Seminars

Body and Machine

No border is more fundamental than the one between humans and the external world. The limits of our body are defined by our brain—how we grasp an object or move around in a room is determined by how the brain perceives where the body is in space and time. These limits can be manipulated, extended, and explored when traditional scientific disciplines work together. By combining the fields of neuroscience, medicine, engineering, and information systems, science is rising to the challenge of finding solutions to disabilities that affect human experience.

Linking Mechanics, Robotics, and Neuroscience: Novel Insights from Novel Systems

This session focuses on the role of mechanics and the physical embodiment of sensory and motor structures in the study of systems neuroscience. The panel’s research integrates techniques from engineering and neuroscience to investigate sensorimotor function and to construct more sensate and dextrous robots and biomimetic devices. Talks will illuminate reciprocal relationships between mechanics, robotics, and sensory neuroscience using model systems that range from crickets, golden moles, and rats to humans and humanoid-robots. An example is the use of biomimetic micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technologies to investigate how insect hairs are tuned to measure fluid flow within relevant ecological contexts. Other topics include the bizarre inner ear bones of the golden mole that exhibit unique mechanical specializations to permit the animal to sense both minute substrate vibrations and airborne sound; and the use of robotic models and dynamic simulations to quantify tactile processing in the rat whisker system. Using both psychophysical and robotic studies, the session also explores the remarkable integration of visual and tactile sensory inputs that enables manipulation and grasping with the hand. These interdisciplinary approaches give equal emphasis to intricate biomechanical mechanisms, ecological contexts, and technological implementation, enabling teams to build new devices and advance our understanding of nature.

Organized by: Mitra J.Z. Hartmann, Northwestern University

Speakers

Jérôme Casas, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Air-Flow Sensing Hairs in Crickets and Biomimetic MEMS Sensors

Peter M. Narins, University of California, Los Angeles

Mostly Malleus: Ground Sound Detection by the Golden Mole

Mitra J.Z. Hartmann, Northwestern University

Characterizing the Complete Mechanosensory Input to the Rat Vibrissal Array

Danica Kragic, Center for Autonomous Systems, Stockholm

Attention, Segmentation, and Learning for Object Manipulation

Francisco J. Valero-Cuevas, University of Southern California

A Systems-Based Engineering Approach to Sensorimotor Control of the Human Hand

Mind and Machine: The Next Step in Neuroprosthetics and Brain Computer Interfaces

A more profound understanding of how the brain functions has led to major advances in brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Once considered science fiction, neuroprosthetics are now helping disabled people rediscover—or experience for the first time—capacities that greatly improve quality of life. Through systems that monitor brain activity and translate it into actions such as moving a wheelchair or selecting a letter from a virtual keyboard, people with disabilities are exploring the world in new ways. This session will focus on both non-invasive interfaces, where control comes mainly from electroencephalographic activity, as well as interfaces that incorporate implants in the brain. Both forms of prostheses restore patients' experience with the world and blur the lines between man and machine. Future uses of these technologies may one day allow an augmented human to go far beyond the confines of the body and open new territories of possibility, particularly relevant for paralyzed humans and for people in challenging environments like space.

Organized by: Michael D. Mitchell, EPFL, and Christian Simm, Swissnex San Francisco, CA

Speakers

Daniel Moran, Washington University

Neural Oscillations and Motor and Language Processing

José del R. Millan, EPFL

Multitasking with Non-Invasive Neuroprosthetics

Christa Neuper, Graz University of Technology

Future Directions in Hybrid Brain-Computer Interfaces

Andrew Schwartz, University of Pittsburgh

Useful Signals from the Motor Cortex

Dennis McFarland, New York State Department of Health and State University of New York

BCIs: Traditional Assumptions Meet Emerging Realities

Frontiers in Chemistry

Along with many organizations worldwide, AAAS is celebrating the International Year of Chemistry to acknowledge the achievements of chemistry, its contributions to the well-being of humankind, and what the future may hold. New organic materials will have broad industrial and societal impacts on information technology, energy, and biosensing. New knowledge about molecular self-assembly will provide the structural foundation for the next generation of artificial molecular machines. Research and teaching in these fields involves multidisciplinary approaches and diverse, international investigators. This seminar will disclose cutting-edge research that cuts across a variety of scientific disciplines, thereby exemplifying a multidisciplinary approach to scientific exploration.

