Wondering what powers everything from e-book readers to electric cars? Come see the MIT inventions behind cutting edge technology like laser surgery and energy efficient light bulbs.

Get introduced to the world of technology transfer: browse issued patents and technical illustrations, explore important issues such as the government’s role in funding research, and learn how inventions move from the lab to the world around you. Presentations run one hour long.

Sponsor: Technology Licensing Office

Ever dreamed of touching down on the Moon or visiting the Apollo landing site as a tourist attraction? Here's the closest you can come!

On display, amazing and astounding detailed images of the Moon's surface from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will show you the tracks and equipment left behind by the Apollo astronauts and take you inside the rough and tumbled terrain of giant lunar craters.

Sponsor: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences

Come learn about MIT OpenCourseWare – a website that makes course materials used in the teaching of almost all of MIT’s undergraduate and graduate subjects available, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world. Hear about our milestones as we celebrate our 10th anniversary, and find out about our next decade initiatives.

Sponsor: OpenCourseWare

Explore interactive, hands-on desktop experiments focusing on areas such as kinematics and dynamic motion, electromagnetism, resonance, and oscillations. Larger demonstrations will be performed to show the more theatrical aspects of a compelling lecture to a large audience.

Finally, displayed on the many projection screens in the TEAL classroom will be screenings of our ever-expanding collection of videos, available on the web, of demonstrations either too elaborate or dangerous to present in the usual classroom setting.

Experienced technical instructors will be on hand throughout the event to present topics, assist with equipment, and elucidate concepts. This is a must see activity!

Sponsor: Department of Physics

Do you have a special rock, fossil, mineral, or possible meteorite that you would like identified? Has it been handed down for generations without anyone knowing what it really is? Could it be valuable? Is it a scientific marvel? Bring your geological curiosities by our booth to find out! Experts from MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences will evaluate your prized specimen and give you the facts.

Don't have your own specimen? We will have real fossils, meteorites, and minerals on hand that you can touch and explore, including many specimens from right here in Massachusetts! Come learn about the rocks found in your backyard, learn what the famous Plymouth rock is made of and see local rocks that are over 500 million years old!

Sponsor: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences

MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms manages a unique digital fabrication facility for making and measuring things from nanometers to meters.

This event will provide interactive, hands-on introductions to CBA's tools for producing and scanning nano/micro/meso/macro-structures, and to their use in its global network of field fab labs.

Sponsor: Program in Media Arts and Sciences

Meet with scientists and researchers as they present their work in the real cutting-edge scientific investigations going on right here at the MIT Kavli Institute (MKI).

Speakers will cover a different area of interest at each talk, ranging from peering at the Universe with space-based telescopes to unraveling black holes. An opportunity to ask those questions you always wanted to ask an astronomer (and maybe get answers!) will be offered at the end of each presentation.

Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research

Watch BLOSSOMS (Blended Learning Open Source Science or Math Studies) videos and learning modules and talk to students and staff about this large, free repository of video modules for high school math and science classes.

Sponsor: Engineering Systems Division

Is it a liquid? Is it a solid? A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid whose viscosity is variable based on applied stress. These fluids are everywhere: our own blood is non-Newtonian, but the most commonly known non-Newtonian fluid is cornstarch dissolved in water.

Come see, touch, run across, and stick limbs into a fluid that would baffle most airport security lines and is an example of molecules behaving badly.

Sponsor: Department of Chemical Engineering

You've seen a cat drink milk — but have you stopped to consider exactly how it does that without using its paws or getting its chin wet?

In this exhibit, researchers will share their story of a pet cat named Cutta Cutta who inspired them to make a study of how cats lap. You'll see high-speed videos of Cutta Cutta drinking, but slowed down considerably to allow you to learn his secret! On screen, Cutta Cutta will demonstrate how he controls a balance of the physical ingredients of gravity and inertia when he laps milk. You'll see that his tongue laps four times per second and you'll find out how and why big cats — lions, tigers and jaguars — lap the same way … only more slowly.

The exhibitors are Associate Professor Roman Stocker and Edgerton Assistant Professor Pedro Reis.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Earth is 4.567 billion years old, and many incredible events have occurred during its long and storied history – the formation of the oceans, the origin of life, the first animals, the rise and fall of dinosaurs, and the appearance and evolution of our own species, just to name a few.

