[ASC-list] BrisScience: Living at the Speed of Light - 20 July 2009
Lynelle Ross
l.ross at smp.uq.edu.au
Mon Jul 6 07:02:52 UTC 2009
Living at the Speed of Light presented by Dr Jesse Shore, Prismatic
Sciences 20 July 2009
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Whether you know it or not you are living at the speed of light. From
mobile phones to microwave ovens, the internet, and soon your home
computer, all depend on signals and energy of light travelling at the
fastest speed in the universe. Yet modern communications are both
enabled and limited by the speed of light. Light travels so fast that
our senses feel it moves from place to place instantaneously. But
light takes time to travel whether it is moving through the vast
distances of the cosmos or optic fibres running down your street. And
light doesn’t always travel at the same speed. In fact light can be
frozen within atoms! Come to this talk to find out which speed of
light you want to live by.
The talk will introduce photonics, the science of making, detecting,
controlling and using light, and explore why it is one of the
important new research areas. A key part of photonics is about
changing the speed of light to make better use of it. A range of
photonic technologies will use optic fibres to communicate far more
information at higher rates while using far less energy than
electronic circuits. This will lead to new applications and huge
improvements to existing processes which include specialised medical
diagnosis and treatment made available to remote areas, increased DVD
memory capacity, more powerful computers, speedier access to vast
amounts of information of libraries, superior imaging of biological
material and the cosmos, improved lasers, chemical processing and
things we haven't dreamed of yet.
Jesse will explain some of the science concepts underlying photonic
communication using a number of everyday experiences and then explore
some of the more recent understanding of newer less familiar
processes. New discoveries about how to interact with light are
leading to applications such as invisibility cloaks which previously
appeared only in science fiction or fantasy stories. The last part of
the presentation will explore some of these future developments and
how they might affect society.
* Time: 6:30pm to 7:30pm (Doors open at 6pm)
* Venue: Ithaca Auditorium, Brisbane City Hall
* Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibblies
following the talk, and Jesse will be available to answer any questions.
* Questions? Contact Lynelle (l.ross at smp.uq.edu.au)
Jesse Shore has over 25 years of experience as a science communicator
creating exhibitions, public events, a science festival and working
with other communications media. He enjoys making science meaningful
to a variety of audiences and likes to have a bit of fun in how he
presents his content. He was an exhibition project leader during the
building of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and their senior curator
of sciences for 20 years. He left the museum and started his business,
Prismatic Sciences, to develop science based content for television
and the web.
This event is free and open to all. No RSVP necessary
======================================================
UPCOMING TALKS
17 August - INTECOL 09 International Ecology Panel Discussion. The
10th International Congress of Ecology (www.intecol10.org/) is to be
held in Brisbane from 16 - 21 August 2009. In conjunction with INTECOL
we will be hosting a Public lecture & panel discussion focused on
Urban Ecology, sustainable urban planning and development and the
responsibility of ecologists in securing our future.
Speakers include:
* Professor Cliff Dorse from City of Cape Town South Africa
* Dr Mark McDonnell - Director, Australian Research Centre for Urban
Ecology
* Dr Darryl Jones - Director, Centre for Innovation Conservation
Strategies, Griffith University
* Prof. Hugh Possingham - Director, The Ecology Centre, The University
of Queensland as MC
September (Date to be confirmed) - Our Annual Brisbane Writers
Festival talk
12 October - Dr Michael Murphy from Swinburne University - Topic to be
confirmed (Astrophysics)
November - Someone very exciting but we can't reveal who yet.
December - Dr Daryl Cooper, University of California, Santa Barbara
======================================================
OTHER SCIENCE EVENTS
-- July 23, AIP International Year of Astronomy talk by Dr Paulo De
Souza from CSIRO ICT Centre, Tasmania. Venue to be announced. Check
the BrisScience website for updates.
"From Mars to Earth: a journey fostered by Science, Technology and
Fascination"
This is an invitation to a return journey from Mars. Our Planet and
Mars have a common past. Eventually, they will share the same future
and some of the incredible technological development for the Martian
missions is already being applied on our Planet. We will travel across
time getting an overview on how our knowledge on Mars was built. Over
the centuries Mars has captured our attention. First as a red bright
point in the night sky, then with channels seeing by optical
telescopes, revealing incredible geological features looking like
Christ's face on its surface or even sending pieces of possible
fossilized bacteria in meteorites to Earth... Martians? Mars may have
been able to support life at some point in the planet's history. We
will talk about it. Lots of images and fresh scientific results will
be presented, especially those obtained by scientists working with the
NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers mission. At the end we will see how
some of the instruments that equipped the rovers Spirit and
Opportunity are being applied on industry, environment or even
archaeology.
Dr. Paulo de Souza is the Research Director at the CSIRO's Tasmanian
ICT Centre and a collaborator scientist of the Mars Exploration Rover
Project from NASA/JPL/Cornell.
--July 28, Tools of Science presented by Neil Boucher at 6 pm
"Marconi/Braun 1909 Nobel Prize"
Lecture Theatre 222, Parnell Building, The University of Queensland
======================================================
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=====================================================
From your friendly BrisScience Co-ordinators, Joel and Lynelle
c/o School of Mathematics and Physics,
The University of Queensland,
Brisbane Australia, 4072
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