Splash! Fall 2008
Course Catalog

Prerequisites: You must know about TCP and what IP addresses are and how they work. If you don't, take "Comptuer Networking" and then take this class next year. :) You must also know how to program.

In this class we'll talk about the nitty-gritty of computer networking, including a look at how to write networked applications (in Python).

We'll also talk a little about "fun" things you can do with an advanced knowledge of network systems. :-D

If you are a senior citizen like myself, your first home computer may have been 25 MHz (lightning fast), with an 80 megabyte hard-drive, running the latest MS-DOS 5.0 with MS-DOS Shell. (Windows 3.1? What's that?)

Though I seem ancient, the truth of the matter is that I was probably born less than 10 years before you. The fastest processor available today is a quad-core 3.2 GHz. That's a clock-speed 128 times faster than my original machine, and with four cores instead of one. Combined with other enhancements, today's personal computers are easily 1000 times more powerful than the personal computers of 1992. And today's storage capacities (soon to be measured in terabytes) are easily 5000+ times larger.

This level of mind-blowing progress is not limited just to computer hardware. Other important areas of scientific research, such as genetic engineering, medical imaging, alternative energies, and nano-technology, are also experiencing exponential levels of growth.

While our social, political, and economic systems are stuck in the middle ages, science and technology continue pushing forward with newer and more revolutionary advances. Despite barrier after barrier, each decade we see as much progress as all of human history before it.

Within the next 60 years, we may see the elimination of cancer, aging, and death. We may see the creation and deployment of intelligent machines in industry, and we may gain molecular control over our bodies. We may be the first generation of humans to have the option of living forever. (if we so choose)

In this class, we'll discuss the idea of the technological singularity, why it is coming, how and when it will occur, and the possible dangers ahead.

Web (in)security is all around you! When you log into your favorite social network, check your email, buy that cool new video game online, you are always protected....or are you? Learn about some of the most common threats you can face as a web programmer in this new age of spy vs. spy, and how you can protect yourself and the rest of the web.

Learn about:
* XSS/XSRF
* SQL Injection
* Social security (its not that stuff your grandparents get every month).
* Ajax and immerging threats
* Much more!

This course will be presented with PHP examples, but applies to all programming languages.

We will teach you how to build interactive web applications and give you a place to host them for free.

Some experience with programming and HTML is recommended.

We will be using a new online programming tool called AppJet. AppJet is designed to make it really easy to write a hosted web application. With AppJet, you write your entire program using JavaScript. (For those in the know: AppJet runs your JavaScript on its servers and has a JavaScript object database).

We will also provide free hosting at .appjet.net.

For beginners. Make your own website using just Notepad and other free programs! http://www.stanford.edu/~kasemset/wdwn/

Ever wondered how Amazon recommends you books, or how Netflix suggests movies, or how Google translates between 35 different languages without any human intervention?

Behind all these systems are algorithms based on statistics and probability. In this class you will learn the fundamentals of probability theory and, most importantly, how it applies to modeling uncertainty in real-world problems.

After learning the basics, you will get a very close look at how simple probability concepts can be applied to solving a very complex task of Machine Translation (i.e. translating text from one language to another).

Briefly about your teachers: Ignacio and Anton have worked on Google's Machine Translation project for almost 3 years. This technology is made public via http://translate.google.com and currently enables millions of users to read foreign content in their native language.

Sound can be represented as a function: amplitude as a function of time. You've probably seen a graph of this function before, with a pure note resembling a sine wave, and the human voice a series of jagged waves.

In this class, we'll talk about how to analyze sound, from the viewpoint of someone who is processing sound in a computer. Topics will include:

* Sampling sound (for digital processing)
* The Fourier transform (frequency analysis)
* Audio filters
* Modulation (AM/FM radio)

Cool demos of everything included, using a microphone, and custom sound software written by yours truly.

The GIMP is a free software that enables you to manipulate images. Its possibilities range from simple red-eye removal to creation of artwork from scratch. I would like to show you here the basics of this program and to help you edit a photograph of your choice to make something funny or beautiful. Whether you want to give a big nose to your favorite teacher, compose a stunning landscape or portrait yourself casting a colorful spell, this class is for you !

The first two hours will be devoted to learning the elementary tools of the software through a few hands-on exercises. Then each student will be encouraged to use the remaining time to create an artwork of his own imagination, with the teacher here for advice.

