aspuru-list May 2007

aspuru-list@lists.fas.harvard.edu

9 participants
25 discussions

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] The Lamenting Scientist

by James D Whitfield

Dear Fellow Scientists, Coworkers and Valued Friends, There was once a very smart man. He did science from sun up to sun down. Calculations, theories, DFT, QMC, protein folding and magic. All these things he saved on his computer locked away deep in the basement at the heart of the scientific computing labs. He worked so meticulous and diligently one would have sworn he was in a monastery of science. However this fellow, smart as he was, was not a genius. Though almost, his intelligence was tragically flawed. Coherence time of 1.5 picoseconds, correlation length: 3.2 arbitrary units, 3.4 kcals per mole. He solved this equation and made headway on that one. But sadly he worked alone. Alone, deep in the basement at the heart of the labs. Soon his thesis would be complete and the solution to world hunger, global violence, genocide and AIDS would be at hand. Soon be alas, it is never soon enough. The day of reckoning came for him to unveil his creation. He felt the incubation had finally complete and he stood up and looked at all the data pouring across his triple monitor setup. He let out a twisted laugh for he knew he had completed it. "Finally," he said to himself. He walked to the phone and called his peers and colleagues to see what he had done. They entered and as he ushered them in he reached for the light switch. The lights had been off for nearly four years now. His peers were already glancing at the figures he had running across the screen. He flipped the switch but no lights came on. Instead the animations died and the monitors turned off. The glow of the power button faded and the hum of the computer fans twirlled to a stop. There was just the faint smell of burning transitors and his painful cries. So backup your data. -- You can backup your data by going to our server, Granada, at IP 128.103.54.125. It is an FTP server so you can use your favorite FTP software to connect. In the HD_a1 I made folders for everyone who already has a login. If you need to be added go to the server via the internet and login using: (admin, qc4ever) and add yourself or just send me an email and I'll do it. There are more detailed instruction to come. Stay tuned. Great Science, James Whitfield -- James D Whitfield Aspuru-Guzik Group Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Harvard University tel: 301-520-7847

16 years, 10 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Monday June 4

by Edward Farhi

Dear All We will meet on Monday June 4 at 1:00 here in our new space. We will meet in 6-310 which is the small conference room. Jake Taylor will tell us something interesting. Eddie *********************************************** Edward Farhi Professor of Physics Director Center for Theoretical Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology Building 6 Room 304 Cambridge MA 02139 617 253 4871 ***********************************************

16 years, 10 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] New Samsung Printer, Sabalan

by James D Whitfield

Dear All, We also have a new Samsung Printer named *sabalan*. Sabalan is in Minoo's office and it only prints black and white. It has a scanner and a fax if ever you should need such a thing. The address is *sabalan.chem.harvard.edu * (128.103.54.124). If you have any trouble setting up the printer, please see the wiki or email me directly with questions. Have a great night, James -- James D Whitfield Aspuru-Guzik Group Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Harvard University tel: 301-520-7847

16 years, 11 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Environmental Events Around Harvard May 24 - June 18

