Sunday, June 28, 2015

Energy (and Other) Events - June 28, 2015

Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater Boston area that catch the editor's eye.

Hubevents  http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.

If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke@world.std.com

What I Do and Why I Do It:  The Story of Energy (and Other) Events
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-i-do-and-why-i-do-it.html

---------------------------------------------------------
*******************************************

******
-------
Index
--------
******

----------------------
Monday, June 29
----------------------

8:15am  Bioinspired Robotics: Softer, Smarter, Safer

-----------------------
Tuesday, June 30
-----------------------

8am  Visible Solutions: How Neuroimaging Helps Law Re-envision Pain
9am  Watson Analytics LIVE! - Cambridge
12pm  Ideology and Text: Classifying and Analyzing Discourse using Machine Learning
4pm  You've Got a Great Idea & Nobody Cares with Richard Banfield
5pm  The Value of Drug Development: Can Society Afford Today's New Wonder Drugs?
5:30pm  The Just Crust's Second Anniversary Celebration
6pm  Boston Green Drinks - June Happy Hour
7pm  Sustainability unBrella - Team Recruitment Open House
8pm  Don’t Nuke the Climate: Lessons for the U.S. from Japan and Germany

-------------------------
Wednesday, July 1
------------------------

10am  Thesis Defense: Pushing the Limits of Wireless Networks: Interference Management and Indoor Positioning

---------------------
Thursday, July 2 
----------------------

8:30am    A Complex Story of Iran’s Rapidly Disappearing Most Famous Lake: Can Water Diplomacy Enable a New Future for the Urmia Lake?
5:30pm  Project Night: Mapping Boston's Social Good Ecosystem
6pm  Sustainability Collaborative [Cancelled]
7pm  Why Information Grows:  The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies

-----------------
Friday, July 3
-----------------

9am  Can Water Diplomacy Enable a New Future for Urmia Lake?

--------------------
Monday, July 6
-------------------

11am  MIT Launch Final Pitches

----------------------
Tuesday, July 7
----------------------

12pm  The Web We Want & The Ed We Want
6pm  #TechHubTuesday Demo Night - July 2015

---------------------------------------------------------
*******************************************

My rough notes on some of the events I go to and notes on books I’ve read are at:
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com

---------------------------------------------------------
*******************************************

----------------------
Monday, June 29
----------------------

Bioinspired Robotics: Softer, Smarter, Safer
WHEN  Mon., June 29, 2015
WHERE  Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Conferences, Education, Environmental Sciences, Ethics, Science, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
SPEAKER(S)  Raffaello D'Andrea, ETH Zurich, Verity Studios
Ken Gabriel, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
Helen Greiner, CyPhy Works
Don Ingber, Wyss Institute at Harvard University, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard University
Homayoon Kazerooni, University of California, Berkeley
Radhika Nagpal, Wyss Institute at Harvard University, Harvard SEAS
David Reinkensmeyer, University of California, Irvine
Koichi Suzumori, Tokyo Institute of Technology
Daniel Theobald, Vecna
Barry Trimmer, Tufts University
Manuela Veloso, Carnegie Mellon University
Conor Walsh, Wyss Institute at Harvard University, Harvard SEAS
Robert Wood, Wyss Institute at Harvard University, Harvard SEAS
CONTACT INFO info@wyss.harvard.edu
DETAILS
The Wyss Institute's 6th annual international symposium will focus on the recent development and near-term impact of bioinspired robots that self-organize, respond and adapt to their environment, enhance movement, and interact in a seamless way with humans to improve health and society. Organized by Wyss Institute Core Faculty members Radhika Nagpal, Conor Walsh, Robert Wood and Don Ingber, the day will include a number of distinguished speakers and end with a panel discussion focused on the future of this innovative field, followed by a keynote presentation from Helen Greiner of CyPhy Works.
LINK http://wyss.harvard.edu/viewevent/453/

-----------------------
Tuesday, June 30
-----------------------

Visible Solutions: How Neuroimaging Helps Law Re-envision Pain
WHEN  Tue., June 30, 2015, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
WHERE  Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein West A, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Conferences, Health Sciences, Law, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR This event is part of the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. Cosponsored by the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School, and with support from the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund.
COST  Free and open to the public; registration required
CONTACT INFO chutchisonjones@law.harvard.edu
DETAILS  Can brain imaging be a “pain-o-meter” that tells courts when a person is in pain? Can fMRI help us discern whether intractable chronic pain is “all in your head” or all in the brain – or will it require us to reconsider that distinction? Leading neuroscientists, legal scholars, and bioethicists will debate standards and limits on how the law can use brain science to get smarter about a subject that touches everyone.
The full agenda will be announced on the website in the coming weeks.
LINK http://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/events/details/visible-solutions

------------------------

Watson Analytics LIVE! - Cambridge
Tuesday, June 30
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM (EDT)
IBM, 1 Rogers Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/watson-analytics-live-cambridge-tickets-17011301260

Watson Analytics LIVE! is a live event running in Cambridge on June 30 designed to introduce you to revolutionary approach to analytics that is smart data discovery. Learn from Watson Analytics experts how you can benefit from guided exploration, automated predictive analysis and effortless dashboard creation. See a live demonstration of the power of collaborative analysis combining data from Twitter, Cognos Enterprise Reporting systems, standard relational databases and cloud data storage sources.

Following the demonstration of the solution, spend some time networking with your peers and experts.

Agenda
8:30-9:00am Breakfast
9:00-11:00am Demonstration of power of Watson Analytics
11:00-12:00pm Networking Hour – Ask the Experts

-------------------------------

Ideology and Text: Classifying and Analyzing Discourse using Machine Learning
Tuesday, June 30
12:00 pm
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Universitym 23 Everett Street, Second Floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2015/06/Hashmi#RSVP
This event will be webcast live on https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2015/06/Hashmi at 12:00 pm

with Ali Hashmi
Typically, text analysis tools uncover patterns in the data without uncovering the 'ideology' embedded in the text. In doing so, they conceal the function of the relation of 'what is being said' to its social, and, more importantly, political context. As part of my research, I have developed a tool that uses data-driven approaches for classifying discourse in news media. My research combines critical discourse analysis (CDA) approaches with corpus linguistics using machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) techniques. The objective of CDA approaches is to make more visible the hidden aspects of discourse by looking at the latent social ideologies that permeate social texts. On the other hand, corpus linguistics is an agnostic way of studying language patterns in large amounts of text. As an instance of this framework, I have developed a tool for analyzing discourse on Islam in the mainstream media. The tool is based on the hypothesis that the media coverage in several mainstream news sources tends to contextualize Muslims largely as a group embroiled in conflict at a disproportionately large level. My hypothesis is based on the assumption that discourse on Islam in mainstream global media tends to lean toward the dangerous "clash of civilizations" frame. To test this hypothesis, I have developed a prototype tool "Said-Huntington Discourse Analyzer" that machine classifies news articles on a normative scale— a scale that measures "clash of civilization" polarization in an article on the basis of conflict. The tool also extracts semantically meaningful conversations for a media source using topic modeling, allowing the users to discover frames of conversations on the basis of Said-Huntington index classification.