All you need to know is how to use a computer. Creativity is a plus. It is best if you have a few pictures that you want to edit, available from the web (via webmail for instance). High quality pictures are recommended.

Check out my own creations at http://public.fotki.com/raspoutine/creations/ to get a feeling of what can be done with The GIMP.

Come learn the basics of how computer networks work!

If you've got some programming skills but are at a loss when it comes to networking, this is the class for you!

How does email work? IM? The web? What's TCP? What's IP? What does a router do?

Answers to all these questions and more!

Get a free Rolex watch for $100! Pills on sale! Click here to join. Even the best email providers can't help but let a few of these messages through to their users. As silly as spam sounds, it has gotten more prevalent and ever-increasingly malicious and sneaky. Find out about how email programs filter out the annoying junk from the useful communication using fairly simple probability and filtering methods, and how spammers fight back. Click here to join the learning.

Optical systems are the backbone of today's modern telecommunications, carrying voice, data and video from continent to continent at the speed of light. They are even being used to carry data in modern supercomputers.

In this class we will learn the basics of optical communication systems- the laser that transmits the information, the optical fiber that carries it, and the photodetector that receives it- and build our own! We will explore modern topics in optical communications, including current challenges and what lies in the future. The structure of this class will consist of a series of short discussions and a hands-on laboratory exercise.

By using the framework of the basic MIPS processor often studied in university-level digital design classes, we will turn the complex workings of a modern processor into a fun group activity. Beyond just learning how a computer works, you and your friends will actually BE the computer. Topics include how binary numbers work, instruction set architectures, and forwarding.

Ever wanted to learn why your bookshelf sags in the middle? Want to be able to calculate just how much force that 2x4 can take until it breaks? Now you can, with this exciting introduction into beam bending!

Interested in aircraft? In the first half of the class we'll learn some basic aerodynamics. Next we'll apply what we learned to analyze the performance of a few different types of aircraft (jumbo jets, very light jets, supersonic business jets, regional jets). Finally we'll wrap it up with a discussion of concepts for aircraft of the future .

You use hundreds of different products everyday. Ever wonder the process innovators use to come up with cool products, like the iPhone? We'll get a chance to learn about the design process and learn how to apply it to everyday things, to make a huge impact.

Read to go green? Come learn about water and energy in your home, and what that means for California's skies!

Solar panels, electric cars, and organics, oh my! Come learn about the designs that will both save the Earth and make our lives so much more enjoyable. Very little in the world today is working as well as it could, but our generation has the ability to completely redesign it. This class will inspire you with the most innovative ideas in environmental design today.

Ever wonder how to build a flying robot? Learn about how a quadrotor helicopter works, then find out how to design and fly one autonomously!

Ever dream of being an inventor or of founding your own company? If you are an "ideas person" or have the creative spark, join this discussion to learn what no school really teaches: the practical reality of what it is to be a product manager in Silicon Valley. You will learn about User-Centric Design, Rapid-Prototyping, and building a vision for products and markets.

As a class we will use these and other techniques to innovate creative solutions to modern-day problems.

A computer is a complex system, just like an aircraft, a manufacturing plant, or the environment. We've all probably used a computer, but in Computer Systems Engineering, we will discuss the construction of a computer's complex system. In the first hour we will discuss the principles of system engineering. In the second hour we will give an overview of everything from what is VLSI design to computer architecture to machine language to windows programming and software development.

Learn what a fluid is! Is air a fluid? We'll learn the mechanics behinds fluids. A few of the things we'll go into are:

How do you know how fast water comes out of your Super Soaker?

How much pressure would a fish experience at the bottom of the hoover dam?

Can things 'swim' in the air?

What happens at high speeds in fluids?

We will look at the Dutch defense (1. d4 f5), especially the Leningrad variation (in which black plays g6 and Bg7). We will see some common themes in this opening and some interesting games played with it.

We will start to take over the world by folding simple hyperbolic paraboloids (hypars). We will then assemble these pieces into more complex Platonic solids. Makes a great lampshade!

The day begins with packaged components and ends with a fully operational computer. We will discuss the planning process, tips for ensuring compatibility, assemble the beast, and compare/contrast with store bought computers. No knowledge of computers is required, and some knowledge won't hurt. Students will have limited hands on interaction and are able to ask questions at any time.

