Experts | University of the Sciences

Studying Science in Philadelphia – Part 1

Large cities have many benefits.  In Philadelphia we have a newspaper that still has a science writer, Faye Flam, with a very interesting column.  If you do not have a subscription to the Inquirer the column also appears on her blog at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/evolution/. 

The Wednesday, January 4, 2012 blog post analyzed an article by Charles Krauthammer titled “Are We Alone in the Universe”.  I will take this opportunity to add my own analysis.  Although the topic is outside my area of expertise I can make use of my knowledge of basic science to make some comments.

In reflecting on why we have not heard from other planets Krauthammer considers the dangers of the technology a civilization generates and comments on the importance of politics in our survival. Flam sees this later point as a possible “dig at science”.   Possibly Krauthammer is trying to give politicians a pat on the back in this wearying primary season.  I recommend Jared Diamond’s book “Guns Germs and Steel” for its important perspective on the role of the natural world in political and economic dominance. 

In the post a scenario is proposed, Flam writes:

“It’s also possible that we earthlings are among the first technological civilizations in the galaxy.   It took a generation or two of star formation to create all the carbon and other heavy elements. We don’t know how likely it is for intelligent, technological life to emerge, and we don’t know whether 4.5 billion years is relatively fast or slow.”

I will consider two other scenarios, neither is any more valid but in science we do consider alternate analyses of problems.

 First, as a possibly humorous analysis, maybe we are one of the last civilizations to develop technology.  All the more advanced civilizations may have grown tired of space spam and our messages are being quarantined in some extraterrestrial trash bin.

Some points that might be more significant can be made by considering a second scenario in which development on different planets occurs at a very similar pace.  In this case we need to realize that the distance between the planets will play an important role in communication.

If my numbers are correct the recently discovered planet Kepler 22b is about 620 light years away.  Any information we might receive today from possible inhabitants of that planet would be from about 1392 CE - most certainly old news.  If we send a message today it will get to them until about 2632 CE – again most certainly old news when it is received.  The point is that our ability to communicate over long distances is recent enough that our messages may not have reached other worlds and unless some other beings have been broadcasting for quite some time we have not had the opportunity to receive their messages.

For movie fans, I found the old broadcasting signals being bounced back to earth an interesting aspect of the plot development in the 1997 movie “Contact”.

Both the article and the blog post refer to recent developments in science.  Because science is a discipline that is continuously progressing, recent does not mean complete.  It is the incomplete parts that give us much to think about.

Study Abroad in Rome

As submitted by Professor Robert Boughner:

Rome to Capri, the Forum Romanum to the ruins of Pompeii:  Italy, ancient and modern, will be the focus for students who travel with Prof. Henry Bender and me to Europe this summer, from 14 June through 28 June. Prof. Bender, who teaches classics at the Hill School and St. Joseph’s University, has more than 25 years of experience leading academic tours in Italy and Greece, and I have been doing so since 1995. Together Henry and I cover not just the art and archaeology of the Roman world—Henry’s specialty—but also the history, culture, and literature of the classical period—my scholarly focus.  Students visit the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii. Henry explains the wall paintings and the domestic architecture, while I talk about the role of religion in Roman life. Modern Italy receives attention, too. Students visit Anzio to see the battlefield and the American cemetery.  I talk about the battle and America’s role in World War II while Henry explores the cemetery’s use of architecture.  

Visiting historic sites does not keep students from swimming in the Mediterranean, from enjoying outstanding food, and from having ample opportunities to meet Italians.  Learning is fun!  Come travel with us!

 

The Nuclear Threat

When was the nuclear genie released from its bottle? What are the historical sources of the nuclear menace that hovers over the world? Regional de-stabilization, the debate over sanctions and the nature of diplomacy are of increasing concern in the Arab world and well beyond its borders. By looking to the past, we can find answers to the future. Critics of President Obama’s “new style” of diplomacy based on engagement and dialogue argue that a harder line is needed; others hope that a softer tone will diffuse tensions.

One thing I point out to my students in my course “Hiroshima in History and Film” is that by studying the past use of weapons of mass destruction we can understand the complex nature of contemporary problems. In the course of the atomic age, there have been only two uses of nuclear/atomic weapons in the context of war. This power and the experience in  Hiroshima sheds light on the heightened fear in recent months in the international community about Iran’s nuclear intentions.

Even after all of these years, we are not out from under the nuclear shadow.

Rome Journal #2

Reason, Fiction and Faith: An International Flannery O'Connor Conference
20 April 2009
Today's highlights:

 

Pontifica Universita Della Santa Croce (the university hosting the conference) is the "new kid on the block"--the newest Pontifical University in Rome. The conference organizer, Prof. Fr. John Wauk (a former Pennsylvania resident) is a vibrant professor here in Rome.

William Sessions (left) and Rosemary Magee (right) are among the O’Connor scholars here, along with Ralph Wood and Susan Srigley. Special guests Ughetta Fitzgerald (the daughter of Robert and Sally Fitzgerald) and Davide Rondoni (a poet and dramatist from the University of Bologna, founder of their Center for Contemporary Poetry) are terrific additions. I’ve met scholars from Buenos Aires and Portugal, Canada and Georgia. We sit in conference sessions wearing headsets like we’re at the United Nations—behind us, there is a wall of tinted glass where the elusive translators sit.

