SASS

2012-02-20T12:01:00.001-08:00

Extrasolar Planets
Warit Mitthumsiri
Time: 12:30pm February, 22 2012
Location: Kavli, 3rd Floor Conf. Rm.

Poster Link

NASA's Kepler space telescope, which aims to study the abundance of extrasolar planets, is finishing its third year in March 2012. This statistically allows planets with similar orbital periods as that of the Earth to be detected. Mankind is entering an exciting era, in which the Earth analogs such as Kepler-22b, are being discovered. I will discuss the history and current status of extrasolar planet study.

2012-01-30T15:16:00.001-08:00

EXAFS Studies of the Thermoelectric Ba8Ga16Sn30

by Mike Kozina

12:30pm February 1, 2012, Kavli, 2nd Floor Conf. Rm.

Thermoelectric materials have the useful ability to convert a temperature gradient into an electric potential, and vice versa. This important class of materials has already found use in space and automotive technologies, but currently efficiency has become a limiting factor. It is hoped that by probing and understanding more deeply the detailed mechanisms of thermal and electrical transport in thermoelectric materials one can improve this efficiency for myriad uses in the energy sector. Here we present EXAFS data from SSRL on the thermoelectric clathrate Ba8Ga16Sn30. Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) is an element-specific x-ray absorption technique that allows one to probe the local structure of materials up to ~6 angstroms. We show that the structure of this clathrate is particularly suited to having thermal transport properties conducive to decent thermoelectric behavior.

SASS Talk: US Science Education, Wed. 12:30 Kavli 3rd Floor

2012-01-16T17:04:00.001-08:00

The Current State of Science Education in the USA

by Cat Graves

12:30pm January 18, 2012, Kavli, 3rd Floor Conf. Rm.

Over the past decade, concern about the state of scientific education in the U.S. has grown as more students test poorly compared to their international peers. The 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) which tests math, reading and science literacy of students found that American students are at best in the middle of the international pack, ranking 17 out of 34 developed nations in science literacy. I will briefly discuss the history of science education, what has and has not changed over the years, and focus more on the current state of scientific literacy in the U.S. Finally, I hope to review some current ideas for changing our current levels of scientific (il)literacy, improving science education and getting students interested in science - maybe we'll come up with new ideas as we go!

New SASS Czars

2012-01-16T16:34:00.001-08:00

Hi fellow SLACers,

Welcome back to the new quarter, and a new host of SASS talks. I'd like to introduce Kristi Schneck, a 2nd year in physics, and me, Mike Kozina, a 2nd year in applied physics, the new SASS czars. We look forward to a very productive set of SASS talks in the next few months! Our next talk is on Wednesday, January 18th at 12:30p in the Kavli 3rd floor conference room. Cat Graves will be discussing US science education. We hope to see you there!

See you Wednesday,
Mike and Kristi

SASS: Free Pizza, Organizational Meeting

2010-06-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

Organizational Meeting

by You!

12:30pm June 23, 2010, Kavli, 3rd Floor Conf. Rm.

It's that time again - free pizza and planning out our talks! SASS is a great forum for students. You can practice and polish a talk by presenting to your peers! SASS presentations should be about 30 minutes, so they shouldn't take too long to prep for, and they're low-pressure. Most talks should be introductory in nature, so that any freshly-graduated Physics B.S. with no exposure to a field in particular can understand it. We also try to have snacks on hand! Bottom line: this is a great way to meet people, learn new things, and present what you're doing - a great way to get involved in the SLAC student community!

SASS Talk: EXO-200, Wed. @ 12:30, Kavli 2nd Fl.

2010-06-01T17:11:00.001-07:00

EXO-200

by Derek Mackay

June 2, 2010 @12:30, Kavli 2nd Fl. Conf. Rm.