by Jenny MacGregor

Harvard University Center for the Environment Faculty and Friends, Please refer to the Center website for complete details on these and other environmental events taking place at and near Harvard. If you would like to add an event to the calendar, or unsubscribe from this list, please contact Jenny MacGregor, jenny_macgregor(a)harvard.edu <mailto:jenny_macgregor@harvard.edu>, 617-495-8883. *Notice:* Because there are relatively few environmentally related events taking place around Harvard during the summer months, these email reminders will be limited to occasional announcements. Weekly calendar bulletin emails will resume with the start of the 2006-2007 academic year in September. The Harvard University Center for the Environment web calendar <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm> will be updated regularly throughout the summer. Please continue to send any appropriate listings to jenny_macgregor(a)harvard.edu <mailto:jenny_macgregor@harvard.edu>. *Calendar:* *Friday 5/25/2007 * 12:00p - 1:00p Global Monitoring of Tropospheric Pollution from Geostationary Orbit <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=68359376> Kelly Chance, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Atmospheric Science Seminar Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford St., Cambridge * Saturday 5/26/2007* First Annual Harvard Fishing Derby <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=69046557> *Monday 5/28/2007* 12:30p - 2:00p Harvard Energy Journal Club <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=68418518> ** Weekly roundtable discussion open to the Harvard and MIT communities Harvard Univ. Center for the Environment (HUCE) conf. room 310, 24 Oxford St, Cambridge ** Please note that the Harvard Energy Journal Club will meet every Monday throughout the summer * Monday 6/4/2007 * 4:00p - 5:30p The Co-Benefits of Mitigating Global Greenhouse Gases: An Integrated Top-Down and Bottom-Up Modeling Analysis <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=68900028> Ms. CAO Jing, Ph.D. candidate in public policy, Harvard GSAS/KSG Harvard China Project Seminar Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford St., Cambridge *Monday 6/18/2007 * 12:00p - 1:00p Investigating Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted from Natural Landscapes and their Impact on Atmospheric Chemistry: An Experimental Perspective <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=68986177> Thomas Karl, NCAR Atmospheric Sciences Seminar Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford St., Cambridge *Tuesday 6/19/2007* 12:30p - 6:00p Opening Day - Farmer's Market at Harvard <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=69626155> Between Science Center and Memorial Hall - Harvard Yard -- Jenny MacGregor Events and Publications Coordinator Harvard University Center for the Environment ph: 617-495-8883

16 years, 11 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] fax No.

by Minoo Ardeshiri

Hi all, The Aspuru-Guzik group's fax number is : 617-496-9411. Thanks, Minoo -- Minoo Ardeshiri, Lab Administrator for Professor Alán Aspuru-Guzik Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology 12 Oxford Street Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: (617)496-9964

16 years, 11 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Monday May 21

by Edward Farhi

Dear Good Quantum People Monday May 21 we will have our group meeting in the usual spot at 1:00. Peter Love will come and talk to us about something other than his 4:00 talk. Eddie *********************************************** Edward Farhi Professor of Physics Director Center for Theoretical Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology NE25 Room 4024 Cambridge MA 02139 617 253 4871 ***********************************************

16 years, 11 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Environmental Events Around Harvard 5/17/07 - 5/31/07

by Jenny MacGregor

Dear HUCE Faculty and Friends, Please refer to the Center website for complete details on these and other environmental events taking place at and near Harvard. If you would like to add an event to the calendar, or unsubscribe from this list, please contact Jenny MacGregor, jenny_macgregor(a)harvard.edu <mailto:jenny_macgregor@harvard.edu>, 617-495-8883. *Highlights:* *5/158/07* -- Microbial Sciences Initiative Chalk Talk Breakfast -- Microbe sociobiology *5/23/07* -- Risk Communication at Harvard Center for Risk Analysis *5/25/07* -- Tropospheric Pollution with Kelly Chance *Calendar Listings:* *Thursday 5/17/2007 * 6:00p - 7:30p A Place To Call Home: The Ecology and Evolution of Birds' Nests and Eggs <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=68222987> Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge *Friday 5/18/2007 * 8:30a - 9:30a Sociobiology for microbes (and those that study them) <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=68081532> Dr. Kevin Foster, FAS Center for Systems Biology- Bauer Fellow, Harvard University Microbial Sciences Initiative (MSI) Chalktalk Harvard University Center for the Environment Seminar Room, 3rd Floor Geological Museum, 24 Oxford Street 11:00a - 12:00p Riding the wave of ecosystem services to successful conservation: triumph or wipe-out <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=66628190> Peter Kareiva -- The Nature Conservancy, Lead Scientist, Pacific Western Conservation Region Harvard Forest Winter/Spring 2007 Seminar Series Shaler Hall, Harvard Forest, Petersham, MA 12:00p - 1:00p Contrasting Climate Impacts of Fires in Boreal and Tropical Ecosystems <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=66628188> Jim Randerson, UC Irvine Atmospheric Sciences Seminar Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford St., Cambridge 12:30p - 1:30p Research Seminars in Occupational and Environmental Health <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=69591437> Kresge 502, HSPH, 677 Huntington Ave., Boston *Saturday 5/19/2007* First Annual Harvard Fishing Derby <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=69046556> 1:00p Harvard Yard Tree Walk <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=69046569> Harvard Yard *Monday 5/21/2007 * 12:30p - 2:00p Harvard Energy Journal Club <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=68418517> Weekly roundtable discussion open to the Harvard and MIT communities Harvard Univ. Center for the Environment (HUCE) conf. room 310, 24 Oxford St, Cambridge *Wednesday 5/23/2007 * 3:30p - 5:00p Managing Risk Communications <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=69417874> Baruch Fischhoff Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University Harvard Center for Risk Analysis Seminar Series Landmark 414A, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston *Friday 5/25/2007* 12:00p - 1:00p Global Monitoring of Tropospheric Pollution from Geostationary Orbit <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=68359376> Kelly Chance, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Atmospheric Science Seminar *Saturday 5/26/2007 * First Annual Harvard Fishing Derby <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=69046557> *Monday 5/28/2007 * 12:30p - 2:00p Harvard Energy Journal Club <http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/index.htm?event_id=68418518> Weekly roundtable discussion open to the Harvard and MIT communities Harvard Univ. Center for the Environment (HUCE) conf. room 310, 24 Oxford St, Cambridge -- Jenny MacGregor Events and Publications Coordinator Harvard University Center for the Environment ph: 617-495-8883

