Sunday, January 17, 2016

Energy (and Other) Events - January 17, 2016

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
 
---------------------------------------------------------
*******************************************
 
******
-------
Index
--------
******
 
Full event information follows the Index and notices of my latest writings.
 
---------------------------
Tuesday, January 19
--------------------------
 
2:45pm  The Search for Habitable Planets
3pm  Connectomics and Psychopathology: A Tale of Many Regions
6pm  Suffolk Downs Urban Design Workshop Kickoff Panel Discussion [Date Tentavie]
6pm  ENET'S Business Incubators and Co-Working Expo
 
-------------------------------
Wednesday, January 20
-------------------------------
 
7:30am  January Boston Sustainability Breakfast
8:30am  Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, Forum on Data Privacy
12pm  Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Industry
1pm  Planning, Funding, and Implementing Transportation Projects in the Real World (or How It Really Works)
2pm  Aging Brain Seminar Series: Dr. Bradley Hyman
5:30pm  The Road Does Not End with Paris: A Review of COP 21 and Where We Go Next
7pm  Urban Planning Film Series:  Public Housing, by Fred Wiseman
 
----------------------------
Thursday, January 21
----------------------------
 
11am  Displaying Data and Models on a Digital Globe
12pm  Situating Biotechnology:  Agricultural Genetic Engineering for Sustainability
12:15pm  Repression Technology: Internet Accessibility and Strategic State Violence
3:30pm  2016 CONNECT Symposium
4pm  Private and Public Storytelling: How to Use Digital and Traditional Technologies for Social Change
4pm  CODEGIRL Screening, Presented by Symantec
4:30pm  Rally for MA Public Records Reform
4:30pm  Dying to Forget: Oil, Power, Palestine, and the Foundations of U.S. Policy in the Middle East
5pm  Innovation in Transportation Series
6pm  BSA Committee on Resilient Environments:  CORE Pecha Kucha
6pm  Suffolk Downs Urban Design Workshop Proposal Presentations [Date Tentative]
6pm  Solar Beer Club January - Hub Pub
7pm  Boston Talks Happy Hour: The Future of Food
7:30pm  Sweating the Small Stuff: The Fun and Fear of Near-Earth Asteroids
 
------------------------
Friday January 22
-----------------------
 
9am  The Future of Computation in Science and Engineering: "BRAIN + MACHINES"
12pm  IAP Lecture - The Role of Science and Technology in the Conservation of North Atlantic Right Whales
1pm  Machine learning and computational pathology for data-driven cancer diagnostics
 
-----------------------------
Saturday, January 23
----------------------------
 
9am  #HACKTRAFFICKING4GOOD - Using data science to stop sex trafficking...for good 
9:30am  Botany Blast: Observing Nature for Citizen Science
2pm  Transformational Technologies of Tomorrow: Converging AI, Big Data and Robotics
7pm  MIT 38th Annual Science Fiction Marathon
 
--------------------------
Monday, January 25
--------------------------
 
10am  Contemporary Geometric Beadwork:  Wearable Sewn Beadwork as a base to Model, Explore, and Animate Structure
1:30pm  Our First Chance to Study the Atmosphere of a Rocky Exoplanet
7pm  MIT Clean Energy Prize Ideas Mixer
 
---------------------------
Tuesday, January 26
---------------------------
 
10:30am  Internet Security with Google for Students 50+ 
12pm  Sustainability Education Committee:  Bioregional Urbanism: Its Lens, and Project Context
1pm  Film on the Nature of Democracy
5:30pm  Exhibition Opening: Reflective by Reiko Yamada Featuring Vijay Iyer
5:30pm  The Black Church Never Left the Outdoors: Eco-Justice and Environmentalism
6pm  Boston Green Drinks - January Happy Hour
7pm  Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections):  A History of the Religious Battles That Define America from Jefferson's Heresies to Gay Marriage
7pm  January Hyperlocal News & Media Meetup at CCTV
 
---------------------------------------------------------
*******************************************
 
My rough notes on some of the events I go to and notes on books I’ve read are at:
 
New Illness, New Drug:  Opioid Induced Constipation
 
---------------------------------------------------------
*******************************************
---------------------------
 
---------------------------
Tuesday, January 19
--------------------------
 
The Search for Habitable Planets
Tuesday, January 19 
2:45pm
MIT, Building 37-252, Marlar Lounge, 70 Vassar Street, Cambridge
 
Professor Sara Seager, Class of 1941 Professor of Physics and Planetary Science
 
presentation 2:45-3:15pm; Q & A 3:15-3:25pm
 
Professor Seager will describe how scientists infer the properties of extrasolar planets and their atmospheres from observations, how life may alter the atmospheres to produce observable biosignatures, and the future investigations that will probe for signs of life on other planets.
 
------------------------------
 
Connectomics and Psychopathology: A Tale of Many Regions
Tuesday, January 19
3-4 PM
MIT, Building 46-3002, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge
 
Deanna Barch, Ph.D.
Abstract:  A growing body of research clearly indicates that both functional and structural connectivity within and between core brain systems is a critical determinant of cognitive and affective function in both health and disease. This talk will first briefly overview the state of the art methods for assessing human brain connectivity. Next this talk will illustrate the ways in which variation in brain connectivity relates to variation in cognitive and affective functions in healthy individuals, as well as how impairments in functional brain connectivity relate to impaired cognitive and affective function associated with risk for psychopathology and manifest illness.
 
----------------------------
 
Suffolk Downs Urban Design Workshop Kickoff Panel Discussion [Date Tentavie]
January 19
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
 
*TENTATIVE DATE* Please check architects.org/calendar and BSA Currents regularly for further information. 
 
The Suffolk Downs Urban Design Workshop is the third in an ongoing series of Urban Design Workshopsorganized by the BSA Foundation. The workshops’ overall goal is to open up dialogue and stimulate thinking about the design potential of places with particularly significant and compelling opportunities. 
 
The evening will include an introduction to the scope of and goals for the workshop, followed by a lively panel discussion moderated by Renée Loth, editor of ArchitectureBoston magazine. Suffolk Downs represents an opportunity to create a forward-looking 21st-century neighborhood that is equitable, diverse, environmentally aware, and in tune with shifting development trends. 
 
This workshop will challenge two interdisciplinary design teams of architects, landscape architects, and urban designers—one led by David Gamble AIA of Gamble Associates and Shauna Gillies-Smith of Ground Inc., and the other led by Isabel Zempel and Nina Chase of Sasaki Associates, and Paul Lukez FAIA of Paul Lukez Architecture—to develop a collection of ideas for the area between Route 1A and the Blue Line T stations that are mindful of equity, environmental, development, and community considerations. We hope, too, that the workshop participants will benefit and learn from some of the substantial thinking already under way in the surrounding communities.
 
Prior Urban Design Workshops have focused attention on Beacon Yards and high-density housing along Dorchester Avenue in Boston. All follow a similar format of a public panel discussion, professional team charrettes, and public presentation of the teams’ ideas.
 
Moderator 
Renée Loth, editor of ArchitectureBoston magazine
 
For more information about the events, contact Gretchen Schneider Rabinkin AIA, civic design director, at gschneider@architects.org.
 
The BSA Urban Design Workshops are supported by the BSA Foundation.
 
For those who qualify, 2.0 LUs are available
 
----------------------------
 
ENET'S Business Incubators and Co-Working Expo
Tuesday, January 19
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Microsoft New England Research and Development Center (NERD), 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Cot: $0 - $10
 
Like last year, the Boston Entrepreneurs' Network offers our annual Expo of accelerators, incubators, and co-working spaces who will showcase rapid development options to entrepreneurs in the Greater Boston Area. We at ENET hope that you will join us at our Expo this year!
 
The Expo will be held on Tuesday, January 19, 2016, 6-9 p.m. at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center (NERD), 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA. The NERD is within easy walking distance of the Kendall Square Red Line T Station.
 
Beverages and pizza will be served. Last year, over 100 entrepreneurs attended the event and more than 20 incubators exhibited.
 
Each exhibitor will host a table with up to two representatives to answer your questions, distribute promotional materials and business cards. During the Expo, exhibitors will have up to 2 minutes to present their elevator pitch in front of the attendees.
 
Come and join us on January 19th for a great chance to meet New England’s leading entrepreneurial business incubators. In addition, you can network with other founders and participants who, like you, are on their way to the top!!
 
-------------------------------
Wednesday, January 20
-------------------------------
 
January Boston Sustainability Breakfast
Wednesday, January 20
7:30 AM to 8:30 AM 
Pret A Manger, 185 Franklin Street, Post Office Square, Boston
 
Join us for the first Sustainability Breakfast of 2016 - Net Impact Boston's informal breakfast meetup of sustainability professionals together for networking, discussion and moral support. It's important to remind ourselves that we are not the only ones out there in the business world trying to do good! Feel free to drop by any time any time between 7:30 and 830 am.
 
----------------------------------
 
Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, Forum on Data Privacy
Wednesday, January 20
8:30am 
MIT, Building 32-123,  Ray and Maria Stata Center, Kirsch Auditorium, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
 
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is pleased to join with the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and TechNet to host a Forum on Data Privacy.  The event takes place on Wednesday, Janauary 20, 2016, from 8:30 am until 12:00 pm, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ray and Maria Stat Center, Kirsch Auditorium, Room 32-123, in Cambridge, MA
 
Access to consumer data allows businesses to better serve their customers and to develop and deliver transformative products and services. However, unpredictable, unclear, or ineffectual privacy rules and protections threaten the trust, goodwill, and ultimately the investment necessary to support a robust, data-driven economy.
 
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office is committed to working with all stakeholders to promote innovation, competition, and consumer privacy. To inform our consideration of these important issues, the AG's office, Berkman Center, and our co-hosts invite participants to join us in shaping a new partnership with a candid exchange of ideas and concerns.
 
In advance of this meeting the AG's office is particularly interested in hearing your perspectives regarding the following issues.
 
Do innovative technologies and methods by which businesses collect, share, and use consumer data (e.g. Internet of Things, Big Data, mobile devices/applications, cloud computing) create privacy concerns or compliance challenges? If so, how could these concerns or challenges be resolved or overcome?
 
Is there a need for more definitive rules or guidance from government or self-regulatory bodies regarding the commercial collection, use, and protection of consumer data? If so, what rules or guidance should be put forth?
 
As experts on consumer privacy issues or as participants in data-driven businesses, are there problematic business practices you observe that threaten consumer privacy?
 
Could the Massachusetts Data Breach Notification Act (Mass. Gen. Law c. 93H) be amended to better promote consumer privacy in light of changing technologies? If so, how?
If you would like to respond, please reply in writing by Friday, December 11th to dataprivacy@state.ma.us.
 
We are currently in the process of developing a forum agenda and panel composition, which will be informed by responses to the questions above. If you are interested in participating or have recommendations for speakers, please contact Assistant Attorneys General Sara Cable (617.963.2827) or Mike Firestone (617.963.2027) or email dataprivacy@state.ma.us. RSVP information to follow.
 
Please note that all submissions may become part of the public record and subject to public disclosure. We look forward to hearing from you.
 
