lctg2021
| Date | Topic and links | Attaches | # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 6, 2021 | Dr. Peter Braun: A Covid-19 Primer A scientific look at the virus. Why is COVID-19 so “successful” from a pathogenic point of view. Where do viruses like this come from? How has treatment progressed? Vaccine development and technology. (The recording contains a follow-up on the Brevig Mission that was not covered in the live presentation; at approx. 1:37). | COVID-19 presentation | 53 |
| Jan 13, 2021 | Priestly and the Discovery of Oxygen (presented by Jerry Slate, M.D.) Joseph Priestly (1733 - 1804) is credited with the discovery of oxygen. His discovery was a part of a long term scientific effort to understand the nature of matter. His work as an untrained scientist showed analytical skill which illustrated the relevance of his finding. His discovery of oxygen represents the beginning of the understanding of the composition of the atmosphere and its role in respiration. | watch the presentation | 42 |
| Jan 20, 2021 | Quantum Biology (GeorgeG) (video and intro) with discussion When Quantum Mechanics were first introduced widely, pioneers such as Heisenberg thought that quantum effects should play a role in biology, but for the next 50 years it was sort of forgotten. With today's computing power and instrumentation new insights are being given to explain biological phenomena by invoking quantum effects such as tunneling or entanglement. We will hear 3 experts (MIT, UC Irvine, & U Arizona) discussing the implications of quantum effects in biological entities Video we watched:Quantum Biology: The Hidden Nature of Nature (1h35m) Other related and referenced videos: Part 1: How Plants use Quantum Mechanics (12m) . Part 2: Enzymes, the Engines of Life (12m) . Part 3: How Birds (Might) Navigate with Quantum Mechanics (21m) | George's introduction slides | 42 |
| Jan 27, 2021 | Potpourri Peter Albin, your host Y2K (John Rudy, 20min) Drones in the UK, how they threaten aircraft safety, measures taken to address them. (The video is not widely available) | Y2K Discussion | 44 |
| Feb 3, 2021 | Plastics having a recycle number on them leads people to think they will be recycled and are perhaps more accepting of then using them. However, many thin plastic containers such as salad boxes or clear takeout containers are not in practice recycled. (George Burnell) This might be more than one session. Plastic bags biodegradability, manufacture, disposal, recycling. also possibly of interest: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-plastic-problem (1hr video) Recycling by the numbers | Watch the presentation slides | 35 |
| Feb 10, 2021 | Polaroid: Recently I learned about a Google talk on the history of Polaroid (Instant:The Story of Polaroid Christopher Bonanos Talks at Google, 2012). It might make an interesting meeting. The talk is about an hour and we could augment it with “actual folks” who worked for Polaroid? With 3-4 people worked there (Peter Albin) I worked in photographic film product development at Polaroid for 23 years (1976 to 1998). It was there that out of necessity I became in involved in N-dimensional non-linear systems optimization computer tools. I could discuss the approaches that we used and the evolution of the software tools that were internally developed. Many of these tools and graphical visualization aids are now available in the commercial pack Design Expert by StatEase which I used in a final consulting gig at Polaroid in 2003. [Bob Eckert] | [presentation coming soon] | 36 |
| Feb 17, 2021 | History relating to Rubber, what used for, how manufactured, WWI, WWII, rubber shortages (George Burnell) WWI WWII Japan taking over, fire hoses & rain gear | Watch the presentation | 33 |
| Feb 24, 2021 | (GeorgeG) Mars landing, Perseverance landed 2/18/2021, George discusses this with several visuals | Watch the presentation Mars photos to music | 55 |
| Mar 3, 2021 | Potpourri * Peter Mui and fixing your machine Peter Mui's Free Fixit Clinic Participant Registration: http://bit.ly/fixitcheckin Fixers/Observers: http://bit.ly/fixitcoachsignup * Rober vid: 15 minutes of useless science facts | Watch Peter Mui's presentation | 48 |
