a x e s m u n d i

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

World Science Festival | World Science U | The Continuing Quest for the Deep Laws of the Universe

G_{\mu \nu} = R_{\mu \nu} - {1 \over 2}R g_{\mu \nu},

G_{\mu \nu} + g_{\mu \nu} \Lambda = {8 \pi G \over c^4} T_{\mu \nu}.

G_{\mu \nu} + g_{\mu \nu} \Lambda = 8 \pi T_{\mu \nu}\,.

The second day of World Science U focused again on cosmology and physics, without the neuroscientific approach of the previous day. Topics ranged from general relativity to quantum gravity, gravitational waves and string theory.
My favorite lecture "Loop Quantum Gravity: A World Without Time and Space" was delivered byCarlo Rovelli, theoretical physicist at Aix-Marseille University.The lecture introduced Einstein general relativity equations printed on the back of Rovelli's shirt.and focused on four topics:.
1, Gravitational fields combining space time and energy
2. QuantumL Reality is discrete and relational
3. Quantum gravity
4. White holes: Planck star symmetry black and white holes
Feynman graph and spin foam were also introduced with clarity and focus.

SPACETIME fashion: Carlo Rovelli (t-shirt) and Francesca Vidotto (tote bag)

Monday, June 1, 2015

Events, NYC :: World Science Festival | WORLD SCIENCE U FOR A DAY: EVOLUTION OF MIND AND MATTER

Yesterday a live event from the World Science U took place at the Advanced Science Research Center Auditorium of City College, CUNY. The title "Evolution of Mind and Matter" anticipated the fusion of cosmology and neuroscience announced as exploration of "humankind's grandest mysteries, from our accelerating universe to human consciousness" led by some of the foremost experts in cosmology, neuroscience, anthropology, philosophy".
The event started with Brian Greene's introduction of World Science U, a online educational platform devoted to science. The live events part of the World Science Festival are an exception as the content of the World Science is delivered usually delivered online with video and animations.

The first lecture "The Accellarating Universe" was delivered by Adam Riess, Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Johns Hopkins University. Reiss shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul Perlmutter and Brian P. Schmidt "for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae". Reiss introduced the audience to topics including the accelerating Universe, the measure of astronomical distances, the Hubble constant and the Einstein cosmological constant, the role of supernovae, and shared his journey of discovery which led him to the Nobel Prize.

Einstein's Gravitational Constant κ

The following lecture "From Chemistry to Life: On Earth and Abroad" was presented by Dimitar Sasselov, Phillips Professor of Astronomy, Harvard University. Sasselov started with an interdisciplinary approach expanding physics questions to the realm of philosophy and asked the audience: "What is life?" anticipating that such a question does not have an agreeable definition. The presentation continued with the definition of life as a chemical system. He included concepts of dark matter and energy and emphasized the importance of water for life and efforts to find life in the universe.

The focus shift from the cosmos to the self, from astrophysics to neuroscience with "The Biology of Consciousness" presented by Christof Koch, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Allen Institute for Brain Science. Koch introduction started with statements from philosophy, in the Descartes and the mind-body dualism "I am exist because I am conscious". He introduced the hard problem of consciousness in the explanation of our phenomenal experiences and perceptions. how sensations acquire characteristics, such as colors and tastes. He emphasized how consciousness is challenging to be explored, perhaps more than black holes and brains, for its lack of objective areas of explorations. He introduced a neurobiological approach to consciousnes associated to the neuronal correlates of consciousness (NCC). Digital consciousness is also a subject of interest, brought by technology: Apple Siri is an example, amplified in the science fiction movie "Her". Finally Koch introduced the theoretical framework IITC —integrated information theory of consciousness— developed by neuroscientist Giulio Tononi.

The afternoon sessions was opened by Alfred Mele, William H. and Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University with "Free Will and Neuroscience"

Mele introduced three neuroscientific arguments for free will and mentioned that fMRI imaging can show that how human brain makes decisions.

Lee Berger, Paleoanthropologist and Explorer, at the University of the Witwatersrand presented "Exploring Our Humanity". The narration focused on his discovery of fossils of hominidsin the Rising Star Cave, South Africa. Berger communicated his Passion of discovery and gave, as final suggestion to the audience, to "avoid backyard syndrome" and leave the computer desk: technology is a tool but fieldwork should be revaluated.

Rising Star Cave (25°55′S 27°47′E)

It was an unusual line-up of speakers, from so many different fields, but the results, even if sometimes seemed uncoordinated, was quite interesting and somehow inspiring.

Sunday, May 31, 2015

World Science Festival | Sunday, May 31 "What Is Sleep?" and "To Explain the World"

Today was the last day of the "World Science Festival" and I attended two events which show the multifaceted aspects of the science showcased in these five-day marathon of the WSF.

