The 2023 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Basic Sciences, Professor Elliott Lieb presents snapshots of his seventy-year journey through the world of science, first as a would-be engineer, then as a physicist and later as a mathematician and a mathematical physicist. In many encounters with colleagues in different areas of research he learned that mathematics and a mathematical perspective can be pivotal in developing our thinking about physics. This fundamental connection between mathematics and physics was not always accepted at the beginning of my career, and it was even vigorously denied by some mathematicians and physicists. Lieb mentions some of his work to illustrate the value of mathematical physics for theoretical physics and to pure mathematics, the first being the Polaron bound found with K. Yamazaki in Kyoto in 1957. Another is the "ice problem", where he calculated the number of ways to color a chess board with only three colors so that neighboring squares never have the same color. Series: "Kyoto Prize Symposium" [Science] [Show ID: 39424]

Nobel Laureate and physicist Barry Barish, professor at UC Riverside, reflects on his life in science, being curious, experiencing imposter syndrome, and working in the field of physics with Brian Keating, host of the "Into the Impossible" podcast and professor of physics at UC San Diego. [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38727]

Carver Mead is a pioneer of modern microelectronics. He proposed a new methodology, very large-scale integration (VLSI), that would make it possible for creating millions or billions of transistors on a single integrated circuit (microchip). His research investigated techniques for VLSI, designing and creating high-complexity microchips. This design process has advanced electronic technologies and transformed the lives of most of the people inhabiting our planet. Mead also paved the way to VLSI design automation and facilitating the revolutionary development of today's VLSI-based electronics and industry. For his work and contributions, Mead was awarded the 2022 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology. In his talk entitled, "Engineering Concepts Clarify Physical Law" Mead will discuss a simplified theory that might serve as an entry point for further development by generations of young people who feel disenfranchised by the existing establishment. Series: "Computer Science Channel" [Science] [Show ID: 38572]

The American Physical Society has designated UC San Diego’s Mayer Hall as a historic site in recognition of research conducted by physicists Walter Kohn and Lu Jeu Sham on density functional theory. Their development of the "Kohn-Sham equation" inside Mayer Hall became the foundation for the computation of the material properties of electrons and nuclei. Understanding the electronic properties of complex systems is essential to the design and engineering of new materials and drugs. Kohn and Pierre Hohenberg on sabbatical in Paris developed a theorem for the electron ground state energy to depend on the electron density distribution instead of the usual potential energy due to the nuclei. In Building C (later named Mayer Hall), from 1964-66, Kohn and Sham laid the foundation of a computation method, based on a single-particle equation composed of its quantum kinetic energy and the potential energy including the interaction effects. [Science] [Show ID: 38313]

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 structural arrangement of atoms within the protein, which was, until recently, only possible to measure statistically, in easily crystallized samples via conventional X-ray diffraction. In the past decade, X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs), a new type of X-ray source, have begun to come online. Using ultra-bright, ultrafast X-ray pulses of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, this technology allows us to measure not only static pictures of protein structure but to record “molecular movies” of proteins in action. Series: "Lawrence Livermore National Lab Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 33432]

Particle accelerators have been revolutionizing discoveries in science, medicine, industry and national security for over a century. An estimated 30,000 particle accelerators are currently active around the world. In these machines, electromagnetic fields accelerate charged particles, such as electrons, protons, ions or positrons to velocities nearing the speed of light. Although their scientific appeal will remain evident for many decades, one limitation of the current generation of particle accelerators is their tremendous size, typically a mile long, and cost, which often limits access to the broader scientific community. Acceleration of electrons in plasmas, in particular in laser-driven plasmas, has been drawing considerable attention over the past decade. These laser wakefield accelerators promise to dramatically reduces the size of accelerators and revolutionize applications in medicine, industry, and basic sciences. Series: "Lawrence Livermore National Lab Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 33429]

Do complex systems exhibit fundamental properties? This talk looks at tradeoffs between robustness and fragility that occur in biological, ecological, and technological systems that are driven by design, evolution, or other sorting processes to high-performance states which are also tolerant to uncertainty in the environment and components. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 32758]

UC Berkeley mechanical engineers have shown why your shoelaces keep coming untied. It’s a question that everyone asks themselves, often after stopping to retie their shoes, yet no one had investigated. The answer, the study suggests, is that a double whammy of stomping and whipping forces act like an invisible hand, loosening the knot and then tugging on the free ends of your laces until the whole thing unravels. Using a slow-motion camera and a series of experiments, the study shows that shoelace knot failure happens in a matter of seconds, triggered by a complex interaction of forces. The study is more than an example of science answering a seemingly obvious question. A better understanding of knot mechanics is needed for sharper insight into how knotted structures fail under a variety of forces. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Science] [Show ID: 32685]