| Mar 10, 2021 | Rubber Part 2 George Burnell presents the second part of his talk on Rubber: industrial products, recycling, synthetic, and more. | watch the presentation | 29 |
| Mar 17, 2021 | Why is Venus so bloody hot? The greenhouse effect. (Charlie Holbrow) | Watch the presentation | 39 |
| Mar 24, 2021 | I. I. Rabi, a story of scientific rags-to-riches (Dan Kleppner) Rabi played a principal role in the transition of U. S. Physics from a backwater position to the international leader in the 1940’s and 50’s. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his own work, mentored eight laureates at Columbia University, triggered the founding of Brookhaven National Laboratory and CERN, and created the position of Science Advisor to the President. He invented the atomic clock, played a major role in the creation of the theory of relativistic quantum electrodynamics (QED) and mentored the inventors of nuclear magnetic resonance, the maser and the laser. | Watch the presentation | 36 |
| Mar 31, 2021 | Flying Cars presented by Bill Passman. An overview of what is currently called “Flying Cars”, which includes Terrafugia's “roadable aircraft”, designed to drive from home to an airport and then fly like a General Aviation Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA). Other flying car efforts are aimed at VTOL air taxi fleets, personal VTOL vehicles, electric airplanes and autonomous cargo-VTOLs. Technologies being used are folding wings, tilt-wings, tilt-rotors, tail-sitters, and power sources using battery electric drive, hybrid-electric drive, hydrogen, and fuel-cell power. Bill will also present market hurdles, such as: battery technology, charging infrastructure, safety, heliport infrastructure, noise reduction, and FAA regulatory capabilities. | Watch the presentation | 40 |
| Apr 7, 2021 | Venus 'n greenh'se — and Mars and Earth (Charles Holbrow) What I learned from my Climate Science Study Group (Jerry Slate, Carl Lazarus, Mike Alexander) | Watch the presentations | 37 |
| Apr 14, 2021 | The Apollo Mission Presented by Fred Martin, ScD.; Dr. Martin served as the Apollo Software Project Manager while at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory (now Draper Lab) and then pursued an industrial career in software analysis and management. <font 11px>History will surely record the voyage to the moon as being the greatest adventure of the 20th century. We will first examine our fascination with our closest neighbor and early speculation of travel through the writings of Jules Verne. We will discuss the principles of how a rocket works, gain an understanding of JFK’s decision and confidence to place a man on the Moon, and experience the Apollo Moon Project “first hand:” its methods, triumphs and surprises. Our resources will include Dr. Martin’s experiences within the Apollo Program and videos of the exciting minute-by-minute landing on the Moon’s surface.</font> | Watch the presentation | 57 |
| Apr 21, 2021 | > Black Holes by Andrea Ghez (2020 Nobel Prize winner in Physics). link; 50min Presented at the World Science Festival > About the Suez Stuck Ship link; 8min | ||
| Apr 28, 2021 | > Cacelia Payne-Gaposhkin would have received a Nobel prize for figuring out what stars are made of, in a fairer world. link (1h4m John Rudy) from wikipedia: <font 11px>a British-born American astronomer and astrophysicist who proposed in her 1925 doctoral thesis that stars were composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Her groundbreaking conclusion was initially rejected because it contradicted the scientific wisdom of the time, which held that there were no significant elemental differences between the Sun and Earth. Independent observations eventually proved she was correct.</font> | 32 | |