The first event "What Is Sleep" took place at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, where Alan Alda introduced the five panelists, sleep expertsL Mary Carskadon, Paul Shaw, Robert Stickgold, Matthew Wilson. Each panelist is a researcher in different areas of sleep, and mainly with totally different subjects ranging from rats to fruit flies and...humans. While the experiments were understandibly very different, given the diversity of the subjects, the conclusions were similar: sleeping is crucial to the brain functioning and can help to restore memories and maximize our learning potential. The recommendations presented by the panelist, were quite inline with common sense: follow the circadian rhythms and slow-down before going to sleep.The aim was the detect recommendations presented by the panelist, were quite inline with common sense: follow the circadian rhythms and slow-down before going to sleep.
The centerpiece of the event was the live video observation of human subject, sleeping off-stage whose brainwaves were tracked by EEG. wired-up person sleeping offstage. EEG is a common tool to detect sleep activity as shown by studies ongoing for several years this experiments was not really adding to the educational and informational intent.
My other critique to this event, otherwise enjoyable and educational, was the lack of attention to sleeping disorders and problems, which are experienced by a large percentage of the world population; a summary of statistics and studies can be found in a webpage from the Center of Disease Control. Even if the event duration was only one hour, some time could been allocated to outline the main sleep problems and disorders as well as the treatment options and other related resources. Every healthy person is aware of the importance of adequate sleep, but how to achieve it often outside our control -or our free will, just to mention another popular theme of the WSF, To overcome the lack of information from the WSF event, below are a few useful sites:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/sleepdisorders.html
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/understanding_sleep.htm
http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-disorders-problems

Screenshot of a polysomnographic record (30 seconds) representing Rapid Eye Movement Sleep. EEG highlighted by red box. Eye movements highlighted by red line. Retrieved on June 1 2015 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream#/media/File:Sleep_EEG_REM.png

The other event concluding the five-day WSF marathon was "To Explain the World: a Conversation with Steven Weinberg", moderated by Peabody Award-winning journalist John Hockenberry and hosted by the New-York Historical Society. The conversation was based on the latest book “To Explain the World: The Discovery of Modern Science" written by the Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist Steven Weinberg, who also holds the Regental Chair in Science at the University of Texas at Austin.
Weinberg stated at the beginning of the conversation that "the standard model is not the end of the story" and introduced some of the differences between the classical Greek science and the Hellenistic practitioners, with mentions of Democritus, pre-Socratics, Plato's Academy, Aristotle. Some emphasis was to given to the work of Aristarchus of Samos (c. 310 – c. 230 BC), credited with the first heliocentric model.
The conversation was inspiring: Weinberg emphasized the importance of the unity of science and shared more personal details on his research activities. Weinberg, a New York City native and graduate of Bronx High School of Science, discovered the power of mathematics while understanding the equations behind the catenary of a bridge. He became involved in research at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, which shaped his later studies in particle physics and quantum gravity. He was aware a Nobel prize in 1979 in physics jointly to Sheldon Lee Glashow, Abdus Salam "for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current".

I wanted to ask Professor Weinberg several questions which, due to the long line-up, were not answered:

Are built construction of early observational astronomy (archeoastronomy) of relevance in the history of astronomy
How he situates art in scientific discoveries? What is the role of beauty in science either in a theory formulation of in the geometric cosmological interpretation or configurations itself (e.g. galaxies form).

Both questions were derived from perhaps a vision of a cross-disciplinary approach to science, where art and science are integrated methodologies in the advancement of knowledge. A vision which perhaps was missing from many of the WFS programs, where art was a mere presentation/communication tool instead of a component of a scientific approach.

From the book cover of "To Explain the World: the Discovery of Modern Science"

Thursday, May 21, 2015

practice | energia

Philosophy is written in this grand book (I mean the universe) which stand continually open to our gaze, but it cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and interpret the characters in which is written. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures, without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it; without these, one is wandering about in a dark labyrinth.
—Galileo Galilei 1623

Yoga is a mind-body language and its vocabulary can be also abstracted in mathematical shapes.

This is the intent of my class energia, where movement sequences based on yoga postures vocabulary can be thought as embodiment of geometrical shapes. Geometry inspires movement while movement defines geometry.

Energia is designed as a psychosomatic approach to deal with distress caused by emotional and mental abuse.

I will be teaching a community class at Lululemon on Broadway & 75 Street on Saturday May 23.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Art Fairs | Frieze: the Flux Labyrinth

Participatory art is another theme du jour, not only at Frieze fair; definitely the Tribute to the Flux-Labyrinth (1976-2015) is one of the most successful examples of experiential art. The Labyrintt was originally conceived by the Fluxus artist George Maciunas in 1975 but went through several presentations/interpretations by other artists. It consists of ten chambers whose entrance door is locked. The viewer/participant has to discover the trick to unlock the door. Other challenges are in the passageways between door.
Entertaining and conceptually interesting, besides engaging. Below my visual memories, in the chambers sequential order.

Art Fairs | Frieze at Randall's Island

My six kilometer walk, from the Upper West Side to the Frieze tent

Yesterday the third New York edition of the art fair Frieze opened in its usual —yet unusual in the art fair geography—New York City location: Randall's Island, in the East River. The container of the artwork is visually quite compelling: a snake-shaped bright white tent is an elegant, yet not-competing wrapping for the multitude of different scale and media sculptures, drawings, paintings, and most of all, installations.

"Arte Povera" can seem an oxymoron for a commercial fair, but is perhaps one of the largest presence in the Frieze. The repertoire ranges from cardboard sculptures to trash outdoor installation and newspaper pages elegantly presented in series. The dot paintings series by Jonathan Horowitz, presented by the New York gallery Gavin Browse Enterprise is another example of gimmicky yet visually powerful artwork.