About Ali
Ali Hashmi is a researcher at the MIT Center for Civic Media. At the center, he is developing software tools that machine-classify and analyze discourse in news articles to elucidate the relationships between language, social identities and power.  Ali is interested in projects and ideas at the intersection of journalism and technology. In particular, Ali is interested in: 1) understanding the ontology of digital asymmetries on the Internet; and 2) developing relevant media technologies for leveling the inequalities produced by these asymmetries. Prior to MIT, Ali was a McCormick scholar at Medill (Northwestern) and a Knight fellow at the Globe Lab (Boston Globe, NYTCO). He has worked as a software architect and development manager for Bell Canada for nearly nine years, leading business intelligence and data integration teams in Toronto, Montreal, London (Ontario) and Bangalore; he has also worked as a journalist in Pakistan. He holds an MS degree from MIT Media Lab, an MSJ degree from Northwestern University, and a BS degree in Computer Science from the University of Western Ontario.
-------------------------------

You've Got a Great Idea & Nobody Cares with Richard Banfield
Tuesday, June 30
4:00 PM to 5:30 PM (EDT)
Harvard Innovation Lab, 125 Western Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/youve-got-a-great-idea-nobody-cares-with-richard-banfield-tickets-17232278208

You have a great idea and nobody cares: How to figure out who cares and how to get them to buy from you.
Richard Banfield, Co-Founder and CEO of Fresh Tilled Soil, will give you the essential tools to identify who your customers are and what the various touch points will be along their journey with your product or service. These tools are the same tools used by leading design-driven companies like Apple, Google and Dyson to develop a remarkable and rewarding experience for their customers.
From this workshop, you'll learn tools that are both lean and useful for:
Identifying who your customer is
Defining the experience that will get them to buy (or use) your product

-------------------------------

The Value of Drug Development: Can Society Afford Today's New Wonder Drugs?
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
5:00p–7:30p
The Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge
http://www.mitforumcambridge.org/events/the-value-of-drug-development-can-society-afford-todays-new-wonder-drugs/#register
Cost:  $0 - $30

Speaker: David Meeker, MD, President & CEO, Genzyme Corporation, a Sanofi Company
Please join us for a candid discussion between Genzyme CEO, David Meeker, and Boston Globe healthcare and life sciences reporter, Robert Weisman, on the value, economics, and perception of drugs and drug development. The annual healthcare cost in the United States is roughly $4 trillion per year and rising. This large and ever increasing cost drives a national debate on ways to control and reduce healthcare spending. The perceived high cost of drugs has become a preferred target, despite only accounting for 10% of the total healthcare costs. Some argue that drugs are overpriced while others believe that novel drugs are the key to reducing healthcare costs.

The potential to keep a patient out of the hospital or even provide a cure holds tremendous value and potential cost savings. But why do so many people think of the drug development industry in a negative light? Can society afford drugs the way they are priced now? Do novel drugs provide the appropriate value relative to their costs for patients? Do the pharmaceutical and biotech companies developing drugs deserve to have a better reputation? Can new drugs ultimately lower overall healthcare costs? We will discuss these and other important questions.

Presenters:
David Meeker, MD, President & CEO, Genzyme Corporation, a Sanofi Company
Robert Weisman, Boston Globe Healthcare and Life Sciences Reporter
Web site: http://www.mitforumcambridge.org/events/the-value-of-drug-development-can-society-afford-todays-new-wonder-drugs/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free for Students
Sponsor(s): MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge
For more information, contact:  Amy Goggins
617-253-3937
entforumcambridge@mit.edu 

-------------------------------

The Just Crust's Second Anniversary Celebration
Tuesday, June 30
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (EDT)
The Just Crust Pizzeria, 49 Brattle Street #B, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-just-crusts-second-anniversary-celebration-tickets-17491523618

The Just Crust Pizzeria invites everyone to join us for our Second Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday, June 30th from 5:30pm-7:30pm.  Restaurant Opportunities Center United – Boston is our cohost, honoring our two years in business as a “high road” employer, dedicated to treating and paying our workers fairly and being an economically and environmentally sustainable enterprise.  Join us for a free, fun evening featuring great food discounts, Giveaways, a Berkshire Brewing Company Tap Takeover and more!  Community Speakers will include State Representative Marjorie Decker and Cambridge City Councillor Leland Cheung!

-------------------------------

Boston Green Drinks - June Happy Hour
Tuesday, June 30
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
Scholars, 25 School Street, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-green-drinks-june-happy-hour-tickets-16958749075

Find us on the balcony!
Join the conversation with sustainability professionals and hobbyists.  Enjoy a drink and build your connection with our green community!
Keep sending feedback to Lyn@bostongreendrinks.com for ideas about speakers or content for the future and mark your calendar for drinks on the last Tuesday of every month.  Also, if you RSVP and can't make it, e-mail us to let us know.

Boston Green Drinks  builds a community of sustainably-minded Bostonians, provides a forum for exchange of sustainability career resources, and serves as a central point of information about emerging green issues.  We support the exchange of ideas and resources about sustainable energy, environment, food, health, education.

---------------------------

Sustainability unBrella - Team Recruitment Open House
Tuesday, June 30
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EDT)
Impact Hub Boston, 50 Milk Street, 17th Floor, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/sustainability-unbrella-team-recruitment-open-house-tickets-17066571575

City Awake is excited to announce the launch of Sustainability unBrella and to invite passionate volunteers to join our growing team!

The Sustainability unBrella aims to foster and infuse sustainability principles into Boston’s social impact and start-up ecosystem. We strive to connect like-minded individuals, organizations, and ideas in unconventional ways to broaden impact and empower Greater Boston residents. This is accomplished through specific deliverables that complement strategies for reducing our individual footprints and magnifying our collective handprint.

Fueled by a team of changemakers dedicated to transforming Boston into a model for innovative sustainability through social impact, the Sustainability unBrella grew out of the 3rd annual Sustainability unConference. While strengthening sustainability practices within each of City Awake's undertakings, our goal is to foster connections and partnerships and to build the necessary pathways and infrastructure needed to accelerate closed-loop, creative solutions within and across greater Boston.

If you are interested in joining the Sustainability unBrella Team, please join us on Tuesday, June 30th from 7:00 – 9:00pm at Impact Hub. The team will be hosting a Recruitment Open House to share more details on the initiatives as well as ways that you and others can join the talented, passionate team!

The Sustainability unBrella is a 2015 initiative of City Awake, which seeks to establish Boston as a global capital for social impact by building a vibrant, collaborative ecosystem. In strengthening this community and building the infrastructure to collaboratively take action on local and global problems, we believe that a genuine infrastructure, one with logistical mechanisms, resources, and social spaces, is only as sustainable as the relationships it supports. For this reason, City Awake strives to connect Boston’s leaders, thinkers, and do-ers, and develop the partnerships and opportunities for greater impact that extend beyond existing silos.

