GEORGE DYSON, Science Historian
Origins of the Digital Universe
September 18, 2011 at 10:00 am

Some numbers mean things, and some numbers do things. Making - and breaking - that distinction was central to renowned mathematician John von Neumann’s implementation of Alan Turing’s Universal Machine in 1945-56. In this lecture, you will learn about the unlikeliest place on earth to build such a device and how this vital 5-kilobyte step in the digital revolution was sparked by a collision of ideas between mathematicians and engineers. Combining soldering guns with science, Von Neumann and his Electronic Computing Instrument tackled previously intractable problems ranging from thermonuclear explosions, stellar evolution, and long-range weather forecasting to cellular automata, network optimization, and the origins of life. In this highly visual and informative presentation, George Dyson will impart the full story - from the people to their processors - and where our digital directions through history may lead us next.

HOD LIPSON, Cornell University
Programmable Matter: The Shape of Things to Come
September 18, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Learn about the future of “3D Printers” – machines that will fabricate arbitrary-shaped parts, layer by layer. Dr. Lipson will share a history of these technologies and preview a future in which we continue to gain unprecedented control over physical matter. If humans distinguish themselves from their evolutionary ancestors by making tools, then how might the ultimate tools – involving additive manufacturing – impact human culture forever? Dr. Lipson explores the science, technology and potential of programmable matter.

NATALIA TORO, Perimeter Institute
Smash, Bang, Boom: Fundamental Physics at the LHC
September 18, 2011 at 2:00 pm

• So how does the Large Hadron Collider work? 
• Why can slamming tiny particles into each other provide clues about the nature of all space and time?
• What mysteries are physicists trying to solve with data from the LHC?
• How does the cutting edge of particle physics relate to the world around us, from the patterns of stars in the sky to the fact that they shine at all?

Natalia Toro, PI Faculty, works at the intersection of theories and hard data. She will explain how complex collision data from the LHC is being digested and examined right now, and how it may set the course for the science of the future.

JULIE PAYETTE, Canadian Space Agency
Perspectives from Space: Research and Diplomacy
September 18, 2011 at 4:00 pm

With a background in computer and systems engineering as well as language processing and automatic speech recognition, Ms. Payette was selected from a pool of 5,330 candidates to become a Canadian astronaut, focusing on technical issues in robotics. Today, following her amazing professional career and numerous life experiences, Ms. Payette is a veteran of two missions to the International Space Station as a crew member and Flight Engineer. She also holds a commercial pilot license; earned military pilot captaincy on the “Snowbird” jets; is a certified deep-sea diving suit operator; is fluent in French and English, and can converse in Spanish, Italian, Russian and German. She has received many awards, holds numerous degrees and, on a personal note, plays the piano and has sung with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Piacere Vocale in Basel, Switzerland, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto. Drawing from her many firsthand experiences and zest for life, Ms. Payette will share an astronaut’s high level perspective on extraordinarily complex, yet highly collaborative, challenges in space - from both research and international diplomacy points of view.