Lakshana Huddar, Berkeley: How to Build an Advanced Nuclear Reactor in a University Laboratory Series: "Women in Science" [Science] [Show ID: 31079]

The 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson completes a powerful and comprehensive description of nature known as the standard model of particle physics. The next step is to find the new physics that underpins this model, which many physicists believe could solve mysteries first seen in astrophysical and cosmological data, such as dark matter and neutrino mixing. Joseph Incandela, UCSB Professor of Physics, gives a general overview of where things stand and what’s being planned, including his own research plans to address very fundamental questions about the universe. Series: "Scientific Horizons" [Science] [Show ID: 31621]

Tianyu Liu, Santa Cruz: Enhancing the Performance of Supercapacitors Through Facilitation of Ion Diffusion Series: "Women in Science" [Science] [Show ID: 31080]

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is the world's largest and most powerful laser system. Experimental physicist Tammy Ma explores how and why scientists and engineers are working hard to demonstrate sustainable fusion burn - the same reaction that occurs in the sun - to one day harness as a source of limitless, clean energy. Series: "Lawrence Livermore National Lab Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 31523]

A simple question from his wife – Does physics really allow people to travel back in time? – propelled physicist Richard Muller on a quest to resolve a fundamental problem that had puzzled him throughout his 45-year career: Why does the arrow of time flow inexorably toward the future, constantly creating new "nows"? Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Science] [Show ID: 31548]

A brief overview of how UC San Diego scientists are leading the next revolution in biology. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 30564]

Explore the dust between the stars - and why it is so important, see how researchers explore molecules on the nanoscale to improve materials, discover why natural extremes are critical to Mediterranean ecosystems, the fate of California Oak trees, and sustaining the heritage of agriculture in California, all on this edition of On Beyond. Series: "On Beyond" [Science] [Show ID: 30667]

Joseph Polchinski explores the battle in physics: either quantum mechanics must break down, or our understanding of spacetime must be wrong. The latest is the ‘firewall’ paradox: if quantum mechanics is to be saved, then an astronaut falling into a black hole will have an experience very different from what Einstein’s theory predicts. This has led to many new ideas that may lead to the unification of these two great theories. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 30519]

We are visual beings, and qualities such as “insight” and “vision” describe our understanding well beyond sensory input. Light and more generally, electromagnetic radiation, has dramatically changed our knowledge of the physical world. It is also the source of the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, and the energy that has powered the world since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Nobel Laureate Steven Chu, Professor of Physics, Professor Molecular & Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, discusses how light will continue to expand our scientific horizons and redefine our daily lives: from the measurement of time, to biology, medicine, and combating climate change. Series: "Scientific Horizons" [Science] [Show ID: 30224]

Blue LED and Prospects for the Lighting Industry with Shuji Nakamura. Energy Savings and Future Directions in Solid State Lighting with Steve DenBaars. Semiconductor Lasers: Vertical, Tunable, Enabling Photonic ICs with Larry Coldren. Lightwave Technologies Are Key To: Good Health, Good Communications & Good Entertainment with Waguih Ishak. Quantum Sensing and Imaging with Photoluminescent Single Spins with Ania Jayich. Tunable Biophotonics with Dan Morse. Series: "Scientific Horizons" [Science] [Show ID: 30223]

The Double-Heterostructure Concept: How it Got Started with Herbert Kroemer. Silicon Photonic Integrated Circuits with John Bowers. Light, Noise, and Darkness with Amnon Yariv. “Plastic” Solar Cells with Alan Heeger. First Light: the Cosmic Microwave Background and Early Universe Physics with Eva Silverstein. Energy Awareness: Seeing Energy to Save Energy with Bill Parrish. Series: "Scientific Horizons" [Science] [Show ID: 30222]

UCSB’s Joseph Polchinski speaks about the search for a unified theory of the laws of physics, and the difficulty of reconciling two of the main pieces: quantum mechanics, which governs the very small, and general relativity, which governs the very large. A professor of physics and a permanent member of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Polchinski was named UC Santa Barbara’s 2014 Faculty Research Lecturer. Series: "Scientific Horizons" [Science] [Show ID: 30118]