National Astronomy Day Celebration at The Clay Center Observatory.

Was a cloudy night :\ but still managed to see the moon's craters up close :)

Please find the entire bunch of event pics I clicked here

The Clay Center Observatory website: http://www.dexter-southfield.org/podium/default.aspx?t=118941

Science Trivia Challenge!

Prof. Walter Lewin at MIT, renowned for his free online lectures on Physics [I love his lectures! my version of super-star you see :) ;)], moderated for the third time, the science quiz, 'Science Trivia Challenge', a splendid success in IMHO, today at the Broad Institute of MIT. There were two categories, one for high school kids and the other, open to public. Well, even though it was open to pubic, most participants turned out to be bachelor students and only a few quite elderly [one team which made it to the top had all biggies ;)]. Most of the questions were multiple choice or required a short-answer. Each team had 30-60 seconds to come up with their answer.

I had no team or any plan to participate for I am a photographer, blogger.. but, when I was there, I did find that I missed out on something. The teams that made it to the top had won the opportunity to dine with one of the Nobel Laureates at MIT! :O Man, I did miss something. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun. I was everywhere, clicking, cheering, helping out, engaging with the audience.. The event reminded me of my middle-and-high-school-quizzing-spree.. those are fond memories. Yep, the event turned out to be a lot of fun.. never a dull moment! :) :D

Few of catchy team names: >U, The Golden Ratios, Everyone is Above Average, Baklava, Schrodinger's Cool Cats.

Questions ranged across many topics from knowing common names of insects, the commonly occurring compounds in food, the distances of objects out in the night sky, scientists and their contributions, stories surrounding major inventions/discoveries.. and many more.
Often the questions begin, "What causes X in ..?", "Why is A like ..?"
A firm grasp of basic concepts in Science and being able to rapidly manipulate physical quantities are a team's necessary ingredients in making it to the top.

Thanks to the industrious volunteers for making the event happen!
Sincere thanks to the sponsor, Mathworks, for making the event a memorable one!
Further, I would like to thank the people who contributed and edited the questions, for their tremendous effort involved in the same.

Please find the entire bunch of event pics I clicked here

Event website: http://web.mit.edu/trivia/index.htm

Urban Astronomy: Bringing the Stars to the Street

A night of celebration of the heavens! :)

[(8:00pm - 11:00pm; Friday, April 20, 2012); Cambridge City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Avenue, Deguglielmo Plaza, Harvard Square in front of 5 Brattle Street]

I managed to get a glimpse of Venus [appeared a bright crescent], Mars [a bright spot with a reddish fringe], Saturn [with a ring, I shrieked; unable to hide my excitement], The Mizar quadruple star system [actually did not get lucky, saw the brighter binary system; one bright, other dim] and a satellite that zipped through the field-of-view.. Wow! with all the abundant city lights, we still managed to see these celestial objects!

It was fun to interact with the curious attendees, knowledgeable members who set up the telescopes by the sidewalk, sharing insights into the precise construction of the telescopes and the various flavors of telescopes.

My sincere thanks to enthusiastic organizers of the event.

Please find the entire bunch of event pics I clicked here

Event website: www.bostonastronomy.net

Big Ideas for VERY Busy People

One of the great things about living in Cambridge is being surrounded by such brilliant minds.  What with numerous colleges and universities in the area, Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Boston College to name a few, we're bursting with new ideas!

We got a glimpse into 9 novel ideas at the Big IDEAS for Busy People event Friday night, where speakers only have FIVE minutes to describe their big idea, followed by another 5 minutes to answer questions from the audience.  The talks were very diverse, ranging from biomedical and electrical engineering, atmospheric science, physics, psychology, even literature!  There was a huge turnout, and although I showed up half an hour early, I was barely able to find a seat.  Just goes to show how this city drinks in science and new ideas.  I've summarized only a few of the great talks below.

Science and Magic

You're sitting in an auditorium.  A man emerges from the side of the stage in a black tuxedo and a top hat.  He introduces himself as the Great Gregory!  He takes off his hat and shows the audience that it is empty. But wait!  He reaches in and pulls a rabbit out of the hat!

OK maybe that was too basic of an example; but what are you thinking of when watching a magic trick?  Are you actively trying to figure out how the magician is accomplishing this feat?  Or are you just in awe and really want  this illusion to be real?  