---------------------------

Don’t Nuke the Climate: Lessons for the U.S. from Japan and Germany
Tuesday, June 30
8-9:30pm Eastern (5-6:30pm Pacific)
Conference call, not a webinar. All you need is a phone. 
RSVP at http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5502/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=78323

Please join NIRS for a major national briefing by one of the true global leaders in renewable energy and sustainability, Amory Lovins. He will describe the implications of the Fukushima nuclear disaster on global energy policy and lay out the reasons why we cannot afford to bet on nuclear power to save the climate. And he'll talk about how Germany is showing that phasing out nuclear and fossil fuels at the same time is the way to go.

NIRS Executive Director Tim Judson will give a ground’s eye view of how the battle lines are being drawn around the country, and what activists are doing to push back and protect sustainable energy from attacks by the nuclear industry.

There will be ample time for questions and discussion. Pre-registration is required. Register now and you will receive instructions for how to join the call.

Major decisions are being made in 2015 that affect the climate, our environment, and energy. And one of the thorniest of all of them will be whether to stake protecting the climate on a radioactive future. The nuclear industry is rallying nationally and globally to push for nuclear power as the preferred source of energy to replace fossil fuels. They are pressing the Environmental Protection Agency to include unbalanced, expensive, and unnecessary incentives for nuclear power in regulations to reduce power plant carbon emissions this summer. And they are taking their case to the COP21 global climate treaty negotiations in Paris later this year.

OUR PRESENTERS:
Amory Lovins has become a global enabler of energy efficiency and renewable development. His recent work in Europe, the U.S. and China has helped to create break-through levels of corporate commitment to real sustainability. A classic Lovins item on how nuclear is a negative investment for climate stability was published in 2009, “Eight Convenient Truths.”

Tim Judson leads NIRS and a large collaborative effort of many different groups to challenge the nuclear utilities' bid to derail solar and wind development and true consumer efficiency in the U.S. in the name of continued taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies at both the State and Federal levels. Read his piece, Killing the Competition, here.

Contact NIRS SE staffer, Mary Olson (828-252-8409) or maryo@nirs.org

-------------------------
Wednesday, July 1
------------------------

Thesis Defense: Pushing the Limits of Wireless Networks: Interference Management and Indoor Positioning
Wednesday, July 1
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
MIT, Building 32-G449 Patil/Kiva, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Swarun Kumar , MIT-CSAIL
Abstract: Wireless networks are everywhere around us and form a big part of our day-to-day lives. In this talk, I will present my work on addressing the key challenges and opportunities of modern wireless networks. First, can we use the ubiquitous Wi-Fi infrastructure around us to deliver new services, beyond communication? In particular, this talk focuses on indoor positioning, a service that has grabbed the attention of the academia and industry. While GPS has
revolutionized outdoor navigation, it does not work indoors. Past work that has explored this problem is either limited in accuracy with errors of several meters, or advocates complete overhaul of the infrastructure with massive antenna-array access points that do not exist on consumer devices. Inspired by radar systems, I developed Ubicarse, the first purely-software indoor positioning system for existing Wi-Fi devices that achieves tens of cm in positioning accuracy.

Second, perhaps our biggest expectation from modern wireless networks is faster communication speeds. However, state-of-the-art Wi-Fi networks continue to struggle in crowded environments — airports and hotel lobbies. The core reason is interference — Wi-Fi access points today avoid transmitting at the same time on the same frequency, since they would otherwise interfere with each other. I describe OpenRF, a novel system that enables today’s Wi-Fi access points to directly combat this interference and demonstrate significantly faster data-rates for real applications.

Bio: Swarun Kumar is a Ph.D Candidate at MIT working on wireless networks and systems. Over his Ph.D, he designed and built new systems that leverage a deep understanding of the wireless physical layer to design and build faster wireless networks and deliver new services. His work has been featured as research highlights in the Communications of the ACM (CACM) and the International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR). Swarun is a recipient of the Jacobs presidential fellowship at MIT and the President of India gold medal at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. Swarun received his masters degree from MIT and undergraduate degree from IIT Madras.

Contact: Mary McDavitt, 617-253-9620, mmcdavit@csail.mit.edu
Relevant URL: http://www.mit.edu/~swarun/

---------------------
Thursday, July 2
----------------------

A Complex Story of Iran’s Rapidly Disappearing Most Famous Lake: Can Water Diplomacy Enable a New Future for the Urmia Lake?
Thursday, July 2, 2015 at 8:30 AM - Friday, July 3, 2015 at 1:00 PM (EDT)
Tufts University, Tisch Library - Austin Room, 35 Professors Row, Medford
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-complex-story-of-irans-rapidly-disappearing-most-famous-lake-can-water-diplomacy-enable-a-new-tickets-16941940801

Future of Urmia Lake: An exploration of a cross-disciplinary approach
Urmia Lake is the largest inland lake in Iran and one of the largest saline lakes in the world. The lake basin registered as an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve because it is one of the most influential and valuable aquatic ecosystems in the country. The lake basin, as a socio-ecological region, faced extreme water shortages in the recent years due to water overuse and climate change. The lake’s surface water levels are below the critical level and groundwater level in parts of the basin have decreased by up to 16 meters. The lake requires a minimum inflow of 3.1 billion cubic meters per year to compensate for evaporation; reduced lake levels increases the occurrence of salty dust that causes respiratory health problems for people and agricultural challenges when its settles on nearby cropland.
Currently, local and national organizations including multiple government and non-governmental groups are working to maintain the lake’s condition. However, there is no consensus among the stakeholders with regard to the water allocation mechanism. The main issue is that cutting water from one section for the benefit of others is so difficult.
An effective way to address these types of complex water allocation problems is to reframe them as joint decision-making problems. From identifying and defining the problem to innovating and implementing mutual gains options for resolutions, these tasks can generate politically legitimate policies and projects based on science with active participation of all involved parties. The Water Diplomacy Framework (WDF) is emerging as an alternative to traditional technology- or values-focused approach to water management (Islam and Susskind 2013). The WDF diagnoses water problems, identifies intervention points, and proposes sustainable resolutions that are sensitive to diverse viewpoints and uncertainty as well as changing and competing demands.
To explore these issues, Tufts University Water Diplomacy Program is organizing a workshop with the help of MIT to focus on the Urmia Lake case study. The event will be attended by several experts from Iran, and will attempt to answer these questions:
What is the “bottleneck” in water allocation in Urmia Lake Basin?
How can the water be reallocated from agricultural for the benefit of the environment?
How to compensate the farmers regarding for their water rights?
What are job creation opportunities for the farmers in this region?
At the end of the event a technical report will be compiled and presented to those working on Urmia Lake restoration.

