Program

4:00 PM - 4:45 PM Shubha Tole, TIFR, Mumbai
Outside-in: How we perceive the world
4:45 PM - 5:30 PM R Rajesh, IMSc, Chennai
Why does time go forward?
5:30 PM - 6:00 PMRefreshment Break
6:00 PM - 6:45 PM Guru Kumaraswamy, NCL-CSIR, Pune
Materials: The Hard, the Soft and the Squishy
6:45 PM - 7:30 PM Vijay Kodiyalam, IMSc, Chennai
Knotty problem: how many different ways can you
tie your shoelaces?

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Speakers

Shubha Tole
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

Outside-in: How we perceive the world

How do we know what the world around us is like? The world we know is "constructed" in our brains using information gathered by our five senses. Understanding how sensory nerves connect to the brain in a growing embryo is an area of intense research, because this circuitry controls how we experience the world. Come, let us try to discover whether there is a boundary between reality and illusion! [See "Our Marvellous imagination machines"]

R Rajesh
The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai

Why does time go forward?

Imagine a cup falling on the ground and shattering into fragments. We never see the fragments jump together to form the cup. However, the laws of physics allow equally for both possibilities. So, why do we see only one type of behaviour and never the other? I'll try to explain this paradox, and what it means for what we see in the world around us.

Guru Kumaraswamy
National Chemical Laboratory - CSIR, Pune

Materials: The Hard, the Soft and the Squishy

Is toothpaste a solid or a liquid? It doesn't flow unless we squeeze the tube but flows readily after that. I will describe some soft and squishy materials that we encounter in daily life and how such materials can be combined with harder ones. These combinations result in unusual composites. For example, the sea shells that protect soft-shelled aquatic animals are hard and yet they don't break easily, unlike glass which is hard but shatters readily. We are just beginning to learn how nature builds these amazing materials and to apply this knowledge to synthesize technologically useful composite materials.

Vijay Kodiyalam
The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai

Knotty problem: how many different ways can you tie your shoelaces?

Knots and braids are familiar to us all from childhood. How do we tell one knot from another? How many knots are there? Given a tangled loop of string, is it really knotted or can we open it up without having to cut it? I will try to explain how mathematicians think about these questions. Besides being of intrinsic interest, answers to such questions have applications to subjects as varied as cryptology and the structure of DNA.

Indian Women in Science Exhibition

To mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2018, IMSc is partnering with The Life of Science to feature 13 Indian Women in Science. The exhibition will be displayed in the foyer of The Music Academy from 3pm - 8pm on February 11

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The registration for the event is now closed. However, you are still welcome to show up directly at the venue (Music Academy, TTK Auditorium) on Sunday Feb 11th. The event is scheduled to start at 4.00pm. After 3.50pm, we will allow walk-ins, depending upon space being available. Thank you for your interest in the event.
Extra parking (3--8pm): St. Ebbas Girls Higher Secondary School (across the road to the East)