The magician is skilled in altering reality, they understand how our senses construct the world around us.  Scientists also question reality in an effort to understand nature, and are in many ways magicians themselves!  The Science of Illusion was explored by a panel of scientists and artists at the MIT Museum on Wednesday.  What was especially intriguing about this event was the intersection of science, art, and magic.

Big Ideas for Busy People TONIGHT

Big Ideas for Busy People is happening tonight! More details about the event here. In the meantime, check out some "lightening lectures" in the video below created by YouTube user PhysicsWoman.

Experimenting with Art and Science

If you’re like me, you grew up thinking that artists and scientists inhabit non-overlapping worlds or perhaps even that they use different sides of their brain. Fortunately, great science communicators have stepped up to dispel this myth, coming up with creative new methods of bringing out the art in science. New projects like WNYC’s Radiolab or Studio 360 routinely weave potent storytelling, sound design, and music to frame the science story and stimulate their audiences’ imagination. During my Cambridge Science Festival wanderings, I’ve observed the same trends on display. The Story Collider is a science storytelling show that believes everyone has a personal science story to tell. On Tuesday night the founders of The Story Collider, Brian Wecht and Ben Lillie, hosted a storytelling event at the MIT Museum showcasing inspired science stories that had the packed museum in stitches for much of the night.

What's Your Question?

Over the weekend I attended the thought-provoking symposium Rivers of Ice: What's Your Question, co-sponsored by GlacierWorks. Following the symposium was a reception at MIT's absolutely spectacular Rivers of Ice exhibition, featuring images from GlacierWorks founder David Breashears. A fully packed auditorium tuned in to hear five experts from diverse backgrounds speak on melting glaciers in the Himalaya and the impacts of climate change. Framing the speakers were beautiful works of art by local high school students that inspire questions surrounding water supply, rising temperatures, agriculture and politics.

Adventure photographer and film-maker David Breashears introduced a short film that followed his exploits on a recent climb. We were taken on a journey of breathtaking beauty that showed first-hand the effects of climate change in this remote region and on its people. The photos that followed included some of the earliest photos of glaciers captured juxtaposed with a current photo taken from the exact same spot!  While most glaciers are losing mass at an increased rate, a few are actually gaining mass.  Albeit only a few inches a year, but this underscores the complex mechanisms at play in the region.

Adventure photographer David Breashears introduces the audience to the changes he has witnessed firsthand
from his decades of climbing the mountains of the high Himalaya.

Same goes for all the impacts of climate change. Take for example, global temperature increase. While one year may be cooler than others, and some regions may experience cooler temperatures than usual, that does not take away from the global long-term trend that average temperatures are increasing. Conversely, a warm spell such as our recent non-winter also does not mean that it is getting worse. The real answer is, it's complicated.

Solving the challenge of climate change is also no short order, all panelists agree.  But it is not impossible.  Susan Solomon, atmospheric chemistry professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT stated that the number one problem we must solve is that of energy consumption.  How do we come off our polluting, high carbon energy diet?  How do we provide clean energy to the billions of people in the developing world who are striving to live just like us?

Orville Schell, director of the Center on US-China Relations, Asia Society, remarked that if the United States (2nd highest emitter of carbon dioxide) and China (1st highest emitter of carbon dioxide) do not come to a binding, strict agreement to substantially lower their emissions, it will not matter what the rest of the world's countries do.  Personally, I'm a big believer of every little bit helps.  Otherwise, it's much too easy to sit back and let someone else figure it out without taking any responsibility. After all, climate change is a global problem.

But the best question was raised by one of the high school students, simply put, how do we motivate people, (and more importantly, politicians) to reduce their consumption of energy in order to avert the most serious consequences of climate change when they are unlikely to be affected by said consequences anytime soon?  I do not know the answer, but it fills me with confidence to see intelligent, engaged youth posing these questions. Keep questioning, and the answers are bound to come.

One of the many beautiful quotes part of the Rivers of Ice exhibition at the MIT museum.

If you were unable to attend the What's Your Question event, make sure to check out Rivers of Ice: Vanishing Glaciers of the Greater Himalaya on at the MIT museum on now until March 2013. See for yourself the striking images of receding glaciers and the impact that this vanishing supply of water will mean for millions of people downstream.