Schedule
July 2, 2015, Day 1: Tufts University, Medford, MA
8:30 Registration
9:00 - 13:00 Topic One: Challenges of Urmia Lake
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 - 16:00 Topic Two: Solutions

July 3, 2015, Day 2: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
8:30 Registration
9:00 - 13:00 Topic Three: Socio-economic Impacts and Challenges of Urmia Lake Restoration Plans

----------------------------

Project Night: Mapping Boston's Social Good Ecosystem
Thursday, July 2
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
The Democracy Center, 45 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Data-Science-for-Social-Good/events/223371063/

The plan for this project night is to map out the local "social good" ecosystem with respect to topics such as public healthcare, income inequality, gender-related topics, crime, education, transportation, clean energy, et al.    The goal will be to develop community resources pages akin to the ones for climate change and edtech (eventually these tables would be converted to a database / better web interface).  

http://bostondatacommunity.org/climate-change/

In addition to the organizations and directories that members know about first-hand, we will use both old-school google searches as well as mining Twitter.  For Twitter, one goal will be to develop code that can be used to help explore different areas of interest.   The Twitter data could be used to create Twitter lists, get website addresses, make network diagrams, or the like.

----------------------------

[Cancelled]
Sustainability Collaborative
Thursday, July 2
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Venture Cafe – Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, 5th floor,  Cambridge

The Venture Café Foundation has partnered with EcoMotion to bring the Sustainability Collaborative to monthly Venture Café gatherings.
Stay tuned for more information about this month’s Sustainability Collaborative.

Questions? Contact Sierra at sflanigan@ecomotion.us
Venture Cafe Foundation
http://vencaf.org/
http://www.vencaf.org/calendar

-------------------------------

Why Information Grows:  The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies
Thursday, July 2
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge,

Harvard Book Store welcomes MIT associate professor of media arts and sciences CÉSAR HIDALGO for a discussion of his book Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies.
What is economic growth? And why, historically, has it occurred in only a few places? Previous efforts to answer these questions have focused on institutions, geography, finances, and psychology. But according to MIT's antidisciplinarian César Hidalgo, understanding the nature of economic growth demands transcending the social sciences and including the natural sciences of information, networks, and complexity. To understand the growth of economies, Hidalgo argues, we first need to understand the growth of order.

At first glance, the universe seems hostile to order. Thermodynamics dictates that over time, order—or information—disappears. Whispers vanish in the wind just like the beauty of swirling cigarette smoke collapses into disorderly clouds. But thermodynamics also has loopholes that promote the growth of information in pockets. Although cities are all pockets where information grows, they are not all the same. For every Silicon Valley, Tokyo, and Paris, there are dozens of places with economies that accomplish little more than pulling rocks out of the ground. So, why does the US economy outstrip Brazil's, and Brazil's that of Chad? Why did the technology corridor along Boston's Route 128 languish while Silicon Valley blossomed? In each case, the key is how people, firms, and the networks they form make use of information.

Seen from Hidalgo's vantage, economies become distributed computers, made of networks of people, and the problem of economic development becomes the problem of making these computers more powerful. By uncovering the mechanisms that enable the growth of information in nature and society, Why Information Grows lays bear the origins of physical order and economic growth. Situated at the nexus of information theory, physics, sociology, and economics, this book propounds a new theory of how economies can do not just more things, but more interesting things.

Featured event books will be for sale at the event for 20% off. Thank you for supporting this author series with your purchases.
General Info
(617) 661-1515
info@harvard.com 

-----------------
Friday, July 3
-----------------

Can Water Diplomacy Enable a New Future for Urmia Lake?
Friday, July 3
9:00a–1:00p
MIT, Building 32-144, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-complex-story-of-irans-rapidly-disappearing-most-famous-lake-can-water-diplomacy-enable-a-new-tickets-16913873852

Iranian Studies Group in collaboration with Tufts Institute of the Environment is pleased to host a 2-day workshop on the future of Urmia Lake entitled "Can Water Diplomacy Enable a New Future for Urmia Lake?". This workshop aims at understanding the challenges facing this unique body of water in northwestern Iran the by bringing together faculty members and experts from Iran and US. Three panel discussions along with lectures are scheduled for this event, and experts will discuss different aspects of the problem including:
Urmia Lake: Context, History, and Challenges
Can Water Diplomacy Enable a New Future for Urmia Lake?
Socio-Economic Impacts and Challenges of Urmia Lake Restoration Plans

The event will be organized at Tufts University for the first day and at MIT on the second day. This a free event but you need to register in advance to join the sessions.
The event will be also broadcast online. For details on how to participate online please refer to the event page closer to the event day.

Web site: https://www.facebook.com/events/1606642766272878/
Open to: Registration is required
Cost: Free
Tickets: https://goo.gl/jrRmoS
Sponsor(s): GSC Activities, Iranian Studies Group @ MIT
For more information, contact:  Poorya Hosseini
prossini@mit.edu
--------------------
Monday, July 6
-------------------

MIT Launch Final Pitches
Monday, July 6
11:00 AM to 5:00 PM (EDT)
MIT, Building 10-250, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/mit-launch-final-pitches-tickets-17230076623

 U.S. and International High School Students will be pitching their business ideas at MIT
The MIT Launch teams of students from around the US and world will be pitching their companies on July 6. This final pitch event is a chance for you to see what these young entrepreneurs have accomplished over their 4-week Launch experience. The pitches will be comprised of the teams’ execution on their ideas, business models, and future plans; an exciting and pivotal moment for you to witness in these students entrepreneurial careers.
Schedule of Events
Pitches: 11am to 5pm
Poster Session and Appetiziers: 12pm to 2pm

MIT Launch is a summer entrepreneurship program for high school students where they start real companies while learning the entrepreneurial skills and mindset. Students go through rigorous coursework, collaborate with peers and mentors, and use the multitude of tools surrounding them at MIT to realize what it takes to be successful in the real world – resourcefulness, adaptability, and innovation.

----------------------
Tuesday, July 7
----------------------

The Web We Want & The Ed We Want
Tuesday, July 7
12:00 pm
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, 23 Everett Street, Second Floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2015/07/Reich#RSVP
Event will be webcast live on https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2015/07/Reich at 12:00 pm

with Justin Reich
The past decade has seen a dramatic decline in user agency all across the Web, but especially in education. The Aughts saw the budding of a golden age of user-produced media on the Web. But these buds never fully flowered, over-shadowed by the development of proprietary platforms like Facebook in the social sector and learning management systems in the educational sector. Thinkers like Anil Dash have lamented "The Web We Lost," and groups like the Indieweb movement and the Reclaim Innovation movements are working to revitalize a user-owned and user-produced Web.
In this talk, Justin Reich will highlight some of the exciting innovations within education that seek to put students and learners in charge of their online lives. Experiments are taking place in scattered courses and across entire colleges to raise a generation of learners ready to stake out their own claims on the Web, and to take back the means of production and sharing.