Take a walk along the Charles River between Massachusetts Avenue and Ames Street on the MIT side of Memorial Drive as you explore a scaled-down version of the geologic timeline where each inch represents 240,000 years. Signs along the way will show you when some of these amazing changes and innovations occurred throughout earth's history and will give you a new perspective on the immensity of geologic time.

Those with web-enabled smartphones will be able to explore each event in more detail on our accompanying website. The timeline walkn is 1/3 of a mile long, on a smooth, paved sidewalk. The timeline will be up for the entire length of the Cambridge Science Festival, from April 30th to May 8th, for visitors to explore on their own.

Guided tours will be offered as well. Each guided tour will last approximately 45 minutes and will be led by professional (and personable!) geologists and paleontologists.

Sponsor: Building 54, Outside

Take a hands-on tour of the Department of Physic's teaching labs, where "Junior Lab" (an infamously difficult course in experimental physics) takes place.

See a collection of experiments which tell the story of how modern physics was discovered in the early 20th century.

Sponsor: Department of Physics

All organisms, from trees to people, store energy through chemical bonds, which work through chemical reactions. These chemical reactions are happening all the time in your body as you eat, sleep, move and think.

Chemical engineering researchers will show, through the dramatic combustion (fire!) of nitrocellulose, how power stored in organic material releases energy, and how this same concept relates to biofuels and alternative energy.

Sponsor: Department of Chemical Engineering

There is a new way of sensing the environment that is global and capable of providing a bird’s eye view of moving and shifting weather systems, of seasonally-changing ecosystems, and ebbing and flowing ice-sheets, wetlands, among other things. That is by putting sensors in Earth orbit and measuring how the land, atmosphere and oceans emit or scatter radiation in different frequencies. Much like imaging technologies have revolutionized modern medicine and the practice of surgery, satellite Earth observation is about to revolutionize Earth science and the practice of environmental management.

Come see how remote sensing instruments work and what it takes to put together a satellite in the service of environmental science. See a scale model of a NASA satellite scheduled to launch November 2014. The satellite will measure soil moisture in the surface soil all around the Earth. This tabletop model rotates to simulate how it collects data on a large swath of the Earth as it orbits around it at 680 km. The Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) mission will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state.

These measurements will be used to enhance our understanding of the processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data will also be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities.

The exhibitor is Bacardi and Stockholm Water Foundations Professor Dara Entekhabi.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Take part in a real-time program demonstrating a sound and reliable algorithm for ranking college football teams, congress members, and search results.

Sponsor: Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems

Come learn about the science and policy of climate change! Hands-on activities and demonstrations will help you visualize the current state of climate knowledge and what earth will look like when MIT is 300 years old. Students and researchers from a wide range of expertise will be on hand to answer questions and discuss global change issues.

Specific Activities include:

- Take a spin on the Greenhouse Gamble! The Greenhouse Gamble roulette-style wheels demonstrate the likelihood of potential global temperature change in 2100. Try spinning both the "with policy" and "without policy" wheels to see two different features and learn about the climate impacts associated with the temperature you spin!

- Weather-in-a-tank: explore weather and ocean systems with rotating fluid experiments from the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. Three experiments will be conducted throughout the day, including demonstrations of how earth’s rotation affects atmosphere/ocean circulation, the “ingredients" that make weather (temperature difference and earth rotation), and the circulation of ocean gyres that create the “Great Garbage Patch"

- Climate complexity: our climate is intertwined with many elements of life—from traditional agriculture to the modern industrial economy, and with many current issues—from energy security to economic development. Explore our graphic representations of the different aspects of our daily lives that are incorporated into climate models. Challenge yourself with our scavenger hunt to learn how the earth and human systems impact, and are impacted by, climate change.

- What will you be when you grow up? Will you be the next climate scientist or environmental economist or energy policy maker? Come meet climate experts and watch streaming videos of students and researchers talking about their work and why it's important.

- How much carbon dioxide is really up there? Know the number! Watch a replica of the nearly 70-foot electronic carbon counter sign in the heart of midtown Manhattan, New York. This carbon counter is a "real-time" estimate of the total amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, based on calculations from the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change.

Sponsor: MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change

Come see a model of the the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft and learn about this MIT lead mission to the Moon, scheduled to launch this fall. GRAIL (which stands for Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) will measure the Moon's gravity field in unprecedented detail.