Frontiers in Organic Materials for Information Processing, Energy, and Sensors

Over the past 15 years, new technologically and biologically important developments of broad industrial and societal interest have resulted from cutting-edge research, namely in photonics, displays, and biological labeling. This session is designed to allow a diverse audience to learn about state-of-the-art research in the area of functional pi-systems. The focus will be largely, but not exclusively, on the chemistry of such materials. In doing so, the session will provide a critical forum where participants can discuss not only fundamental aspects of the chemistry and physics of functional pi-systems but also the technology drivers and biologically important applications. The latter are often neglected at more specialized conferences on displays, organic photovoltaics, or nonlinear optics. Topics to be covered include organic semiconductor materials, photovoltaic organic materials and devices, organic electroactive materials and devices, self-assembly and aggregation of organic materials, and nonlinear optics and two-photon processes in organic materials.

Organized by: Seth R. Marder and Jean-Luc Bredas, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Tobin J. Marks, Northwestern University

Speakers

Alan Heeger, University of California, Santa Barbara

Plastic Solar Cells and Photodetectors: Self-Assembly by Spontaneous Phase Separation

Richard Friend, University of Cambridge

Current and Future Scientific and Commercial Opportunities for Organic Electronics

Zhenan Bao, Stanford University

Organic Materials Based Flexible Electronic Sensors

Larry Dalton, University of Washington, Seattle

Electro-Optic Technology: Implications for Telecommunications, Computing, and Sensing

Joseph W. Perry, Georgia Institute of Technology

Organic Photonic Materials for All-Optical Signal Processing

Mark E. Thompson, University of Southern California

New Molecular Materials for Energy Based Optoelectronics: Solar Energy and Lighting

Molecular Self-Assembly and Artificial Molecular Machines

All living systems rely on complex supramolecular structures with highly sophisticated components, which operate within cell membranes and cell compartments. Nature is remarkable in composing such complex organizations to achieve the necessary functions of life. The study of model molecular constructs in this realm provides an important window for enhancing our understanding. Moreover, the design and fabrication of artificial molecular machines is one of the great scientific challenges of our times. This session on molecular self-assembly and artificial molecular machines will contain lectures that reflect the current state of the art in this exciting research area.

Organized by: Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay, University of California, Los Angeles, and Bruce E. Maryanoff, The Scripps Research Institute

Speakers

J. Fraser Stoddart, Northwestern University

Fashioning Functional Materials with Integrated Mechanostereochemical Systems

Josef Michl, University of Colorado and Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry

Artificial Surface-Mounted Molecular Rotors

Nadrian C. Seeman, New York University

DNA: Not Merely the Secret of Life

Stacey F. Bent, Stanford University

Nanostructuring for Efficient Energy Conversion

M. Reza Ghadiri, The Scripps Research Institute

Toward Synthetic Biology: Design and Study of Complex Peptide Networks

Ben L. Feringa, University of Groningen

Molecular Motors: In Control of Molecular Motion

Discussant

Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay, University of California, Los Angeles

Other Worlds

Speakers in this seminar will represent multidisciplinary and multinational initiatives that are closely coordinated at national and international levels. The Kepler Mission will do something that no other mission can do: determine the frequency of Earth-like planets in our galaxy and begin to constrain the prevalence of life in our universe. Other efforts are engaged in searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life, a broadly and deeply multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary endeavor. The world's largest dedicated, full-time astronomical instrument—Very Long Baseline Array—spans more than 5,000 miles, providing astronomers with the sharpest vision of any telescope on Earth or in space. The array has an ability to see fine detail equivalent to being able to stand in New York City and read a newspaper in Los Angeles.