About Justin
Justin Reich is an educational researcher broadly interested in the future of learning in a networked world. His professional work is motivated by a desire to transform the architecture of education away from centralized, hierarchical models of teaching and towards distributed, networked models of learning. He studies, designs, and advocates for learning systems that shift education from something done to learners to something done with learners, from channels of dissemination to webs of sharing.

Justin is the Richard L. Menschel HarvardX Research Fellow, based in the Office of the President and Provost at Harvard University, where he explores the possibilities and limits of open online learning. He is a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society and a visiting lecturer in MIT’s Scheller Teacher Education program. He is also the co-founder of EdTechTeacher, a professional learning consultancy devoted to helping teachers leverage technology to create student-centered, inquiry-based learning environments.He earned his doctorate from Harvard University, where he led the Distributed Collaborative Learning Communities project, a Hewlett Foundation funded initiative to examine how social media are used in K-12 classrooms. His dissertation, The State of Wiki Usage in U.S. K-12 Schools, drew upon a population of 180,000 education-related wikis as well as over 100 interviews and observations with wiki-using teachers to measure the degree to which wikis supported deeper learning in classrooms across the United States.

Justin is a co-author of Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers by Teachers, and his academic work has been published in Educational Researcher, Social Education, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, and other venues. His opinion writings have been published in the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, The Providence Journal, and other publications. He blogs for Education Week at EdTechResearcher.

Justin has taught in a wide variety of settings. He was a camp counselor and trip leader at Camp Chewonki, a lifeguard and CPR instructor with the American Red Cross, a search and rescue instructor with the Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group, a wilderness medicine instructor with Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities, and an international expedition leader with World Challenge Expeditions. He taught at the Shackleton school, an expedition-based school, and he taught freshman world history and electives for seniors at the Noble and Greenough School, where he also coached wrestling and co-led the outdoor activities group.

Justin served as Outstanding Educator in Residence for the Academy of Singapore Teachers, a Digital Media and Learning Summer Fellow with the MacArthur Foundation, and a member of the 2012 class of Emerging Leaders for the International Society for Technology in Education. He is a member of the Digital Learning Advisory Council for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and serves on the advisory boards of the Chewonki Foundation and the Fay School.

----------------------------

#TechHubTuesday Demo Night - July 2015
Tuesday, July 7
6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (EDT)
TechHub, 3rd Floor, 212 Elm Street, Davis Square, Somerville
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/techhubtuesday-demo-night-july-2015-tickets-16129633167

Demo Night is a chance to see what the top startups are working on, these are the people that are changing the future of business & tech!

Join #TechHubTuesday at TechHub to experience great demos from the exciting tech entrepreneur community.   Follow the # all day to see other demos taking place in Bengaluru and then London.

Each startup has 5 minutes to demo their product in front of a live audience, it's not a pitch but an opportunity for each startup to explain (and show) what they have been working on. After each demo there is live Q&A with the audience.  The idea is to foster innovation and iteration.  It's not about slamming the presenter!

Afterwards, stick around for beer and wine, network, play ping pong or take a look round the space.
*****************
----------------------
Upcoming Events
----------------------
*****************

-------------------------
Wednesday, July 8
-------------------------

Immune mechanisms of synapse loss in health and disease
Wednesday, July 8
6-7pm
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard - Auditorium, 415 Main Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/immune-mechanisms-of-synapse-loss-in-health-and-disease-tickets-16899726537

How synapses are eliminated in the developing and diseased brain remains a mystery. During development, synaptic pruning is required for precise wiring, and emerging evidence implicates immune-related molecules and immune cells called microglia. This talk reviews research on how these pathways regulate the formation, refinement, and elimination of specific axons and synapses during development. The discoveries suggest ways of protecting synapses in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders involving synapse loss.

Beth Stevens
Beth Stevens is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in the FM Kirby Neurobiology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is also a member of the Broad Institute and the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. Her research investigates the mechanisms by which synaptic connections in the brain are formed and eliminated in health and disease.

Stevens received her Ph.D. in neuroscience in 2003 from the University of Maryland, College Park. She performed her dissertation research at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in the area of neuron-glia interactions. During her postdoctoral work with Ben Barres at Stanford University, she discovered that the classical complement cascade, part of the innate immune system, mediates the pruning of inappropriate synaptic connections in the developing brain.

In 2008, Stevens established her independent laboratory in the Neurobiology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she is using a combination of live imaging, molecular, biochemical, and neuroanatomical approaches to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which immune molecules and immune cells called microglia prune synapses in health and disease. Her recent work demonstrates immune-related pruning pathways mediate aberrant synapse loss and dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease) and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. Stevens hasbeen the recipient of several awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar Award, and John Merck Scholar Award.

----------------------
Thursday, July 9
----------------------

Info Table: Boston GreenFest 2015
July 9
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Venture Cafe – Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, 5th floor, Cambridge


Take a step toward a greener future by participating in Boston GreenFest on August 21-23 at Boston City Hall Plaza Government Center. Stop by their Info Table in the Café to learn about volunteering or other ways to get involved.

--------------------------

EnergyBar!
Thursday, July 9
5:30pm - 8:30pm
Greentown Labs, 28 Dane Street, Somerville
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/energybar-registration-15734099114
Suggested contribution - $10

About EnergyBar: EnergyBar is a monthly event devoted to helping people in clean technology meet and discuss innovations in energy technology. Entrepreneurs, investors, students, and ‘friends of cleantech,’ are invited to attend, meet colleagues, and expand our growing regional clean technology community.

Light appetizers and drinks will be served starting at 5:30 pm. Suggested dress is shop floor casual.
--------------------------

Learn to Observe: Tree Spotters Citizen Science Launch
Wednesday, July 8
5:30-9:00pm
Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, Boston
RSVP at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Policies.aspx
Jehane Samaha and Suzanne Mrozak
Would you like to learn more about the Arnold Arboretum's trees? Would you enjoy connecting with the Arboretum ecologists and fellow citizen science volunteers? If so, we invite you to observe trees by participating in our new “Tree Spotters" program.

This citizen science program will open a window into the Arboretum's phenology - the timing of natural events, such as the leafing out of trees in the spring and the turning of colors in the fall. Attend a free training session. All experience levels welcome.

At the training session, you will learn about phenology, explore the tracking methods we will be using, and get hands-on experience with one of the ten species of trees we are tracking. Tree Spotters will participate in the program by visiting the Arboretum two or more times a month from May through mid-November for a 1 to 2 hour tree-spotting session. You can do this on your own, with friends or family, or with other volunteers. You will enter your observations into your Nature’s Notebook Observation Deck — allowing you to see patterns across the season! Registered participants will receive an e-mail before the training with further information.
Free, but registration requested

If you cannot make this training but are still interested in the program, please contact us at TreeSpotters@fas.harvard.edu. 