-------------------------------------
 
Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Industry
Wednesday, January 20
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
MIT, Building 68-181, 31 Ames Street, Cambridge
 
David Salim, ImmunoGen, QC analyst
Peter Liu, Amgen, Engineer, Process development
Alison Williams, Pronutria, Director of corporate development
Darby Schmidt, Syros Pharmaceuticals, Principal scientist
 
Interested in science outside of academia? Come to the biotechnology and big pharma panel! We have scientists from different backgrounds in all different industry positions. Come hear about their day-to-day life and how they got to where they are now.
 
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Biology
 
-------------------------------------
 
Planning, Funding, and Implementing Transportation Projects in the Real World (or How It Really Works)
Wednesday, January 20
1:00p–4:00p
MIT, Building 9-450, 105 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
 
Speaker: Eric Plosky, Kate Fichter
As a vital and complex element of any urban or regional environment, transportation infrastructure both affects and is affected by land use patterns, economic development policies, political power-brokering and environmental resources, and so offers a lens through which to study many of the choices and constraints available to today's planners. This seminar will offer a practice-oriented overview of the issues, players and trends most relevant to contemporary transportation planning, as taught by two MIT/DUSP alumni currently working in the field.
 
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:  Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
 
--------------------------------
 
Aging Brain Seminar Series: Dr. Bradley Hyman
Wednesday, January 20
2:00p–3:00p
MIT, Building 46-3310, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge
 
Speaker: Dr. Bradley Hyman
Aging Brain Seminar Series 
The Aging Brain Initiative is dedicated to conquering Alzheimer's disease and the dementias of aging through fundamental research into how the brain ages in health and in decline. This multidisciplinary, highly collaborative effort is spearheaded by the Picower Institute and the MIT School of Science. It brings together experts in neuroscience, bioengineering, biology, computer science, artificial intelligence, medicine, health economics and health policy. Their mission is to deliver the basic research that makes possible new tools, technologies and pharmaceuticals to address the challenges of brain aging, always with the aim of moving knowledge quickly from bench to bedside.
 
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
For more information, contact:  Najat Kessler
617-452-2485
 
--------------------------------
 
The Road Does Not End with Paris: A Review of COP 21 and Where We Go Next
Wednesday, January 20
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM 
Unitarian Universalist Association, 24 Farnsworth Street, Boston
 
Do you wonder what it would have been like to attend the COP 21 meetings in Paris last December?  Are you a new entrant to the sustainable finance/business world and wonder what sort of skills one might need to thrive in an multinational climate negotiation? Or are you a seasoned SRI professional who wonders what concrete actions one ought to take in the post COP 21 world?  If you answered yes to any of these, then the next BASIC event is for you!
Boston-area sustainable investors were active participants in Paris. Two of those leaders are joining us to take on those topics and talk about what comes next.  
Sue Reid, Vice President of Climate & Energy Programs at Ceres, will offer unique perspectives into what made COP 21 note-worthy and what action items need to be prioritized by the investment and business community to build on the tremendous momentum post-Paris and to keep the needle moving forward.
Since our last announcement, we are honored to add Geeta Aiyer, Founder and President of Boston Common Asset Management, to the evening's agenda. Geeta spoke at Energy Day at COP 21. She will share comments on her experience and highlight some tangible next steps she thinks the investor community should be taking, especially related to energy efficiency. 
 
--------------------------------
 
Urban Planning Film Series:  Public Housing, by Fred Wiseman
Wednesday, January 20
7:00PM-9:15PM    
MIT, Building 66-110, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
 
This cinema-verite documentary captures daily life at the Ida B. Wells public housing development in Chicago. The film illustrates some of the experiences of people living in conditions of extreme poverty, including the work of the tenants council, street life, the role of police, job training, drug education, teenage mothers, dysfunctional families, elderly residents, nursery school, and after school teenage programs.
 
Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Ezra Glenn, 7-337, 617 253-2024, EGLENN@MIT.EDU
 
----------------------------
Thursday, January 21
----------------------------
 
Displaying Data and Models on a Digital Globe
Thursday, January 21    
11:00AM-12:00PM    
MIT, Building 54-1827, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
 
Glenn Flierl, Professor of Oceanography
The Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences have been hosting a two foot diameter spherical display system.  If you have data or interactive models you'd like to see visualized on the sphere, come to the sessions to learn how it can be done and to figure out better ways and how to present information using the iGlobe.  Or try to make a compelling environmental movie using the sphere, an auxiliary screen, and sound.  Or come if you'd just like to experiment with the way things look projected on a spherical surface.
 
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Contact: Glenn Flierl, 54-1626, 617-253-4692, glenn@lake.mit.edu
 
----------------------------------
 
Situating Biotechnology:  Agricultural Genetic Engineering for Sustainability
Thursday, January 21
12 pm
Tufts, Rabb room, Lincoln Filene Center, 10 Upper Campus Road, Medford
Most talks will be streamed lived at Bit.ly/TuftsLunchLearn
 
Ellen Messer & Hilary Cunningham
Developments in ag-biotechnologies since 1985 have produced a polarized debate surrounding their promise or perils.  Drawing on a 30-year literature review, we systematically review choices in technologies, crop species, and characteristics, along with institutional developments, and relate these findings to sustainability concerns, in particular to soils. We will discuss longer-term opportunities to bridge ag-ecological and ag-biotech divides.
 
---------------------------------
 
Repression Technology: Internet Accessibility and Strategic State Violence
WHEN  Thu., Jan. 21, 2016, 12:15 – 2 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard, Belfer Center Library, Littauer-369, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION    Information Technology, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR    International Security Program
SPEAKER(S)  Anita Gohdes, Empirical Studies of Gender and Political Violence Postdoctoral Research Fellow, International Security Program/Women and Public Policy Program
CONTACT INFO    susan_lynch@harvard.edu
 
---------------------------------
 
2016 CONNECT Symposium
Thursday, January 21
3:30 PM to 7:30 PM (EST)
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 600 Atlantic Avenue #100, Boston
 
With a foundation of basic stability, families can earn living wage jobs and become financially resilient if they have the right tools: education, workforce skills, and financial capability. We will share research that documents the importance of this combination, and share lessons from our 3 year Workforce Innovations Fund Grant from the US Dept. of Labor. The new challenge is to meet the needs of both job seekers and employers.  
 
The CONNECT Symposium is an annual forum for business and civic leaders, thought-leaders, policymakers and practitioners, elected officials, and other concerned individuals and institutions to examine best practices in helping families move from poverty to long-term economic stability. CONNECT is a multi-party agency based in Chelsea, MA.
 
The CONNECT Cocktail Reception, held immediately following the Symposium, is an important venue for building collaborative working relationships among individuals and organizations from the business, nonprofit, and public sectors involved in the work and mission of CONNECT.
 
---------------------------------
 
Private and Public Storytelling: How to Use Digital and Traditional Technologies for Social Change
WHEN  Thu., Jan. 21, 2016, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard, Fong Auditorium, Boylston Hall, Harvard Yard, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION    Classes/Workshops, Film, Humanities, Information Technology, Lecture, Social Sciences, Theater
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR    Office for the Arts at Harvard
SPEAKER(S)  Neal Baer
COST  Free and open to the public; registration required
CONTACT INFO    617.495.8676
DETAILS  Neal Baer EdM ’79, AM ’82, M ’95 is a pediatrician and television writer who combines his passion for medicine and storytelling to challenge audiences' views on a spectrum of social and political topics. His credits include the TV series “Under the Dome,” “ER” and “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,” and he is the founder of Global Media Center for Social Impact, which uses new media to promote health initiatives around the world. Baer will discuss how compelling stories have the power to transform popular culture and catalyze social change in such areas as health, immigration, racial justice, America’s prison crisis, the environment, LGBT/gender equality, education, reproductive health and rights, and more.
 
-----------------------------------
 
CODEGIRL Screening, Presented by Symantec
Thursday, January 21
4:00 PM to 7:00 PM
SYMANTEC, 2 Canal Park. 5th Floor, Cambridge
 
Symantec invites you to attend a screening of CODEGIRL, a documentary by Lesley Chilcott, award-winning filmmaker, documentarian and producer, whose films include An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for Superman. 
 
Join high school aged girls from around the world as they try to better their community through technology and collaboration in this thrilling, heartfelt documentary. By 2017, the app market will be valued at $77 Billion. Over 80% of  these developers are male. The Technovation Challenge aims to change that by empowering girls worldwide to develop apps for an international competition. From rural Moldova to urban Brazil to suburban Massachusetts, CODEGIRL follows teams who dream of holding their own in the world’s fastest-growing industry. The winning team gets $10K to complete and release their app, but every girl discovers something valuable along the way.
 
Watch the OFFICIAL TRAILER at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRb5iel-3Ck
 
Come celebrate the opening of a new chapter in Symantec's Women Action Network in the new office in Cambridge. Bring your friends and family. Food and drink will be provided.
 
----------------------------------
 
Rally for MA Public Records Reform
Thursday, January 21 
4:30 PM
Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon Street, Boston
 
It's no secret that Massachusetts has some of the worst public records laws in the country. And a bill passed by the House that would improve the situation is insufficient and in some ways makes things worse. http://blogs.spjnetwork.org/foi/2015/12/04/the-secret-state-of-massachusetts/
 
The bill is now in front of the state Senate, our last hope for a solid bill that gives reasonable access to public records. Government officials in this state have been operating in the dark for too long. We are constitutionally entitled to these records. 
 
The governor is holding his State of the Commonwealth Address at the State House on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 6:30 p.m. Two hours before the event, lets get as many reporters, editors, and media members as possible by the front steps of the State House to make some noise and let our elected officials know we're serious. 
 
This rally is being hosted by the New England chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. All Massachusetts reporters, editors, publishers, media execs, and open record advocates are welcome. 
 
Our demands:
ATTORNEY FEES MUST BE MANDATORY - the law must provide parties that win a court fight to get their records with attorneys fees.
30 DAYS COMPLIANCE - the time frame for compliance with a records request must not be longer than a month. Justice delayed is justice denied.
NO COST ACCESS - levying additional fees on persons making a records request is an information tax. Telling us what is in our records is what our government does in a democracy.
 
----------------------------------
 
Dying to Forget: Oil, Power, Palestine, and the Foundations of U.S. Policy in the Middle East
Thursday, January 21
4:30p–6:00p
MIT, Building E40-496, Lucian Pye Conference Room, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
 
Speaker: Irene L. Gendzier
Book talk and signing with author, Irene L. Gendzier, about her latest book, "Dying to Forget: Oil, Power, Palestine, and the Foundations of U.S. Policy in the Middle East."  
 
Irene L. Gendzier presents incontrovertible evidence that oil politics played a significant role in the founding of Israel, the policy then adopted by the United States toward Palestinians, and subsequent U.S. involvement in the region. Consulting declassified U.S. government sources, as well as papers in the H.S. Truman Library, she uncovers little-known features of U.S. involvement in the region, including significant exchanges in the winter and spring of 1948 between the director of the Oil and Gas Division of the Interior Department and the representative of the Jewish Agency in the United States, months before Israel's independence and recognition by President Truman. 
 
About the Author: 
Irene L. Gendzier is professor emerita in the Department of Political Science at Boston University. She is also the author of "Notes from the Minefield: United States Intervention in Lebanon and the Middle East" and "Frantz Fanon: A Critical Study", and she is a coeditor, with Richard Falk and Robert Lifton, of "Crimes of War: Iraq." 
 
