San Mateo Astronomocal Society, March 2010 Newsletter

Wednesday, Mar. 10, at 7 pm

Dr. Helen Quinn (of Stanford University) will give a free public lecture on “The Many Mysteries of Antimatter”

part of the 11th Annual Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures, in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California.

No background in science will be required for this talk. Seating is first come, first served. Parking on campus costs $2.

Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving directions.

Antimatter is just like matter with all its properties reversed. But when antimatter meets a matching amount of matter, they destroy each other, both turning suddenly into energy. Scientists think there may have been equal amount of matter and antimatter in the early universe, and yet today we have lots of matter and very little antimatter. How and when that imbalance developed is one of the great mysteries in understanding the underlying properties of the universe.

Dr. Quinn, who is co-author of the definitive popular book on antimatter, will discuss the history of our understanding of antimatter and how we use the little bit of antimatter around today to study some of the highest energy processes among the stars and galaxies. One particularly interesting possible source of antimatter is the annihilation or decay of dark matter particles, mysterious material that is thought to make more of the universe than the regular matter we know and love. Dr. Quinn will discuss ongoing antimatter experiments that are helping to put limits on the nature and behavior of dark matter.

Dr. Quinn is Professor of Physics at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center at Stanford and Assistant to SLAC’s Director for Education and Outreach. She has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and is a former President of the American Physical Society. Her book The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter (2008, Princeton University Press) is an engaging introduction to the world of particle physics.

The lectures are co-sponsored by:
* NASA Ames Research Center
* The Foothill College Astronomy Program
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
* The SETI Institute

Past Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are now available in MP3 format at:
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/index.html
================================
Andrew Fraknoi, Chair, Astronomy Program
Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Rd.,
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022, USA

E-mail: fraknoiandrew@fhda.edu
================================

The colloquiums are free and open to the public, and run from noon to 1 pm on Wednesdays at the SETI Institute, 515 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View, California.

Hi, Lynn. I thought you might be interested in the following information for April 2010.

1)    Never Lost – New Exploratorium Website About Polynesian Navigation
2)    Reading Sea and Sky – Polynesian Navigation Installation
3)    Open Make – A Program to Inspire Young Makers

Never Lost
New Exploratorium Website About Polynesian Navigation
English Version Launches April 1st; Hawaiian Version Launches May 1st
www.exploratorium.edu/neverlost

Never Lost explores ancient navigation techniques that nearly disappeared, but are now experiencing a revival across Polynesia, especially in Hawaii. Thousands of years ago Polynesians navigated by direct observation, relying on clues from the sun, moon, and stars, as well as ocean swells, winds, and wildlife, as they voyaged over open ocean settling islands across the Pacific. Never Lost shares the story of this living tradition and charts wayfinding practices that are still in use today.

Full Press Release: http://press.exploratorium.edu/never-lost-april-2010/

Reading Sea and Sky
Polynesian Navigation Installation
Webcast Studio
Tuesday, April 6 Through Sunday, May 9, 2010
In Conjunction with Never Lost – A New Exploratorium Website
www.exploratorium.edu/neverlost

Visitors to Reading Sea and Sky may find themselves stepping in and out of time and place. A giant star compass representing those used in teaching traditional Polynesian navigation techniques will extend across the Studio floor, frequently submerged under video footage of waves or other footage to be projected from above. A surround-sound system of speakers will play sounds and stories recorded during a trip to Hawaii by the Exploratorium team that created the companion Never Lost website. In the meantime, video recordings will fill the Webcast Studio screens with visual poems of the islands. This installation is included in the price of admission to the Exploratorium.

Full Press Release: http://press.exploratorium.edu/reading-sea-and-sky-april-2010/

Open MAKE: A Program to Inspire Young Makers
Saturday Series at Exploratorium
April 24, 2010
Meet the Makers (McBean Theatre) 11am-noon
In the Studio 12:30pm-3pm

Get ready to rev up your inner inventor. The Exploratorium hosts a series of informal talks and activities designed to inspire young inventors and introduce visitors to a long-standing Exploratorium tradition of tinkering. Featuring different themes and guest speakers each month, Open MAKE: A Program to Inspire Young Makers, will introduce visitors to a variety of tinkering possibilities while encouraging middle and high school students to realize their own inventions in time for this year’s Maker Faire, held at the San Mateo County Event Center on May 22 and 23. Open MAKE, a project of the Exploratorium’s Learning Studio, is included in the price of admission.

Full Press Release: http://press.exploratorium.edu/open-make-april-2010/

--
Raphael Rosen
Public Information Dept.
The Exploratorium
3601 Lyon St.
San Francisco, CA   94123
press.exploratorium.edu
Phone Contact: Leslie Patterson / (415) 561-0377