Pune Science on Tap

22/01/2024

Last weekend at we went to the moon and the sun. This fantastic session taught us about how and why we are investing time and money to go study these celestial objects that have enthralled humans since forever.

11/01/2024

Date: 21st January 2024

Topic: The Science behind going to the Sun and Moon

Speakers: Prof. Aji Kembhavi and Dr. Durgesh Tripathi

Ticket link in bio.

About the talks:

Chandrayaan: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has so far launched three Chandrayaan space missions, of which Chandrayaan-3 had a soft landing on the Moon. This has placed India in an elite, very exclusive club. There will be Chandrayaan missions in the future too, culminating with the landing of Indian astronauts on the Moon in 2040. Prof. Kembhavi will briefly describe the missions, their purpose, their importance to the country and how these missions matter more than half a century after men first landed on the Moon.

Aditya: Aditya-L1 is ISRO's first observatory in space dedicate for solar observations and it carries four remote sensing and three in-situ instruments to study the Sun in complete electromagnetic spectrum, except Gamma Ray and Radio. Orbiting in a halo orbit around the first Lagrangian point on the Sun-Earth line, it will provide 24x7 observations of the Sun. Aditya-L1 is the fourth satellite at the L1 position and the second mission that have remote sensing capabilities, after the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) of ESA/NASA. The talk will describe the mission and its science and in particular the science of the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) onboard Aditya-L1 mission, that we built at IUCAA.

Speakers:
Prof. Ajit Kembhav and Prof. Durgesh Tripathi i is a Professor Emeritus at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune.

17/12/2023

A full house exploring consciousness with .sidsingh . Today's talk was a wonderful exploration into what we perceive as consciousness and how our's is not the only consciousness in this universe.

03/12/2023

Topic: Science of Consciousness
Human consciousness remains one of the deepest mysteries of science. Current theories originate from diverse sources such as neuroscience, philosophy, spirituality and mathematics, yet we remain far from any conclusive truth. We all have common tools to experience the world, yet personal consciousness which is quite prevalent in the natural world is not a pre-requisite for life, so why did we evolve to our current state of consciousness which has helped us civilise and "rule" the world. How does it shape our personal experiences and how do animal experiences differ from our own?

During this talk Dr. Siddharth Singh will explain how we construct our worlds around us using our senses and our thoughts. Why despite many impairments in our senses by disease or ageing, our perceived world remains complete as a whole. How can we understand different types of intelligence and the difference between intelligence and consciousness. In the near future AI machines will become more intelligent than us but will they ever have something close to human sentience? And finally we will explore whether the evolution of human consciousness is the worst thing to happen to planet Earth?

About the speaker: Dr. Siddharth Singh is currently working as a Neurologist at Sahyadri Hospital in Pune. He has done a Fellowship in Stroke Medicine after completing his Neurology studies. Including research on Psychiatric manifestations in Parkinson's disease, Delirium in ICU and seizures in the elderly. He has given multiple talks in India and Ho Chi Minh City as a Melvin Yahr young scholar travel grant awardee. His personal interests include literature and sports, especially their interactions with neuroscience!

Tickets link in the Bio.

24/04/2023

Pur last session was 'colourful'. took us on a journey of colours in nature!

07/04/2023

Topic: Colours in Nature
The natural world shows phenomenal diversity in colours, many which are beyond our sensory capabilities. What purpose do these colours serve? Protection from predators, attracting mates, regulating body temperature? The functions of colours are diverse, and we are only beginning to understand the important role colours play in our everyday life.

During this talk Dr. Anuradha Batabyal will elaborate on how we perceive colours, how different organisms sense them in different ways. Whether the green you see is the same as birds and reptiles. How colours shape interactions between organisms including predator-prey, and plant-pollinator etc. We will learn the science behind colour production and perception and compare its use by humans and other animals.

About the speaker: Dr. Anuradha Batabyal is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences at FLAME University, India where she teaches Ecology and Environmental Studies. She was a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Calgary where she worked at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute studying long-term memory formation, enhancement and learning under various environmental stressors. She gained her PhD from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, India, on the shifts in phenotypic traits of the Indian rock agama (Psammophilus dorsalis). She investigated stress physiology, colour change, learning skills and several behavioural traits in these lizards. Her primary focus was on colour change in these animals and how colour is perceived and used by animals.

