfeld directs MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, and founded the fab lab network. His lab is breaking down boundaries between the digital and physical worlds. In an intimate evening, at the home of Jerry and Janet Zucker, Dr. Gershenfeld discussed the science and technology to (at least in principle) teleport, levitate, be in two places at the same time, read minds, be invisible, see through walls, annihilate something, fly on a carpet, shape-shift, create life and some of the surprising short-term implications that these actions may hold!
When: March 1, 2013
Where: Home of Jerry and Janet Zucker
Presented by: The Science & Entertainment Exchange
Through the google glass - april 4, 2012
Imagine taking the ultimate leap of faith, jumping out of an airplane with only a parachute to regulate your fall. Now, imagine that your descent could be captured on film, from your exact point of view. We'll let you in on a little secret, it’s possible. Read the recap, here.
When: December 12, 2012
When: Google's Binoculars Building, Venice, California
Presented by: The Science & Entertainment Exchange
Presentations By:
Babak Parviz - Team leader of the group who designed the Google Glass
Salk Institute and scripps institution tour - december 7, 2012
Exchange members toured the Salk Institute and Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla to learn about the cutting edge of brain research as well as the outer limit of human understanding in marine biology. Read the recap, here.
When: December 7, 2012
Where: Salk Institue and Scripps Institution Campus'
Presented by: The Science & Entertainment Exchange
Tour Guides:
Ricardo Gil daCosta Neuroscientist at Salk Institute who studies the ways in which primates understand abstract concepts
Stacy Goodman Associate Director of Development, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Featured Presentations:
Listening to the Brain - a presentation of research in visual perception and a visit of the cellular recordings setups used for investigation visual perception and cognition. Visitors observed a recording session in which they heard brain cells ‘firing’
Seeing the Brain - Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): Visitors were taken to the UCSD fMRI center for a talk on brain imaging technique. One volunteer was the subject of a real-time fMRI demonstration
Neuroscience for Architecture - a presentation by Dr. Thomas Albright, director of the Vision Center Laboratory at the Salk Institute
Jules Jaffe - part of the team at Woods Hole that helped discover the Titanic. Jules Jaffe led presentations and demonstrations in: three-dimensional acoustic and optical imaging of phytoplankton and zooplankton and the development of in situ remote sensing devices for ocean exploration
Mike Latz - An expert in Bioluminescence discussed using interdisciplinary approaches involving biology, chemistry, and physics to investigate how marine organisms interact with their ocean environment and the ecology of bioluminescence in the ocean.
Jennifer Smith - An expert in Coral Reefs presented information on coral reef ecology, conservation biology, invasion biology, phycology, human Impacts on marine communities as well as ocean acidification
Doug Bartlett - Chief Scientist for James Cameron's expedition to Marianna Trench presented research about deep-sea microbial diversity and ecology, adaptations of deep-sea microbes to high pressure and low temperature and microbial genetics, genomics, functional genomics
the genetically modified citizen - gattaca screening and panel discussion - imagine science film festival - november 13, 2012
Would you want to live in a world reminiscent of Gattaca? It's by far one of our favorite movies from the nineties, but what are the ethical ramifications of living in a society where there inhabitants are picked specifically for their gentic qualities. We explored these topics and more in this lively panel discussion! Read the recap, here.
When: November 13, 2012
Where: Imagine Science Film Festival
Presented by: The Science & Entertainment Exchange and Science & The Arts
Moderator:
Michael Rosenfeld, is an award-winning documentary producer and former president of National Geographic Television, will lead the $60 million science documentary initiative announced earlier this year by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).
Panelists:
John Quackenbush, is an American computational biologist and genome scientist. He is the Professor of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Professor of Cancer Biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer. the Assistant Director of the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Directorate.
Jeffrey Khan, PhD. MPH, is Deputy Director for Policy and Administration at the Johns Hopkins University Berman Institute of Bioethics. Prior to joining the Johns Hopkins faculty in August 2011, he was director and professor in the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota, positions he held from 1996-2011. He works in a variety of areas of bioethics, exploring the intersection of ethics and health/science policy, including research ethics, ethics and public health, and ethical issues in leading edge biomedical technologies.
Science on the hollywood screen - August 28, 2011
Some of television's most popular medical, crime, science and science fiction shows today ask scientists to lend a hand in helping TV accurately portray science. Producers and writers from CSI, Breaking Bad, CSI: New York, Buffy, Battlestar and Torchwood spoke at a special President Event on why they strive for accuracy and how scientists can help.