Interactive Literature, or sometimes known as Live-Action Role-Playing, is an engaging and fun activity that requires a lot of planning on behalf of the organizers. How does one run a successful IL evening for friends? What is the best statistical combat system? How should we write the characters to best suit the players' personalities? How does one get in character? This class will cater to people of all backgrounds. No previous role-playing experience necessary. Just bring creativity and the willingness to be a little silly!

Go is one of the world’s oldest board games and despite its simple rules, is highly strategic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(board_game)

Nico Nico Douga is a video sharing site with an emphasis on video games, anime, and remixed music. You've probably never used it because the site is entirely in Japanese. We'll teach you how to register and navigate this website as well as show you a sample of popular Japanese Internet memes.

Have you ever wonder what is the 9x9 grid on the bottom corner of a newspaper or magazine? That is a Sudoku puzzle! Want to learn how it works or want to learn tricks or just want to practice? This is your class!

HYPSMC = Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Caltech = the Holy Grail of College Admissions.

Want to get into one of these?

MIT Admission Blogger and CollegeConfidential veteran with nearly 1,600 posts shares some insights (disclaimer: my opinions are strictly personal and do not represent the official positions of any college =p).

This is a cardio/aerobics class which based on bollywood dance music. It is combo of different dance styles such as zumba, bellydance, kathak etc.
It starts with 10min. warm-up session & continues with high-low dance rhythmes & will be finish off 10min. cooldown session.

Come and learn what you are eating!!
We will explore label reading on packaged foods - fresh, frozen, canned, as a meal, desserts, cereals and more.
There will be samples and hands on practise. At the end, let's have some fun and strength a little. There will be a short but fun session on introduction to Chi Quong for health and everyday exercise. It is simple and easy to do.

We will make shiny, pretty things-necklaces, bracelets, earings, etc. Your imagination is the limit!

Learn how to make amazing pop-ups!

Topics include an overview of Robert Lang's circle-river packing (tree method), tessellation, and point splits. Origami diagramming notation and basic folds will be explained for those with no exposure.

If you want to have fun while learning how to make an easy pinata, this is the class for you! This class is designed for beginners and all materials will be supplied. Anyone is welcome to join.

Baking fun! We will be making delicious food (tba) that will be awesome! While the food is cooking, we will play fun games.

We're going to go over basic drawing technique and color theory, so absolutely no experience required! We're going to go draw outside and/or inside, focusing on drawing from life. However, what we draw is up to you! We can draw landscapes, each other, still lifes, or do interactive group drawings. If you have any specific ideas about what you want to draw, bring pictures to class!

Ever wondered how those people in youtube videos are able to solve a Rubik’s Cube in less than a minute? Do you want to impress your friends with a fun skill that few have mastered? Think it would fun to freak out your parents who grew up in the 80’s? Come to this workshop and learn how to do all that.

Although the instructor owns many cubes of his own, this is a BYOC class. As in, you have to Bring Your Own Cube. They are available in stores around the nation, as well as online at www.rubiks.com.

Just this summer, inflation in Zimbabwe topped 11 million percent, forcing the government to print banknotes bearing the denomination of 100 billion (10^11). Also, by the end of this year, you will see the release of the Hawaii quarter, marking the 50th unique quarter released since 1999.

Money design is an integral part of preserving our history, and this class invites you to explore the fascinating story contained in US and international money.

If not for anything else, come and see 100,000,000,000 dollars live. :D (and take home a small souvenir!)

Express yourself with a Two in One deal, where you get to collage and end up with a piece of poetry. Collaging is an easy-going and creative way to piece together something they way you want it to be.

Want to impress your friends with cool sleight of hand tricks? Want to astound and mystify your family with seemingly impossible feats of magic? In this class we will learn some basic card tricks and learn some basic methods so that you can create your own tricks.

This is an introduction course designed for people who don't have any experience doing card tricks, if you know a few tricks, you are welcome to the class, but probably won't learn much.

A great recreational sport you see played at every college campus, why not get ahead on on the game? Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact sport that has been quickly growing quickly in popularity. You do not have to have any experience or be athletic, just willing to have a good time. For the first part of the class we will split into two groups, and those who have never played will learn the basic art of throwing the frisbee, as well as learn basic strategy techniques such as stacking and forcing, while those who have played before will learn advanced throwing techniques (forehand, hammer, outside-in and inside-out). For the latter part of the class, we will be playing ultimate!

