'Science On Screen' series returns to Modesto

LIVERMORE, California -- Now in its third year, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is once again partnering with the State Theatre in Modesto to bring "Science on Screen" to the theater one Saturday a month from February through April.

Science on Screen is a free, educational program geared to middle-, high-school and college students and creatively pairs cutting-edge science by leading LLNL researchers with a feature film on a similar subject matter, providing the perfect combination of enlightenment and entertainment.

The series will be held at the State Theatre, 1307 J. St., Modesto, and will kick off Saturday, Feb. 18, with LLNL scientists Eric Duoss, Chris Spadaccini, Julie Jackson, William Smith and Melody Golobic discussing "3D Printing: From Imagination to Realization." This presentation will cover 3D printing technologies and how they work, as well as how to design for these processes, create the feedstock materials and test the performance of the products. At LLNL, researchers are working with existing additive manufacturing technologies and materials, as well as inventing new ones, and pushing the boundaries of size scale, material composition and geometric complexity. This lecture is appropriately paired with the popular movie "Big Hero 6."

Doors will open at 2 p.m., with the lecture portion beginning at 2:30 p.m. The feature-length film will follow the introductory lecture at 3:30 p.m. Seating is on a first-come basis. There is no pre-registration.

Here is the complete schedule:

• Feb. 18: "3D Printing: From Imagination to Realization," by LLNL scientists Eric Duoss, Chris Spadaccini, Julie Jackson, William Smith and Melody Golobic. This lecture is paired with "Big Hero 6," rated PG. 
• March 18: "Reconstructing a Rabies Epidemic: Byte by Byte," by LLNL scientists Monica Borucki and Jonathan Allen. This lecture is paired with "Contagion," rated PG-13.    
• April 15: "Forensic Science in Crisis: How Proteins Can Help," by LLNL scientists Brad Hart, Deon Anex and Katelyn Mason. This lecture is paired with "Gattaca," rated PG-13.
• April 29: "Behold Livermorium: A Quest for New Elements," by LLNL scientist Dawn Shaughnessy. This lecture is paired with "Iron Man 2," rated PG-13.

Science on Screen is funded by a grant through the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and is sponsored by the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation. The privately funded, nonprofit State Theatre is partnering with LLNL’s University Relations and Science Education Program for the third year, to provide the science-based content highlighting LLNL’s cutting-edge research. This partnership hopes to inspire and engage students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

See more information about Science on Screen at the State Theater or contact Joanna Albala at (925) 422-6803 or albala1 [at] llnl.gov (email).