When: August 28, 2011
Where: American Chemical Society Annual Meeting, Denver, CO
Presented by: The Science & Entertainment Exchange and the American Chemical Society
Panelists:
Aaron Thomas is a writer and producer for CSI: New York.
Corrine Marrinan is a writer and producer for CSI.
Jane Espenson is a writer and producer for a variety of television shows, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Battlestar: Galactica.
Donna J. Nelson, Ph.D., is a professor of chemistry at the University of Oklahoma.
Ann Merchant is the Deputy Executive Director of the Office of Communications at The National Academies.
Engineering Our Future - June 9, 2011
Our world is changing rapidly, thanks in large part to engineers. This special “engineering sampler” explored the ways in which new systems are being built with synthetic biology, the revolution in human–robot interactions that take place with socially assistive robots, and the worlds beyond our world through space exploration. Read the recap. Watch videos of presentations by Jon Spaights, Frances Arnold, Maja Mataric, and Randii Wessen, plus the Q&A session.
When: June 9, 2011
Where: Directors Guild of America
Presented by: The Science & Entertainment Exchange and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA (IEEE-USA)
Panelists:
Frances Arnold, Ph.D., is the Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology, where she creates new biological molecules and organisms by forcing their evolution in the laboratory. An elected member of all three U.S. national academies (Science, Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine), she recently accepted the National Academy of Engineering’s 2011 Charles Stark Draper Prize.
Maja Mataric, Ph.D., is professor of Computer Science, Neuroscience, and Pediatrics at the University of Southern California. She is Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and IEEE, and a recipient of the Presidential Mentoring Award. Her research develops socially assistive robots that provide personalized human–machine interaction for coaching and motivation to users with autism, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and others.
Randii R. Wessen, Ph.D., is the Deputy Manager of the Project Formulation Office at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For 27 years, he has worked on multiple spacecraft, including the search for Earth-like planets around other stars. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Interplanetary Society.
Moderator:
Jon Spaihts has worked full-time as a screenwriter since 2005. He wrote the alien invasion thriller The Darkest Hour and Ridley Scott’s upcoming project Prometheus. His unproduced but celebrated script Passengers continues to circulate widely thanks to its insights into the relativity of time, space, and love.
Hollywood Chemistry - ACS - March 27, 2011
Do television shows like House, Breaking Bad, and The Zula Patrol — major sources of information about science and technology for millions of people — try to get it right? Or do they play fast and loose with the facts, images, and nuances that forge public perceptions about science and help shape young people’s career decisions? Producers for television shows and films and science advisers provide the answers in a special Presidential Event. Read the recap. Watch video of the panel.
When: March 27, 2011
Where: American Chemical Society Annual Meeting
Presented by: The Science & Entertainment Exchange and the American Chemical Society
Panelists:
Moira Walley-Beckett is a writer for the critically-acclaimed AMC drama series Breaking Bad.
Kath Lingenfelter is a writer and co-producer for the Fox medical drama House, M.D.
Jaime Paglia is writer and executive producer with the Syfy science-fiction series Eureka.
Kevin Grazier, Ph.D., is a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He has advised The Zula Patrol, Battlestar Galactica, and Eureka.
Donna J. Nelson, Ph.D., is a professor of chemistry at the University of Oklahoma.
Sidney Perkowitz, Ph.D., is a professor of physics at Emory University.
Mark A. Griep, Ph.D., is a professor of chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The Science of Cyborgs - March 2, 2011
Cyborg beetles, robotic fish, restoring sight to the blind, and why films love to make technology the "bad guy" were the topics at hand during The Exchange's The Science of Cyborgs event, a fun and illuminating journey into the world of cyborgs and transhumanism. Presentations featured the cutting-edge, real-life science of cyborgs and transhumanism. Attendees learned all about beetles that are remote-controlled by a hacked Wii remote, a blind woman playing basketball with the aid of an artificial retina, and a robotic fish meant to inspire new underwater vehicle designs, and were treated to a brief presentation on the exploration of technology in film. Read the recap.
Where: Directors Guild of America
Presented By: The Science & Entertainment Exchange
Panelists:
Jonathan Mostow is a director, writer, and producer whose interest in human/machine interfaces has led him to helm blockbuster films like Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Surrogates.