Do you like flowers, vibrant colors and the outdoors? Do you like to draw or want to learn how? Using pastels and water colors we will perfect the art of drawing flowers, working with both still life and landscapes.
"Budding" artists of all levels are very welcome.

Although it is not a language commonly taught in high schools, Portuguese is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Also, if you already know some Spanish, it's really easy to learn Portuguese. This class will go over the basics of both Spanish and Portuguese, their similarities and differences, and more!

The basics of playwriting including dialogue, stage direction and scene setup.

Detective fiction is commonly referred to as escapist literature, however, many detective writers such as the American writer Dashiell Hammett and the Swedish duo of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo use the popular genre to provoke social change. This class will aim to provide a fun and creative environment for students to learn how to read detective fiction differently and give students an opportunity to write their own detective stories that speak to a particular issue in society today.
In this course, we will begin with a short discussion of the basic genealogy of the genre of detective fiction (from Edgar Allan Poe to contemporary crime writers). The majority of the class will be spent on writing and discussion. Students will be asked to write short pieces with guided exercises to stimulate ideas and thinking and the class will end with a sharing session where students will read their own work and imagine a longer project (short story, book project, video game, etc.) that they can work on independently in the future.
One of the ways we will be approaching the writing portion is to ask students to invent a detective figure that speaks to the current historical moment we are in (for example: computer scientist as detective figure, economist as detective, politican as detective, etc.). The primary question they will be asked to think about is what kind of detective figure they want to invent that embodies the kind of social change they would like to see happen in society.

Ever wondered what the meaning of life is? Ever wanted to try to reconicle all religions? Every wanted to have a positive outlook to the world? Ever wanted to have a technique for true happiness?

Well – this is the class for you! Come along to learn more about The Bahai Faith: an independent global religion. The Bahai Faith embraces all religions and provides a blueprint for how the world should look like and the steps we can take to get there.

Come be inspired and gain practical steps on how you can make both your own life and the lives of others more meaningful and content.

Have you ever been interested in American Sign Language? Want to look cool by communicating to your friends without speaking? This course will teach you a few fundamentals (the manual alphabet, the number system, simple greetings and vocabulary) in order to get you started in learning this great language!

With the election in November, much is being made and will be made of John McCain the war hero. But what does it mean to be a war hero? what does it mean to be a hero? who can be a hero? These sorts of questions will be discussed in the class, using examples from everyday life, from Ancient Greek sources, and from Viking sagas.

No previous background is expected or required, but some background would be useful. The class will be very much discussion based-- so come prepared to discuss your ideas, as well as new ones.

Ever wonder what high school is like in East Africa? Learn about the rich culture and landscape of Tanzania and the lives of its inhabitants by listening to popular Tanzanian music, learning to wear traditional fabrics, watching pictures and videos of rural Tanzanian village life, and learning Swahili.

Learn how to write creatively through innovation and resistance of cliches with the Stanford Writers' Guild. Have fun writing creative stories and poems of your own. We will provide plenty of prompts to rack your brain.

Have you ever been astounded by the fact that people are still reading The Odyssey several thousand years after it was written? Storytelling has come a long way over the (many many many) years, and mankind has accumulated a lot of wisdom about what makes a story awesome. This workshop is for young writers who want to look into the great stories of the past, analyze what made them great, and apply those techniques to their own writing. We'll discuss the mythic plot model, theme and development, Aristotelian structure and philosophy, character design, and more. Along the way, we might even discuss why stories can be so powerful, and why it is we write them. Having read tons of classic literature will NOT be required for this class. By way of materials, you might bring a synopsis and a short (short!) excerpt from a work-in-progress, if you have one.

A brief introduction to female authors across genres, history, and nationality. This section will include a look at cultural and historical context for a selection of authors and their works, as well as reading and discussion of short stories/excerpts. Guaranteed to include books not on your class reading lists.

An overview of the news journalism process, from choosing news stories, developing questions for different sources, choosing sources, interviewing sources, taking notes during interviews, writing stories, and working with editors on stories. Will involve a series of alternating lecture/how-to sections and practice/role-play activities.

There is an exponentially growing industry of single platform or online games around the globe. Though I do not advocate the spread of gaming among teenagers, it is often instructive to seek meaningful and challenging math problems from these virtual settings. I shall give one example I discovered from a forum. For starters, one often needs to find an optimal strategy in achieving some well defined goal, such as upgrade the players by accumulating experience points, outnumbering the opponent (often the computer itself) by strategically utilizing resources. One way to attack them is through standard procedures in operations research. When the outcome of certain actions are nondeterministic, one must resort to probabilistic means such as markov chain techniques, dynamic programming, etc. I will describe how to find the expected payoff of certain strategies, and how to find the optimal ones.