--------------------------

"Play in Public Art" a panel discussion
Thursday, July 9
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM (EDT)
Lawn on D, 420 D Street, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/play-in-public-art-a-panel-discussion-tickets-17376323050

After decades of bronze memorials, whimsical public art is reinvigorating Boston’s public spaces this summer. What's more, this playful spirit is drawing huge crowds. From Höweler + Yoon Architecture’s iconic Swing Time and the recent Pentalum inflatable at the Lawn on D, to Janet Echelman’s ethereal sculpture on the Greenway, to Figment’s upcoming Giant Typewriter, Boston’s public art projects are generating national excitement and doing so with a playful tone.

Join co-sponsors BSA Space, D Street ArtLab, and Now and There on July 9, 6–7pm for Play in Public Art a lively discussion with the artists, architects and citizens who are making public art happen in Boston. We’ll explore the role of play in three current public art topics – spectacle, site, and architecture – in a fast-paced, round-robin discussion followed by Q&A.
This event coincides with the opening of “Intrude”, a spectacularly playful four-day installation by Tasmanian artist Amanda Parer at the Lawn on D, and will be hosted among Parer’s larger-than-life inflatable rabbits as part of the D Street ArtLAB’s “WonderLAND” exhibit.

PANELISTS :
Ian Deleón – interdisciplinary artist
Chris Frost – educator and exhibiting ArtLAB artist
Kate Gilbert – D Street ArtLAB curator and Now and There director
Kelly Goff – educator and exhibiting ArtLAB artist
Mary Hale – educator and architect at Shepley Bulfinch
Robert Lobe – exhibiting ArtLAB artist
Amanda Parer – exhibiting ArtLAB artist
Alice Vogler – artist, curator for Time, Body, Space, Objects (part of the Isles Arts Initiative) and Arts Program Manager at Boston Children’s Museum.
MODERATOR: Chris Wangro, Lawn on D Impressario and Artistic Director.

--------------------------

Sustainability Collaborative
Thursday, July 9
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Venture Cafe – Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, 5th floor,  Cambridge

The Venture Café Foundation has partnered with EcoMotion to bring the Sustainability Collaborative to monthly Venture Café gatherings.
Stay tuned for more information about this month’s Sustainability Collaborative.

Questions? Contact Sierra at sflanigan@ecomotion.us
Venture Cafe Foundation
http://vencaf.org/
http://www.vencaf.org/calendar

----------------------------

Speakeasy Science: Destination Station
Thursday, July 9
6:30pm
Bell In Hand Tavern, 45-55 Union Street, Boston

We here at Nerd Nite love space. We love astronauts. NASA likes that stuff, too.

NASA's international space station awareness campaign, Destination Station is designed to educate the public about research performed on the ISS, and how that research can impact our daily lives.

We've partnered with Destination Station and the Bell in Hand Tavern to host Speakeasy Science, celebrating science and research in an informal "atmosphere" (Get it?). During Speakeasy Science, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from a NASA astronaut about life 240 miles above Earth and also from a member of the International Space Station (ISS) science and research team. The event is 21+ and free to the public. Both presentations will be followed by a brief Q&A session.

More information at https://www.facebook.com/events/631566490311955/

-------------------
Friday, July 10
-------------------

Innovation Breakfast - Welcome Product Hunters!
Friday, July 10
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (EDT)
Ames Street Deli, 73 Ames Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/innovation-breakfast-welcome-product-hunters-tickets-17244817714

The roving Innovation Breakfast continues! Catch us July 10 at the Ames Street Deli in Cambridge, on the edge of MIT and just across from Google!
Hosted by Bobbie Carlton, founder of Mass Innovation Nights, this Innovation Breakfast we'll also be talking Product Hunt. Never heard of it? It's a great resource for discovering cool new products under the radar. Check out Bobbie's page and start your own! Already a Hunter? Come out for some networking and discussion of your favorite products, collections and hunts!
As always, Innovation Breakfast is a chance to talk with other innovators over a cup of coffee, network and check out the hip hangout spot that is Ames Street Deli. We'll supply the coffee! (Free coffee - what could be better?) Also, be sure to check out all the yummy options from the Ames Street Deli menu. Hope to see you there!

---------------------
Monday, July 13
----------------------

2015 & Beyond: Predictions from Digital Learning Providers
Monday, July 13
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (EDT)
British Consulate-General Boston‎, 1 Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/2015-beyond-predictions-from-digital-learning-providers-tickets-17480193730
Cost:  $16.82

The past year has seen new openings of platforms from the majors, an increase in adoption of Google technologies, a renewed presence for Microsoft, increased conversation on student data privacy and security. There have also been a number of significant edtech exits. Learn what the future market looks like, from the tools and content providers perspective.
The panelists will discuss:
What proportion of their sales are digital now and going forward?
What are the primary barriers to adoption by schools and universities?
What can be done to increase adoption?
What areas are likely to see the highest growth?
What key trends are influencing their view of the future?
How should entrepreneurs focus?
What are their key strategies for growth?
How should entrepreneurs engage with these key strategic players?

Confirmed Panelist:*
George Moore, Chief Technology Officer, Cengage Learning
*More panelists to be announced shortly. Please stay tuned.

Special Guest
The Rt Hon. Lord Maude of Horsham, Minister of State for Trade and Investment for the United Kingdom
Lord Maude was appointed Minister of State for Trade and Investment on 11 May 2015. He was the Conservative MP for Horsham, West Sussex, from 1997 to 2015. He has held several government posts, including Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1990 to 1992 and Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from 1989 to 1990. He was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2007. Among other roles, he was Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2007 to 2010 and Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2000 to 2001. After a career at the criminal bar between 1977 and 1985, he served as a councillor for the City of Westminster for 6 years. His other jobs outside politics have included being a non-executive director of ASDA Group, director at Salomon Brothers and managing director of Morgan Stanley. Lord Maude was previously Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from May 2010 to May 2015 where he led innovative reforms to transform digital government in the UK, including the transition to the GOV.UK website.

-------------------------------

Science by the Pint:  Bacterial Sex, Contraception, and the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance
Monday, July 13
7pm
The Burren, Davis Square, 247 Elm Street, Somerville

Dr Alan Grossman

More information at http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu

-----------------------
Tuesday, July 14
-----------------------

Boston Tech Breakfast: Kwambio, BeConnections, Janeiro Digital, Mobilengi
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
8:00 AM
Microsoft NERD - Horace Mann Room, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-TechBreakfast/events/215002872/

Interact with your peers in a monthly morning breakfast meetup. At this monthly breakfast get-together techies, developers, designers, and entrepreneurs share learn from their peers through show and tell / show-case style presentations.
And yes, this is free! Thank our sponsors when you see them :)

Agenda for Boston TechBreakfast:
8:00 - 8:15 - Get yer Bagels & Coffee and chit-chat
8:15 - 8:20 - Introductions, Sponsors, Announcements
8:20 - ~9:30 - Showcases and Shout-Outs!