EXO-200 (Enriched Xenon Observatory - 200kg) is a low-background underground double-beta decay experiment that contains 200kg of Xenon, isotopically enriched to 80% in Xenon-136. EXO-200 will measure both the scintillation light and the ionization signal of the Xenon decay in order to detect the as yet unobserved two neutrino double beta decay mode, which conserves lepton number, and to put a competitive limit on the rate of the zero neutrino double beta decay mode. EXO-200 is currently under 2000 meters water equivalent of overburden at the WIPP site in New Mexico and is undergoing final construction and commissioning.

SASS Talk: Fermi, From Mission Concept to Launch, Wed. 12:30, Kavli 3rd Fl.

2010-05-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

Fermi: From Mission Concept to Launch

by Keith Bechtol

May 26, 2010 @12:30, Kavli 3rd Fl. Conf. Rm.

The success of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission is a testament to years of planning, research, and development efforts before launching the spacecraft on June 11, 2008. Observational gamma-ray astronomy began around 1950 and a succession of satellite observatories have gradually shaped our view of the high-energy Universe. This talk with review the legacy of past missions and discuss the process that Fermi (formerly known as GLAST) took from concept to launch.

Pizza & Organizational Meeting Today!

2010-05-19T11:56:00.001-07:00

To all you SASS-ers and potential SASS-ers:

Just a reminder that we have pizza and an organizational meeting today. Come get free food and sign up for talks!

Joel, your friendly neighborhood SASS Czar

Free Pizza and Organizational Meeting, Wed 5/19 @ 12:30, Kavli 2nd Fl.

2010-05-13T15:06:00.000-07:00

Organizational Meeting

by you!

May 19, 2010 @12:30, Kavli 3rd Fl. Conf. Rm.

It's that time again - free pizza and planning out our talks! SASS is a great forum for students. You can practice and polish a talk by presenting to your peers! SASS presentations should be about 30 minutes, so they shouldn't take too long to prep for, and they're low-pressure. Most talks should be introductory in nature, so that any freshly-graduated Physics BS with no exposure to a field in particular can understand it. We also try to have snacks on hand! Bottom line: this is a great way to meet people, learn new things, and present what you're doing - a great way to get involved in the SLAC student community!

Talk: X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, Wed @ 12:00, Kavli 3rd Fl.

2010-05-10T17:04:00.001-07:00

Note: 12:00-1:00 pm this week!

X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

by Dan Miller

May 12, 2010 @12:00, Kavli 3rd Fl. Conf. Rm.

Talk Cancelled: Conflict with Colloquium

2010-04-28T11:10:00.001-07:00

Announcement: SASS Talk Cancelled

Today's talk (Wed. 4/28) is cancelled due to a conflict with a general colloquium at SLAC. It sounds like it will be good, if you can make it I'd recommend going.

============================================================================================

Come to Kavli Auditorium at 12:30 p.m. today to hear ITER Principle Deputy Director General Norbert Holtkamp presenting "The Role of R&D in Large Projects: Projects for R&D: ITER, SNS, the Muon Collider and Others."

Research and Development associated with large science projects paves the way to improvements in technology, performance and cost reduction. Investments in R&D increase the probability of successfully achieving the project's goals. In this presentation a variety of examples will be discussed focusing mainly on two recent construction projects, the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory which was finished in 2006 and ITER, the world's largest Tokamak, which is under construction now in France. In addition an update of the ITER project and its present status will be given. This is particularly interesting example since the R&D results, while largely generated by the countries participating early on in the project (Europe, Japan, Russia and US), now are to be utilized by all seven ITER participants who contribute components to ITER "In kind." Taking a few examples, the presentation will lay out the impact R&D had in the choice of parameters and the risk management associated with that.

http://today.slac.stanford.edu/today_detail.asp?id=10989

Talk: Satellite Observatories, Wed @ 12:30, Kavli 3rd Fl.

2010-04-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

Satellite Observatories: From Concept to Launch, A Case Study

by Keith Bechtol

April 28, 2010 @12:30
Kavli 3rd Fl. Conf. Rm.

