Science Events

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Computer Science and Mathematics Senior Project Prospectus Talks

Wednesday, November 1, 2023
12–1 pm

RKC 111
Sponsored by: Computer Science Program; Mathematics Program.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

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Characterizing Distant Worlds: Atmospheric Observations of Exoplanets with Hubble & JWST

Munazza Alam, Space Telescope Science Institute

Friday, November 3, 2023
12–1 pm

Hegeman 107
In the past two decades, we have discovered thousands of planets outside of the Solar System, many of which are nothing like our own. We can learn a great deal about the properties of these planets if we observe them when they pass in front of (transit) their host stars. During transit, a small fraction of starlight filters through the planet's atmosphere. By precisely measuring the spectrum of this filtered starlight, we can learn about the makeup of the planet's atmosphere. Observing planets with this technique allows us to understand the composition of their atmospheres as well as how they formed and evolved. In this talk, I will discuss how I use data from Hubble, JWST, and large ground-based telescopes to detect and characterize the atmospheres of Jupiters to super-Earths.

Munazza Alam is an astronomer, National Geographic Young Explorer, and staff scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD. She earned her Bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy from CUNY Hunter College in New York City, and received her PhD in astronomy and astrophysics from Harvard University in 2021. Munazza uses data from the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes for her research, as well as world-class ground-based facilities at the Mauna Kea Observatories in Hilo, Hawai’i and the Las Campanas Observatory in La Serena, Chile. In her free time, she enjoys oil pastels and watercolors.Sponsored by: Physics Program.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

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Understanding How Our Words Reflect and Affect Our Emotions and Mental Health

Erik Nook, Princeton University

Thursday, November 9, 2023
4–5:30 pm

Preston Theater
Taking a distanced perspective on stressful situations helps us reduce negative emotional reactions and respond more adaptively. But what if our words (i.e., language) could be tools for increasing psychological distance, and consequently facilitate emotion regulation? This talk will present a series of studies on linguistic distancing (i.e., changing one’s words to increase psychological distance by reducing use of first-person singular pronouns like “I” and present tense-verbs) and its relationship with emotion regulation and mental health. Experimental studies (Ns = 107-207) showed that having participants write about aversive images without using the word “I” or present-tense verbs reduced their self-reported negative affect. Conversely, asking participants to engage in emotion regulation (by cognitively reinterpreting or reappraising) aversive images while writing their thoughts revealed spontaneous increases in linguistic distance that correlated with reap-praisal success. Finally, a large naturalistic study of psychotherapy transcripts (N = 6,229) showed that linguistic distancing increased during treatment and tracked within-person reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms. All studies included replications of key findings, strengthening conclusions. Together, this line of research shows that language is a powerful tool for measuring and manipulating both emotion regulation and mental health at large scales.
 Sponsored by: Psychology Program.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

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Mathematics Senior Project Prospectus Talks

Thursday, November 9, 2023
6–7 pm

RKC 111
Sponsored by: Computer Science Program; Mathematics Program.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

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Bird Walk

Saturday, November 11, 2023
10 am – 12 pm

Blithewood Lawn
Join the Bard College Ecology Field Station for a student-led Overwintering Bird Walk. Help us map campus biodiversity by learning how to identify and document local birds! Meet at Blithewood Lawn. Wear comfortable walking shoes and dress for the weather.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

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Using Continuous Results in Discrete Problems

Zoe Wellner, Carnegie Mellon University

Wednesday, November 15, 2023
12–1 pm

RKC 111
Often, continuous and discrete are treated as opposites of each other. The Borsuk--Ulam theorem states that for any continuous map  from the sphere to Euclidean space, $fcolon S^dto R^d$, there is a pair of antipodal points that are identified, so $f(x)=f(-x)$. This theorem deals with continuous objects, is fundamentally topological, and yet, it has numerous applications to discrete results. We will look at how these methods apply to some problems, including chromatic numbers of Kneser graphs (like the Petersen graph which you see pictured) and the Ham Sandwich theorem: given a $d$-dimensional sandwich with $d$ ingredients, with a single cut you can split your sandwich in half such that every ingredient is exactly halved as well. We will also look at what it means to take a colorful generalization of a result and why it is helpful.Sponsored by: Computer Science Program; Mathematics Program.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

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Mathematical Models of Organelle Size Control and Scaling

Thomas Fai, Brandeis University

Wednesday, November 29, 2023
12–1 pm

RKC 111
Why do organelles within cells have their particular sizes, and how does the cell maintain them given the constant turnover of proteins and biomolecules? To address these fundamental biological questions, we formulate and study mathematical models of organelle size control rooted in the physicochemical principles of transport, chemical kinetics, and force balance. By studying the mathematical symmetries of competing models, we arrive at a hypothesis describing general principles of organelle size control. In particular, we consider flagellar length control in the unicellular green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and develop a minimal model in which diffusion gives rise to a length-dependent concentration of depolymerase at the flagellar tip. We show how similar principles may be applied to model the  size scaling of the nucleus in terms of the nuclear-to-cell volume ratio.Sponsored by: Computer Science Program; Mathematics Program.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].