Kepler: Looking for Other Earths

NASA's Kepler Mission is determining the frequency of habitable, Earth-like planets in the universe by searching for the tiny dimming in brightness of the planet's host star when the planet's orbit takes the planet in front of the star. Kepler is a space telescope that is staring at over 150,000 stars in the constellations of Cygnus and Lyra, waiting for the multiple, periodic transits that indicate a planet is in orbit. Kepler was launched in March 2009, and by February 2011 will have been taking data for nearly 2 years, long enough to begin to assess the frequency of Earth-size planets on year-long orbits around solar-type stars. Based on ground-based planet searches by other techniques, the expectation is that Kepler will discover large numbers of super-Earths, planets with masses up to about 15 times that of Earth, which appear to accompany roughly one-third of all solar-type stars. Kepler should then discover dozens of Earth-like planets, that is, planets of Earth-size orbiting in the habitable zones of their stars. The mission will also make an extraordinary contribution to our understanding of stellar structure and evolution, as the same high photometric precision needed to detect Earths also means that stellar brightness variations will be measured to unprecedented accuracies over the 3.5-year mission lifetime, permitting seismological studies of stellar interiors and new insights into variable stars.

Organized by: Alan P. Boss, Carnegie Institution for Science, and William J. Borucki, NASA Ames Research Center

Speakers

William J. Borucki, NASA Ames Research Center

Kepler Mission Overview and Planet Discoveries

Matthew J. Holman, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Searching for Planets by Transit Timing Varations

Sara Seager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Planet Discoveries in a Physical Context

William Chaplin, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Results for Solar-like Oscillators Observed by Kepler

Conny Aerts, Instituut voor Sterrenkunde

Asteroseismology Across the HR Diagram

Martin D. Still, NASA Ames Research Center

The Kepler Guest Observer Program

Seeking Signs of (ET) Life: The Search Steps Up on Mars and Beyond

This session will report on the latest developments in the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life, a broadly and deeply multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary endeavor. Speakers will address Mars exploration, astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life, and the need for planetary protection in the course of this search. The session will focus especially on the Mars Science Laboratory mission to be launched in 2011—the first roving analytical laboratory and first dedicated astrobiology mission to Mars since Viking. Speakers also will address the global space community's plans for exploring Europa and other environments potentially habitable for extraterrestrial life, reporting on science goals and technology requirements.

Organized by: Linda Billings, George Washington University

Speakers

John P. Grotzinger, California Institute of Technology

The Search for Life on Mars: Mars Science Laboratory and Mars Sample Return

Mary A. Voytek, NASA

Greatest Hits and Grand Challenges in Astrobiology

Cassie Conley, NASA

Preserving the Planets - Ours and Others: Planetary Protection in Space Exploration

The Universe Revealed by High-Resolution, High-Precision Astronomy

Very long baseline interferometry uses multiple radio antennas separated by large geographical distances to deliver the highest possible resolution imaging and astrometric precision for the scientific study of the Universe. Because radio emission is little affected by the intervening dust and gas that often obscures the optical and infrared radiation emitted by astronomical objects, radio telescopes can probe deep into regions that are otherwise inaccessible, such as the molecular clouds where stars and planets form, and the center of the galaxy. The Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) consists of 10 identical, 25-meter diameter antennas that operate at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths on transcontinental baselines of up to 8,000 kilometers and provides the science community the highest resolution and astrometric precision of any astronomical telescope. Invigorated by state-of-the-art technologies that have markedly improved its sensitivity and flexibility, the VLBA is enabling a wide range of transformative science: mapping the structure and dynamics of the entire Milky Way; searching for planets around low-mass stars; accurately measuring the masses of the supermassive black holes located at the centers of many galaxies; precisely determining the expansion rate of the Universe; and more.

Organized by: Mark T. Adams, NRAO

Speakers

Geoffrey C. Bower, University of California, Berkeley

Seeking New Planets at Radio Wavelengths

Mark J. Reid, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Mapping Our Galaxy in 3D

James A. Braatz, NRAO

Supermassive Black Holes and Precision Cosmology with Megamasers