This will be a broad look at the number we know as $$\pi$$. There'll be some history, some experiments, some math and some laughs.

We'll cover basic ideas in probability, integration, series expansions and trigonometry. Nothing too hardcore, so hopefully we'll all have an uber time :)

Infinity is a big idea. It's hard for us to find a way to reason about something so enormous and ambiguous -- but that doesn't stop us from trying. Come learn about how Georg Cantor applied ideas from set theory to develop tangible, yet surprising, insights into the infinite, such as the existence of different kinds of infinity and a hypothesis that can be neither proven nor disproven. (No prior exposure to set theory is required.)

What does it it look like to wander around on a fractal? In this class, we'll take a look at the basic math of the hyperbolic plane, a space where there are infinitely many parallel lines through a point off another line, instead of just one like we're used to. As a result, you get a weird and beautiful piece of math, where fractals fit comfortably and area doesn't work the way it should. If you like having your mind gently bent or like mathematical pictures, and have a good ability to thjnk about unusual new concepts, you'll enjoy this class.

We will look at the game of nim and learn the winning strategy. We will then see why knowledge of the winning strategy for nim allows us to work out winning strategies for many other games very easily.

Dots and Boxes is a deceptively simple game you've probably played before. Starting with a grid of dots, two players take turns connecting two adjacent dots. A player that completes a box scores a point (by placing his or her initials in the box) and immediately takes another turn. When there are no more moves left, the player with more boxes wins. However, despite its simple rules, the game turns out to be quite rich in strategy. After playing several games, we will uncover several levels of strategies for the game. We will later relate the strategy of Dots and Boxes to the game of nim.

CALCULUS! It's a big, booming word that has struck fear into the hearts of many a math student. In this seminar, we will dare to suggest that--just maybe--calc's fabled bark is worse than its practical bite. We'll tackle as much of the introductory basics as we can, taking care to dig into not only what the ideas are, but why those ideas work. If you're in a first-year calc course now and feeding befuddled, or if you just want to test the waters for pursuing calculus in the future, this course has your name all over it. You'll need a solid understanding of algebra, and some exposure to trigonometry would be helpful (but not necessary).

Consider a language with an alphabet consisting of just four letters, $$a$$, $$b$$, $$a^{-1}$$, and $$b^{-1}$$. There is a spelling rule that says that whenever you see an $$a$$ next to an $$a^{-1}$$, you cross those two letters out. Similarly, if you see a $$b$$ next to a $$b^{-1}$$ you cross those two letters out as well. For example, if you see $$ab^{-1}aa^{-1}bb$$ you'd cross out $$aa^{-1}$$ to get $$ab^{-1}bb$$, and then you'd cross out $$bb^{-1}$$ to get $$ab$$.

Your friend wants to type in this language, but unfortunately she has a weird keyboard. Instead of having keys labeled $$a$$, $$a^{-1}$$, $$b$$, and $$b^{-1}$$, it has keys labeled $$aab^{-1}$$, $$ba^{-1}a^{-1}$$, $$bba^{-1}$$, and $$ab^{-1}b^{-1}$$. She wants to know what words she can type. For example, she can type the word $$aaba^{-1}$$ by pressing the $$aab^{-1}$$ key followed by the $$bba^{-1}$$ to get $$aab^{-1}bba^{-1}$$, and then crossing out the $$b^{-1}b$$. However, if she were to try to find a way to press the keys to get $$aab$$ after crossing out inverse pairs, she wouldn't have much luck.

We'll see how we can easily figure out what words a given keyboard can produce using directed graphs (dots connected by arrows). If we have time, we'll explore some related questions, such as what happens if you're also allowed to take the end of a word and move it to the beginning. Also, we'll see why mathematicians are interested in quirky keyboards like these.

The class will be fairly accessible, with lots of examples.

We will discuss techniques for applying mathematics to real-world problems where there are no direct formulas. We will use examples from the COMAP High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling, but no knowledge of the contest is required to get the full benefit of this class. The style of the class will be similar to last year's class, but the material will be different.