The success of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission is a testament to years of planning, research, and development efforts before launching the spacecraft of June 11, 2008. Observational gamma-ray astronomy began around 1950 and a succession of satellite observatories have gradually shaped our view of the high energy Universe. This talk will review the legacy of past missions and discuss the process that Fermi (formerly known as GLAST) took from concept to launch.

No Talk This Week

2010-04-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

Announcement:

Due to our speaker's emergency, there will be no talk this Wednesday. The talk will be rescheduled for a later date, and SASS will resume April 28. See you then!

LHC Theory Talk Location Changed: Kavli 2nd fl.

2010-04-12T15:57:00.001-07:00

Due to conflicting scheduling, the SASS LHC Theory talk this Wednesday will now be in the 2nd floor conference room in Kavli.

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LHC Theory

by Andrew Larkoski

April 14, 2010 @12:30
Kavli 2nd Fl. Conf. Rm.

On March 30, 2010, a new era of particle physics began with the first collisions at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The Large Hadron Collider will explore higher energies and shorter distances than ever before and will hopefully answer some long-standing problems in fundamental physics. In this talk, I will review the Large Hadron Collider, its experiments and the physics questions it will address.

Talk: LHC Theory, Wed @ 12:30, Kavli 3rd Fl.

2010-04-09T14:03:00.001-07:00

LHC Theory

by Andrew Larkoski

April 14, 2010 @12:30
Kavli 3rd Fl. Conf. Rm.

On March 30, 2010, a new era of particle physics began with the first collisions at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The Large Hadron Collider will explore higher energies and shorter distances than ever before and will hopefully answer some long-standing problems in fundamental physics. In this talk, I will review the Large Hadron Collider, its experiments and the physics questions it will address.

No SASS today: Recommend Christ West and Bottomonium

2010-04-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

In lieu of today's SASS, you should all come hear Chris West tell the exciting story of how he discovered the lightest bottomonium resonance, thanks to a last-minute decision to run BaBar at higher collision energies.

It's one of the top 10 physics news stories of 2008!!

http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200902/physicsstories.cfm

TODAY
12:30 pm
Redwood AB (Rooms 112A and 112B) in ROB (Bldg. 48) at SLAC

Talk: Methods of Dark Matter Detection, Wed @ 12:30, Kavli 3rd Fl.

2010-03-30T18:35:00.001-07:00

Methods of Dark Matter Detection

by Rudy Resch

March 31, 2010 @12:30

Kavli 3rd Fl. Conf. Rm.

There are three general detector technologies which are used in the search for a direct detection of Dark Matter: Ionization, Scintillation, and Heat. Several experiments that are currently searching for dark matter use a combination of these technologies in order to better discriminate between different types of signals. In this talk, I will discuss the relative merits of these three technologies, as well as give an overview of specific implementations of the technologies in current experiments.

SASS Movie Day: NOVA's Richard Phillips Feynman - The Last Journey of a Genius, Kavli 3rd Fl.

2010-03-17T11:34:00.001-07:00

Come take a break from studying for finals and watch a Feynman biography: NOVA's Richard Phillips Feynman - The Last Journey of a Genius.

NOVA looks at the bongo-playing scientist, adventurer, safecracker and yarn-spinner Richard Feynman, most recently famous for his role as gadfly of the Presidential Commission investigating the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

While it includes some repeats, there is a lot of unique footage. For instance, Feynman talks of how he became interested in Tannu Tuva (it was a prank, of course), ~~and eventually visited there~~.

Talk: EEHG 101: ECHO 7, Mar. 10, Kavli 3rd Fl.

2010-03-08T16:55:00.001-08:00

EEHG 101: ECHO 7

by Pierre Pernet and Joel Frederico

EEHG is a new accelerator scheme with the potential to produce terahertz radiation with previously-unmatched efficiencies. Echo 7 will modulate beam density at the 7th harmonic of the laser modulation period. Two relatively small energy modulations and two dispersion sections produce the longitudinal profile. The resulting beam can be used to produce terahertz radiation for user research. The relatively straight-forward approach is currently being tested at the Next Linear Test Collider facilities here at SLAC.

