2012-13 Science Café Talks

Since the first oil well was drilled in 1853, life has changed dramatically in industrialized countries. Low cost crude oil has allowed automobiles, aircraft, goods transportation by trucks and diesel locomotives to replace horses and sailing ships. Home heating oil, construction materials like plywood and counter top laminates, everyday items such as nylon and polyester clothing, plastic film, driveway coatings and styrofoam containers, also depend on low cost oil. But crude oil is a finite and non-renewable resource and many predict that the “easy”- and therefore cheap – oil will soon be depleted. Will this mean a major change in our life styles? Not necessarily, because by using new technology, woody biomass such as corn stover and straw, together with plantation trees not now needed by a declining pulp and paper industry, can be sustainable sources of chemicals and transportation fuels that replace those currently made from oil. Biorefineries that process woody biomass into useful chemicals and fuels will replace oil refineries, but will be environmentally benign, will create a major new domestic industry and will reduce the need for oil imports from politically unstable countries. These trends will be discussed.

The search for the Irish immigrant work crew who died at Duffy’s Cut in 1832, during the construction of the Penn-Columbia railway line, will be discussed. This willinclude the discovery of the first seven graves of murdered workers who were reburied in March, 2012, and the ongoing search for the remaining 50 men. This work is being carried out in collaboration with Enviroscan Inc., and The University of Pennsylvania Museum.

Nanotechnology may provide the tools to create next generation chemical sensors that could be part of the transformation to a ‘smart society’, where sensor systems are integrated everywhere in our lives. In medicine, diagnostic tests based on protein biomarkers in blood or volatile gases emitted from the skin or in breath will fully revamp the health care landscape. Advanced chemical detection systems could revolutionize our ability to detect threats to human and environmental health, for example the release of airborne toxins from chemical facilities or contamination of water supplies, in real time and then respond immediately. The new chemical sensor technologies under development in my lab are based on insights from molecular biology married to graphene, a remarkable nanomaterial that we now grow in the lab one atom thick and 1 foot on a side!

Lou Girifalco

In 1943, a convergence of circumstances set in motion a project that transformed the world. The ENIAC was not merely a new, powerful computing machine; it was the beginning of the digital information society that now dominates our lives. Its creation is a story of engineering genius, of courage in the face of powerfully entrenched opposition, of bitter human conflict and of stubborn perseverance. Lou Girifalco, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Provost of the University, Vice-Provost for Research, and Director of the Laboratory for Reseach on the Structure of Matter. Lou is an outstanding speaker with a fascinating story to tell and it is one which can be understood by all. Get there early, if you want a seat for this gripping, true tale!!

Larry Hough

2012 was the hottest recorded year on the planet. It is well predicted that water stress will be a key issue for the future development of the human population. In the next 20 years we need to produce more food than has been produced in the last 10000 years. In this context, we will discuss water stress in agriculture and natural solutions to the problem. With the addition of chemically modified natural soil additives, we will show that better germination and drought resistance can be achieved for crops. As the population grows and the drought cycles become more frequent, creative solutions will be required to sustain even the most fertile lands.

Mark Jones

The Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology (FhCMB) is a unique institution conducting research and development in the areas of plant and microbial biotechnology. Its main focus is on using plant-based systems for rapid, inexpensive production of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. The Center has assembled a diverse staff, with expertise in plant virology, molecular biology, plant biology, biochemistry and immunology, and has core research groups specializing in expression technologies and protein target design, plant tissue culture, engineering and biomass production, downstream processing and analytical biochemistry, and immunology and formulation. FhCMB has continued to improve its core technology for transient gene expression and its application to the development of new products. To respond to rapidly emerging disease threats and market needs, FhCMB has further refined and scaled up its unique, accelerated plant-based protein production platform. The core technology is based on using ‘launch vectors’ to rapidly produce high levels of target proteins in non-genetically modified plants. Key advantages of the technology are that it is relatively inexpensive compared to producing proteins in microbial or animal cell bioreactors, it provides a safer source of proteins than native sources or animal cell systems, and, unlike transgenic plant or animal systems, relatively large amounts of target protein can be accumulated within a few days.

