All lectures are free and open to the public.
Seating strictly limited to availability.
Lectures are sign interpreted for the hearing-impaired.
For recorded information on the 2000-2001 Capital Science Lectures, please call (202) 328-6988, or e-mail: ecarpenter@ciw.edu.

Note that streaming video requires QuickTime, available as a free download.
Some video files are large. If you select the option to download, it may take several minutes.

Click for streaming video:
Tuesday, October 3, 2000, 6:30 pm

Kenneth H. Nealson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Department of Geology & Environmental Science
California Institute of Technology

Searching for Life in the Universe: Lessons from the Earth

How will we recognize extra-terrestrial life if we have never seen it? The answer lies in reducing the search to its barest essentials as measured by physics and chemistry, with help from statistics and data mining.

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Tuesday, October 24, 2000, 6:30 PM

R. Paul Butler
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
Carnegie Institution

Extrasolar Planets: First Reconnaissance

Only one of the planetary systems discovered around Sun-like stars reminds us of our Solar System. What fraction of stars have planets, how many of these are similar to the Solar System, and how many types of planetary systems are there?

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Tuesday, November 28, 2000, 6:30 PM

Sallie W. Chisholm
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Department of Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Invisible Forest: Phytoplankton and Global Change

Phytoplankton play a significant role in the Earth's climate system. Could ocean fertilization be used to stimulate the growth of these microscopic plants and reduce global warming? Or would this lead to unintended and undesirable consequences?

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Tuesday, January 30, 2001, 6:30 PM

Neta A. Bahcall
Department of Astrophysical Sciences
Princeton University

Will the Universe Expand Forever?

How much matter is in the Universe, and does it contain unseen dark energy that opposes matter's gravitational pull? Once we have the answers to these questions, we will understand the fate of the Universe.

Tuesday, February 27, 2001, 6:30 PM

Cindy Lee van Dover
Department of Biology
The College of William and Mary

Beyond the Edge of the Sea: Volcanoes and Life in the Deep Ocean

Hydrothermal systems on the ocean floor support luxuriantly diverse life. Some metabolic types extend back to antiquity, while others celebrate Nature's infinite adaptability to extreme environments. This newly discovered realm has redefined the limits of life on this planet and others.

Tuesday, March 20, 2001, 6:30 PM

William T. Newsome
Department of Neurobiology
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Stanford University Medical Center

Visual Perception: From Neural Circuits to Behavioral Decisions

In this century, neuroscientists hope to learn the biological basis of perception, memory, and other activities of mental life. Recent experiments have shown how signals are processed in the brain, and how they enable an organism to make sense of its visual world.

Tuesday, April 17, 2001, 6:30 PM

S. George Philander
Department of Geosciences
Princeton University

Why Global Warming is Controversial

Disagreements about difficult political decisions, not scientific uncertainties, cause global warming to be controversial. The geological record indicates that Earth's climate is very sensitive to perturbations, that the rise in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases will cause calamities.