Winter 2021

03/06/2021 | The Physics of Basketball -- Tim Chupp (U-M Physics)

Basketball is one of the world's most popular sports played and enjoyed by fans of all ages. Spectacular plays seem to defy the laws of physics, but like everything, basketball is packed full of interesting phenomena. Physics Professor Tim Chupp and the Demolab will demonstrate and explain the science of key elements of the game in this lecture designed to entertain and deepen your enjoyment of the sport.

03/20/2021 | From Milkmaids to MRNA -- Oveta Fuller (U-M Medical School)

The discovery that host immune defenses could be primed, a process called immunization or vaccination, helped to eradicate smallpox. Immunization has changed the global impacts of infectious diseases. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines that have Emergency Use Authorization are one part of the toolkit for managing COVID-19. What is mRNA anyway? We will explore connections among mRNA, milkmaids and microbial pathogens.

04/03/2021 | The Van Loo Family Graduate Student Presentations -- Ariana Bueno (U-M Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering & Applied Physics) and Ryan Hubbard (U-M Biomedical Engineering & U-M Applied Physics)

Instruments to Study Rocket Plume Surface Interactions (PSI) on the Lunar Surface
Ariana Bueno (U-M Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering & Applied Physics)
In space exploration, the rocket plume-surface interaction (PSI) can lead to the ejection of large amounts of energetic particles, potentially damaging the spacecraft, its instruments, and associated hardware. Thus, understanding PSI processes is paramount to the safety of the lunar exploration program and beyond. In this presentation, Ariana will highlight how her research has led to a better understanding of PSI by developing in-flight instrumentation and conducting ground tests to simulate PSI.

Histotripsy: Crushing Cancer Cells with Acoustic Cavitation
Ryan Hubbard (U-M Biomedical Engineering & U-M Applied Physics)
Histotripsy is a non-invasive cancer-treatment approach using focused beams of ultrasound. In this presentation, Ryan will highlight the results of his research, illustrating histotripsy's ability to destroy tumor cells and elicit anti-tumor immune responses. He will describe the basics behind ultrasonic pulse generation, acoustic cavitation, and how the mechanism of histotripsy compares to other external beam treatments such as X-ray irradiation.