Reminder: Einstein's Politics @ 12:30

2010-03-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

Einstein's Politics

by Wells Wulsin

12:30 Today, Kavli 3rd Floor Conf. Rm.

"That is simple my friend: because politics is more difficult than physics."

So answered Albert Einstein when asked why people could discover atomic power but not the means to control it. Even if more challenging, politics was a subject that Einstein wrote about throughout his life, taking bold and often unpopular positions. In this talk I will discuss Einstein's political views on issues including intellectual freedom, racism, and prospects for world peace.

Talk: Einstein's Politics, Wed @ 12:30, 3rd Fl. Kavli Bldg.

2010-03-01T11:08:00.001-08:00

Einstein's Politics

by Wells Wulsin

"That is simple my friend: because politics is more difficult than physics."

Reminder: Optical Fiber Communication; 12:30 @ 2nd Fl. Conf. Rm., Kavli

2010-02-24T09:27:00.001-08:00

Optical Fiber Communication

by Zafar Yasin

12:30 @ 2nd Fl. Conf. Rm., Kavli

Due to past few decades of research and development in the field of Optical Fibers, it is now a reliable and enormous data transfer rate capable transmission medium, an essential part of today's telecommunications. The talk will discuss some of the main characteristics and underlying theory for light propagation in a fiber optic medium. An application of current research interest, an Optical Fiber Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor, will be presented.

Talk: Optical Fiber Communication, Wed. @ 12:30, 2nd Fl. Kavli Bldg.

2010-02-22T10:49:00.001-08:00

====================================

Announcements:

1. Wednesday's Talk

2. New Feature

====================================

1. Talk

Optical Fiber Communication by Zafar Yasin

====================================

2. New Feature

We should call this New Feature Monday! I've added a calendar to SASS's arsenal of methods of keeping you informed. Now you can subscribe in your favorite calendar program (including iPhone/Blackberry/etc.)! I recommend setting up your own Google Calendars on your Google account and then using that to sync to whatever you own. But there are several ways to do it!

Instructions for (nearly) any setup: http://www.google.com/sync/index.html

You can find the calendar in the website under Upcoming.

On SASS: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/slac/sass/upcoming.html

iCal Address (for subscribing with other services): http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/cgn9gh13qguc5f11qdj243j354@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

Pizza Now! Kavli 3rd Floor!

2010-02-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

We have hot pizza at Kavli 3rd Floor, for ~30 minutes! Come and get it, and see what SASS will be doing! And sign up for talks!

Free Pizza, Org. Meeting, & New Info Sources

2010-02-15T23:31:00.001-08:00

Hi, SASS-ers!

Don't forget, as we start this week later that SASS is on Wednesday, only two days into the SLAC work week. We'll be having our organizational meeting too, so it's important to come!

Who: You! Your lab-mates! And any other students!
What: Free pizza and an organizational meeting
When: 12:30 PM, 2/17/2010 (next Wednesday)
Where: Kavli 3rd floor conf. room
Why: Get talks scheduled for the next few months!
Website: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/slac/sass/index.html
Poster: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/slac/sass/posters/OrgMtg2-17-2010.pdf

Also, I've been working on new outlets for information! We've added an Announcements page at SLAC, which is actually an embedded Blogger page. That's handy because it's linked with Twitter and our RSS/Atom feed. To sum up:

SASS Announcement Page: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/slac/sass/news.html
RSS/Atom: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/slac/sass (Same as the website!)
Blogger: http://sass-at-slac.blogspot.com (Designed to embed nicely in the main page.)
Twitter: SASS_at_SLAC

And it's all very easy - everything updates with a single e-mail (including the mailing list), so everything you see is in sync! Enjoy!

Joel