| May 5, 2021 | Space Debris: A Big Problem (Georg Kirchner) <font 11px>When the first satellites were launched some 60 years ago, space was more or less empty. However, the ever increasing launching activities since that now have created a rather crowded environment above our heads: More than 30.000 space debris objects – old / defunct satellites, upper stages of rockets, remaining parts after explosions of collisions etc. – are now orbiting in different altitudes, tracked by radar, laser and passive optical telescopes. The possibility of collisions is already rather high: Collision warning systems create already more than 1000 warnings per day (!) of close encounters between 2 objects – and sometimes this is TOO close – and a collision between two space debris objects, at velocities of 27.000 km/h, creates several 1000 new space debris parts… Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) has demonstrated during the last years the capability of tracking such debris objects, helping to determine their accurate orbit, and also their tumbling motions – important features if you want to catch an old upper stage, and remove it from space.</font> Dr. Georg Kirchner is a group leader at the Space Research Institute, Department of Satellite Geodesy, Austrian Academy of Sciences in Graz, Austria. | watch the presentation | 34 |
| May 12, 2021 | What Was It Like: I Lived In Antarctica Ivor Morgan lived in Antarctica from late 1961 to early 1964 and worked for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) as a surveyor in topographic and hydrographic mapping of the Antarctic Peninsula. His most recent trip south was 5 years ago. The Antarctic Peninsula is still the primary focus of BAS bases. A major secondary area was the Base at Halley Bay on the south of the Weddell Sea—and today almost in it. Ivor will explain more during his talk. He'll also go over maps of Antarctica to help you become familiar with this interesting and unique continent. | Watch the presentation | 44 |
| May 19, 2021 | Potpourri > Extraterrestrial. The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth (Ken Cutter discusses this book on 'Oumuamua. If you don't know what this is about, then you should join the meeting and find out.) > Rober and Jello link (10m30s) > 3-year effort to video two vortex rings colliding in super slow motion. link; 8min > Synchronization link; 20min | Watch the Oumuamua presentation | 30 |
| May 26, 2021 | >Helicopter flight on Mars (George Gamota) | Watch the presentation] | 33 |
| June 2, 2021 | Telephone Switching Before Computers (Ken Pogran) When we think about telephone switching today, we may think of all-digital, computer-based systems humming along quietly in shiny computer rooms. But go back 50, 80, or 120 years, and you'll find calls are handled by clattering behemoth electromechanical switching systems, some with racks and frames 14 feet tall, and some motor-driven, with clutches and commutators and rods with brushes that scamper up and down. In this talk Ken will take us through the evolution of telephone switching systems, from an undertaker's invention of the late 1880s through the Bell System's urban giant “panel” systems of the 1920s and '30s and on up to the No. 1 and No. 5 crossbar systems of the late '30s, '40s, and '50s. On the way we'll look at the overall architecture of telephone switching, problems of scalability, and the No 5 crossbar “marker”–the most complex relay-based computing machine ever produced. | watch the presentation | 37 |
| June 9, 2021 | Quantum Engineering of Superconducting Qubits. William Oliver, associate professor of EE and Computer Science at MIT and fellow at Lincoln Lab. (Rich Ralston). The abstract of his talk: Superconducting qubits are coherent artificial atoms assembled from electrical circuit elements and microwave optical components. Their lithographic scalability, compatibility with microwave control, and operability at nanosecond time scales all converge to make the superconducting qubit a highly attractive candidate for the constituent logical elements of a quantum information processor. Over the past decade, spectacular improvements in the manufacturing and control of these devices have moved the superconducting qubit modality from the realm of scientific curiosity to the threshold of technical reality. In this talk, we present the progress, challenges, and opportunities ahead in engineering larger scale processors. | Watch the presentation | 31 |
| June 16, 2021 | The Buzz on Bees The biology, pollination, diseases and parasites, killer bees, and beekeeping. (Howard Cohen) slides | Watch the presentation | 29 |
| June 23, 2021 | * Iron Mountain: History. (Carl Lazarus; 45mins +/-) * Stan Rose will talk about his experiences on 9/11. He will include his personal experiences that day and ongoing days. He can also show pictures of what happened to his office and the surrounding area. | Watch the presentation | 27 |
