Lab's popular Science on Saturday lecture series returns with a look at marvelous machines

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) popular lecture series, "Science on Saturday," returns Feb. 3 and runs through Feb. 24 at the Bankhead Theater, located at 2400 First St. in Livermore.

The series will offer four different lectures with the theme "Marvelous Machines." Each lecture is presented by leading LLNL researchers who are joined by master high school science teachers.

Two presentations are offered each Saturday in February at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. The lectures are targeted to middle- and high-school students and are free to attend.

Kicking off the series on Feb. 3 is "Biomolecular Action Movies: Flash Imaging With X-ray Lasers," presented by scientists Matthias Frank and Megan Shelby and Erin McKay, a biology teacher from Tracy High School. 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 the structural arrangement of atoms within the protein, which was, until recently, only possible to measure statically. This talk will describe the technology that allows for the recording of "molecular movies" showing proteins in action.
 
Here is the complete schedule of lectures: 

• Feb. 3: "Biomolecular Action Movies: Flash Imaging With X-ray Lasers," by LLNL scientists Matthias Frank and Megan Shelby and Tracy High School teacher Erin McKay.
• Feb. 10: "Biomedical Accelerator Mass Spectrometry: Improving Human Health One Atom at a Time," by LLNL scientist Mike Malfatti and teacher Katherine Huang of Dougherty Valley High School.
• Feb. 17: "Laser Plasma Accelerators: Riding the Wave to the Next Generation X-Ray Light Sources," by LLNL scientists Felicie Albert, along with teacher Dan Burns of Los Gatos High School.
• Feb. 24:  "The Evolution of Computing Technologies: From Following Instructions to Listening," by LLNL scientist Katherine Lewis, along with teacher Rodger Johnson of Monte Vista High School.

Science on Saturday is sponsored by LLNL's Science Education Program. There is no pre-registration. Seating is on a first-come basis.

The lecture series will be available to view at a later date via the LLNL YouTube Channel.

Visit the web for further information about Science on Saturday or contact albala1 [at] llnl.gov (Joanna Albala), (925) 422-6803.