Scientists will use the gravity field information to map the inside of the moon from crust to core to reveal the moon's subsurface structures and, indirectly, its thermal history.

With this new knowledge about the Moon, scientists will have a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.

Sponsor: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences

Terrascope is a learning community in which freshmen study and find solutions to real-world problems. In the fall, the class addresses a single big, multidisciplinary problem, then presents a solution and defends it before a panel of experts. In the spring, the students divide into teams to test, implement or build upon their ideas and present their work in an end-of-semester Bazaar of Ideas.

This exhibit will show posters describing some of the student projects, which included building and testing a model of a geological carbon-sequestration site; developing less greenhouse-intensive forms of concrete; prototyping a new energy-storage mechanism for offshore windmills; designing a multiplayer game to teach players about control of atmospheric carbon; and creating an interactive museum about greenhouse gases and methods of mitigation.

The exhibitors are Professor Charles Harvey and Dr. Ari Epstein, Lecturer.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Come see all the cool projects that the MIT Electronics Research Society (MITERS) made! Featuring Tesla coils, electric vehicles, things that light up, things that go bang, a 3D printer, and numerous other amazing things, all made by MIT students.

MITERS is MIT's student run hackerspace. It provides a student-run shop, equipment, and a generally awesome place for anyone who loves to build things.

Sponsor: Electronic Research Society

Learn about creating maps with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and collecting data in your community with a global positioning system (GPS) unit. A GIS provides tools for analyzing scientific and cultural data, as well as data collected by individuals (like you). Session will include demonstration and a chance for everyone to collect data outside and create their own maps.

Sponsor: MIT Libraries

Come learn about the founder of MIT, renowned as a geologist before founding the Institute.

Sponsor: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences

Come see robot competitions, research demos, robots, and more from undergraduates, graduate students, researchers and faculty in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS)!

Sponsor: Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Plasma — the fourth state of matter — is so puzzling, intriguing, and valuable to our present and future that MIT has devoted an entire laboratory to exploring it.

Learn how MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center uses plasma for energy research.

Visit the Alcator C-Mod Tokamak experiment to observe the latest progress in an international effort to make controlled nuclear fusion possible.

Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Join us for a tour of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) labs, a facility dedicated to the detection of cosmic gravitational waves. During the tour you will learn how LIGO senses the presence of matter, whether shining or dark, in the distant reaches of the cosmos by detecting ripples in the force of gravity (gravitational waves) created by violent events such as the collisions of stars and the vibrations of black holes.

Tickets are required to attend any of the tours. Schedules and tickets (free of charge) will be available in the lobby of the McNair building on the day of the event.

Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research

Professor Gigliola Staffilani will describe the steps and missteps she took in her life that brought her to MIT. She will describe how her love for order guides both her life and her work. She will also introduce the subject of her mathematical research and show how, although abstract, it can be used to improve certain aspects of real life.

Sponsor: Department of Mathematics

Surprisingly, much design goes into developing pill tablet coatings and the systems that apply these coatings. Varying the material or thickness of a coating can dramatically affect a medication's affect on the body.

Chemical engineers play an integral role in this process, from developing and testing chemicals for coatings to designing the complex systems used to mass produce uniformly-coated pills.

Come see first-hand what happens to a Tylenol or medicine in your digestive system and explore what it takes to develop a pill coating that can withstand the churning actions and acidic environment found in the stomach.

Sponsor: Department of Chemical Engineering

See the stars without the clouds and city lights in a multimedia planetarium show right here at the MIT Kavli Institute (MKI)! Shows take audiences through ongoing areas of research for today's scientists and current issues affecting astronomy.

Shows also include a tour of the stars to help find your way around the sky at home! Each journey in the dome is written and performed by high school students in the Youth Astronomy Apprenticeship, one of MKI's out-of-school programs. Suitable for all ages.

Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research

Ever wonder how anti-fogging mirrors or Teflon-coated frying pans work? Think you could make a shirt that could never get wet?

Chemical engineers can coat objects to repel liquid and oil and are currently working on applications for soldiers to use in the field. Graduate students will demonstrate current research in hydrophobia, with a special “thank you" to the US Air Force for helping to provide supplies for the demonstration.

