ANN ARBOR—Would you give up part of your weekend to listen to physicists talk about their research? Each week for six weeks some 250 people, aged 7 to 90, will do just that when the Spring 2001 series of popular Saturday Morning Physics lectures, organized and sponsored by the University of Michigan Department of Physics, begins on March 10. The talks, which attract attendees from middle school students to retirees, have become so popular because the scientists present their topics in easy-to-understand, non-technical terms. Each talk is illustrated with multimedia technology and live demonstrations.

All lectures will be held Saturdays, 10:30-11:30 a.m., in 170 Dennison Hall, 501 East University, on the U-M’s Central Campus. Coffee and refreshments will be served. All lectures are free and open to the public. High school students are especially encouraged to attend, but the passionately curious of all ages are welcome.

[Map of Central Campus, Dennison hall #10, below center]

Brad Orr, professor of physics and the coordinator of this series, comments, “The goals of this program are to show people that science is both interesting and relevant to their lives and to present this in a way that’s understandable and exciting to any age.”

The series is supported in part by donations from the public. For more information, visit the Saturday Morning Physics Web site at http://www.physics.lsa.umich.edu/Saturday/ or call (734) 763-2588.

Lectures scheduled for the spring series are:

•March 10: “Death of a Universe,” Fred Adams, associate professor, Department of Physics.

The complete life story of our universe, from its singular inception at the big bang to the distant future, with a focus on the long-term fate and evolution of the astronomical objects it contains. For more information see the book, “The Five Stages of the Universe” by Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin (Touchstone, 1999).

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A fractal is an object in which a small piece, magnified, looks the same as the entire object. Many natural objects have this property, including snowflakes, lightning, river networks, coastlines, even some bacteria colonies. Sander discusses recent work that gives some idea of why and how fractal objects form. For more information, see Sander’s Web site: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lsander/index.html

•March 24: “Radio, Nostalgia, and the Archeology of Listening,” Susan Douglas, Arthur Thurnau Professor, Department of Communication Studies.

Douglas links the history of technology with the development of culture, examining the interplay of inventors and entrepreneurs with industry, governments, and the military. She will touch on radio technology, patents, and the important contributions of amateur radio as she deepens our understanding of modern communication. For more information, see “Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination” (Times Books, 1999), underwritten by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

•March 31: “Nanotech Approaches to Biomedical Engineering,” James R. Baker Jr., professor of internal medicine and of pathology.

Baker will explore the world of nanomolecular therapeutics and the role they will play in biology and medicine over the next century. He will describe avenues of anti-cancer therapy and agents for disinfection and decontamination effective in eliminating such things as bacteria, certain spores, fungus, and viruses from surfaces. For more information, see http://nano.med.umich.edu

•April 7: “Micromachines: The World of the Small Things is Getting Bigger!” Khalil Najafi, professor of biomedical engineering, and of electrical engineering and computer science.

In the past few years, the same technologies that are used to build microelectronic chips have begun to be used to build very small micromachines. Imagine putting an entire medical laboratory in an area smaller than a credit card, or having a power generator that is smaller than a penny. These micromachines will revolutionize electronics and consumer products. Najafi’s talk will review all the big things that can be made to fit in the world of the small.

•April 14: “Is It Live or Memorex? Music Synthesis in the 21st Century,” Maureen Mellody, postdoctoral research fellow, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

How music can be altered, compressed, or generated from scratch in ways that will fool your ears into thinking it’s the real thing. Mellody will focus on the singing voice, first showing how the singer creates music, then how scientists manipulate, and finally how the listener perceives it.

For further information on the series, call (734) 764-4437.

Saturday Morning PhysicsMap of Central CampusBrad Orrhttp://www.physics.lsa.umich.edu/Saturday/Fred AdamsThe Five Stages of the Universehttp://www-personal.umich.edu/~lsander/index.html