| June 30, 2021 | Dentistry (David Brother). Topics being considered: Dramatic changes that have occurred in dentristy in the past 50 years. Or dental radio graphic imaging and what it can do especially in regard to dental implants. Or History and development of dental implants. Or thehistory and development in the field of orthodontics and prostetic advances. Or Sixty years of Fluoride: what this has meant to our teeth and health. | watch the presentation | 35 |
| July 7, 2021 | Pluto Strikes Back! (After all of the suffering Pluto has suffered by the not-a-planet bullying by the International Astronomical Union, we will mount a degree of support for this picked-on planet or non-planet.). Speaker Scott Kenyon will talk about his recent work on the formation of Pluto and its small satellite system. Learn how Pluto came to be a binary planet and how its four tiny satellites grew out of the debris from a major collision. | watch the presentation | 29 |
| July 14, 2021 | 9am: Discussing how our group can meet in Hybrid mode – both online in Zoom and in person at the same time. 10am: Cancer Therapy and the Scientific Process. The Discovery of the Platinum-Based Compound Used in Cancer Chemotherapy: An Example of the Scientific Process (Dick Wagner) | watch the presentation | 39 |
| July 21, 2021 | Potpourri. Drone Photography (Al Levin). A demo of professional drone video of a Korean commercial. Making of music video in one take (wow) Shows moving camera and use of greenscreen [4m] | Watch the presentation | 24 |
| July 28, 2021 | We showed and discussed these videos. High performance world record paper airplane [11m] Scientist Explains Sleep in 5 Levels of Difficulty [24m] Backyard Squirrel Maze 2.0 [19m], a Mark Rober video Wind driven vehicle a passive vehicle that goes faster than the wind that's driving it [22m] | 31 | |
| Aug 4, 2021 | Seager exoplanet presentation (presented via Cary Liby and hosted by GeorgeBurnell) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye-UNXeMJC8. (1h5m) | 38 | |
| Aug 6, 2021 | 1:30pm: Exploring in-person meeting options, trying out the Meeting Owl Pro product page | 14 | |
| Aug 11, 2021 | Planning meeting – we schedule upcoming meeting speakers and topics, using the in-the-works page. Meeting is open to everyone and the discussion is usually rather interesting. Join us and help us choose our topics for future meetings. | 20 | |
| Aug 18, 2021 | Potpourri | 26 | |
| Aug 25, 2021 | Some Arithmetic Pleasantries (Charles Holbrow) and the infinite hotel paradox (The chat had a number of links to material. click to see) | Watch the presentation | 41 |
| Sept 1, 2021 | Security Update – Lex Liby presentation on security by Bruce Schneier link (1h7m) | 36 | |
| Sept 8, 2021 | Big Belly Recycling (Alex Gamota) (From Alex:) “Have you wondered about the gray public waste bins located at Center Field, Lexington High School, or the Center? Or maybe you never noticed them?? They are Bigbelly smart waste stations! Since 2008, and some 65,000 smart waste stations in 55+ countries later, Bigbelly's smart waste solution has been helping cities and campuses transform public spaces and help reduce the carbon footprint associated with waste management by up to 80%. In this talk, you will learn about Bigbelly's patented solar powered compaction solution, its connected Cloud based operating system that streamline operations and collection efficiency, and about its recent offering, the Telebelly. The Telebelly expands the benefits of the ubiquitous Bigbelly platform to additionally host small cell and other information and communication technologies. Alex Gamota is Senior Vice President & General Manager, Information & Communication Technologies | 21 | |
| Sept 15, 2021 | Potpourri * Adventures in Tiling the Plane (Ken Cutter) slides * The Simplest Math Problem No one Can Solve – Collatz Conjecture video (22m) * Rough Fractals video (17m) | 26 | |
| Sept 22, 2021 | Margaret Geller: Caught in the Cosmic Web. Margaret made the first and several recent maps of the distribution of galaxies in the universe, showing that they are not distributed randomly in space but form interesting patterns that repeat on the largest scales. | (not recorded at speaker's request) | 30 |
