The 12th NASA Administrator, Charles F. Bolden Jr., shares how NASA’s programs and missions function as an instrument of international cooperation, demonstrating the steady guidance of the United States as the world’s leader.



It’s been another fantastic year of enlightening content. Here’s a recap of UCTV’s most watched programs of 2013:
Brain Fitness: Social Aspects of Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment
Mario D. Garrett, PhD discusses the scientific revolution currently happening in dementia studies, dementia errors that impact research, and the importance of social interaction for patients with dementia.
Clinical neuropsychologist Eric Freitag of Sport Concussion Program explains the risks and medical implications of concussions. Learn how to spot a concussion, when to see a doctor, and how treatment should progress.
Cognitive abilities often regarded as unique to humans include humor, morality, symbolism, creativity, and preoccupation with the minds of others. In these compelling talks, emphasis is placed on the functional uniqueness of these attributes, as opposed to the anatomical uniqueness.
Brain Mapping: Pushing the Frontiers of Neurology — Atlantic Meets the Pacific 2013
UC San Diego neuroscientists Ralph Greenspan and Nicholas Spitzer join Kris Famm of GlaxoSmithKline and James Fallows of The Atlantic for a look into the future of brain research. This program is part of The Atlantic Meets the Pacific 2013 series presented by The Atlantic and UCSD.
Big Bang – UC Davis Business Plan Competition 2013
Big Bang! is the annual UC Davis Business Plan Competition, hosted by the UC Davis Child Family Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and organized by MBA students of the Graduate School of Management. Find out the winners of this year’s competition.
Immunology 101: The Basics and Introduction to our Patient
Katherine Gundling, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Allergy and Immunology at UCSF, and Practice Chief of the Allergy/Immunology clinic at Moffitt Hospital examines the essential purpose of the immune system and how living with a primary disorder of immunity can affect daily life.
The Age of Amazon with Marc Onetto
Marc Onetto, senior vice president of worldwide operations and customer service at Amazon.com, shares Amazon’s secrets to success. Hosted by the UC Davis Graduate School of Management’s Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series.
The Future of Human Space Exploration
Charles Kennel, Former Scripps Institution of Oceanography director and chair of the National Academy’s Space Science Board, reviews what NASA’s space program has accomplished, what it is doing now, and what the future holds for human space exploration.
Bike Fit: It’s All About the Bike
Curtis Cramblett, PT, CFMT, CSCS has been an avid cyclist and racer for more than 20 years and has spent thousands of hours on his bike. He shares his expertise on proper bike fit including what a good bike fit feels like, your biomechanical needs, and adjusting your bike to your body.
Tracy DiNunzio, Co-Founder and CEO of Tradesy
Tracy DiNunzio, Founder and CEO of Tradesy a fashion resale website, talks about what it took to get her company off the ground. She is also the CEO and founder of Recycled Bride, the Web’s largest wedding resale marketplace, which launched in 2009.
An Evening of Sacred Music and Dances from Japan Kagura Ensemble of Chichibu Shrine
Enjoy this unique opportunity to experience Kagura (sacred music and ritual dances) from Chichibu, in the first and only US performance of the shrine’s Kagura troupe. Chichibu Kagura, dating back to approximately the seventeenth century, with a repertory based on ancient myths, has been designated by the government as an Important Formless Folkloric Cultural Property.
What opportunities are in the burgeoning craft brewing industry? In this Career Channel presentation, you’ll learn the answers from a panel of experts that includes Stone Brewing founder Greg Koch, Lost Abbey brewer Tomme Arthur, Ballast Point brewer and co-founder Yuseff Cherney, and the founder of White Labs Inc. Pure Yeast and Fermentation, Chris White.
Dr. Jay Levyan, an AIDS and cancer researcher at UCSF, discusses the discovery of HIV and its basic science. Then, Dr. C. Bradley Hare, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Medical Director, UCSF HIV/AIDS Division at San Francisco General Hospital, explores HIV and its diseases through case presentations from the clinic.
Intellectual Journey with Gary Becker – Conversations with History
Harry Kreisler welcomes Nobel Laureate Gary S. Becker for a discussion of his intellectual journey. Topics include: Milton Friedman, his early work on discrimination, the skills and temperament required for work in economics, applying economic analysis to social problems, the Chicago school of economics, creativity, rational choice theory, markets vs. government, the impact of ideas on policy, the communications revolution, and the lessons of the 2008 economic collapse.
Farming in the 21st Century: A Woman’s Perspective from South Africa
Brylyne Chitsunge is an internationally acclaimed expert and facilitator of the Nigeria-South Africa Group on Agriculture and a tireless advocate for farmers in her native South Africa. Chitsunge counts herself among the 70 percent of farmers who are women in South Africa. Despite the challenges, she was able to buy her own land and works as a farmer and breeder of Kalahari Red goats, Nguni cattle, free range poultry, indigenous pigs and most recently Tilapia fish.
UCSB 2013 Summit on Energy Efficiency – Steven Chu
Opening Keynote by Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy ’09-’13 and Professor at Stanford University, titled Materials Science Innovations in Energy Efficiency and Generation. Conference hosted in May, 2013 by the UCSB Institute for Energy Efficiency.
Dr. Robert Lustig, UCSF Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, updates his very popular video Sugar: The Bitter Truth. He argues that sugar and processed foods are driving the obesity epidemic, which in turn affects our endocrine system. In UCTV’s documentary, The Skinny on Obesity, Dr. Lustig and his colleagues discuss the root causes of the obesity epidemic.
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We’ve been to the moon and we’ve explored remote corners of our universe. What is next in our quest to unlock the secrets of our solar system?
Hear from Charles Kennel, chair of the National Academy’s Space Science Board and former Scripps Institution of Oceanography director, as he reviews NASA’s past accomplishments, present projects, and anticipated goals in “The Future of Human Space Exploration.”
To see more programs on Astrophysics and Space Science, visit our archive.
After traveling through the inner solar system for seven years, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft reached Mercury in March 2011 and became the first ever mission to orbit this mysterious planet. Since then, MESSENGER has been making measurements with its suite of scientific instruments, including gamma-ray, neutron and x-ray spectrometers, magnetometer, laser altimeter, cameras and other instruments.
In the latest program from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, physicist Morgan Burks explores the mysteries surrounding Mercury’s formation and composition, and the instruments that need to work at cryogenic temperatures in one of the hottest places in the solar system.
Watch “The Gamma-Ray Spectrometer at Mercury: A Seven Year Journey to the Innermost Planet,” online now. Then visit the Science on Saturday series page for more virtual field trips to the UC-operated national lab.
What were you doing when Curiousity touched down on the surface of Mars?
For those of us in California, the exciting moments of the rover’s descent and landing took place just before bedtime (10:30pm) so we watched it live on the NASA website. Don’t know about you, but we found it hard to hold back the tears as we watched the scientists and engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory erupt into celebration after the picture perfect landing.
Science is a beautiful thing and we can’t wait to see what Curiosity sends back to Earth in the coming months and years.
In the meantime, let’s look back at Curiosity’s rover predecessors, Spirit and Opportunity, with Steven Squyres, the principle scientist behind the Mars Exploration Rover Project, who visited UC Berkeley in 2011. He shares his experiences working on the mind-boggling project and talks about the future of planetory exploration in these three programs:
Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet
The Future of Planetary Exploration
Roving Mars with Steve Squyres (Conversations with History)