16 years, 11 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] ITAMP conference.

by Alan Aspuru-Guzik

Dear group, There is a cool conference at ITAMP about quantum architectures. I think going there is very relevant to the group's interests. I am seeing if we need to pay the registration fee or not, in the meantime, give me a head-count of who is interested in attending at Jake or James's presentations tomorrow. http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/itamp/HybridSchedule.htm Alan -- Alán Aspuru-Guzik Assistant Professor Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology 12 Oxford Street Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: (617)384-8188 Group URL: http://aspuru.chem.harvard.edu

16 years, 11 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Today

by Edward Farhi

Dear Quantum People We will have our group meeting today at 1:00 in the usual spot. I am hoping that Itai Arad who is speaking at 4:00 will join us. Eddie *********************************************** Edward Farhi Professor of Physics Director Center for Theoretical Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology NE25 Room 4024 Cambridge MA 02139 617 253 4871 ***********************************************

16 years, 11 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [iic-seminars] [Colloquium] Seminar in G135 MD -- 5/17 -- 4 PM

by colloquium＠deas.harvard.edu

*Professor Maurice Smith has invited Reza Shadmehr to Speak at a Seminar entitled "Motor Adaptation and the Timescales of Memory " in G135 MD -- Thursday, 5/17 -- 4 PM and invites you to attend. The abstract is below. * Motor Adaptation and the Timescales of Memory Abstract When the brain generates a motor command, it also predicts the sensory consequences of that command via an "internal model". The reliance on a model appears to make the brain able to sense the world better than is possible from the sensors alone. However, this happens only when the models are accurate. To keep the models accurate, the brain must constantly learn from prediction errors. Here I use examples from saccade and reach adaptation to demonstrate that learning is guided by multiple timescales: a fast system that strongly responds to error but rapidly forgets, and a slow system that weakly responds to error but has good retention. Why should learning be guided by multiple timescales? The response of the motor apparatus to neural commands varies due to many causes. Fast timescale disturbances occur when muscles fatigue. Disturbances with a slow timescale occur when muscles are damaged, or limb dynamics change due to development. To maintain performance, motor commands need to adapt. Computing the best adaptation in response to any performance error results in a credit assignment problem: what timescale is responsible for this disturbance? I show that a Bayesian solution to this problem accounts for numerous behaviors of animals during both short and long-term training. Our analysis focuses on characteristics of the oculomotor system during learning, including effects of time passage. However, I suggest that learning and memory in other paradigms, such as reach adaptation, the adaptation of visual neurons, and retrieval of declarative memories, largely follow similar rules. _______________________________________________ Colloquium mailing list Colloquium(a)deas.harvard.edu https://lists.deas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/colloquium _______________________________________________ iic-seminars mailing list iic-seminars(a)calists.harvard.edu http://calists.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/iic-seminars

16 years, 11 months

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aspuru-list May 2007