There is good news for science fans who are looking for something to do during winter weekends as the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's (PPPL) 36-year tradition of offering weekly cutting-edge, informative talks on a wide variety of science subjects continues with a live online version.
The Ronald E. Hatcher Science on Saturday Lecture Series resumes on Jan. 9 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and continues through March 13 on the Zoom virtual meeting platform. You can register for Science on Saturday here.
The lecture series attracts hundreds of people each week, ranging from high school students to senior citizens who have been coming to the lectures for decades. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fusion Energy Sciences.
"After a challenging year when science moved front and center, we are very pleased to be able to announce the agenda for our beloved Ronald E. Hatcher Science on Saturday 2021 fully-remote lecture series," said Andrew Zwicker, head of Communications and Public Outreach. "We have a wonderful lineup of outstanding scientists this year that you can view from your living room."
While PPPL cannot offer its traditional coffee, donuts and bagels to audience members, they also won't have to worry about getting a seat. Deedee Ortiz, the Science Education program manager who organizes the program, said she is delighted PPPL can offer the program online. "Even though we won't be together in person, I'm really look forward to seeing our regular faces," Ortiz said. "We can still have coffee together but you're going to have to make it yourself!"
The series kicks off with a lecture on "The Renaissance of the Stellarator Fusion Concept," by PPPL physicist David Gates, head of Advanced Projects. Stellarators, a type of fusion energy facility that uses twisted magnetic field coils, were invented by PPPL founder Lyman Spitzer in the 1950s. The complex devices have interesting advantages over the more conventional donut-shaped tokamaks but the complexity of their design has limited their performance until recent scientific and technological advances.
Other highlights include a talk by Geeta Govindarajoo, professor of chemistry at Rutgers University, on the intersection between chemistry and art. Govindarajoo will discuss the role of chemistry in creating and restoring art and detecting forgeries.
You can ask post questions for the speaker by tweeting to @PPPLsSciEd or #scionsat. If you can't make it to the live lecture, the talks will be posted on the Science Education website a few weeks later.
The January schedule is:
- Jan. 9: David Gates, PPPL, "The Renaissance of the Stellarator Fusion Concept"
- Jan. 16: Arvind Narayanan, a computer scientist and professor at Princeton University, "How to Recognize AI Snake Oil"
- Jan. 23: Geeta Govindarajoo, of Rutgers University's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, "Chemistry and Art: Like Dissolves Like. How Solubility Influences Creating and Restoring Art, Forgery and Telling a Good Story"
- Jan. 30: Cristian Galbiaiti, of Princeton University's Department of Physics, "From studying the Sun, to searching for dark matter, to fighting COVID-19"
The complete schedule will be posted soon on the Science on Saturday website.