Books will be available for sale at the event 
Refreshments served
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free 
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies
 
For more information, contact:
617-253-8306
 
--------------------------------
 
Innovation in Transportation Series
Thursday, January 21
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Venture Cafe – Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, 5th floor, Cambridge
 
What new things can be done to get us moving in Kendall Square?
We need your brain power and innovations to solve Kendall’s transportation challenges. How can we use technology to tell us about Red Line train arrivals, capacity on the cars? How can we communicate about other options when Red Line is down? What are the top ten apps for transit through Kendall? How do we use commuter rail corridors more efficiently? Please join us, we need you!
 
Hosted by Venture Café Foundation and Kendall Square Association in partnership with MassDOT.
 
--------------------------------
 
Committee on Resilient Environments:  CORE Pecha Kucha
Thursday, January 21
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Suite 200, Boston
 
As our sea levels rise, our storms strengthen, and global climate change impacts our urban environments, the architecture and planning industries must respond with resilient solutions and adaptive environments. The Committee on Resilient Environments (CORE) seeks to better understand the problems we face and the many strategies we can employ for a more resilient future.
 
Come kickoff the New Year with us during a resiliency pecha kucha night.
 
Members will give short rapid-fire presentations on projects and work related to urban resilience. If you would like to present, please let us know in your RSVP email.
 
To learn more about the Committee on Resilient Environments, visit architects.org/committees/committee-resilient-environments-core
 
--------------------------------
 
Suffolk Downs Urban Design Workshop Proposal Presentations [Date Tentative]
Thursday, January 21 
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
 
*TENTATIVE DATE* Please watch architects.org/calendar and BSA Currents for further information. 
 
The Suffolk Downs Urban Design Workshop is the third in an ongoing series of Urban Design Workshopsorganized by the BSA Foundation. The workshops’ overall goal is to open up dialogue and stimulate thinking about the design potential of places with particularly significant and compelling  opportunities.  
Suffolk Downs represents an opportunity to create a forward-looking 21st-century neighborhood that is equitable, diverse, environmentally aware, and in tune with shifting development trends. 
 
The evening will include public presentations from the two interdisciplinary design teams: one led by David Gamble AIA of Gamble Associates and Shauna Gillies-Smith of Ground Inc., and the other led by Isabel Zempel and Nina Chase of Sasaki Associates, and Paul Lukez FAIA of Paul Lukez Architecture. Their challenge was to develop a collection of ideas for the area between Route 1A and the Blue Line T stations that are mindful of equity, environmental, development, and community considerations. 
 
Prior Urban Design Workshops have focused attention on Beacon Yards and high-density housing along Dorchester Avenue in Boston. All follow a similar format of a public panel discussion, professional team charrettes, and public presentation of the teams’ ideas.
 
For more information about the events, contact Gretchen Schneider Rabinkin AIA, civic design director, at gschneider@architects.org.
 
The BSA Urban Design Workshops are supported by the BSA Foundation.
 
For those who qualify, 2.0 LUs are available
 
----------------------------------
 
Solar Beer Club January - Hub Pub
Thursday, January 21
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EST)
The Hub Pub, 18 Province Street, Boston
 
It's 2016!  Forget your fitness and money-saving resolutions - we're bringing back the Solar Beer Club.  This month, we'll check out The Hub Pub Downtown.   
What is Solar Beer Club?
A group of solar and cleantech professionals who get together once a month to drink good beer and talk about solar (or other things). No lectures, no formal networking, just likeminded people enjoying eachothers' company (and beer). This concept is borrowed from a great SF Bay Area group by the same name. 
What will we be doing?  Drinking delicious beer while meeting other people working in the solar/cleantech industry in the Boston Area. 
What do I have to do?  Show up, drink beer and talk to people.
Can I invite friends?  Yes!
Where will this be held?  Around the Boston area. Each month we'll pick a different place that has quality beers.
 
---------------------------------
 
Boston Talks Happy Hour: The Future of Food
Thursday, January 21
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EST)
WGBH, 1 Guest Street, Boston
Cost:  $11.54    
 
The future of food is on the menu.
 
A Smarter Happy Hour
Grab your friends and join us for WGBH’s take on happy hour—inspiring conversation plus wine and local craft brews for $5 a glass. Hear from and connect with local experts in a variety of fields while enjoying the great company of your neighbors from Boston and beyond. Each event combines short speaking programs, drinks, and a chance for you to join the conversation.
 
Meet the Host
Edgar runs WGBH's Curiosity Desk, where he digs a little deeper into topics in the news, explores the off-beat, and searches for answers to questions posed by the world around us. His radio features can be heard on 89.7 WGBH's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and his television features can be seen on WGBH's Greater Boston. Follow him on Twitter @ebherwick3.
 
---------------------------------
 
Sweating the Small Stuff: The Fun and Fear of Near-Earth Asteroids
Thursday, January 21
7:30 pm
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge
 
Jose-Luis Galache, CfA
The explosion of an asteroid over Russia in 2013 caught by hundreds of dashcams, and the perennial reminder of the dinosaurs' demise due to an earlier, and bigger, asteroid impact, serve to illustrate the fear that asteroids may inspire in us. But near-Earth asteroids, our closest neighbors in the Solar System, also offer hitherto unimagined opportunities for exploration and resource harvesting. They might even be the stepping stones we require to seed the solar system with space colonies. The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, located at the CfA, is on the front line of asteroid discoveries and is vital to the research of asteroid scientists the world over. We'll explore its inner workings and how it contributes to both the fun and fear of near-Earth asteroids.
 
------------------------
Friday January 22
-----------------------
 
The Future of Computation in Science and Engineering: "BRAIN + MACHINES"
Friday January 22
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST
Harvard, Science Center Hall B, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge 
 
This year's symposium on the Future of Computation in Science and Engineering will focus on the converging fields of neuroscience and computer science/machine learning.  BRAIN + MACHINES will bring together machine learning experts, neuroscientists, academic researchers, and scholars across several fields to discuss what we can learn from the study of structure and function in the brain and efforts to reverse-engineer the brain.  The implications of replacing the human brain with machines and the related benefits and risks for society will be considered.  Other topics to be explored will include how treatments for brain-related problems are being developed through better understanding of the brain led by advances in technology and computation.  
 
Contact:  Sheila Coveney 
Institute for Applied Computational Science, Harvard University 
617-384-9091 
 
------------------------------------
 
IAP Lecture - The Role of Science and Technology in the Conservation of North Atlantic Right Whales
Friday, January 22
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus), Cambridge
 
Speaker: Dr. Mark Baumgartner, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Why do microscopic plants in the sunlit surface ocean eat one another? How can we preserve the natural whale population? What lives at sea-floor hydrothermal vents, and how? Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reveal the extreme diversity of living organisms in the ocean. We will discuss recent advances in marine biology and ecology using modern tools from gene sequencing to the latest in underwater vehicles. Lectures take place in MIT Building 54 room 915, noon-1 pm unless otherwise noted. 
 
EAPS IAP Lecture Series 2016: Life in the Ocean 
 
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact:  Vicki McKenna
617 253 3380
 
----------------------------
 
Machine learning and computational pathology for data-driven cancer diagnostics
Friday, January 22
1:00p
McGovern Auditorium, in Whitehead Institute, Nine Cambridge Center, Cambridge
 
Speaker: Andrew Beck, MD PhD, Assistant Professor;  Director, Cancer Research Institute Bioinformatics ;  Director, Molecular Epidemiology Research Lab, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School
 
2nd talk in the series, "The next generation of AI and systems thinking in biology and medicine" 
 
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Biology
 
-----------------------------
Saturday, January 23
----------------------------
 
#HACKTRAFFICKING4GOOD - Using data science to stop sex trafficking...for good 
Saturday, January 23-24
9am - 7pm
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
 
Join Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's Office, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh's Office, and Thomson Reuters' Data Innovation Lab for a social justice hackathon to ERADICATE SEX TRAFFICKING...ONE HACK AT A TIME.
 
Hear government officials, survivors, data specialists, and experts explain the intersection between online sex buying and sex trafficking.
 
Create innovative code, visualizations, and digital platforms designed to catalyze social change. 
 
Connect and mingle with the city's best and brightest minds and social change leaders.
 
AGENDA 
All hosted events will take place at District Hall.
DAY 1:  Saturday, January 23
9:00 – 10:00am:        Breakfast and Registration 
10:00 – 11:00am:       Opening Presentations
11:00 - 11:30am:          Networking and Team Organization
11:30 – 1:00pm:          Hacking Begins 
1:00 – 2:00pm:           Lunch 
2:00 – 6:30pm:          Hacking Continues
6:30 - 7:00pm:            Progress Presentations
 
DAY 2:  Sunday, January 24
9:00 – 10:00am:          Breakfast
10:00 – 10:15am:        Guest Presentations
10:15 – 1:00pm:          Hacking Continues
1:00 – 2:00pm:            Networking Lunch 
2:00 – 3:40pm:            Wrap Up Hacking
3:40 – 4:30pm:            Project Presentations
4:30 – 5:30pm:            Networking
 
We welcome developers, computer scientists, data visualization specialists, project managers, and sex trafficking domain experts.
 
----------------------------------
 
Botany Blast: Observing Nature for Citizen Science
Saturday, January 23
9:30am -10:30am
Arnold Arboretum, Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain
 
Join Margaret Kosmala, PhD, to learn about her work in ecology, studying the dynamics of natural systems from local to continental scales. Her new online Citizen Science project, found at http://seasonspotter.org, is a fun way to help study the impacts of changing climates by spotting seasonal features of plants. Kosmala’s work is particularly focused on how natural systems respond to human actions, such as climate change, accidental introduction of exotic species, fragmentation, and active management. Come learn about using long-term and large data sets, novel technologies, and the power of citizen science to understand how life works. If you have a laptop or tablet, please bring it to class.
Fee Free, but registration requested
 
Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.
 
----------------------------------
 
Transformational Technologies of Tomorrow: Converging AI, Big Data and Robotics 
Saturday, January 23
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM 
Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), Havana Conference Room, 5th Floor, One Broadway, Cambridge
 
Panel & Speakers: 1. Suchit Jain, Dassault Systemes 2. Ashish Nadkarni, IDC 
IIT AGNE invites you to the third event in the run up to Leadership Conference 2016, with the theme Leading transformation for a better tomorrow: Technologies that lift the human spirit. Today we google the question that just popped in our head using Siri, set our thermostat using a smartphone and book a ride to the airport on Uber, as Roomba cleans our living room floors. What about dreaming of living in a Smart home equipped with smart appliances, going to the office or on vacation in a driverless car, playing with a smart basketball and riding on a bike with a Smart helmet, monitoring the health of your elderly parents or family while you are on a business trip, and infusing fashion with smart technology embedded in a dress? 
 
Technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, IoT and Robotics are no longer exclusive to the purview of research labs or capital intensive manufacturing environment. Increasingly, tools and knowledge based on the ideas in these domains are becoming common place and fundamentally transforming our lives, the nature of our work, our thinking and our work schedules as well. The sharing economy based on these technologies, pioneered by companies like AirBnB and Uber, has opened up a whole host of options for us as producers and consumers. How is the landscape changing within these domains of knowledge? How are they enhancing our understanding of ourselves, our society and the different environments we function in? How is technology impacting us as individuals, our workplaces and society as a whole? At the same time as new solutions and technologies are harnessed to relieve our pain points, we are facing a different set of challenges arising out of these applications. Explore these new frontiers with our panel on Jan 23rd, 2016. 
 
Please register to attend an exciting discussion. What: Panel Discussion on the Convergence of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics and Robotics technologies and implications When: 23rd January 2016, 2.00-4.00 PM Where: Havana Conference Room, 5th Floor, Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02142 Registration: Free of cost RSVP:PLEASE REGISATER FOR RSVP AS ADMISSION WILL REQUIRE A PHOTO ID DUE TO BUILDING SECURITY. 
 
--------------------------------
 
38th Annual Science Fiction Marathon
Saturday, January 23
7:00p
MIT, Building 26-100, 60 Vassar Street, Cambridge
 
FREE admission! 
7:00 pm - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 
9:15 pm - The Martian 
11:45 pm - pizza break 
12:00 am - a special surprise! 
1:00 am - Apollo 13 
4:00 am - Street Fighter 
 
The Lecture Series Committee (LSC) is proud to host our 38th Science Fiction Marathon (FREE this year), featuring four full-length films, one surprise feature, and a special selection of refreshments! Our theme this year: adaptations. Pizza pre-orders will be taken between The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Martian and ready for pickup before Apollo 13. Breakfast foods will be available before Street Fighter.
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: free 
Sponsor(s): LSC
For more information, contact:  MIT Lecture Series Committee
617-253-3791
 
--------------------------
Monday, January 25
--------------------------
 
Contemporary Geometric Beadwork:  Wearable Sewn Beadwork as a base to Model, Explore, and Animate Structure
Monday, January 25
10:00AM-12:00PM
MIT, Building 32-141, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
 
Kate McKinnon, Erik Demaine, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Martin Demaine, Technical Assistant, CSAIL
Kate McKinnon is bringing her intriguing wearable art project, Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, to MIT, and giving several lectures, a seminar, and two weeks of hands-on sessions. Explore the recent structural and design work in this ancient art, and learn how to apply this alluring type of modeling to your own ideas.
The scope of the project is explained in this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uoCC9MJ2SM
 
Sponsor(s): Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab
Contact: Kate McKinnon, kate@katemckinnon.com
Contemporary Geometric Beadwork-Lecture
 
-----------------------------------
 
Our First Chance to Study the Atmosphere of a Rocky Exoplanet
Monday, January 25
1:30PM-2:30PM    
MIT, Building 6-120, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge
 
Dr. Zach Berta-Thompson - Postdoctoral Fellow
Learn about the Earth-size planet we discovered around a nearby red dwarf and what it means for the search for life outside the Solar System.
 
------------------------------------
 
MIT Clean Energy Prize Ideas Mixer
Monday, January 25
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM 
Greentown Labs, 28 Dane Street, Somerville
 
The MIT Clean Energy Prize is the nation's largest clean energy-focused innovation competition. With over $200,000 in prizes, we can help bring your novel prototype or business plan to sucessful launch! Join the CEP leadership team at Greentown Labs, a unique clean energy prototyping and idea space in Somerville, for a chance to meet like-minded students, engage veteran energy entrepreneurs, and form teams to compete for the Clean Energy Prize.
 
The event is free. Food and drinks will be provided! 
 
---------------------------
Tuesday, January 26
---------------------------
 
Internet Security with Google for Students 50+ 
Tueday, January 26
10:30 to 12:30
Cambridge Community Television, 438 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
 
In this class, a Google representative will cover the basics of how to safeguard your privacy online. You’ll learn how to keep the bad guys out, how to keep evil software at bay, and how to not fall for tricks and scams. We’ll discuss password best practices and how to navigate privacy settings on popular sites. We’ll also explore the ways companies track you online and how to limit data collected about you. 
 
---------------------------------
 
Sustainability Education Committee:  Bioregional Urbanism: Its Lens, and Project Context
Tuesday, January 26
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Suite 200, Boston
 
According to the Global Footprint Network, key physical resources are being consumed by people about 1.5 times faster than the Earth can renew them. Earthos Institute's Bioregional Urbanism methodology is an eight step iterative process proposed to move regional populations of people back to sustainable self sufficiency, defined as: “One Planet Living.” It seeks to re-connect global science and fact-finding to policy and design in the interest of true sustainability. Significantly different from LEED, Sustainable Sites, STARS, and other methods, Bioregional Urbanism generates actual metrics regarding regional resources and support for an emerging “Budgeted Consumption Economy.” This session will explore the meaning and potential design guidance that can be provided through application of the “Bioregional Lens."
 
For those who qualify, 1.5 LUs/HSW are available
 
To learn more about the Sustainability Education Committee, visit architects.org/committees/sustainability-education-committee
 
----------------------------------
 
Film on the Nature of Democracy
Tuesday, January 26
1:00p–2:30p
MIT, Building E51-151, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
 
Speaker: Abhijit Banerjee, MIT
 
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Economics IAP
For more information, contact:  economics calendar
 
---------------------------------
 
Exhibition Opening: Reflective by Reiko Yamada Featuring Vijay Iyer
WHEN  Tue., Jan. 26, 2016, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
WHERE  Johnson-Kulukundis Family Gallery, Byerly Hall, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, 8 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION    Art/Design, Exhibitions, Music
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR    Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S)  Join us for an opening reception with composer and sound artist Reiko Yamada RI '16 and acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, and Harvard professor Vijay Iyer
COST  Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO    events@radcliffe.harvard.edu
DETAILS  Radcliffe Institute fellow Reiko Yamada RI ’16, an independent composer and sound artist, created Reflective, a series of interactive sound art installations based on the aesthetic concept of imperfection in human life. It is an exploration of various media and interactive features to create a deeper engagement with the audience.
This installation is unique in that its material is drawn from recordings of the acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, and Harvard professor Vijay Iyer. The sound material, improvised and recorded in collaboration with Reiko Yamada, has been digitally processed and programmed specifically for the exhibition.
Reflective explores the relationship among decisions, actions, and results. The movements of a visitor in the intimate, darkened gallery space is detected by motion capture sensors, which alter the sound quality of the precomposed piece, making the experience more disturbing or pleasant. Each visitor experiences a unique version of the piece, which is four minutes long.
This site-specific installation has been shown in several locations around the world: France, Argentina, Mississippi, and now Cambridge, Massachusetts.
 
--------------------------------
 
The Black Church Never Left the Outdoors: Eco-Justice and Environmentalism
Tuesday, January 26
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
BU, School of Theology, 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Room STH Community Center, basement, Boston
 
Speaker(s): Dianne Glave and Kapya John Kaoma (STH '10)
This is the spring 2016 School of Theology Lowell event and is part of the School of Theology theme for this year and next: Power, Privilege, and Prophetic Witness. 
 
African Americans have a connection to and understanding of nature, rooted in Africa and going back generations in the United States. Theology, history, and contemporary experience can be traced through environmental activism in and through the church. Dianne Glave, Coordinator of Diversity Development with the Western Pennsylvania United Methodist Church Conference Center, will begin the discussion and Rev. Dr. Kapya John Kaoma (STH '10) will be her discussion partner. This event is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Lowell Institute. Reception following.
 
We hope you will join Glave and Kaoma as we attempt to see deeply into African American and pan-African traditions of earth care. 
 
Registration not required but appreciated. Email Jaclyn Jones, jkjones@bu.edu, to register.
 
Contact organization: School of Theology Development & Alumni Relations
Phone : 617-353-8972
Contact name: Jaclyn Jones
Contact email: jkjones@bu.edu
 
--------------------------------
 
Boston Green Drinks - January Happy Hour
Tuesday, January 26
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)
Scholars, 25 School Street, Boston
 
Join the conversation with sustainability professionals and hobbyists.  Enjoy a drink and build your connection with our green community!
 
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.
 
-------------------------------
 
Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections):  A History of the Religious Battles That Define America from Jefferson's Heresies to Gay Marriage
Tuesday, January 26
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
 
Harvard Book Store welcomes Boston University professor STEPHEN PROTHERO, bestselling author of Religious Literacy and God Is Not One, for a discussion of his latest book, Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections): A History of the Religious Battles That Define America from Jefferson's Heresies to Gay Marriage.
About Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections)
 
In this timely, carefully reasoned social history of the United States, Stephen Prothero places today’s heated culture wars within the context of a centuries-long struggle of right versus left and religious versus secular to reveal how, ultimately, liberals always win.
 
Though they may seem to be dividing the country irreparably, today’s heated cultural and political battles between right and left, Progressives and Tea Party, religious and secular are far from unprecedented. In this engaging and important work, Stephen Prothero reframes the current debate, viewing it as the latest in a number of flashpoints that have shaped our national identity. Prothero takes us on a lively tour through time, bringing into focus the election of 1800, which pitted Calvinists and Federalists against Jeffersonians and “infidels;” the Protestants’ campaign against Catholics in the mid-nineteenth century; the anti-Mormon crusade of the Victorian era; the fundamentalist-modernist debates of the 1920s; the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s; and the current crusade against Islam.
 
As Prothero makes clear, our culture wars have always been religious wars, progressing through the same stages of conservative reaction to liberal victory that eventually benefit all Americans. Drawing on his impressive depth of knowledge and detailed research, he explains how competing religious beliefs have continually molded our political, economic, and sociological discourse and reveals how the conflicts which separate us today, like those that came before, are actually the byproduct of our struggle to come to terms with inclusiveness and ideals of “Americanness.” To explore these battles, he reminds us, is to look into the soul of America—and perhaps find essential answers to the questions that beset us.
 
--------------------------------
 
January Hyperlocal News & Media Meetup at CCTV
Tuesday, January 26
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Cambridge Community Television, 438 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
 
Cambridge Community Television is happy to host the 4th meeting for the Hyperlocal News & Media Meetup group on Tuesday, January 26th at 7pm. This quarterly meetup will be followed by a tour of CCTV. Meet people in the hyperlocal journalism field and learn more about what is happening in and around the greater Boston area. We will explore best practices in the local news/media, collaborations/partnership ideas, marketing tips and have a chance to build a stronger community media field!
 
The agenda for the night:
1. Show examples of work people are doing - people should come with questions if they are seeking any feedback re: production, story quality, etc. 
2. Go around and share biggest hurdles and biggest successes from doing a local news show 
3. Get a tour of CCTV
 
*****************
----------------------
Upcoming Events
----------------------
*****************
 
-------------------------------
Wednesday, January 27
-------------------------------
 
MIT on Climate = Science + Action
Wednesday, January 27
8:30a–5:30p
MIT, Building 32-123, Stata Center, Kirsch Auditorium, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
 
A Symposium Presented by the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) Co-sponsored by the Lorenz Center and the Houghton Fund 
Speaker: Multiple MIT faculty
 
Touching on everything from the essentials of planetary climate through the complexities of Earth's climate system to the challenges of finding the will to act on our knowledge to address current climate change, the symposium features talks and discussion by faculty experts from across the spectrum of climate research at MIT, and keynote speakers Marcia McNutt (Editor-in-Chief of Science) and Justin Gillis (Environmental Science Writer for The New York Times). 
 
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact:  Kurt Sternlof
(617) 253-6895
 
-------------------------------------
 
Mobile Reading Marathon: Arabian Nights
Wednesday, January 27
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
MIT, Multiple Locations, Cambridge
 
Speaker(s): Diana Henderson
Participants will read selections from "The Arabian Nights" in 4 locations on campus. 
Participants are welcome to any or all sessions throughout the day.    
09:30AM-11:00AM     14E-304
11:00AM-01:00PM     Lobby 10
01:00PM-03:00PM     1-236
03:00PM-05:00PM     7-338
 
Tweet as you participate: #ArabianNights
 
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Literature Section
Contact: Susan Wiedner (swiedner@mit.edu)
More info: 258-5629
 
-------------------------------------
 
Research at EdX and Beyond
Wednesday, January 27
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
edX Office, 141 Portland Street, Floor 9, Cambridge
 
Piotr Mitros, edX Chief Scientist will talk about research using Open edX.
 
------------------------------------
 
Boston Ignite: Big Data 
Wednesday, January 27
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM 
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
 
Enlighten us, but make it quick Ignite is a series of events held in cities across the world and it's back in Boston. Presenters get 20 slides, which automatically advance every 15 seconds. The result is an evening of fast and fun presentations which each last just 5 minutes. Big Data Ignite Boston: Big Data is back. Join us for our second evening at the District Hall to connect with the big data community and hear from those who havesurvived, thrived, or died in a data-driven world. 
 
Call for Participation 
Do you have something interesting to share about data? A big idea to share? A story waiting to be heard?
Submit your presentation to the call for participation. 
 
-------------------------------------
 
Urban Planning Film Series:  Herman's House, by Angad Singh Bhalla
Wednesday, January 27
7:00PM-9:15PM    
MIT, Building 66-110, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
 
Herman Wallace may be the longest-serving prisoner in solitary confinement in the United States---he's spent more than 40 years in a 6-by-9-foot cell in Louisiana. Imprisoned in 1967 for a robbery he admits, he was subsequently sentenced to life for a killing he vehemently denies. Herman's House is a moving account of the remarkable expression his struggle found in an unusual project proposed by artist Jackie Sumell.
 
Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Ezra Glenn, 7-337, 617 253-2024, EGLENN@MIT.EDU
 
----------------------------
Thursday, January 28
----------------------------
 
The State of Solar: Challenges and Opportunities in 2016
Thursday, January 28
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM 
NonProfit Center, 89 South Street,  Boston
Cost $10 –$50
 
Join SEBANE for an engaging discussion and networking opportunity on the challenges and opportunities facing the solar industry.  The event will feature an appearance by Senator Benjamin Downing, who will be presented with SEBANE’s first Leadership Award for the Senator’s vision and leadership. This will be followed by a panel discussion on solar policy, market perspectives from industry leaders, and a regional and national overview of the current state of solar development.
 
We look forward to seeing on you on the 28th!
 
Agenda
9:00-9:15 a.m. | Introduction by Bill Stillinger, Chairman, SEBANE and President, PV Squared
9:15-9:45 a.m. | Award presentation to Senator Ben Downing (D-Pittsfield)
10:00-11:00 a.m. | Panel discussion featuring Larry Aller (invited);  Dan Berwick, Executive Vice President of Business Development, Borrego Solar (invited); Janet Besser, Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs, Northeast Clean Energy Council; Sean Garren, Northeast Regional Manager, Vote Solar; and David O'Connor, Senior Vice President, ML Strategies
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. | Networking reception with coffee and light refreshments
 
--------------------------------------
 
Displaying Data and Models on a Digital Globe
Thursday, January 28    
11:00AM-12:00PM    
MIT, Building 54-1827, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
 
Glenn Flierl, Professor of Oceanography
The Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences have been hosting a two foot diameter spherical display system.  If you have data or interactive models you'd like to see visualized on the sphere, come to the sessions to learn how it can be done and to figure out better ways and how to present information using the iGlobe.  Or try to make a compelling environmental movie using the sphere, an auxiliary screen, and sound.  Or come if you'd just like to experiment with the way things look projected on a spherical surface.
 
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Contact: Glenn Flierl, 54-1626, 617-253-4692, glenn@lake.mit.edu
 
----------------------------------
 
China in Latin America:  Seeking a Path Toward Sustainable Development
Thursday, January 28
12 pm
Tufts, Rabb room, Lincoln Filene Center, 10 Upper Campus Road, Medford
Most talks will be streamed lived at Bit.ly/TuftsLunchLearn
 
Rebecca Ray
China is now the top trading partner for South America and the top lender for the entire Latin American region. But Latin America's recent commodity boom — led by Chinese demand and investment — accentuated the region’s environmental degradation and social conflicts. This talk will review the results of eight country studies on the environmental and social impacts of China in Latin America. It will focus on two questions: First, is China an independent driver of social and environmental change in the region? Second, do Chinese investors perform differently from other investors in Latin America?
 
----------------------------------
 
Implementing the Smart City
Thursday, January 28
6:00 PM
The MEME Design, 288 Norfolk Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge
Go around to the back (or loading dock) entrance. Our office is not accessible from the front entrance. Climb up the stairs to the top (5th) floor. There will be signs pointing the way. Street parking is available along Hampshire St.
 
The Smart City is not just an abstract vision of urban utopia; it is here, and it is here to stay. The grand promise is that the Internet of Things will help us iron out inefficiencies, using insights generated from Big Data to transform urban life. It promises to improve quality of life and manage the complex systems that make up the city's infrastructure. But what does that actually mean?
 
THE MEME invites you to an evening of conversation where we will look at how the Smart City is being created, piece by piece, to address the real challenges of life in the city. Join experienced leaders in the field as they discuss how they are researching, developing, and implementing new technology that will change the way we experience urban spaces.
 
Don’t miss out on the fourth event in THE MEME’s Internet of Things series. We have three speakers confirmed for the panel: Kristopher Carter (the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics), Jutta Friedrichs (Soofa), and Nicola Palmarini (IBM Accessibility / IBM Research).
 
---------------------------------
 
RPP Colloquium: Integral Human Development and the Moral Imagination: Implications for Religion, Development, and Peacebuilding
Thu., Jan. 28
6 – 8:30 p.m. 
Harvard, Sperry Room, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
 
Religions and the Practice of Peace Colloquium Series
R. Scott Appleby, PhD, professor of history and Marilyn Keough Dean of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, is author or editor of more than 15 books, including The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation; The Fundamentalism Project; Peacebuilding: Catholic Theology, Ethics, and Praxis; and, most recently, The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding.
 
Integral Human Development (IHD), a concept articulated in Roman Catholic social teaching and resonant in other religious and secular traditions, levels a serious critique at narrowly technical and secular global efforts to build peace, eradicate poverty and provide basic human needs such as health care and education to underdeveloped societies. Reading IHD through the lens of Lederach’s rendering of the moral imagination allows us to envision and elaborate a sustainable partnership between professional development actors, peacebuilders, and religious communities. The talk will unpack and defend this argument.
 
The event will be moderated by HDS Dean David N. Hempton, Alonzo L. McDonald Family Professor of Evangelical Theological Studies and John Lord O'Brian Professor of Divinity.
 
Space is limited. RSVP is required. Check back for RSVP info.
 
Launched by HDS Dean David N. Hempton in 2014, this monthly public series convenes a cross-disciplinary RPP Working Group of faculty, experts, graduate students, and alumni from across Harvard’s Schools and the local area to explore topics and cases in religions and the practice of peace. A diverse array of scholars, leaders, and religious peacebuilders are invited to present and engage with the RPP Working Group and general audience. A light dinner is served and a brief reception follows the program.
 
 
Gazette Classification: Lecture, Religion 
Sponsor: Religions and the Practice of Peace Initiative 
Contact: Liz Lee-Hood 
January 28
------------------------------
 
Neuromarketing-palo­oza:  Uncovering What Your Target Audience Is Feeling 
Thursday, January 28
6:30 PM
    
Emotions are the number one influencer of attention, perception, memory, human behavior and decision-making. And to that end, our featured speaker will be Gabi Zijderveld, VP of Marketing and Product Strategy at Affectiva (http://www.affectiva.com/), leaders in emotion analytics and insights. Gabi will be giving a demo of their technology, which delivers insights into people’s emotional engagement with anything from websites to brands, advertising, movie trailers and TV programs.
 
Making 'Em Click 
 
In addition, we'll be covering the most effective methods for writing headlines that get more clicks. Headlines are everywhere we look online, whether in websites, blogs, articles, Tweets or emails. We'll be doing a deep-dive into the psychology of why people can't resist clicking on certain headlines yet ignore others. Learn to write irresistible headlines that drive attention, clicks and traffic. 
 
The event is free, and so is the pizza. 
 
-----------------------------
 
The Idealist:  Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet
Thursday, January 28
7:00 PM
(Doors at 6:30)
WorkBar, 45 Prospect Street., First Floor, Cambridge
 
Harvard Book Store and The Baffler welcome Slate correspondant JUSTIN PETERS and editor-in-chief of The Baffler JOHN SUMMERS for a discussion of Peters' book The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet, a smart, lively history of the Internet free culture movement and its larger effects on society—and the life and shocking suicide of Aaron Swartz, a founding developer of Reddit and Creative Commons.
 
About The Idealist
Aaron Swartz was a zealous young advocate for the free exchange of information and creative content online. He committed suicide in 2013 after being indicted by the government for illegally downloading millions of academic articles from a nonprofit online database. From the age of fifteen, when Swartz, a computer prodigy, worked with Lawrence Lessig to launch Creative Commons, to his years as a fighter for copyright reform and open information, to his work leading the protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), to his posthumous status as a cultural icon, Swartz’s life was inextricably connected to the free culture movement. Now Justin Peters examines Swartz’s life in the context of 200 years of struggle over the control of information.
 
In vivid, accessible prose, The Idealist situates Swartz in the context of other "data moralists" past and present, from lexicographer Noah Webster to ebook pioneer Michael Hart to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. In the process, the book explores the history of copyright statutes and the public domain; examines archivists’ ongoing quest to build the “library of the future”; and charts the rise of open access, copyleft, and other ideologies that have come to challenge protectionist IP policies. Peters also breaks down the government’s case against Swartz and explains how we reached the point where federally funded academic research came to be considered private property, and downloading that material in bulk came to be considered a federal crime.
 
The Idealist is an important investigation of the fate of the digital commons in an increasingly corporatized Internet, and an essential look at the impact of the free culture movement on our daily lives and on generations to come.
 
------------------------
Friday, January 29
------------------------
 
HBS Entertainment and Media Conference 2016
Friday, January 29
8:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EST)
Harvard Business School, Boston
Cost:  $32.64 - $64.29
 
Entertainment and Media: The Future of Entertainment
Our annual conference brings together hundreds of HBS and Harvard University students, alumni, faculty, business leaders, and community members to hear from industry leaders. The conference features keynote addresses and panel discussions with senior business and creative executives from the industry’s leading corporations and investors.  
Confirmed speakers include executives from:
Capitol Records
Centerview
CNN
Governor's Ball
HBO
LiveNation
Morgan Stanley
NBC/Universal
Seed & Spark
STX
... and more to come!
 
------------------------------
 
MIT Meeting on Quantitative Ecology
Friday, January 29
11:00a–6:00p
MIT, Building 4-349, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge
 
Speaker: Organizers: Jeff Gore & Serguei Saavedra
This first meeting has the intention to build a network of researchers/labs located in the Boston area working in the field of quantitative/theoretical ecology. This meeting will allow presenters and attendees to introduce their research, exchange ideas, and explore potential avenues of collaboration. 
 
Speakers: Otto Cordero (MIT), Elizabeth Crone (Tufts), Mick Follows (MIT), Jeff Gore (MIT), 
Tarik Gouhier (Northeastern), Kirill Korolev (Boston University), Pankaj Mehta (Boston University), Babak Momeni (Boston College), Peter Morin (Rutgers), Michael Neubert (Woods Hole), Martin Polz (MIT), Daniel Rothman (MIT), Serguei Saavedra (MIT), Alvaro Sanchez (Harvard), Benjamin Wolfe (Tufts), Elizabeth Wolkovich (Harvard) 
 
Attendance is free but REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED: Send name & affiliation to mit.qe.meeting@gmail.com Please mention if you would like to present a poster.
 
Open to: MIT and Participating Affiliated Instititutions
Cost: 0 
Tickets: Send name & affiliation to mit.qe.meeting@gmail.com 
Sponsor(s): Civil and Environmental Engineering
For more information, contact:  MIT Meeting on Quantitative Ecology
617-258-8685
 
-----------------------------
 
Innovate Tufts - Design Thinking Workshop
Friday, January 29
12:00 PM to 6:00 PM (EST)
Tufts, Chase Center, Curtis Street, Medford
 
Think Local, Act Local
On January 29th 2016, the Innovate Tufts Week will be kicking off with a bang! The first event we will be hosting is a Design Thinking workshop in collaboration with Frog Design. 
During this event, participants will be introduced to the framework of design thinking and creative problem solving. Eight entrepreneurs and community activists will present their challenges and engage with participants to apply the framework to these real-world issues. Ranging from urban design for clean water in the Charles River to public health in India, the cases presented will resonate with individuals from any disciplinary field. 
Our goal is to push the boundaries of your imagination. We hope to engage students and professionals alike to take action in their communities and to enact positive change from the bottom-up.  
And no, you don't to have to be a designer, artist or programmer to be a design thinker. 
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE
 
----------------------------
 
MIT Can Talk
Friday, January 29
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
MIT, MIT Museum, Building N51, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
 
After a week of preparing, MIT students compete to become a champion orator. Hear their 5-minute pitches and decide for yourself who deserves the laurel wreath!
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free with Museum admission
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum
Contact: Jennifer Novotney (museuminfo@mit.edu)
More info: 617-253-5927
 
-----------------------------
 
Battling of God's Word: Indonesian Muslim Feminists Now
Friday, January 29
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
BU, 121 Bay State Road, Boston
 
Speaker(s): Nelly van Doorn-Harder Department for the Study of Religions at Wake Forest College
Texts and strategies Muslim feminists in Indonesia use to counter radical-minded Muslim discourses about the rights and role of women.
 
Contact organization: CURA
Phone : 617-353-9050
Contact name: Arlene Brennan
Contact email: cura@bu.edu
 
----------------------------
 
Global Game Jam 2016
Friday, January 29
5p - 11:45p
MIT, Building 32-123, 32-124 & 32-144, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
 
The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world's largest game jam event taking place around the world at physical locations. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. It is the growth of an idea that in today's heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games - it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. It is all condensed into a 48 hour development cycle. The GGJ encourages people with all kinds of backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity.
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: free 
 
This event occurs daily at 5:00p - 11:45p through January 29, 2016, and also on January 31, 2016 at 9:00a - 6:00p and January 30, 2016 at 9:00a - 11:45p.
 
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing, MIT Game Lab
For more information, contact: Andrew Whitacre
617-324-0490
 
----------------------------
Saturday, January 30
----------------------------
 
Global Game Jam 2016
Saturday, January 30
9:00a–11:45p
MIT, Building 32-123, 32-124 & 32-144, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
 
The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world's largest game jam event taking place around the world at physical locations. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. It is the growth of an idea that in today's heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games - it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. It is all condensed into a 48 hour development cycle. The GGJ encourages people with all kinds of backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity.
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: free 
 
This event occurs daily at 5:00p - 11:45p through January 29, 2016, and also on January 31, 2016 at 9:00a - 6:00p and January 30, 2016 at 9:00a - 11:45p.
 
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing, MIT Game Lab
For more information, contact: Andrew Whitacre
617-324-0490
 
-------------------------
Sunday, January 31
-------------------------
 
Global Game Jam 2016
Sunday, January 31
9:00a–11:45p
MIT, Building 32-123, 32-124 & 32-144, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
 
The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world's largest game jam event taking place around the world at physical locations. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. It is the growth of an idea that in today's heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games - it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. It is all condensed into a 48 hour development cycle. The GGJ encourages people with all kinds of backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity.
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: free 
 
This event occurs daily at 5:00p - 11:45p through January 29, 2016, and also on January 31, 2016 at 9:00a - 6:00p and January 30, 2016 at 9:00a - 11:45p.
 
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing, MIT Game Lab
For more information, contact: Andrew Whitacre
617-324-0490
 
--------------------------
Monday, February 1
--------------------------
 
Askwith Forum: The American Dream in Crisis: Can Education Restore Social Mobility?
Monday, February 1
5:30 – 7 p.m. 
Harvard, Longfellow Hall, 13 Appian Way, Cambridge
 
Moderator: Paul Reville, Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration, HGSE
Speaker: Robert D. Putnam, Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School; author, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis
Discussants:
Roland G. Fryer, Jr., Professor of Education, HGSE; Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University
Meira Levinson, Professor of Education, HGSE
 
The American Dream of equal opportunity is being threatened. A growing gap between kids from the upper third and the lower third of the social hierarchy poses serious economic, social, political, and moral challenges. In this Askwith Forum, Putnam shares insights from Our Kids, his groundbreaking examination of this new American crisis, and our speakers consider what educators can do to help restore some measure of social mobility in our society.
 
Type of Event: Discussion, Diversity & Equity, Forum, Lecture, Question & Answer Session 
Program/Department: Alumni, AskWith Forum 
Building/Room: Askwith Hall 
Contact Name: Roger Falcon 
Contact Phone: 617-384-9968 
Sponsoring Organization/Department: Harvard Graduate School of Education 
Registration Required: No 
Admission Fee: This event is free and open to the public. 
RSVP Required: No 
Gazette Classification: Education 
 
---------------------------
Tuesday, February 2
---------------------------
 
Boston TechBreakfast: February 2016
Tuesday, February 2
8:00 AM
Microsoft NERD - Horace Mann Room, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA (map)
 
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! 
 
------------------------------------
 
Creativity and Entrepreneurship
WHEN  Tue., Feb. 2, 2016, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard, Room 128, Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION    Business, Classes/Workshops, Humanities, Lecture, Music
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR    Ludics Seminar, Mahindra Humanities Center, Harvard University
SPEAKER(S)  Panos Panay, BerkleeICE (Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship).
CONTACT INFO    rapti@fas.harvard.edu
DETAILS  Panos Panay, founding managing director of Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE) will be discussing the role of play and games at the intersection of of creativity, music, technology, entrepreneurship, and business.
 
------------------------------------
 
BASG Feb. 2: Buildings of the Future - How LEED and Living Buildings are Changing our Landscapes
Tuesday, February 2
6:00 PM to 8:30 PM (EST)
Cambridge Innovation Center, Venture Cafe - 5th Floor, One Broadway, Cambridge
Cost:  $10 - $12
From cool roofs to smart glass, architects, engineers, scientists, and industrial innovators have been pushing the envelope for over two decades to build healthier, more efficient, and environmentally sustainable buildings. Today, green construction and renovation continue to trend high as a pursuit of real estate owners and community planners, who recognize the social and economic advantages of utilizing materials and design elements that minimize energy, water, and toxin impacts, while maximizing renewable natural resources for lighting, HVAC, and fixtures.
We are thrilled to have the U.S. Green Building Council Massachusetts Chapter and Living Building Challenge Boston Collaborative as our co-hosts for the evening. These organizations are at the forefront of changing the landscape with their certification criteria and programs for building better, smarter environments inside and out.
Our speakers representing these organizations will be Grey Lee, Executive Director of the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter and Shawn Hesse, emersion DESIGN lead and co-facilitator of the Living Building Challenge Boston Collaborative.
 
Grey Lee, Executive Director, LEED AP BD&C
Grey is the chief facilitator of the US Green Building Council community in Massachusetts, serving as executive director since October 2012. He manages the organization's daily activities and leads the Chapter in achieving its mission. He has a keen interest in helping the broader community of stakeholders recognize how green buildings support and resolve many environmental, social justice, and sustainability issues. By connecting more people to the benefits of green buildings, we will be able to see a groundswell of support to change policy and change market preferences toward better buildings and urban planning. Grey has a background in commercial brokerage, real estate finance, and community engagement. He serves on the boards of two other community organizations in the Boston area and is very active with the Green Catamount alumni network of the University of Vermont. He lives in Harvard Square, Cambridge.
 
Shawn Hesse, NCARB, LEED® AP BD+C, O+M, LFA, Regenerative Practitioner™
Shawn leads emersion DESIGN’s Cambridge office, and focuses his work on integrating sustainability into design, planning, and policy decisions for clients ranging from fortune 500 companies to universities, cultural, and civic institutions.  He has designed and consulted on some of the greenest buildings in the country including Net Zero energy projects, and LEED Platinum Certified projects.  He has consulted with universities, large corporations, and cities on sustainability and climate change planning efforts, and has crafted policies for cities and universities across the US to promote green building, green jobs, carbon reduction, and resiliency.
As the first USGBC Faculty in Ohio, and one of three in Massachusetts, Shawn is part of an elite group to be recognized and trained by the USGBC, and has educated more than 3,800 people about LEED and sustainability.  As a Living Building Challenge Ambassador and Facilitator for the Boston area, Shawn also provides training for organizations interested in pursuing the Living Building Challenge – the most stringent and ambitious sustainability rating system.   He is an active volunteer with the USGBC, serving on a LEED Technical Working Group to write social equity into future versions of LEED, and serves on the national board of Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility, working to improve social justice in the built environment.
 
Join us and our co-hosts, USGBC of Massachusetts and The Living Building Boston Collaborative for this enlightening and beautiful presentation of the spaces and places that comprise our future environments.  -- Carol, Holly, Tilly
 
------------------------------
Wednesday, February 3
------------------------------
 
Innovative Polymers for Printable Photocells: Multiscale Theory for Materials Design
Wed., Feb. 3, 2016
4 p.m. 
Harvard, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 
 
In a talk that touches on ways to harvest sunlight with novel polymer photocells, Milner will explain how theory is critically important to understanding the hybrid nature of these materials. 
 
Gazette Classification: Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Science 
Organization/Sponsor: Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study 
Speaker(s): Scott Milner, 2015-2016 Radcliffe Institute Fellow; theoretical physicist and the William H. Joyce Chair in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University 
Cost: Free and open to the public 
 
---------------------------------
 
Uncharted Waters? Novel ecosystems in the marine environment
Wednesday, February 3
4:00PM
Harvard, Geo Museum 102, 24 Oxford Street 1st Floor, Cambridge
 
Ecological Systems in the Anthropocene Series Lecture featuring panelists:
JEREMY JACKSON
Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, and Ritter Professor of Oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Senior Scientist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
TREVOR BRANCH
Associate Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington
JOHN PANDOLFI  
ARC Professorial Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Australia
Moderated By: MARY O'CONNOR
Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology and Associate Director, Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia
 
Since the retreat of glaciers poleward over 10,000 years ago, humans have left an ever increasing fingerprint on ecological systems across the globe. The environment is now dominated by people—approximately 1/3 of land area has been transformed for human use and 1/4 of global productivity diverted to human consumption. While concepts such as wilderness attempt to escape this reality, there is virtually no habitat on earth devoid of some sign of humans influence on the globe—be it chemical, thermal, or a missing or introduced species. Today, this imprint is so pronounced that scientists are actively debating naming a new geological epoch demarcated by the sign of humans on the earth system itself: the Anthropocene.
 
In the shadow of this debate, the HUCE seminar series "Ecological Systems in the Anthropocene" will examine the future of social-environmental systems in a globe heavily impacted by humans. Each year the series will present a set of speakers and events (e.g., seminars, panels, debates) focused on one perspective under this theme.
 
The theme for the first year is "Novel ecosystems, novel climates: Is today’s environment unprecedented?"
 
Contact Name:  Erin Harleman
 
----------------------------------
 
Does the Environment Still Matter? Daily Temperature and Income in the United States
Wednesday, February 3
4:15PM TO 5:30PM
Harvard, Littauer 382, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
 
Tatyana Deryugina, University of Illinois, and Solomon Hsiang, University of California, Berkeley
 
Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy
For further information, contact Professor Stavins (617-495-1820), Professor Weitzman (617-495-5133), or the course assistant, Jason Chapman (617-496-8054).
 
Contact Name:  Bryan J. Galcik
 
------------------------------------
 
The CRISPR Catch-22: An Innovation Series Event
February 3
5:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge
$20 Members, $45 Non-Members, Free for Students 
 
CRISPR / Cas9 is a 3-year-old technology that is groundbreaking, controversial and developing fast.
 
MIT Technology Review called it the ‘biggest biotech discovery of the century’. The technology makes gene-editing simple, affordable and precise.  Right now, scientists are exploring the potential of the technology to cure a host of human diseases.  Other potential groundbreaking research is being done in insects (to eradicate malaria) and animals.
 
But, with all of this promise, comes an ethical Catch-22.
 
As recently as December 2015, the International Summit on Human Gene Editing came up with some guidelines attempting to draw a line in the sand on the bioethical questions related to this technology.
 
On February 3 we’ll take a look at the gene-editing landscape with some of the thought leaders in this space to tackle questions such as:
How soon can we capitalize on these opportunities to solve major healthcare problems of the society?
What is the scope of problems we can really solve?
How serious are the concerns relating to ‘unethical’ use of the technology, and do we need to explicitly regulate them?
Speakers
George J. Annas, JD, MPH, William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor and Director, Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights, BU School of Public Health, School of Medicine, and School of Law
George Church, Ph.D, Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Professor of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard and MIT
Bill Lundberg, Chief Scientific Officer, CRISPR Therapeutics
Andrés Treviño, Author of "Andy & Sofia" and spokesman for stem cell research
Moderator:  Antonio Regalado, Senior Editor for Biomedicine, MIT Technology Review
 
Event Schedule
5:30 - 6:00 Registration, Networking & Light Snacks
6:00 - 8:00 Program
8:00 - 9:00 More Networking
 
-------------------------------
 
Native Plant Gardens: Learning by Example
Wednesday, February 3
7 to 8:30pm
Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, Cambridge
 
A free lecture by Carolyn Summers , author of "Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East", presented by Grow Native Mass at the Cambridge Public Library 
Landscaping with native plants is becoming the rule rather than the exception, but good examples can be hard to find. Come for a visual tour of some truly instructive native plant gardens, large and small, public and private. A diversity of styles, ranging from formal to naturalistic, will illustrate the usage of native plants in both residential and public landscapes. Our tour will travel from Sara Stein’s Garden in Pound Ridge, NY, to the New World Garden designed by Larry Weaner, to the High Line in NYC, and include many others along the way. Accompanied by design and how-to tips, this talk will be valuable for everyone from novice gardeners to seasoned professionals.
 
Carolyn Summers is author of Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East and an adjunct professor at Go Native U, a joint project of Westchester Community College and The Native Plant Center. She and her husband recently opened their country home, Flying Trillium Gardens and Preserve, for public tours and to showcase the importance of native plants to all landscapes.
 
----------------------------------
 
Spring Generator Dinner: IDEAS Global Challenge
Wednesday, February 3
7:00p–9:00p
MIT, Building E15-674, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
 
Working on a project to help underserved communities? Need funding? 
Want to recruit new members for your IDEAS Global Challenge team? 
Want to get involved, but don't yet have an idea? 
 
Join us for dinner. Pitch an idea. Find a team. 
 
This is one of the best venues to find a team to join, pitch your idea to woo and recruit teammates, or pitch your skills to get hired onto a team. With the final chance to submit a Scope Statement just a few weeks away (Feb 18, 2016), get started at this event! 
 
Learn more about the IDEAS Global Challenge here: http://globalchallenge.mit.edu.
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free, but please RSVP 
Tickets: Eventbrite 
Sponsor(s): IDEAS Global Challenge, Graduate Student Life Grants, MIT Public Service Center
For more information, contact:  Keely Swan
 
----------------------------
Thursday, February 4
----------------------------
 
Genetics and Genomics of Autoimmune Diseases
WHEN  Thursday, February 4, 2016, 11am – 12pm
WHERE  Minot Room, Countway Library, 10 Shattuck Street, Boston
SPEAKER NAME    Soumya Raychaudhuri, MD, PhD
SPEAKER TITLE    Associate Professor of Medicine
SPEAKER INSTITUTION  Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital
SERIES/EVENT TITLE    BIG Seminar
SPONSOR    HMS Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics PhD Program
 
---------------------------------
 
Geospatial Innovation and Environmental Applications:  The Geo Career Path
Thursday, February 4
12 pm
Tufts, Rabb room, Lincoln Filene Center, 10 Upper Campus Road, Medford
Most talks will be streamed lived at Bit.ly/TuftsLunchLearn
 
Michael Terner
With the full emergence of the cloud, open source technologies and the imperative to get GIS and mapping applications onto mobile devices the entire geospatial industry is going through a wave of innovation. This talk will describe the current technological and market conditions behind this innovation while presenting several environmentally oriented case studies, including the development of the Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT) developed for the Western Governors' Association (WGA). The talk will conclude by discussing how the new technologies are influencing career development and hiring for geospatial jobs.
 
---------------------------------
 
Starr Forum: Africian Repats
Thursday, February 4
4:00p–5:30p
MIT, Building E14-648, Media Lab Silverman Skyline Room, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
 
Panel discussion featuring Claude Grunitzky, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of TRUE AFRICA, and other guests 
 
CIS Starr Forum 
A public events series on pressing issues in international affairs, sponsored by the MIT Center for International Studies.
 
Please contact us at starrforum@mit.edu if you need accessibility accommodations
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free 
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies
For more information, contact:
617- 253-8306
 
---------------------------------
 
Household Workers Unite! A Conversation between Scholars and Activists
WHEN  Thu., Feb. 4, 2016, 4:15 p.m.
WHERE  Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION    Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR    Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S)  Moderator: Rakesh Khurana, dean of Harvard College and Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Harvard Business School
Lydia Edwards, Massachusetts Coalition of Domestic Workers
Premilla Nadasen, Department of History, Barnard College
Monique Nguyen, MataHari
Natalicia Tracy, Brazilian Worker Center
COST  Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO    events@radcliffe.harvard.edu
DETAILS  In a talk which touches on the significance of domestic worker organizing, historian Premilla Nadasen, the author of “Household Workers Unite: The Untold Story of African American Women Who Built a Movement,” will be joined by leaders of three organizations whose work led to the passage of the Massachusetts Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2014. Panelists will consider transformations in the occupation of household labor including the shift from a largely African American to immigrant workforce, the different historical contexts for domestic worker organizing, as well as lessons that current organizers and advocates can learn from earlier periods of activism.
 
---------------------------------
 
EnergyBar! 
Thursday, February 4
5:30pm - 8:30pm
Greentown Labs, 28 Dane Street, Somerville
 
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
 
--------------------------------
 
Architecture Lecture: Fred Turner, The Politics of Interactivity in Cold War America
Thursday, February 4
6:00p–8:00p
MIT, Building 7-429, Long Lounge, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
 
MIT Architecture Lecture Series
 
Part of the Spring 2016 Architecture and Computation Group Lecture Series.
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: free 
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture, Computation
For more information, contact:  Hannah Loomis
617-253-7494
 
--------------------------------
 
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Thursday, February 4
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)
Workbar Cambridge, 45 Prospect Street, Cambridge
 
The public debate about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is fierce.
 
Supporters say that GMOs hold great promise for a fast-changing world: food can be made more bountiful and easier to grow and transport.  GMOs could be a vital part of the solution to an ever-increasing global population, world hunger, and climate change.
 
However, critics say that the unintended risks of GMOs could outweigh these benefits: GMOs pose unknown human health and environmental side effects, and there are concerns about the fact that some GM seeds are subject to intellectual property rights owned by corporations.
 
Join us to get your questions answered about the science and politics of GMOs, and to form your opinion on this controversial subject.
 
How are GMOs different than selective breeding methods used by indigenous tribes for centuries?
What is the scientific consensus of the health and environmental impacts?
Why have European countries banned GMOs, while the US hasn't?
Why are people against limiting or labeling GMOs?
Speaker:
Prof. Parke Wilde is an Associate Professor at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, where he teaches and writes about U.S. food policy.
 
--------------------------------
 
Cybersecurity from China’s Perspective
Thursday, February 4 
7:00 - 8:30 p.m. 
The Mary Baker Eddy Library, 200 Massachussets Avenue, Boston
 
Last year proved to be an active one for cybersecuirty. In an attempt to curb an increasing number of cyberattcks, Washington and Beijing met this past September to discuss potential solutions for peace. An agreement was reached, though some experts were quick to point out flaws. 
 
If past trends continue, there is little reason to think that cyber threats in 2016 will be any less numerous. But despite these concerns, the agreement between Washington and Beijing could prove to be a positive step toward thwarting commercial hacking, said Ellen Nakashima, national security reporter at The Washington Post.
Will Beijing really be able to hold up its end of the deal? Can China rein in its hackers? Will China and the West forge rules of engagement in the Digital Age?
 
Join Passcode and The Mary Baker Eddy Library for a discussion that will address these questions and shed light on the status of cyber relations between the US and China.
 
Doors open at 6:00 p.m. for networking. The Mapparium will be open and will include an exclusive presentation related to the event. This event is free and open to the public and will be live streamed on csmonitor.com/world/passcode.
 