Sponsor: Department of Chemical Engineering

The astronomy open house at MIT will open the doors of the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research (MKI) to showcase current research in astronomy and astrophysics carried out by MKI researchers, and science education activities facilitated by MKI staff and high school students in the Youth Astronomy Apprenticeship (YAA).

The event will feature a museum-like environment with several stations that include a science exhibit on the Chandra X-ray Observatory (created by the YAA students), live presentations and demonstrations by MKI researchers, interactive multimedia exhibits, hands-on activities, planetarium shows (performed by the YAA students), and more.

There is also the opportunity to sign up—on site—for tours of the operations control center for the Chandra X-ray Observatory and of the LIGO facilities. For all ticketed events, the free tickets can only be acquired on the day of the event in the lobby of the Ronald McNair building, located at 70 Vassar Street, Building 37.

Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research

Six of the Chemistry labs will be represented by research posters. Students will be on hand to discuss their research.

Some hands-on activities.

Sponsor: Department of Chemistry

Learn how the chips in your cell phone, video game, etc., are made. Take a window tour of the lab to see the big machines that it takes to make these tiny devices.

Tours are limited to 10 people each; there will be four 20-min tours. You will see demonstrations of new applications (e.g., light emitters, medical measurements).

Sponsor: Microsystems Technology Laboratories

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is a telescope specially designed to detect X-ray emission from very hot regions of the universe, such as exploded stars, clusters of galaxies, and matter around black holes. Join us for a tour of the Chandra Operations Control Center (OCC) located right here in Cambridge!

The Chandra OCC controls the operation of the Chandra spacecraft while it is in orbit. Scientists and engineers design an observation plan for efficient scheduling of the observatory. Commands for executing the observation plan are transmitted from the OCC to one of three stations comprising NASA's Deep Space Network, then they are relayed to the orbiting spacecraft. Scientific data and monitoring information on the state of the spacecraft are sent back to the OCC via the Deep Space Network approximately every eight hours.

Tickets are required to attend any of the tours. Tour schedules and tickets (free of charge) will be available in the lobby of the McNair building (Building 37) on the day of the event.

Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research

The underwater mass spectrometer is a new technology that provides the capability of measuring dissolved gases and volatile chemicals, a broad class of substances that have been heretofore very difficult to measure continuously, underwater, in real time.

Deployed aboard a mobile platform such as an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), the mass spectrometer measures substances such as hydrocarbon pollutants and metabolic gases, thus providing monitoring of pollution as well as giving key data needed in fundamental Earth systems research.

This exhibit features a pioneering instrument, NEREUS, that has been integrated with the Odyssey II, an AUV originally designed by MIT Sea Grant. NEREUS was designed and built in the lab of Professor Harold Hemond.

The exhibitor is Harry Hemond, Leonhard Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Researchers in the rock mechanics lab in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering study the basic mechanics of rock, applying high stresses to different types of material to study its fracturing and crack coalescence behavior (the cracks that form between flaws that exist in rock).

Their work involves use of a high-speed camera that captures videos of up to 24,000 frames per second, allowing the researchers to tape and then replay rock fracturing at speeds the human eye and brain can comprehend.

This exhibit will include samples of fractured rocks, videos of undergraduate students using very high pressure to crack rocks, and a poster describing the process.

The exhibitors are Professor Herbert Einstein and Undergraduates Julie Harrow & Catherine Johnson.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Free admission all day at the MIT Museum, as it turns itself inside out for the Institute's Under the Dome: Come Explore MIT! (and the first day of the Cambridge Science Festival). Go behind the scenes of the museum and explore unique artifacts from MIT's history, as well as innovations in art, science and technology in Cambridge and beyond.

The day's programs will feature tours, hands-on activities, and a chance for visitors of all ages to see and chat with the people behind the Museum's MIT150 exhibition.

Sponsor: MIT Museum

Explore the moon with data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Trace the tracks of the Apollo astronauts, navigate the rough floor of Tycho crater, and wonder about the oblong-shape of the Earth's only natural satellite.

This is an exhibit of spectacular 4 ft X 15 ft high-resolution images of the lunar surface and topographic map presented by MIT students who study the moon and planetary science with these images and data.

Sponsor: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences

Emeritus Department of Chemistry professor Dietmar Seyferth will give a talk and slide show on the history of MIT's chemistry department.

Sponsor: Department of Chemistry

The Laboratory for Nuclear Science hosts a poster session, as well as some equipment displays and hands-on activities:

1. Searching for the Higgs Boson and understanding formation of quark-gluon plasma at the LHC at CERN, showing a detector system used in research at a particle accelerator collider

2. Launching the AMS spectrometer into space on the last NASA shuttle mission to the International Space Station to directly measure cosmic rays and search for antimatter and evidence of dark matter

3. Searching directly for the dark matter “wind"

4. Understanding properties of neutrinos, which are always present but almost impossible to “see"

5. Using massive computers and large accelerators to understand hadronic matter, such as neutrons and protons in the nucleus

6. Developing a theoretical understanding of strings, hadrons and hadronic matter, gravity, and cosmology

7. Understanding the properties of high-energy plasmas

8. Applications of this technology to cancer therapy, etc.

9. Fun activities LNS researchers will be available to explain the posters and discuss their work.

Sponsor: Laboratory for Nuclear Science

What makes quantum information different from classical information? What techniques are researchers at MIT using to make quantum computation a reality? Take this opportunity to learn more about quantum information science, an exciting interdisciplinary field that combines physics, computer science, and engineering.

Discover the difference between classical and quantum information storage. Explore encryption schemes and send your own secret message.

Learn how scientists teleport information. Witness the fascinating quantum nature of light. Play with models representing modern experimental techniques such as ion trapping. Find out how quantum computers could be used to solve difficult scientific and mathematical problems.

All age groups are welcome to participate in a variety of fun games and demonstrations.

Sponsor: Research Laboratory of Electronics

This fall, NASA will launch a new rover towards Mars. This new rover, dubbed "Curiosity", will contain many tools for looking for signs of life on Mars. How do these machines work and what will they be looking for? Join us for three mini-exhibits that will explore how and why we are looking for life on Mars.

Exhibit 1: Explore the tool scientists use to identify the chemical content in just about anything, the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS). The GCMS is used everywhere from identifying possible explosives at airports to searching for signs of life in Martian soil. Come join us and learn more about this important tool and its use in our mission to find life outside of Earth's reach!

Exhibit 2: See how the patterns of elements and molecules that we might find on other planets can give us clues about the presence of life, and learn how all life on Earth is made from the same chemical building blocks. This concept of searching for patterns in samples from other planets will become a reality with the new Curiosity mission to Mars.

Exhibit 3: Explore the history of Mars, and learn how we know there was once water flowing on the Martian surface, why we think there still might be water underground today, and what that means for our search for life on the red planet.

Sponsor: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences

Plasma—the fourth state of matter—is so puzzling, intriguing, and potentially valuable that MIT has devoted an entire laboratory to exploring it.

Learn from graduate students how MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center uses plasma for energy research.

Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Did you know that MIT has a world-famous radio observatory out in the far suburbs of Boston? MIT Haystack Observatory has existed for more than 50 years and conducts ground-breaking research in atmospheric science, astronomy, geodesy, and related fields. Haystack scientists use radio waves to remotely observe everything from the upper atmosphere to the outer reaches of the universe.

Come meet a few scientists and learn about what we study. You'll also find out what happens when you combine a 450-foot crane with the world's largest free-standing radome ("golf ball")!

Sponsor: Haystack Observatory

The behavior of particles of matter and light in the plasma state is complex.

The Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC), which is devoted to investigating this state of matter, presents a demonstration of the principles of plasma science, hosted by the renowned Mr. Magnet (Paul Thomas). Using glow discharge plasma, an emission spectrometer, and such ubiquitous substances as nail polish remover and a pickle, the room will literally glow from the colorful emission of matter in the plasma state.

Volunteers from the audience will participate in this fascinating journey into the plasma state. 45 Minutes.

Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Research demonstration at 11:30am, followed by Q & A session.

You've seen a cat drink milk — but have you stopped to consider exactly how it does that without using its paws or getting its chin wet?

In this exhibit, researchers will share their story of a pet cat named Cutta Cutta, who inspired them to make a study of how cats lap. You'll see high-speed videos of Cutta Cutta drinking, but slowed down considerably to allow you to learn his secret! On screen, Cutta Cutta will demonstrate how he controls a balance of the physical ingredients of gravity and inertia when he laps milk. You'll see that his tongue laps four times per second and you'll find out how and why big cats—lions, tigers, and jaguars—lap the same way...only more slowly.

The exhibitors are Associate Professor Roman Stocker and Edgerton Assistant Professor Pedro Reis.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Safely see the Sun and search for sunspots and solar flares using a large telescope specially equipped with a solar filter.

Weather permitting if there is a sunny sky!

Sponsor: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

How can you tell if a knot is really knotted? When are two knots the same?

In this hands-on talk, we'll untangle how mathematicians think about knots. We'll explore the twisted history of knotting and the exciting new strands of insight (due in part to folks at MIT).

Be the envy of your neighborhood sailor or string theorist by building your very own knot atlas!

Jonathan Bloom will lead the hand-on presentation on "It's know (all) theory!"

Sponsor: Department of Mathematics

A selection of live interactive chemical reactions including, colorful transformations, smoking balloons, invisible gases, magical polymers, flaming vapors, chemiluminescence, simulating the colors of fireworks, colorful electrolysis of water, plus many more.

An event you will not want to miss! Guaranteed to amaze children and adults alike!

Sponsor: Department of Chemistry

This session is for both children and adults who want to learn how life on Earth works. It is centered around a children’s book co-authored by Professor Sallie W. Chisholm and the award-winning children’s book writer, Molly Bang.

The book describes photosynthesis, the most important process on Earth. Without photosynthesis, there would be no life as we know it on planet Earth.

We will have a book reading and demonstrate photosynthesis in action using leaves. Prof. Chisholm will also give a brief presentation on what motivated her to produce books for children, and provide a sneak preview of the next book: “The Invisible Forest in the Sea: How the Sun Feeds the Oceans."

The exhibitors are Professor Sallie W. Chisholm, Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies and Graduate Student Jessie Thompson. Hosted by the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Learn the secrets of magnetism from the Plasma Science and Fusion Center's Mr. Magnet (Paul Thomas). After decades of bringing his hands-on magnet demonstration to local schools, Paul Thomas is inviting the public to participate in his popular program.

Watch and participate as circular magnetic field lines are made visible, an ordinary aluminum pan appears to defy gravity, and liquid oxygen gathers at the poles of a magnet. Levitate a small magnetic cube, and make it spin in mid-air. Strengthen and weaken the magnetic properties of the metal "gadolinium." Answer the question, "What substance often found at your desk, in your back pack, or in your hand, can be called "diamagnetic?"

Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center

An overview of cryptography from classical times to the present day. Some discussion of the most well known ciphers, including RSA. Mention is made of the mathematical background needed for understanding ciphers.

Dr. Gabrielle Stoy, ESG Math Lecturer, former mathematics Don at Oxford University.

Sponsor: Experimental Study Group

Professor Tanya Khovanova will discuss lottery mathematics.

If you analyze the Mega Millions lottery game, the probability of winning and the expected value of the game depend on the Jackpot. How big should the Jackpot be so that your expected return is bigger than your investment? Is Mega Millions ever worth playing?

Do you know how your chances change when you buy many tickets or when you pool money together with other people?

We'll look at other lotteries and learn about famous scams, as well as some clever, not-so-famous schemes for attempting to beat lotteries.

Sponsor: Department of Mathematics

The Earth is 4.567 billion years old, and many incredible events have occurred during its long and storied history – the formation of the oceans, the origin of life, the first animals, the rise and fall of dinosaurs, and the appearance and evolution of our own species, just to name a few.

Take a half-mile walk along the Charles River between Massachusetts Avenue and Ames Street on the MIT side of Memorial Drive as you explore a scaled-down version of the geologic timeline where each inch represents 240,000 years. Signs along the way will show you when some of these amazing changes and innovations have occurred throughout Earth’s history and will give you a new perspective on the immensity of geologic time.

Those with web-enabled smartphones will be able to explore each event in more detail on our accompanying website. The timeline walk is 1/3 of a mile long, on a smooth, paved sidewalk. The timeline will be up for the entire length of the Cambridge Science Festival, from April 30th to May 8th, for visitors to explore on their own.

Guided tours will be offered as well. Each guided tour will last approximately 45 minutes and will be led by professional (and personable!) geologists and paleontologists.

Sponsor: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences

Please join us at the MIT Press Bookstore for a series of book signings with celebrated faculty authors. Each of our special guests has recently published a book with the MIT Press, MIT's renowned publishing house. Come and meet the authors, learn about their research, and check out the newly expanded bookstore!

1:00pm — David A. Mindell

"Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight"

How human pilots and automated systems worked together to achieve the ultimate in flight—the lunar landings of NASA's Apollo program.

Sponsor: MIT Press

A presentation on Ohm's Law and the theory of conductivity and resistivity, with a demonstration involving a resistor that grows increasingly edible over the course of the lecture.

Sebastien Leon '14 and Esther Jang '14, freshmen in ESG

Sponsor: Experimental Study Group

Lectures by chemist Richard Schrock and economists Peter Diamond and Esther Duflo.

Sponsor: Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology

Plasma - the fourth state of matter - is so puzzling, intriguing, and valuable to our present and future that MIT has devoted an entire laboratory to exploring it.

Learn how MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center uses plasma for energy research. Visit the Alcator C-Mod tokamak experiment to observe the latest progress in an international effort to make controlled nuclear fusion possible. Limited to 20 per tour.

Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Talk by Nobel Prize winner, professor Richard R. Schrock, on why he became a chemist.

Sponsor: Department of Chemistry

The Educational Studies Program is a student group committed to providing unique educational opportunities for middle and high school students.

This is a sample class taught by an undergraduate similar to a class that would be taught at a program like Splash or Spark.

Earth science is a multidisciplinary field that applies physics, chemistry, biology, and math to understand the phenomena of the planet we live on.

Contemporary earth systems science is especially exciting—nowadays, we are using satellite measurements to weigh the Antarctic ice sheet from space, computer models to understand the effects of vegetation on the evolution of river networks, the chemistry of seafloor sediments to construct thousand-year-old climate records, and so much more.

Come grab a taste of this intriguing sphere of science and some surprising discoveries in it.

Sponsor: The Educational Studies Program

Joel Lewis is a graduate student with the Department of Mathematics. He will present his talk on "Origami and Math". The first part of this talk will be a quick tour through the mathematics of origami, including brief mentions of connections to differential geometry, the art of angle trisection, and group theory.

The rest of the talk will consist of hands-on instruction in the construction of the Sonobe unit, a simple origami unit that can be used to create interesting and beautiful polyhedra.

Sponsor: Department of Mathematics

How to prepare your body for a workout: the seminar will be divided into three sections:

- Pre-workout - During a workout - Post-workout

Each section will examine the purpose, the preparation you should do, what is happening in your body during, and the nutrition required.

Dr. Patricica Christie, Chemistry Lecturer, Triathlete

Sponsor: Experimental Study Group

Professor Michael Sipser will discuss "Beyond computation: the P vs NP question".

In a remarkable 1956 letter, the great logician, Kurt Godel, asked the famous mathematician and computer pioneer, John von Neumann, whether certain computational problems could be solved without resorting to brute force search. In so doing, he foreshadowed the P versus NP problem,one of the great unanswered questions of contemporary mathematics and theoretical computer science.

A solution to this problem would reveal the theoretical limitations of computer power for solving puzzles, cracking codes, proving theorems, and optimizing many practical tasks.

We'll discuss all this and more...

Sponsor: Department of Mathematics

Wondering what powers everything from e-book readers to electric cars? Come see the MIT inventions behind cutting edge technology like laser surgery and energy efficient light bulbs.

Get introduced to the world of technology transfer: browse issued patents and technical illustrations, explore important issues such as the government’s role in funding research, and learn how inventions move from the lab to the world around you.

These presentations will run one hour long.

Sponsor: Technology Licensing Office

The Educational Studies Program is a student group committed to providing unique educational opportunities for middle and high school students. This class is a sample class, similar to one that would be taught at a program like Splash or Spark.

Most physics classes require intense math background to understand. This will not be one of those. Come have your mind blown by how wrong your intuition is!

Sponsor: The Educational Studies Program

Plasma — the fourth state of matter — is so puzzling, intriguing, and valuable to our present and future that MIT has devoted an entire laboratory to exploring it.

Learn how MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center uses plasma for energy research.

Visit the Alcator C-Mod Tokamak experiment to observe the latest progress in an international effort to make controlled nuclear fusion possible.

Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center