May 05 Sunday
What can art tell us about the relationship between plants and humans? Join Maeve Bassett, Applied Ethnobotanist and Education Program Director of the Beal Botanical Garden, for an immersive tour unearthing the historical, social, and political narratives growing within works of art from the MSU Broad Art Museum collection. Registration for this free tour is encouraged.
Deep-Rooted is an ongoing tour collaboration with the MSU Beal Botanical Garden, where art and plants intertwine in a conversation about the extraordinary ways our natural world has influenced art and human societies throughout history.
Abstract
From the speaker:
“The metric system, now officially known as the International System of Units (SI), was born with the French revolution. It has recently undergone its most revolutionary reform since that birth. Famously, the kilogram is no longer defined as the mass of an artifact, the International Prototype Kilogram, but rather is now a quantum concept, defined by fixing the value of Planck’s constant. In fact, all of the base units of the SI are defined by fixing the values of natural constants, and the SI now has a distinctly quantum flavor. The quantization of charge allows us to fix the charge of the electron, defining the ampere as a certain number of electrons per second. The unit of temperature, the kelvin, is no longer based on the triple point of water, but on the thermal energy of the atomic/molecular components of matter, by fixing the value of Boltzmann’s constant. The unit of time has long been quantum, but its impending re-definition will make it even more so.”
BioWilliam D. Phillips received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Juniata College in 1970, and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1976. After two years as a Chaim Weizmann postdoctoral fellow at MIT, he joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – then known as the National Bureau of Standards – to work on precision electrical measurements and fundamental constants. There, he initiated a new research program to cool atomic gases with laser light. He founded NIST’s Laser Cooling and Trapping Group, and later was a founding member of the Joint Quantum Institute, a cooperative research organization of NIST and the University of Maryland that is devoted to the study of quantum coherent phenomena. His research group has been responsible for developing some of the main techniques now used for laser-cooling and cold-atom experiments in laboratories around the world. Their achievements include the first electromagnetic trapping of neutral atoms; reaching unexpectedly low laser-cooling temperatures, within a millionth of a degree of Absolute Zero; the confinement of atoms in optical lattices; and coherent atom-optical manipulation of atomic-gas Bose-Einstein condensates. Atomic fountain clocks, based on the work of this group, are now the primary standards for world timekeeping and lattice-trapped atoms are among the likely candidates for future primary frequency standards. Among the group’s current research directions are the use of ultra-cold atoms for quantum information processing and quantum simulation of important physical problems.
Phillips is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a Fellow and Honorary Member of OPTICA (formerly the Optical Society), a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a corresponding member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. In 1997, Phillips shared the Nobel Prize in Physics "for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light."
Learn the basics of Square or Contra Dance and have fun at these lively FREE monthly workshops! Come solo, bring some friends, make some friends, and learn fun dances in a friendly, relaxed, judgement-free atmosphere. Recorded music, live, in-person instruction, these fun dances are like an amusement park ride you make for yourself! Sessions alternate: Sun. March 3 & Sun. May 5: Contra Dance; Sunday, April 7, Square Dance. Wear comfortable shoes and clothes you can move easily in.
May 06 Monday
Honor and celebrate Educators & Staff in the Lansing Community by joining High Caliber on their 2nd Annual Teacher & Staff Appreciation Day. Monday, May 6, 2024!
TEACHERS & STAFF PLAY FREE!
All education staff in the greater Lansing Area are welcome to play for free ALL DAY at High Caliber Karting & Entertainment. From teachers of any age, custodial staff, and administration staff, bring in a valid ID and receive a FREE All Access Day Pass. Blow off some steam and celebrate the end of a successful school year.
FREE Karaoke will also be offered this evening, from 7-Close in the Double Clutch Lounge.
Can you mix oil and water? Come find out when we experiment with oil, water, and neon paint and then add a black light to see it glow.
Holding onto hope when times are tough can take an awful lot of determination, and sometimes, an awful lot of determination comes in a surprisingly small package. Little Orphan Annie has reminded generations of theatergoers that sunshine is always right around the corner, and now the best-loved musical of all time is set to return in a new production – just as you remember it and just when we need it most.
Annie, directed by Jenn Thompson, features the iconic book and score, written by Tony Award®-winners Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse, and Martin Charnin. This celebration of family, optimism, and the American spirit remains the ultimate cure for all the hard knocks life throws your way.
May 07 Tuesday
Join us May 7-9, 2024 for this virtual event, featuring live and on-demand sessions centered on ways to ignite change together using our Time, Talent, Treasure, Testimony, and Ties (also known as the 5Ts of Philanthropy)
We Give Summit features 40+ incredible speakers including: Deepa Iyer, Sr. Director of Strategic Initiatives at Building Movement Project; Dan Pallotta, Activist, TED Speaker & Author of Uncharitable; and Baratunde Thurston, Writer, Activist, & Host of How to Citizen PodcastAll sessions are FREE. Donate $50 or more when registering and you’ll receive swag in the mail, including a copy of Infectious Generosity by TED’s Chris Anderson and a card game to help you activate the 5Ts (while supplies last!). Register today at https://WeGiveSummit.org
Our monthly book club for students in grades 4th through 6th. All participants read the same book beforehand and then meet to chat, eat snacks, and have book-related fun. Pre-registration is required.
Picture it. United States, 2024. Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue brings Miami’s sassiest seniors to stages around the country for one more hurrah. We find Sophia out on bail after being busted by the DEA for running a drug ring for retirees. Blanche and Rose have founded CreakN, a thriving sex app for seniors. And Dorothy is trying to hold it all together with help from a new (much) younger sex-crazed lover. Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue allows audiences to relive the heartfelt hilarity of the four ladies who never stopped being best friends.
Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue is a professional stage show unlike any other Golden Girls tribute that you might have experienced. The play is written by Robert Leleux, author of The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy and The Living End. His work has also appeared in The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine and his other plays have been produced across the country. The show is directed by Eric Swanson, who was the co-founder and Executive Director of The Detroit Actors’ Theatre Company. The cast includes Ryan Bernier as Dorothy, Vince Kelley as Blanche, Adam Graber as Rose, Christopher Kamm as Sophia, and Jason Bowen as Stanley/Burt. The production is produced by Murray & Peter Present.
This production is rated 18+ only (adult theme comedy)
May 08 Wednesday
REGISTER NOW — Motivated by Nature Fun Run/WalkWednesday, June 5, 6-8 pm, at Harris Nature Center on Global Running Day. $25 ea
Immerse yourself in nature on the Center's 2.25-mile trail loop.
After crossing the finish line, there's refreshments and live music by rising country singer/songwriter Jessey Adams! (She's from near Williamston and has just returned from recording in Nashville.)
To guarantee a t-shirt, register before May 10.
Proceeds go to the Harris Nature Foundation to help fund the HNC Nature Exploration Area expansion and for bus scholarships that enable students in Greater Lansing to attend HNC educational programs. Kudos to co-sponsor Playmakers!