A minimum grade level of 9 is strongly encouraged, but younger students who have a strong interest may join the class.

In this session, we will revisit Pythagorean Theorem. We will introduce several amazing proofs and some of its applications or fun facts.


- A few proofs

- Pythagorean Triples, which are integers a, b, c that satisfy $$a^2 + b^2 = c^2 $$ Can we find all such triples?

- Rational numbers on unit circle (circle of radius 1)

- Construction of irrational numbers.

This course will discuss the mathematics of Chaos theory. It will introduce the idea of sensitive dependance, how it applies to mappings, and the idea of the Butterfly Effect. Other topics may include applications, fractals, attractors, and analyzing time series

new choreo piece follow by freestyle boogaloo poppin: formal waving and poppin techniques. Instructor will develop freestyle routine and breakdown the development process teaching transistions, musicality, the importance of creativity and spontaneity in freestyle dance; all taught to the Latest urban beat.
Open for Beginner to Advance to the Very Advance

Want to learn how to talk like Harry Potter? How about Elizabeth Bennet?
In this class we will discuss how specific sounds, words, and flow of speech can change a character's origin. Focusing mostly on Standard and Upper Class British (from Hermione Granger to Algernon Moncrief), we will also delve briefly into other accents, including New York, American Southern, and Scottish.
After practicing on the sounds themselves, we will try to make our accents sound natural in dialogue taken from various plays.
Be prepared to dive in with your mouth and ears open, and we'll have a lot of fun.
Cheerio, wot!

A spoken word workshop where students will see spoken word artists perform. Several writing exercises will be implemented and, if a student would like, they will write and share their own poetry

A brief glimpse into some of the components of improvisational theatre, this course will strive to introduce students to the foundational elements of improv through practice and to demonstrate the every day applications it can have on one's life.

This course will attempt to teach kids the basics of 3 ball cascade juggling through demonstration and practice, practice, practice. We hope to have tons of fun dropping and catching juggling balls.

Walk the red carpet with scientists who use microscopes to uncover dynamic information about how cells work! We'll look at some AWESOME pictures and movies taken using microscopes and learn about techniques and tools in biology that help us learn about the AMAZING machines that help cells divide, grow, and function in their environments.

Recommended for students who have taken or are currently enrolled in high school biology.

We all know a little about our digestive system, what it does for us, and how it works. In this hour we will do a quick run through to cover the basics, and then we'll see a demo of how a typical American diet, and a not-so-typical one, pass through our body. Demo and real food items involved.

Caesar ciphers, Vigenere ciphers, rail fence transposition, one time pads, steganography, frequency analysis, everything you need to be covert.

This course will cover the basic properties and processes of the atmosphere, weather, and storms. Topics discussed will be the structure of the atmosphere, why the wind blows, how clouds and precipitation form, and the science behind lightning and thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes.

How do you detect a bomb without a metal detector, x-ray equipment, or any kind of search? The answer lies in chemical sensors, which are extremely sensitive devices that can pick up traces of TNT, nerve gas, or other dangerous chemicals from several meters away. We'll examine the inner workings of chemical sensors that rely on polymers that conduct electricity, which currently give the most sensitive equipment known to man. If you like chemistry, you'll iike this class.

Incidentally, a good background in chemistry--say, a year of it in school--is pretty necessary to understand what's going on here.

Basically a talk about the Newtonian world-view of physics - Why planets go around the sun, why you feel weightless on a roller coaster, why balls roll down hills, and all that jazz.


This is Part 1 of a 4 part series.

You might have already heard about "superconductor" somewhere, but do you know what makes those superconductors "super"? In this class, I will talk about some fundamental facts about superconductors, explain why we call them superconductors, what's special about them, and what those superconductors could do for us with their "super-power". I will also give a brief introduction about frontiers in the scientific research on superconductors. If time and condition permits, I will lead a trip to a superconductor lab on campus. (my lab)

Twin paradoxes, and how fast is FAST?

Mass as a lens, and the biggest suckers in the universe.


this is part 2 of a 4 part series

If you've ever wanted to watch a crazy Australian set fire to the stage, this is the class for you!

The field of aerospace engineering contains a wide array of interesting examples of fluid mechanical and combustion phenomena. This class will provide an overview of the role that combustion (burning things) and fluid mechanics (the motion of gases and liquids) play in helping aircraft and rockets take flight.

The class will include some live demonstrations of basic combustion experiments, as well as videos and possibly some hands on exercises.

Ever wonder what makes you who you are? Or why there are wrinkles in the brain? Or if your fish has a brain? A hands-on introduction to the brain and its various functions. And a chance to ask your burning questions about the brain to a bunch of people studying it!

Have you ever thought about how rich the ocean is with life? Have you ever been to or seen a postcard of those picture-perfect tropical beaches surrounded by coral reefs? Coral reefs are the most diverse and perhaps the most beautiful areas of the ocean. In this class we'll talk about what makes a coral reef, what plants and animals live there, how do coral reefs respond to climate change and how long they can live. We'll see lots of pictures and video, play a game, and hear about cool things people can do to study the ocean and life on coral reefs.

The course will be broken up into four 15 min sections. They will include:

1. What is an immune system and why do I need one?
2. The basics of how an immune system works
3. What happens when my immune system is hijacked or goes haywire?
4. Using and altering your immune system to cure and prevent disease.

This course should be a good intro for anyone who has heard people talk about the immune system, vaccines, antibodies and the like and was curious what it all meant.

Do you think you are so awesome that you want to clone yourself so theres more YOU to share? Are you curious about amplifying your "tall" or "smart" gene? Learn about the current advances in cloning and genetic engineering, and the ethical questions that come along with these discoveries.

Are you ever tired? Do you fall asleep in class? Want to run faster, make more basketball shots, or just be a better athlete overall? Perhaps you want to ace your next test. Maybe you just like to sleep a lot and don't know why.

Come join this class which will explore all of these topics including why you are always tired and what you can do to improve your sleep habits. We will also talk about how you can become a better athlete in your sleep!

We will talk about the processes that lead to tumor formation, and conclude the class with human tumor samples for you to touch and look at.

We’re going to dive right in to the most massive objects in our universe—billions of times the mass of the sun. (Note: we won’t actually dive into a black hole—its hard to get out).

When small stars die, they peter out. When massive stars die, they explode in supernovas, outshining an entire galaxy, and whats left is a black hole, a singularity of mass so dense that even light is trapped behind. We’ll tour around a few black holes, study their effect on our daily lives, and of course, the seven ways a black hole can kill you. I’ll venture into wormholes, white holes, and other extoics, and we’ll even bring in a sporting interest and talk about how Stephen Hawking once lost a bet on black holes, and how it was related to the ultimate demise and even death of these most mysterious of objects. (Food for thought: how does a black hole die, anyway?)

Be ready to open your minds, to be bent by the curvature of spacetime, and generally to lose yourself in the fun and beauty of the most amazing objects out there in the sky.

What is science? What makes something a fact or a theory? We will discuss some philosophical questions about science, shedding some light on subtleties, limitations, and misconceptions about science.

If you spread the history of Earth out on a football field, the total length of human history is less than the width of a blade of grass. In this time, however, we humans have managed to profoundly change our world. Now it seems some of this change may not be for the best. Global environmental change is just now being recognized an posses serious threats to the survival of our species and many others. What will the impacts of climate change be? How will invasive species alter ecosystems across the globe? And how will changes in land use affect species extinction? In this class we will explore how scientists are answering these question, and how all of us can help make a difference.

Ever wonder what makes you who you are? Or why there are wrinkles in the brain? Or if your fish has a brain? A hands-on introduction to the brain and its various functions. And a chance to ask your burning questions about the brain to a bunch of people studying it!

Welcome to the fun-house, the looking glass world of quantum mechanics awaits you in this tour of the world of the very small and how it affects many aspects of your life - including your Playstation 3 or Xbox.

this is part 3 of a 4 part series.

Ever wonder what makes something explode instead of burn? Why a glass will break when you drop it on the floor but sometimes bombs fall from airplanes and don't explode? What's the difference between rocket fuel and the gas in your car? Want to learn some non-boring chemistry? Note: this is *not* a how-to class.

A whorlwind tour of neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers in your brain which allow you to think and feel and be who you are. Oh and we'll answer the age old question of why you get sleepy and happy after Thanksgiving dinner (hint: it's not because of too much protein in turkey)

This is the really crazy stuff - quantum gravity, String theory, Super-symmetry, why 96% of the universe is dark, and why are we building a 10 billion dollar particle accelerator in Europe.