Dr. Jennifer Mass

The scientific analysis of objects of art is carried out to address questions about a work’s authenticity, construction, state of preservation, and mechanisms of degradation. Given the irreplaceable nature of the works studied, this research must be conducted either totally nondestructively or on microsamples alone. X-ray fluorescence (XRF), a nondestructive elemental imaging technique, has been used with conventional microanalysis methods to study Henri Matisse’s masterpiece Le Bonheur de vivre (The Joy of Life, 1905-6, The Barnes Foundation). This was undertaken to identify the origin of the fading, darkening, and flaking of its yellow paints (see images below of this work compared to the work’s final oil sketch from the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco). These alterations were identified in the painting’s cadmium yellow pigments, and current data suggests a photodegradation of the cadmium sulfide that has also been observed in turn of the 20th century works by Picasso, van Gogh, Seurat, and Leger. The implications of this phenomenon for the preservation and interpretation of Matisse’s seminal work will be discussed. X-ray fluorescence has also been used to nondestructively reproduce a buried painting by N.C. Wyeth. Several of Wyeth’s most valued illustrations have been lost from view because they were painted over, either by N.C. himself or by his son, groundbreaking 20th century American artist Andrew Wyeth. The first virtual reproduction of one of Wyeth’s buried works is presented here. We have also used XRF to probe The Armorer’s Shop (1644), attributed to Flemish genre painter David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690). Confocal XRF data, along with dendrochronological and infrared reflectography data, provided a chronology of construction suggesting that the painting is the only surviving collaboration of Teniers with Flemish Baroque painter Jan Brueghel the Younger (

Peter Collings

Liquid crystals are a phase of matter just like the more familiar phases of matter (solids, liquids, and gases). Yet the properties of liquid crystals are so unique that they are both the fundamental building blocks of biological structure and the basis for the displays found in laptop computers and flat panel televisions (LCDs). The reason for these extraordinary properties is that liquid crystals represent a natural, delicate balance between the absence of all molecular ordering found in liquids and the high degree of molecular ordering found in solids. Additional applications are already in use and more are on the way.

Bill Berner

Motivated by the first person to fall faster than the speed of sound, we’ll have a look at how and why things fall. Along the way we’ll find out why hail storms are not (usually) hard hat areas. We’ll explain why it makes financial sense to replace a cheap parachute on the Mars lander with an expensive rocket motor. And we’ll look at some unpowered objects that actually fall faster than gravity with no outside help. By the end of the talk attendees will be able to speak with enhanced gravitas about nearly any weighty topic.

Robert Johnson

Cheaper, faster and more reliable methods to sequence DNA are highly desirable. These methods would not only facilitate biological research but also revolutionize medicine and personal healthcare. The ability to speed-read DNA could be achieved by threading DNA molecules through small holes in graphene (pictured above), a material closely related to graphite (pencil lead). In this talk I will describe current research towards the development of ultrafast DNA sequencing technology and how such technology could impact society.

Daeyeon Lee

A mixture of engineering, sensory science, and physics will bubble up to discuss – and demonstrate – the science of bubbles. How are these wonderful spheres formed? How big can they get without popping? Don’t miss this opportunity to learn everything bubbly you ever wanted to know!

Doug Durian

Sand is a problem. At the beach it’s fun to scoop and pour, and to make sandcastles. But it’s hard to walk on and it sticks everywhere, plus those sandcastles start crumbling right away. The beach can turn to quicksand, and sandy bluffs can collapse in avalanches. Similar problems arise in desert, lunar, and Martian environments. Industries struggle with processing food grains, pharmaceutical powders, minerals for making ceramics and concrete, as well as with coal and geologic formations holding oil and gas. In short, we need to deal with granular materials to secure our food, medicine, shelter, and energy. Unfortunately, lots of things still go wrong. At a basic level, we lack a good understanding of how “sand” either flows or jams up under applied forces. This is a mechanics problem, and it is difficult because unexpected behaviors emerge for large collections of even the simplest objects like grains. I’ll survey this background, explain why physicists have latched onto “sand” as a cutting-edge research topic, and describe some research from my own laboratory on impact cratering and intermittent avalanche flows.