Date: 23rd April, Sunday
Time :7 pm
Tickets: Link in Bio

19/03/2023

Today we learnt that mushrooms are magical, in more than one ways. Thanks to and for such a wonderful informative session!

04/03/2023

Topic: The Magic of Mushrooms

Mushrooms - we've all eaten them and loved them! But did you know they are a unique group of organisms? They have a large variety and can be tasty, poisonous, and even psychedelic! In this talk, Siddharth Anand will cover details about the place that fungi and mushrooms hold in the tree of life, how have mushrooms evolved, and what different shapes and sizes are mushrooms found in. He will share the different applications of mushrooms in the fields of food and nutrition, medicines and nutraceuticals, and mental health therapeutics. The talk will feature a display counter where you can touch and feel different mushrooms and have take-home kits, for you to grow them on your own!

About the speaker: Siddharth Anand studied chemistry and biotechnology at Ruia College in Mumbai and then went on to pursue his master's in Applied Genetics from Bangalore. He is the founder of Octarine Organics, an urban mushroom cultivation start-up based in Pune. He has over 15 publications, 100+ NCBI gene submissions, and two patents in the field of biomolecules. He has worked for some of the best research agencies in the country, including the National Institute of Virology. Currently, he is working on perfecting mushroom cultivation.

Tickets: link in bio
Date: 19th March 2023, 7:30 pm
Location: Great State Dive

06/02/2023

A packed house trying to learn how machines learn from .

17/01/2023

Topic : The Science of Machine Learning
Machine learning has taken over all sectors of our industry today and it is here to stay! In this talk, Dr. Namita Lokare cover what general machine learning is and how it allows us to recognize patterns in data, learn insights, and apply those to make better decisions. She will showcase some of the top applications of machine learning such as healthcare, financial, automotive, and agriculture. She will cover other aspects such as the wearable industry, which is changing the face of health monitoring and allowing people to take control of their mental and physical health. We will learn how these devices can to be successful as well as the challenges they face today.

About the Speaker :
Dr. Lokare is currently a Principal Machine Learning Scientist at Valencell Inc. She received her Masters in Biomedical Engineering from University of Southern California and subsequently her PhD in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University. She is currently pursuing an executive

MBA at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke to bring together her technical expertise along with business strategy. 

Prior to Valencell, she worked at LVL technologies: a startup that focused on solving human hydration problems and at SAS: a large corporation that develops distributed solutions for machine learning algorithms. Dr. Lokare has a track record for solving complex problems using tools from machine

learning and AI. She has worked in the health and wellness space over a decade and is an active contributor of patents and publications in the space. In addition to the position at Valencell, she serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Engineering Research and Sciences. She is also an active member of the IEEE standar.

Date: 5th Feb at 7 pm
Location: Great State Dive, Koregaon Park, Pune.

Tickets: Link in bio

17/01/2023

Pune Science on Tap: The Science of Machine Learning on 5th Feb 2023 -

Machine learning has taken over all sectors of our industry today and it is here to stay! In this talk, Dr. Namita Lokare cover what general machine learning is and how it allows us to recognize patterns in data, learn insights, and apply those to make better decisions. She will showcase some of the...

23/12/2022

Lets start the new year with some slimey science.

Title: Science of Shells and Slimes

Have you ever gone rock pooling, jumping across pools of waters looking for shells? You must have come across many creatures known as molluscs. Examples include the tiny snails to the famous conch, which is still used in temples. But did you know, there are plenty of these creatures which are non-marine too. This talk will explore molluscs which have a large diversity and but are not well known and even less appreciated. Aravind will try explain why we need to study and conserve these 'less charismatic' species of animals.

About the speaker : Speaker: Aravind Madhyastha

Aravind Madhyastha is a Senior fellow and convener of Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation at ATREE, Bangalore. He aims to understand diversity, systematics, evolution and conservation of non-marine mollusks and amphibians. He also uses citizen science to communicate and analyze the biodiversity data for conservation.

Date: Sunday 8th January 2023
Location: Great State Dive

Tickets link in bio