{"594752":{"#nid":"594752","#data":{"type":"event","title":"ChBE Seminar Series - Robert Hazen","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUnless otherwise noted, all seminars are held on Wednesdays in the College of Computing Building (Room 016) at 3 p.m. Refreshments are served at 2:30 p.m. outside Room 016.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E_____________\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERobert Hazen, Carnegie Center\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u0026ldquo;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EChance, Necessity, and the Origins of Life\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEarth\u0026rsquo;s 4.5 billion year history is a complex tale of deterministic physical and chemical processes, as well as \u0026quot;frozen accidents.\u0026quot; This history is preserved most vividly in mineral species, as explored in new approaches called \u0026quot;mineral evolution\u0026quot; and \u0026quot;mineral ecology.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis lecture will explore possible roles of mineral surfaces in life\u0026rsquo;s origins, including molecular synthesis, protection, selection, concentration, and templating. We find that Earth\u0026#39;s changing near-surface mineralogy reflects the co-evolving geosphere and biosphere in a variety of surprising ways that touch on life\u0026#39;s origins. Recent research adds two important insights to this discussion. First, chance versus necessity is an inherently false dichotomy when considering the possibility of life on other worlds\u0026mdash;a range of probabilities exists for many natural events. Second, given the astonishing combinatorial chemical richness of early Earth, chemical events that are extremely rare may, nevertheless, be deterministic on time scales of a billion years.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBio \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERobert M. Hazen, Senior Staff Scientist at the Carnegie Institution\u0026rsquo;s Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences at George Mason University, received the B.S. and S.M. in geology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Ph.D. at Harvard University in earth science. He is author of 400 scientific articles and 25 books, including \u003Cem\u003EGenesis: The Scientific Quest for Life\u0026rsquo;s Origin\u003C\/em\u003E (National Academy Press, 2005) and \u003Cem\u003EThe Story of Earth\u003C\/em\u003E (Viking-Penguin, 2012). A former President of the Mineralogical Society of America and winner of awards for research, science communications, and teaching, Hazen\u0026rsquo;s recent research focuses on the varied roles of minerals in the origin of life, the co-evolution of the geo- and biospheres, the development of complex systems, and the application of \u0026ldquo;big data\u0026rdquo; to understanding mineral diversity and distribution. He is active in national science education policy; with coauthor James Trefil he contributed to the \u003Cem\u003ENational Science Education Standards\u003C\/em\u003E and wrote the best-selling \u003Cem\u003EScience Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy\u003C\/em\u003E (Doubleday, 1991) and \u003Cem\u003EThe Sciences: An Integrated Approach\u003C\/em\u003E (Wiley, 1995). He is also Executive Director and Principal Investigator of the Deep Carbon Observatory, a 10-year project to study the chemical and biological roles of carbon in Earth\u0026rsquo;s interior, sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Carnegie Institution. Hazen is active in presenting science to nonscientists through writing, radio, TV, public lectures, and video courses. In 2016 Hazen retired after a 40-year career as a professional symphonic trumpeter.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"College of Computing (Room 016)"}],"uid":"27271","created_gmt":"2017-08-21 21:09:03","changed_gmt":"2017-11-27 20:23:14","author":"Brad Dixon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2017-11-29T15:00:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2017-11-29T16:00:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2017-11-29T16:00:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2017-11-29 20:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2017-11-29 21:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2017-11-29 21:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1240","name":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"6640","name":"ChBE Seminar Series"},{"id":"138121","name":"chemical engineering. Georgia Tech"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1795","name":"Seminar\/Lecture\/Colloquium"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrad Dixon\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech School of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(404) 385-2299\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:news@chbe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Enews@chbe.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}