Proteins are nature’s machines, performing tasks from transforming sunlight into useable energy to binding oxygen for transport through the body. These functions depend on structural arrangement of atoms within the protein, which was, until recently, only possible to measure statistically, in easily crystallized samples via conventional X-ray diffraction. In the past decade, X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs), a new type of X-ray source, have begun to come online. Using ultra-bright, ultrafast X-ray pulses of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, this technology allows us to measure not only static pictures of protein structure but to record “molecular movies” of proteins in action. Series: "Field Trip at the Lab: Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 33432]

Physics (Video)

Biomolecular Action Movies: Flash Imaging with X-ray Lasers

Particle accelerators have been revolutionizing discoveries in science, medicine, industry and national security for over a century. An estimated 30,000 particle accelerators are currently active around the world. In these machines, electromagnetic fields accelerate charged particles, such as electrons, protons, ions or positrons to velocities nearing the speed of light. Although their scientific appeal will remain evident for many decades, one limitation of the current generation of particle accelerators is their tremendous size, typically a mile long, and cost, which often limits access to the broader scientific community. Acceleration of electrons in plasmas, in particular in laser-driven plasmas, has been drawing considerable attention over the past decade. These laser wakefield accelerators promise to dramatically reduces the size of accelerators and revolutionize applications in medicine, industry, and basic sciences. Series: "Field Trip at the Lab: Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 33429]

Laser-Plasma Accelerators: Riding the Wave to the Next Generation X-Ray Light Sources

Do complex systems exhibit fundamental properties? This talk looks at tradeoffs between robustness and fragility that occur in biological, ecological, and technological systems that are driven by design, evolution, or other sorting processes to high-performance states which are also tolerant to uncertainty in the environment and components. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 32758]

Complexity and Robustness: How Biology Ecology and Technology Balance Tradeoffs in an Uncertain World

UC Berkeley mechanical engineers have shown why your shoelaces keep coming untied. It’s a question that everyone asks themselves, often after stopping to retie their shoes, yet no one had investigated. The answer, the study suggests, is that a double whammy of stomping and whipping forces act like an invisible hand, loosening the knot and then tugging on the free ends of your laces until the whole thing unravels. Using a slow-motion camera and a series of experiments, the study shows that shoelace knot failure happens in a matter of seconds, triggered by a complex interaction of forces. The study is more than an example of science answering a seemingly obvious question. A better understanding of knot mechanics is needed for sharper insight into how knotted structures fail under a variety of forces. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Science] [Show ID: 32685]

Why Do Your Shoelaces Come Untied?

Lakshana Huddar, Berkeley: How to Build an Advanced Nuclear Reactor in a University Laboratory Series: "Women in Science" [Science] [Show ID: 31079]

Lakshana Huddar Berkeley: How to Build an Advanced Nuclear Reactor in a University Laboratory

Tianyu Liu, Santa Cruz: Enhancing the Performance of Supercapacitors Through Facilitation of Ion Diffusion Series: "Women in Science" [Science] [Show ID: 31080]

Tianyu Liu Santa Cruz: Enhancing the Performance of Supercapacitors Through Facilitation of Ion Diffusion

The 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson completes a powerful and comprehensive description of nature known as the standard model of particle physics. The next step is to find the new physics that underpins this model, which many physicists believe could solve mysteries first seen in astrophysical and cosmological data, such as dark matter and neutrino mixing. Joseph Incandela, UCSB Professor of Physics, gives a general overview of where things stand and what’s being planned, including his own research plans to address very fundamental questions about the universe. Series: "Scientific Horizons" [Science] [Show ID: 31621]

Searching for the Genetic Code of our Universe

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is the world's largest and most powerful laser system. Experimental physicist Tammy Ma explores how and why scientists and engineers are working hard to demonstrate sustainable fusion burn - the same reaction that occurs in the sun - to one day harness as a source of limitless, clean energy. Series: "Field Trip at the Lab: Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 31523]

Harnessing Fusion: Creating a Sun on Earth

A simple question from his wife – Does physics really allow people to travel back in time? – propelled physicist Richard Muller on a quest to resolve a fundamental problem that had puzzled him throughout his 45-year career: Why does the arrow of time flow inexorably toward the future, constantly creating new "nows"? Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Science] [Show ID: 31548]

Why Does Time Advance?: Richard Muller's New Theory

A brief overview of how UC San Diego scientists are leading the next revolution in biology. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 30564]

Hacking the Revolution: Quantitative Biology at UC San Diego

¿Qué tienen que ver un tazón de maní del porte de un estadio, un elefante que se encoge y un jugador de hockey enloquecido con la nanociencia? Esas son solo algunas de las disparatadas excursiones que le esperan cuando el ingenioso presentador Adam Smith y el chiflado físico Iván Schuller lo lleven a corretear como locos de manera irreverente y cómica en busca, en la vida real, de cómo crear el magneto más pequeño que se conozca. [Science] [Spanish Language] [Show ID: 31453]

Cuando Las Cosas se Ponen Pequenas

Explore the dust between the stars - and why it is so important, see how researchers explore molecules on the nanoscale to improve materials, discover why natural extremes are critical to Mediterranean ecosystems, the fate of California Oak trees, and sustaining the heritage of agriculture in California, all on this edition of On Beyond. Series: "On Beyond" [Science] [Show ID: 30667]

On Beyond: Space Dust Exploring Nanomaterials Fire Drought and Ecosystems Oak Tree Ecosystems California Agricultural Legacy

Joseph Polchinski explores the battle in physics: either quantum mechanics must break down, or our understanding of spacetime must be wrong. The latest is the ‘firewall’ paradox: if quantum mechanics is to be saved, then an astronaut falling into a black hole will have an experience very different from what Einstein’s theory predicts. This has led to many new ideas that may lead to the unification of these two great theories. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 30519]

Spacetime Versus the Quantum

We are visual beings, and qualities such as “insight” and “vision” describe our understanding well beyond sensory input. Light and more generally, electromagnetic radiation, has dramatically changed our knowledge of the physical world. It is also the source of the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, and the energy that has powered the world since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Nobel Laureate Steven Chu, Professor of Physics, Professor Molecular & Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, discusses how light will continue to expand our scientific horizons and redefine our daily lives: from the measurement of time, to biology, medicine, and combating climate change. Series: "Scientific Horizons" [Science] [Show ID: 30224]

The International Year of the Light Symposium: Session 3

Blue LED and Prospects for the Lighting Industry with Shuji Nakamura. Energy Savings and Future Directions in Solid State Lighting with Steve DenBaars. Semiconductor Lasers: Vertical, Tunable, Enabling Photonic ICs with Larry Coldren. Lightwave Technologies Are Key To: Good Health, Good Communications & Good Entertainment with Waguih Ishak. Quantum Sensing and Imaging with Photoluminescent Single Spins with Ania Jayich. Tunable Biophotonics with Dan Morse. Series: "Scientific Horizons" [Science] [Show ID: 30223]

The International Year of the Light Symposium: Session 2

Guest speakers, researchers and University of California faculty explore physics to better understand and predict the world around us.