Kwambio: Kwambio & UNIQUE One - Vlad Usov
BeConnections - Carlota Pico
Janeiro Digital: Axis Radius - Jonathan Bingham
Mobilengine: - Adam Dalnoki
~9:30 - end - Final "Shout Outs" & Last Words

---------------------------

Network Equality
Tuesday, July 14
12:00 pm
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, 23 Everett Street, Second Floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2015/07/sylvain#RSVP
This event will be webcast live on https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2015/07/sylvain at 12:00 pm

Olivier Sylvain, Associate Professor, Fordham School of Law
One of the few clear priorities of the federal Communications Act is to ensure that all Americans have reasonably comparable access to the Internet without respect to whom or where they are.  Yet, in spite of this, the main focus of policymakers and legal scholars in Internet policy today has been on promoting innovation, a concept that Congress barely invokes in the statute.  The flagship regulatory intervention for this approach is “network neutrality,” a rule that forbids Internet providers from blocking or interfering with users’ connections.  This Article critiques this prevailing approach.  While it has virtue, the singular focus on innovation could starkly exacerbate existing racial, ethnic, and class disparities because the quality of users’ Internet connections refract through those persistent demographic variables.  The Article thus calls for a fundamental return to the distributional equality principle at the heart of communications law.

About Olivier
Olivier Sylvain's academic interests include the public lawmaking processes generally and communications law and policy in particular. He has written a variety of law review articles, policy papers, newspaper columns, and blog posts on current controversies in broadband policy, Internet governance, privacy, and copyright. His most recent research projects are Network Equality, 67 Hastings L. J. __ (forthcoming in 2016), on the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet rulemaking, Disruption and Deference, 74 Maryland L. Rev. 715 (2015), on the Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in ABC v. Aereo on the public performance right and online video distribution, and Failing Expectations: Fourth Amendment Doctrine in the Era of Total Surveillance, 49 Wake Forest L. Rev. 485 (2014), on the third-party doctrine. He has also been an invited panelist and speaker at several recent conferences and symposia on Internet governance.

At Fordham, Olivier teaches Legislation and Regulation, Administrative Law, and Internet-related courses. He is also a Research Associate at the Donald McGannon Communication Research Center. Before entering academia, Olivier was a Karpatkin Fellow in the National Legal Office of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City and a litigation associate at Jenner & Block, LLC, in Washington, D.C.

---------------------------

TECH, DRUGS, AND ROCK N' ROLL 2015
Tuesday July 14
4:00PM to 8:00PM EDT
BU, Metcalf Ballroom, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07eadd6pr6b88992ff&oseq=&c=&ch=

Boston University's Office of Technology Development is hosting the 6th annual Tech, Drugs and Rock n' Roll networking event. Meet like-minded people, explore new ventures and celebrate the intersection of the medical, technology and business communities at this year's Tech, Drugs and Rock n' Roll. Register today!

We have exciting things in store for you:

Innovator of the Year The award will be presented by the Vice President and Associate Provost for Research of Boston University Gloria Waters.
Exhibits and digital posters Representatives from the Boston University research community will display the latest advancements and technologies in their field.
Funder Alley Investors will set up shop at the event for you to ask questions, get information, or simply interact with industry professionals.
MAPP: Mobile App Contest Participants will submit their ideas for the development of problem-solving mobile applications and audience voting will determine the winners. You can learn more about the contest here.
Kinglsey Flood Keeping up with the tradition of a local band performance, this year we are proud to welcome the rising folk-rock band, Kingsley Flood.
...And More! Lively conversations, great music, appetizing food and a special appearance by our favorite mascot Rhett the Terrier.

If you have any questions, please email us at ayusha18@bu.edu

-------------------------------

The Science of Happier Spending
Tuesday, July 14
6:00 PM
Mad*Pow Boston, 179 Lincoln Street (5th Floor), Boston

Does money buy happiness? Harvard Business School Professor Michael Norton shows that it sometimes can - when you follow five core principles of smarter spending. Michael is the co-author, with Elizabeth Dunn, of Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending, and he's joining us on Tuesday July 14th for a special talk about his research and book.

Their book provides five research-based principles designed to help people use their money in happier ways - whether they have a little or a lot of it. The book is full of recent research and examples that range from how individuals gain happiness by choosing "experiences over stuff" to how companies seek to create happier employees and 'happier products' for their customers.

Here's the schedule:
6:00 - 6:30 Free food & drink while networking
6:30 - 7:30 Talk and discussion
See you all there!

About Michael:
Michael I. Norton is a Professor at the Harvard Business School. He is the co-author – with Elizabeth Dunn – of the book, Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending. In 2012, he was selected for Wired Magazine’s Smart List as one of “50 People Who Will Change the World” and his TEDx talk, How  to Buy Happiness, has been viewed more than 2.8 million times.

-------------------------

Pitchfest 2015
Tuesday, July 14
6:00 to 8:30 (EDT)
The Atrium of The Davenport Building, 25 First Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pitchfest-2015-tickets-17275497478

Blaze into summer and participate in this great networking opporutnity for early stage scientific software start-ups #DSpitchfest.

WHAT IT IS
Pitchfest is an evening of fun where five early stage start-ups will each have five minutes to pitch their concept to an audience of peers and Boston based VC’s, with the winner bagging $1,500 in cash.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

If you are a designer, developer, entrepreneur, thinker, doer, dreamer or all of the above, then this free networking event is great for you! Come and support the start-ups who will be pitching and be part of the audience to vote for the winner - there will be beer, wine and snacks!

WHAT’S THE DEAL
5 pitchers
VC judges
An audience full of eager voters
1 winner who will receive $1,500 in cash
1 “audience choice” winner who will receive four choice tickets to a Fenway Park RedSox game later this summer
All runners up will receive great swag bags
And all applicants will be automatically entered into the running for the next round of the Digital Science $25,000 Catalyst Grant
THE JUDGES
Brian Gilman
Alex Hodgson, Software Entrepreneur
Mari Anne Snow, CEO and Founder, Sophaya
INTERESTED IN APPLYING TO PITCH?

If you’re an early stage start-up focused on software for digitizing any stage of the scientific research process, then apply to be selected as one of five pitchers. Find out more and apply here

Apply by midnight ET on Tuesday June 30th. The event then takes place on Tuesday July 14th from 6-8:30 pm.

------------------------

Food and the City: Meet Fenway Farms
Tuesday, July 14
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Greentown Labs, 28 Dane Street, Somerville
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-Area-Urban-Agriculture/events/223495359/

Let's talk about growing food in the city!

We're convinced that the most positive impact we can have in improving the way the world eats is by inspiring individuals to grow their own food. What better way to be inspired than learning from veteran urban farmers running awesome projects that connect our communities to their food?

Join us at Greentown Labs in Somerville for drinks, snacks and discussion around Boston's great urban ag projects.