 

(Left) Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) was a Southern writer known for her harrowing novels and short stories, which fuse orthodox Catholicism with transformational violence. Bruce Springsteen, Bono, and Quentin Tarantino cite her as an influence; Conan O’Brien and Tommy Lee Jones each wrote their senior thesis on O’Connor’s work. Her most popular stories include those from the short story collections A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything That Rises Must Converge. Her writing is vivid and ferocious—and widely misread and misunderstood.

And, Flannery O'Connor was very funny. 

“Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers,” O’Connor once said (when discussing fiction writers). “My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.”

O’Connor traveled to Notre Dame to present a talk to writers in 1955. When she arrived home to Milledgeville, Georgia, she found that her mother had hung new frilly curtains in her bedroom. “The curtains have to go,” O’Connor said, “lest they ruin my prose.” T

Today's food report: Cappucino, Gelato, Tomato/Basil/ Mozarella sandwich (in that order). There was a "coffee break" at the conference, and I spent ten minutes looking for the coffee. Then, I realized that tiny plastic cups (like thimbles! the size that holds a swig of mouthwash!) were there for us to serve ourselves espresso.

Delicioso.

Rome Journal

Rome, Day 1
18 April 2009 ~ Saturday

Here I am in Rome, presenting a scholarly paper on short story writer Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) at “Poetics and Christianity: An International Flannery O’Connor Conference,” sponsored by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. I arrived at 8.45 am at Leonardo da Vinci airport after sleeping fitfully on a crowded plane from Philadelphia. I’ve never been to Rome, but it was easy enough to take a train from the airport to the Termini Rail Station downtown. From there, I grabbed a taxi. (“Everything will be all-a-right,” my driver said, as he sped over bumpy streets, swerving wildly past tour buses and cutting off scooters. I enjoyed his fearless driving, but decided right then that I would not rent a scooter in Rome.)

Hotel Due Torri is my home for the next week. It’s a small place, with narrow hallways and small, clean rooms. My 5th floor room has a terrace that overlooks the terra cotta roofs of the Piazza Navona area.

Though tired—and though I need to do some thinking and research before my conference presentation— I walked to nearby Piazza Navona.

Neptune and sea nymphs swim in the fountain there; artists sell paintings in the sun. I ate my first gelato (chocolate) and circled the piazza.

Rome is otherworldly. 

When you travel or when you write, tangents and detours often lead to unexpected rewards. Along the way home from Piazza Navona, I discovered a little church called Sant’Antonio dei Portoghesi on Via dei Portoghesi. It’s not on any map or in any tour book. I noticed the front gate open and walked through it. Inside, I found a stunning church. A silver-haired man with slender fingers played the organ, and the music charged through the air. This, I learned, was organista Jean Guillou, practicing for that evening’s free concert. For now, there were four of us in the church, and we strolled the aisles and gasped at the ceilings as Guillou played.

I exited the church and continued to walk. The late afternoon sun cast a yellow glow on people walking toward the Pantheon. I followed. I ate pizza on the steps of the fountain next to the Pantheon, then wandered through the solid Corinthian columns among the throngs of tourists. There I was, in one of the oldest buildings in the world, wearing an iPod and listening to a downloaded Pantheon tour. (I think I heard Hadrian groan from the afterlife.) 

I wanted to see the tomb of artist Raphael and the oculus—the round opening in the ceiling that created a column of light between heaven to earth.

I walked back to Sant’Antonio dei Portoghesi on Via dei Portoghesi for Jean Guillou’s concert. Now, the church was full. I stood in the back and listened to Guillou play Handel.

 

Research Day Showcases Faculty and Student Research

From metabolic engineering to computational chemistry and from structural prediction of proteins to rational design of new therapeutics, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia showcased the diversity and growth of research pursuits on campus during its 7th Annual Research Day starting on Thursday, April 2, 2009. Posters representing approximately 120 topics were on display.

Research Day recognizes undergraduate and graduate student research efforts, and highlights aspects of faculty scholarly activity to encourage and promote communication and collaboration among investigators. The University is distinctive in that most undergraduate students conduct research with faculty early in their academic careers.

The diverse research activity on display spans several aspects of the University’s scholarly pursuits, including:

• Biological Sciences: Dr. Jennifer Anthony’s research involving the metabolic engineering of E. coli for the production of vitamin A.
  • Chemistry: Dr. Randy Zauhar’s use of computer-aided drug design to identify new antimicrobial lead compounds.
• Pharmaceutical Sciences: Dr. Bin Chen’s evaluation of the effects of vascular-targeting photodynamic therapy on prostate cancer metastasis.
• Physical Therapy: Dr. Therese Johnston’s usage of treadmill training for children with cerebral palsy.
• Social Sciences: Psychology major Mark Paullin’s (Philadelphia, Pa.) study of mild cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease.
• Health Policy: Master in public health major Sekinat Kekere-Ekun’s (Deptford, N.J.) work on the descriptive epidemiology of viral hepatitis in methadone maintenance clients.
• Pharmacy Practice: Doctor of pharmacy students Neha Patel (Fairless Hills, Pa.), Puja Patel (Hillsborough, N.J.), and Isha Shah’s (Bensalem, Pa.) analysis of the usage of ondansetron in non-chemotherapy patients at a community teaching hospital.