Science and Lectures

JukeBoxJosh

So, last night I went to an awesome lecture at UT of Austin. It was called DNA: Fact, Fiction, and Future, and it was pretty awesome. The person (I don't remember his name right now) talked about phylogenetics(?), and it really started to interest me. And he talked about things like CSI, Jurassic Park, and Star Trek and how what they do with DNA and the truth behind it. It was really quite fun, and I'm getting extra credit for it so I'll get an A in science.

So, I ask you guys:

What are your favorite subjects in science
Do you have any cool public lectures like this one where you are?

Symmetry

1) All sorts of stuff, but for lectures I'd say Biology and Computer Science are pretty nice.

2) I live a 20 minute walk away from MIT. Hell yes.

Cramit

Well this is kind of a public lecture, but a while back I listened to Physics for Future Presidents. It is a course at Berkeley. The course discusses many different physics topics without getting into the exact math behind it all. The professor has a great sense of humor and has many interesting stories.

Dr. Timo

After PAX I went to a conference on Supersymmetry and physics beyond the Standard Model in general. It was fairly OK (apart from being held in the suburbs of Chicago), but there was one stellar performance by the guy who, in my mind, has the best chance to become the Einstein of the 21st century: Nima Arkani-Hamed. To say that this guy is thinking about some deep shit is an understatement to the blue-whale-dung-at-the-bottom-of-the-Mariana-trench stuff he does. If you are wondering what the recent developments in theoretical physics are, wonder no more, Nima will tell you.

He has four lectures up on iTunes (they are somehow missing the second one in the series of five, but it is available at the Cornell site)
1:Quantum Mechanics and Space Time
2:Our "Standard Models" of particle physics and cosmology
3:Space Time is Doomed
4:Why a macroscopic universe?
5:What we might know by 2020

which are all a prelude for this talk which will melt your brain unless you are a trained theoretical physicist / mathematician.