6:30PM - 7:00PM Hang out and enjoy refreshments!
7:00 - 7:15PM Intro by Jamie Byron
7:15 - 7:30PM Speaker to be announced soon!
7:30 - 8:00PM Jessie Banhazl from Green City Growers
8:00 - 8:30PM Drinks, discussion

Jessie at Green City Growers (creators of Fenway Farms)
Jessie has managed Green City Growers since inception in 2008 to profitability while establishing GCG as the leader in urban agriculture in the Northeast. Jessie was named “…arguably the queen of Boston’s urban ag visionaries” by Stuff Magazine, among the Top 40 Under 40 by Boston Business Journal, Top 30 Under 30 by Zagat, and a Root Cause 2013 Social Innovator. In 2015, Green City Growers and the Boston Red Sox launched a 5,000 square foot rooftop farm on top of Fenway Park that provides fresh, organic fruit and vegetables to Red Sox fans.

With an introduction by Jamie Byron at Grove Labs!
Grove Labs is a Somerville startup empowering everyone to grow their own food one aquaponic system at a time. Our first product, the Grove Ecosystem, is a residential aquaponic system designed to fit seamlessly into your kitchen. It's connected to a mobile app that guides you along the way and connects you to other users in the community. We aim to make aquaponic indoor growing a more approachable, viable and efficient way to produce your own fresh, organic food at home.

Announcing a third speaker soon - stay tuned!
------

A note about our venue, Greentown Labs:
We enable entrepreneurs to solve big energy problems. We face a growing global population and the resources required to meet expanding demand is today's most pressing challenge. New ways of producing and consuming energy are necessary to address this problem while minimizing further damage to our environment. We believe entrepreneurs are capable of innovating and inventing solutions to address this challenge with access to the right tools, resources, network and support -- that's where we come in.

************
--------------
Opportunity
--------------
************

The Boston Network for International Development (BNID) maintains a website (BNID.org) that serves as a clearing-house for information on organizations, events, and jobs related to international development in the Boston area. BNID has played an important auxiliary role in fostering international development activities in the Boston area, as witnessed by the expanding content of the site and a significant growth in the number of users.

The website contains:

A calendar of Boston area events and volunteer opportunities related to International Development
- http://www.bnid.org/events
A jobs board that includes both internships and full time positions related to International Development that is updated daily - http://www.bnid.org/jobs
A directory and descriptions of more than 250 Boston-area organizations - http://www.bnid.org/organizations

Also, please sign up for our weekly newsletter (we promise only one email per week) to get the most up-to-date information on new job and internship opportunities -www.bnid.org/sign-up

The website is completely free for students and our goal is to help connect students who are interested in international development with many of the worthwhile organizations in the area.

Please feel free to email our organization at info@bnid.org if you have any questions!

———————————

Intern with Biodiversity for a Livable Climate!
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate (BLC) is a nonprofit based in the Cambridge, MA area. Our mission is to mobilize the biosphere to restore ecosystems and reverse global warming.
Education, public information campaigns, organizing, scientific investigation, collaboration with like-minded organizations, research and policy development are all elements of our strategy.

Background: Soils are the largest terrestrial carbon sink on the planet. Restoring the complex ecology of soils is the only way to safely and quickly remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the ground, where it’s desperately needed to regenerate the health of billions of acres of degraded lands. Restoring carbon to soils and regenerating ecosystems are how we can restore a healthy hydrologic cycle and cool local and planetary climates safely, naturally, and in time to ensure a livable climate now and in the future.

Our Work: immediate plans include
Organizing the First International Biodiversity, Soil Carbon and Climate Week, October 31-November 9, 2014, and a kick-off conference in the Boston area, “Mobilizing the Biosphere to Reverse Global Warming: A Biodiversity, Water, Soil Carbon and Climate Conference – and Call to Action” to expand the mainstream climate conversation to include the power of biology, and to help initiate intensive worldwide efforts to return atmospheric carbon to the soils.
Coordination of a global fund to directly assist local farmers and herders in learning and applying carbon farming approaches that not only benefit the climate, but improve the health and productivity of the land and the people who depend on it.
Collaboration with individuals and organizations on addressing eco-restoration and the regeneration of water and carbon cycles; such projects may include application of practices such as Holistic Management for restoration of billions of acres of degraded grasslands, reforestation of exploited forest areas, and restoring ocean food chains.

Please contact Helen D. Silver, helen.silver@bio4climate.org for further information.
781-316-1710
Bio4climate.org
SharedHarvestCSA.com

—————————————

Climate Stories Project
http://www.climatestoriesproject.org

What's your Climate Story?
Climate Stories Project is a forum that gives a voice to the emotional and personal impacts that climate change is having on our lives. Often, we only discuss climate change from the impersonal perspective of science or the contentious realm of politics. Today, more and more of us are feeling the effects of climate change on an personal level. Climate Stories Project allows people from around the world to share their stories and to engage with climate change in a personal, direct way.

———————————

Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!

Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch.  No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.

For more information checkout.
https://sites.google.com/site/somervilleyogurtcoop/home

---------------------

Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images

Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera?  With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more comfortable and less expensive to heat.  However, at $200 or so, the cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.

HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer Cambridge residents free thermal scans.

Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras.  They will scan every building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or buildings or on a private way).  Building owners can view thermal images of their property and an analysis online. The information is password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.

Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.

The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.

Go to Sagewell.com.  Type in your address at the bottom where it says "Find your home or building" and press return.  Then click on "Here" to request the report.

That's it.  When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to do about it.

With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money, not to mention comfort).

---------------------

Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ

-----------------------

HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to Cambridge residents.

During the assessment, the energy specialist will:

Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on your energy bills. You might as well use the service.

Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729.  A Next Step Living Representative will call to schedule your assessment.

HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the services and rebates possible.

(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home Energy Assessment.  We won’t keep the data or sell it.)

(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)

*********
-----------
Resource
-----------
*********

Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide

SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!

To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha@sbnboston.org

--------------------------------------------------

Free Monthly Energy Analysis

CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.

https://www.carbonsalon.com/

---------------------------------------

Boston Food System

"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."

The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas.   Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.
Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities.  Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers.  Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.

It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs

----------------------

Artisan Asylum  http://artisansasylum.com/

Sprout & Co:  Community Driven Investigations  http://thesprouts.org/

Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project  http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation, contact jmatthaei@wellesley.edu

------------------------

Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston  http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/

********************************************
-----------------------------------------------------

Links to events at 60 colleges and universities at Hubevents   http://hubevents.blogspot.com

Thanks to

Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area:  http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com

MIT Events:  http://events.mit.edu

MIT Energy Club:  http://mitenergyclub.org/calendar

Harvard Events:  http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/harvard-events/events-calendar/

Harvard Environment:  http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/

Sustainability at Harvard:  http://green.harvard.edu/events

Mass Climate Action:  http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php

Meetup:  http://www.meetup.com/

Eventbrite:  http://www.eventbrite.com/

Microsoft NERD Center:  http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/

Startup and Entrepreneurial Events:   http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/

Cambridge Civic Journal:  http://www.rwinters.com

Cambridge Happenings:  http://cambridgehappenings.org

Cambridge Community Calendar:  https://www.cctvcambridge.org/calendar

Arts and Cultural Events List:  http://aacel.blogspot.com/

Boston Events Insider:  http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/

Nerdnite:  https://www.facebook.com/nerdniteboston

No comments: