Capital Science Evenings

Lectures are free and open to the public and are held at the Carnegie Institution, located at 1530 P Street, NW(corner of 16th and P Streets). Information is also available as a PDF.

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  • Lectures can be sign interpreted for the hearing-impaired. Call 202.939.1121, or send an email, to request an interpreter (two weeks notice required).
  • For recorded information on the Capital Science Evenings, please call 202.328.6988 or send us an email.
  • Periodically the Carnegie Institution sends out information about its Capital Science Evenings program. If you would like to receive these notifications please send us an email . You can also register by completing the online registration form.
  • Live streaming video and archived video on demand (also check for links below) are available for many lectures.
  • Lectures may also be viewed on iTunes U.
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  • Thu, 09/15/2011 - 6:45pm
    Inspiring Researchers: Marie Sklodowska-Curie

    Dr. Krzysztof Matyjaszewski
    Carnegie Mellon University
    Department of Chemistry

    Dr. Nicole Moreau
    President
    International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry

    Marie Sklodowska-Curie is one of the most celebrated scientists of all time – two-time a Nobel laureate (Physics and Chemistry), Polish and French patriot, wife to fellow Nobel laureate Pierre Curie, and mother to Nobel laureate Irène Joliot-Curie. Two eminent chemists will touch upon Madame Curie’s amazing accomplishments, achieved during an era when it was extremely difficult for women to be successful in science. They will also reflect on what it means for contemporary researchers to stand on the shoulders of such a scientific giant.

    Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Embassies of France and Poland, honoring the centennial of the second Nobel Prize awarded to Marie Skodowska-Curie and the International Year of Chemistry.

    Dr.  Moreau's comments are available on YouTube.
    Dr. Matyjaszewski's comments are not available for reasons of copyright.

  • Wed, 10/05/2011 - 6:45pm
    Schema and Bias: A Historian’s Reflection on Double-Blind Experiments

    BALZAN LECTURE

    Dr. Carlo Ginzburg
    University of California, Los Angeles
    Department of History

     

    Winner of the 2010 Balzan Prize, Dr. Ginzburg was honored for the exceptional combination of imagination, scholarly precision and literary skill with which he has recovered and illuminated the beliefs of ordinary people in Early-modern Europe.

     

    How can we conceive a fruitful dialogue between the humanities and sciences? Dr. Ginzburg will look at the historian’s craft from new and unexpected angles and discuss whether double blind experiments, used in medicine to test drug effectiveness, can be applied to historical research.

     

    Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Embassies of Italy and Switzerland, and the Balzan Foundation.

    Podcast

  • Wed, 10/26/2011 - 6:45pm
    Astrobiology, Exoplanets, and the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth

    SPECIAL EVENT

    A presentation by author and Washington Post science writer Marc Kaufman, followed by a discussion with Carnegie planet-hunter Paul Butler.

    Recent discoveries have convinced many astronomers that our galaxy is home to billions of exoplanets and that other galaxies have hundreds of billions more. The search is now on for distant planets in "habitable zones," where water is sometimes liquid and the possibilities for life are greatest. With a scientific consensus forming that these potentially life-sustaining planets also number in the billions, the logic for the existence of extraterrestrial life grows stronger all the time.

    iTunes U
     

  • Wed, 11/30/2011 - 6:45pm
    Atom Manipulation: New Perspectives in Nanoscience

    KAVLI LECTURE

    Dr. Donald Eigler
    IBM, Almaden Research Center

     

    Winner of the 2010 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience, Dr. Eigler was honored for the development of atom manipulation and for the elucidation of quantum phenomena with precisely controlled atomic and molecular arrangements on surfaces.


    In 1959 Richard Feynman discussed a "great future" in which "we can arrange the atoms the way we want." In 1989, Feynman's "great future" was ushered in with the discovery of ways to manipulate individual atoms using a scanning tunneling microscope. Dr. Eigler was the first person ever to move and control a single atom. He will review the basics of scanning tunneling microscopy and describe how to extend its capabilities to include the construction of atomically precise structures through the manipulation of individual atoms.


    Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and the Kavli Foundation.

    iTunes U

  • Thu, 01/12/2012 - 6:45pm
    Algorithms Meet Art, Puzzles, and Magic

    Dr. Erik Demaine

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
    Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

     

    More and more, we find that mathematical research and artistic projects converge, with the artistic side inspiring the mathematical side and vice versa. Learn how our first font design led to the construction of transforming robots, and how studying curved creases in origami led to sculptures at MoMA. Mathematics itself is an art form and, through other media such as sculpture, puzzles, and magic, the beauty of mathematics can be brought to a wider audience.

     

    Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the National Security Agency.
     

  • Wed, 02/29/2012 - 6:45pm
    The Universe from Beginning to End

    Dr. Brian Schmidt

    2011 Nobel Laureate for Physics

    The Australian National University,
    The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics,
    Mount Stromlo Observatory

     

    In 1998 two teams traced back the expansion of the universe over billions of years and discovered that it was accelerating, a startling discovery that indicated more than 70% of the cosmos was in the form of dark energy. 2011 Nobel Laureate for Physics Brian Schmidt, leader of the High-Redshift Supernova Search Team, will describe this discovery and explain how astronomers have used observations to trace our universe's history back more than 13 billion years, leading them to ponder the ultimate fate of the cosmos.


    Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Embassy of Australia.
     

  • Wed, 03/28/2012 - 6:45pm
    Bacteria Are Beautiful

    Dr. Diane Newman
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute
    California Institute of Technology,
    Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences

     

    It is a commonly held fallacy that bacteria are germs, but it has been estimated that out of more than 30 million microbial species, fewer than 100 are pathogens. The vast majority of bacteria are actually doing remarkable things and are essential both for our quality of life and that of the planet. You will be surprised to learn the extent to which our existence depends on these ancient and ubiquitous organisms.

     

    Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
     

  • Thu, 04/26/2012 - 6:45pm
    Stem Cells and Cancer: A Deadly Alliance

    WITTGENSTEIN LECTURE

    Dr. Juergen Knoblich
    Austrian Academy of Sciences,
    Institute of Molecular Biotechnology

     

    Winner of the 2009 Wittgenstein Prize, Dr. Knoblich was honored for his work on asymmetric cell division.

     

    A revolution is currently underway in the field of cancer research. Scientists have discovered unexpected roles for stem cells in cancer development that challenge current therapeutic approaches and open new avenues for cancer treatment. Dr. Knoblich has used the fruitfly Drosophila to identify the cellular defects that turn normal stem cells into cancer-initiating cells. He will explain the cancer stem cell hypothesis and its impact on treatment. He will also tell us how research in fruitflies has solved some of the greatest puzzles in biology, leading to a better understanding of cancer.

     

    Co-hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science with the Office of Science & Technology at the Embassy of Austria and the Austrian Science Fund FWF.