Okay, so you won't be curing cancer in an hour, but you'll hear about two cured cancers, and hopefully take away some ideas, inspiration, and hope. Why do people get cancer? How does cancer develop? How have two cancers been cured? How are some other cancers being cured right now, what does the future hold, and what can you do?

This course will attempt to pin down in detail exactly what the laws of thermodynamics predict about the physical world. I shall also discuss the aspects of thermodynamics that made it survive the revolution of quantum mechanics and relativity.

Have you ever wondered why you grow old? Or why some animals live to be 3 years old and others can live past 100? Biologists have started to investigate these questions and have found some suprising answers.

We will learn about how people have been rewiring naturally occurring genes to make devices that operate in living cells. Biological oscillators, switches, filters, and loops have been constructed in bacteria and yeast, and cells have been engineered to produce photographic images, to kill and save each other in a mini-ecosystem, and even to reproduce an anti-malarial drug normally found in plants! You'll leave with an opinion on the subject: Is synthetic biology just a hyped-up version of what we've been doing since the '70's, or are we entering the eighth day of creation? No prerequisites--we'll start with understanding what genes are and how they're turned on and off.

Ever wondered what parts of your brain are active when you see that pretty girl at the party? Ever wondered what factors help you choose a "mate"? In this class, we will examine different species' (humans' too!) mating patterns and behaviors to understand some of the biology of love. In particular, we learn about sexual vs. asexual reproduction in different species, mate selection/competition, and neurochemicals involved in monogamy vs. polygamy. We will also learn how neuroscientists are using new technology to uncover the neural correlates of love and desire. Come join us!

Public health is an extremely important topic that many people know little or nothing about. The people who work in public health make the world a safer, better place. Whether you're interested in a public health career or not, it affects you. Come for a fun discussion about what public health is, why it's so important, who it impacts, and how you can get involved.

11/4/2008. The implications are mind-boggling.

We will elect the first woman to the vice presidency or the first African-American to the presidency. And, thats not even the big story this year.

Between an economy teetering on another depression, an international community rapidly losing faith in American supremacy, and an American people more polarized than ever, stakes have rarely been higher than this year.

And yet, for the first time in generations, the youth vote is beginning to pick up. Between excitement on the left for Obama, and on the right for Palin, more young people have registered to vote this year than in any previous election. Our generation has become tuned in to politics as never before.

Come join your peers for an hour of active discussion on the issues of the day. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are all invited.

Get to know the tools of an economist to analyze some public policy issues such as price controls, the proposed gas tax holiday, toll roads, farm subsidies, trade barriers and trade agreements.

Introduction into some topics from Microeconomics, such as competitive equilibrium, externalities, private/public goods, and international trade.

Prerequisite: Algebra, no prior Economics experience required

What's going on in the world economy?
Why are housing prices tumbling?
Why are jobs disappearing?
Why have gas prices nearly tripled in 8 years?
Why has the dollar lost nearly a third of its value against other major foreign currencies?
Why are financial markets in a panic?
Why are banks failing across the world?

The tremors and earthquakes occurring in today's economy are extraordinarily complicated and unpredictable, even beyond the understanding of congress and the federal reserve. But understanding how we got here is relatively easy. We'll talk about what economic forces have been leading up to this crisis, form a time-line of events, and speculate on how things will turn out.

How do we make decisions? More importantly, how can we describe how groups make decisions? Learn about a simple framework that is used in politics, economics, and biology to quantitatively model the evolution of strategies, as well as some of its counter-intuitive conclusions.

Do you ever wonder why stores run out of the things you want to buy?

Do you think if you had managed Xbox production, everyone would have been able have one?

A supply chain is a network of companies that each does their part to bring products from raw materials, like steel and plastic, into your local stores. Supply chains can be made up of many companies and can span the entire globe. We’ll be playing the root beer game to simulate managing a modern day supply chain with all of its frustrations, hassles and fun. Managing a supply chain is no easy task and this is YOUR chance to see if you have what it takes.

We've got two hours to discuss as many famous sociology experiments that we can. Ever heard of the Stanford prison experiment? Did you know 65% of people would kill another person if told to by an authority? Come join the discussion on sociologies window in to societal findings.

In this class we'll cover some findings in the field of Psychology that you might find relevant to your daily life. Sampling from several subfields of the discipline, we'll address questions such as: How do we improve our memory? How do parenting practices impact child behavior? What hinders and helps romantic relationships? Feel free to bring your own questions about what psychologists have found or what they do.