| Sept 29, 2021 | What are Blockchains & How They work link (6m)(Larry Wittig) What is a cryptographic hash function? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographic_hash_function CryptoCurrency video (55m) | 30 | |
| Oct 6, 2021 | Is There Intelligent Life Anywhere? (Howard Winkler) | Watch the presentation Slides | 28 |
| Oct 13, 2021 | Potpourri tech gifts (by: cost, category, knowledge level) | Slides with links Watch the presentation | 22 |
| Oct 20, 2021 | CRISPR by Dick Wagner The acronym “CRISPR” (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) has often been invoked when considering recent revolutionary genetic engineering advances. This presentation will be devoted to the origin of the term, its biological significance, and how further knowledge led to the expansion of the meaning of this term as well as its underlying processes in genetic engineering. Finally, Dick will discuss the potential of CRISPR for deriving further molecular biological information and uses from experimentation and analysis. | Watch the presentation Slides | 35 |
| Oct 27, 2021 | CRISPR part 2. Dick Wagner gives a brief review and then more detail. | Watch the presentation Slides | 24 |
| Nov 3, 2021 | The linked fates of Haber and Weitzmann by Bretislav Friedrich Two scientists who had a significant impact on technology and history In the early 1930s, as Nazism was gaining strength in Germany, two renowned German-speaking Jewish scientists found themselves on converging paths: Fritz Haber (1868–1934), one of the most influential – and controversial – of 20th century chemists, and Chaim Weizmann (1874–1952), a successful biochemist, leader of the world Zionist movement, and future founder of the State of Israel. In their meetings and correspondence, they reflect on the history, current events, and fate of science and scientists, and strive to create a place where learning and humanism would rise above racism and hatred. Followup: a pretty amazing summary of the history of physical and theoretical chemistry: NIH link | Watch the presentation | 34 |
| Nov 10, 2021 | Potpourri https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/decoding-da-vinci/ A NOVA on DaVinci Bizarre Behavior of Nuts [15m] | 23 | |
| Nov 17, 2021 | Covid (and Variants) Update. Jerry Slate. Note: Should children be vaccinated? Video 32:40. What went wrong? Video 48:00 | Watch the presentation slides | 32 |
| Nov 24, 2021 | No meeting (Day before Thanksgiving) | ||
| Dec 1, 2021 | The history of knee replacement and the technology behind it. Presented by Dr. Richard Scott | watch the presentation | 39 |
| Dec 8, 2021 | The first LASER of 2021 explores the relationship between humans, DNA, and data, featuring media artist and TED speaker Refik Anadol in conversation with Dr. Robert Grass from ETH Zurich, and Christine Choirat from Harvard and the Swiss Data Science Center. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCMaMEyYpdw (First 41 mins of 90 min) TED Talk The Skill of Humor [19m] | 25 | |
| Dec 15, 2021 | The Glide “no-code” Application Development Environment (Harry Forsdick) Nearly codeless programming (AKA “No Code Programming”); the concepts that are done for you by the system. This is an illustrated talk about and demonstration of the Glide “no-code” application development environment. Glide is representative of the possible future for (some) software development activities presented by a survivor from the early days of computer programming. read abstract | Watch the presentation | 33 |
| Dec 22, 2021 | Windows 11 (Drew King); useful sites: How to create Windows 11/10/8/7 To Go by using WinToUSB Download Windows 11 ISO file for use with WinToUSB Windows Speech commands File sharing over a network in Windows | Watch the presentation | 39 |
| Dec 29, 2021 | The Useful Information Meeting (Bob Primak): » What do you do with an older PC? (paperweight alternatives) » Windows 11 Upgrade Notification » Installing Linux Mint on an old laptop (it's easy) Notes from the presentation: video of Linux installation notes for video Mint Linux install Win 11 upgrade icon What to do with an old PC | Watch the presentation | 31 |
lctg2021.txt · Last modified: 2023.08.03 05:00 by Steve Isenberg