Mark Humayun, M.D., Ph.D., is the Cornelius J. Pings Chair in Biomedical Sciences at the Doheny Eye Institute at University of Southern California. His research focuses on the Biomimetic Microelectronic System to treat blindness. He is a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine.
Malcolm MacIver, Ph.D., is a professor of bioengineering at Northwestern University. He studies live animal behavior and neurobiology, and translates what he finds into bio-inspired robots and technology. This work recently resulted in an award from President Obama. He also makes science-inspired interactive art and was the science advisor for the television series Caprica and the film Tron: Legacy. He blogs on artificial intelligence and robotics for Discover Magazine’s Science Not Fiction.
Michel Maharbiz, Ph.D., is an associate professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Michel has been a GE Scholar and an Intel IMAP Fellow. His group is also known for developing the world’s first remotely radio-controlled cyborg beetles. This was named one of the top 10 emerging technologies of 2009 by MIT’s Technology Review and was in Time magazine’s Top 50 Inventions of 2009.
Moderators:
Chuck Bryant and Josh Clark - Since 2008, Josh and Chuck have faithfully released two podcasts a week on everything from zombies to moonshine to the Large Hadron Collider. Their program is downloaded more than a million times every week and they consistently rank in the top five on iTunes’ Top Ten Podcasts. In addition to creating the podcast, Chuck and Josh are both senior writers and bloggers for HowStuffWorks.com.
Summit on Science, Entertainment, and Education
On February 4, 2011, a carefully selected group of individuals met in Los Angeles to help us discover how film, television programming, video games, and other entertainment media can be systematically adopted to enhance student learning at the middle school and high school level. The day's program represented a balanced mix of listening, learning, and contributing. We heard from dreamers and doers (which is not to suggest that the two are mutually exclusive) and together we brainstormed ways for improving and deepening science learning using entertainment media. Read the recap.
When: February 4, 2011
Where: Paley Center for Media
Presented by: The Science & Entertainment Exchange and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Summit Agenda/Speakers
Session Videos
Collaboration Website
The Science of Tron - December 20, 2010
If you were uploaded into a computer, would you be the same person? Caltech physicist Sean Carroll asked this mind-bending question at The Exchange’s latest event, "The Science of TRON," at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on December 20 featuring special guests. Panelists entertained a packed theater with insights on the science of TRON: Legacy, the technology behind the making of the film and how science makes for better movies. The panel discussion was followed by a TRON-inspired laser show and a 3-D screening of TRON: Legacy. Read the recap. Listen to the audio.
When: December 20, 2010
Where: El Capitan Theatre
Presented by: The Science & Entertainment Exchange
Panelists:
Joe Kosinski is the director of TRON: Legacy.
Sean Carroll is a physicist at Caltech and TRON: Legacy science advisor for The Exchange.
John Dick is a retired JPL physicist and TRON: Legacy science advisor for The Exchange.
Moderator:
Sean Bailey is the president of production at Walt Disney Studios and TRON: Legacy producer.
THE SCIENCE OF IRON MAN 2 - OCTOBER 13, 2010
To mark the release of the DVD/Blu Ray of Iron Man 2, The Exchange held a panel discussion with Caltech – focusing on “The Science of Iron Man.” Read the recap.
Where: Beckman Auditorium at Caltech
Presented By: Caltech Media Relations and The Science & Entertainment Exchange
Panelists:
Jeremy Latcham is senior vice president, production and development, at Marvel Studios, and is a co-producer of Iron Man 2.
Shane Mahan is co-founder of Legacy Effects and was the Physical Suit Effects Supervisor on Iron Man and Iron Man 2. He is currently working on Thor and Cowboys and Aliens.
Ryan Meinerding is the conceptual illustrator for Iron Man 2. As an illustrator, Ryan Meinerding was one of the main creative forces behind all six of Tony Stark's Iron Man armors. He was also instrumental in designing Captain America's costume for the upcoming film and is currently the Visual Development Supervisor on Marvel Studio's The Avengers.
Andreas Krause is an assistant professor of computer science, and part of Caltech's Computation and Neural Systems faculty. His research focuses on machine learning and sensor networks, with applications in earthquake and traffic monitoring, and robotic exploration of ecosystems.
Mark Wise is the John A. McCone Professor of High Energy Physics at Caltech, specializing in theoretical particle physics and cosmology. He served as science consultant for Iron Man 2.
Moderator:
Geoff Boucher covers pop culture for the Los Angeles Times and he is the writer and editor of the Hero Complex, which celebrates and reports on sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and comics.