Panel:  Adam Segal, Director, Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program, the Council on Foreign Relations
Michael Sulmeyer, Director, Cyber Security Project, Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School
Moderated by Mike Farrell, Editor, Passcode
 
Follow the conversation on Twitter via the hashtag #CSMChina and follow us @csmpasscode.
By registering for the event, you are also signing up for Passcode's email newsletter to receive related coverage and analysis. If you wish to unsubscribe, you may do so at any time.
 
------------------------
Friday, February 5
-----------------------
 
HMS Academy Medical Education Grand Rounds- Culture, Climate, and Our Community: The intersection of the generations
Friday, February 5
7:30 AM to 9:00 AM
Harvard Medical School, Tosteson Medical Education Center (TMEC) Rm.250, 260 Longwood Avenue, Boston
 
Overview: There are 4 generations practicing medicine today. Who are they, who defines them, and why does it matter? Everyone says that generations differ; is this true, and what would make generations differ? While it may be hard to disentangle all the reasons that generations appear to differ, there are 3 processes that seem to be important: 1. Lifecycle effects ( in age); 2. Period effects (seminal events); and 3. Cohort effects (major events that happen as the cohort comes of age). Each generation has its own cultural norms that vary within and across generations. Individuals may experience the culture of another generation as more or less congenial. As we each consider our own culture as "normal," we may cause others to experience us as biased and judgmental. Such experiences and perceptions affect education in medicine. In this session, we will consider education and professional development through multiple lenses: culture, the way of life of a group of people determined by their common values; climate…
 
-------------------------------
 
MIT Breaking the Mold Conference
Friday, February 5
9:00 AM 
MIT, Media Lab, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Cost:  $26.88–$47.78
 
Breaking the Mold is an initiative aimed at creating a safe space for open dialogue about unconscious biases, with the expressed purpose of helping participants develop approaches to managing these biases in the classroom, workplace and board room. 
 
This year, we are are focused on structural biases - recognising that unconscious biases have been built into the policies that organisations design. We ask: what is our accountability as "principled, innovative leaders who improve the world" (MIT's Sloan's mission) in building and sustaining organisations that are wholly inclusive and allow employees to bring their true selves to work?
 
The February conference (agenda) explores what cutting edge academic research is saying about building diverse organisations and their impact on the bottom line. 
 
Breaking the Mold is an initiative sponsored by the Sloan Women in Management and supported by other affinity clubs (e.g. Sloan LGBT, Black Business Students Association, Hispanic Students Association) as well as the Student Senate, Student Life Office and MIT Office of the Dean for Graduate Education. 
 
----------------------------------
 
Film screening: How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?
Friday, February 5
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
Cost:  $8 - $12
 
Born in Manchester, England, on the wrong side of the tracks, Norman Foster rose from a humble working-class background to become one of the premier Modern architects of our time. Beautifully filmed in more than 10 countries and homing in on his most iconic works—including London’s Swiss Re Tower, New York City’s Hearst Building, Berlin’s Reichstag, Beijing Airport’s International Terminal, and the breathtaking Millau Viaduct over the Gorges du Tarn in France—How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster? features Norman Foster, Anthony Caro, Buckminster Fuller, Paul Goldberger, Cai Guo-Qiang, Anish Kapoor, Richard Long, Richard Rogers, Richard Serra, Deyan Sudjic, and more.
 
This screening is part of the BSA Space Film Series covering a variety of design topics. Complimentary refreshments and popcorn will be served.
 
--------------------------
Monday, February 8
--------------------------
 
MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar (MASS)
Monday, February 8
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)
 
Speaker: Keith Seitter (AMS)
MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar [MASS] is an EAPS student-run weekly seminar series. Topics include research concerning atmospheric science, and climate. The seminars usually take place on Mondays in 54-915 from 12.00-1pm. 2015/2016 co-ordinators: Marianna Linz (mlinz@mit.edu), John Agard (jvagard@mit.edu), and Dan Rothernberg (darothen@mit.edu). 
 
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact:  Marianna Linz
617-253-2127
 
------------------------------
 
Webinar: The Importance of (Big) Data for Healthcare Safety-Net Organizations
Monday, February 8
12:00p–1:00p
 
Speaker: David Hartzband, DSc, Research Affiliate, MIT Sociotechnical Systems Research Center
 
Big data holds great promise for understanding the successes and failures of systems in a wide range of industries. This webinar will explore the use of big data in the healthcare system, with specific reference to a multiyear project that deployed Hadoop-based analytics at 33 Federally Qualified Community Health Centers with approximately 1.3 million patients. 
 
The project analyzed five years of data to assess data quality and its impact on care and found that: 
reporting of specific conditions was often lower than expected given known estimates for the US population; 
the rates of obesity and heart disease as reported appeared especially low; and 
these apparent data errors made identifying comorbidities problematic. 
 
The speaker will explore possible system causes for these results, including: 
a structural misalignment of electronic health records with actual health center practices; 
impediments to proper reporting caused by sociocultural and organizational contexts; and 
poor-quality data. 
 
A Q&A will follow the presentation. We invite you to join us!
 
The MIT SDM Systems Thinking Webinar Series, sponsored by the System Design & Management (SDM) program, features research conducted by SDM faculty, alumni, students, and industry partners. The series is designed to disseminate information on how to employ systems thinking to address engineering, management, and socio-political components of complex challenges. Recordings and slides from prior SDM webinars can be accessed at sdm.mit.edu/news-and-events/webinars/.
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and open to all 
Tickets: See url above 
Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, MIT System Design & Management
For more information, contact:  Lois Slavin
 
--------------------------------
 
From doom and gloom to hope: Innovations in ocean science and policy
Monday, February 8
6 – 7 p.m. 
Harvard, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
 
OEB Prather Lecture
Gazette Classification: Lecture, Science 
Organization/Sponsor: Co-sponsored by Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and the Harvard Museum of Natural History 
Speaker(s): The Honorable Jane Lubchenco, Oregon State University, Dept. of State's First U.S. Science Envoy for the Ocean 
Contact organization: Co-sponsored by Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and the Harvard Museum of Natural History
 
--------------------------------
 
Writers Speak: Colm Tóibín in Conversation with Claire Messud
WHEN  Mon., Feb. 8, 2016, 6 p.m.
WHERE  Menschel Hall, Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION    Humanities, Poetry/Prose, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR    The Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard
SPEAKER(S)  Colm Tóibín, author of "The Master" (2004), "Brooklyn" (2009), and "Nora Webster" (2014)
Claire Messud, novelist and senior lecturer in English, Harvard University
COST  Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO    humcentr@fas.harvard.edu
LINK    http://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/content/colm-tóib%C3%ADn-conversation-claire-messud
 
--------------------------------
 
Boston New Technology February 2016 Product Showcase #BNT62
Monday, February 8
6:00 PM
IBM Innovation Center, 1 Rogers Street, Cambridge
 
TFebruary 18ake the elevator to the second floor and look for our check-in table. Type your first or last name on our screen to print your name tag.
    
Free event! Come learn about 7 innovative and exciting technology products and network with the Boston/Cambridge startup community! 
Each presenter gets 5 minutes for product demonstration and 5 minutes for Questions & Answers.
 
--------------------------------
 
Architecture Lecture: Jan Haeraets, Terrace Gardens in Mughal Kashmir
Monday, February 8
6:00p–8:00p
MIT, Building 3-133, 33 Massachusetts Avenue (Rear), Cambridge
 
MIT Architecture Lecture Series
 
Part of the Spring 2016 Architecture and Aga Khan Program in Islamic Architecture Lecture Series.
 
Open to: the general public
Cost: free 
Sponsor(s): Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Department of Architecture
For more information, contact:  Jose Luis Arguello
(617) 253-1400
 
--------------------------------
 
Using Intelligent Algorithms to Design Intelligent Algorithms
Monday, February 8
7pm
The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Davis Square, Somerville
 
---------------------------------
 
Start-up War Stories and Beer
Monday, February 1
7:00 PM
The Field Pub, 20 Prospect Street, Cambridge
 
Boston Entrepreneurs and Advanced Degrees (B.E.A.D) cordially invites you to join us for drinks and some networking. Please come and share war stories from your current venture, ideas for new ventures, and the latest Boston startup news.
 
---------------------------
Tuesday, February 9
---------------------------
 
Making Good Energy Choices: The Role of Energy Systems Analysis
Tuesday, February 9
4:45p–5:45p
MIT, Building 4-270, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge
 
Speaker: Professor Sally M. Benson, Co-Director, Precourt Institute for Energy and Director, Global Climate and Energy Project, Stanford University
Driven by concerns about global warming, air pollution, and energy security, the world is beginning a century-long transition to a decarbonized energy system. Building blocks for decarbonization include dramatic efficiency improvements, renewable energy, electrification, nuclear power, natural gas as a substitute for coal, and carbon capture and storage. Given the long-term nature of the energy transition, the question becomes, how do we make good energy choices? Energy systems analysis can augment economic analysis and provide additional perspectives for answering questions such as: 
 
Is storing renewable energy in batteries a good idea and which batteries are best? 
How fast can the PV industry grow before it consumes more energy than it produces? 
What's better, a battery electric vehicle or a fuel cell vehicle? 
For new technologies, what aspects need to improve the most: efficiency, lifetime, materials, or cost? 
This talk will provide examples of the important role energy systems analysis plays in revealing good energy choices. 
 
Reception to follow.
 
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
 
---------------------------------
 
Forensic DNA Testing: Why Are There Still Bumps in the Road?
Tuesday, February 9
5 p.m. 
Harvard, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
 
The use of DNA for the analysis of biological evidence has had a positive and permanent effect on all forensic testing. However, hurdles remain as the intersection between science and law has not significantly improved and continues to challenge forensic science practitioners and lawyers representing both sides of criminal cases. This talk with review current scientific and laboratory challenges and discuss the issues encountered when forensic scientists, lawyers, and judges all try to “do the right thing” together. 
 
Gazette Classification: Law, Lecture, Science, Social Sciences 
Organization/Sponsor: Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study 
Speaker(s): Robin W. Cotton, associate professor and director, Biomedical Forensic Sciences, Boston University School of Medicine 
Cost: Free and open to the public 
Contact organization: Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
 
************
--------------
Opportunity
--------------
************
 
Special Holiday Offer
--------------------------
 
The Ultimate Really "Green Gift"
Pearl's Premium Ultra Low Maintenance Lawn Seed
Truly Unique, Innovative & Amazing
 
Winner of MassChallenge Prize & Boston Museum of Science Award
An Eco-friendly grass that needs mowing only once per month!
Needs 1/4 the water of other grass. Guaranteed to sprout.
Stays green year round without toxic lawn chemicals.
12 inch roots sequester 4x the carbon to lessen climate change.
 
No need to tear up the lawn, plant right over existing grass.
5# bag covers 800 -1000 sq.ft.   People, Pet, Pond & Planet Friendly TM  
WWW.PearlsPremium.com.  Put in Code "Holiday" for 20% off,  
(offer good til December 31, 2015)  tel# 508-653-0800  Jackson Madnick
A portion of your purchase helps us support the important work of Habitat for Humanity
 
--------------------------
 
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.
 
---------------------
 
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
 
-----------------------
 
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.
 
 
---------------------------------------
 
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
 
----------------------
 
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
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!
 
---------------------
 
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
 
 
 
 
Sustainability at Harvard:  http://green.harvard.edu/events
 
 
 
 
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
 
Boston Events Insider:  http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/

No comments: