I Google Myself… Get Over It…

“SLAC Public Lectures are scheduled last Tuesdays of every month at 7:30pm. The event provides the nonscientific thinkers a glimpse on the latest developments in physics research as well as how developing technologies are applied in other branches of the sciences. An oasis on Sand Hill Road where Venture Capitalists, symbol of high tech corporate machinery, and the Stanford shopping mall surrounds this huge lab and research facility that delves into further understanding the inner workings of where we came from, what are stuff made out of, with the possible hopes of touching the shadow of our maker, if such a thing exists.

The lectures are held in the Panofsky auditorium, a large room that reminds me of those large lecture classrooms of a university where a huge blackboard still exists (yes, white chalk and erasers!).

I have attended a lecture on Matter and Anti-Matter by Steve Sekula, an MIT/Babar Phd researcher back in the fall of 2004. This event was a super geekfest, the huge auditorium was packed with anxious people so that late comers had to settle in the overflow area while viewing the presentation through a monitor. Of course, I arrived early and secured myself a front row seating.

Tonight the USGS (United States Geological Society) discussed the existence of Arsenic, the silent killer, in certain areas of the world, specifically in Bangladesh, where high levels of As has contaminated its water supply (50 ppb, parts per billion, considered lethal or dangerous level). The talk focused on the field research and the collection of sediment in the field and how they used X-ray technology to perform sequential data mining of the samples in order to understand the extent and impact of this problem.