The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected (15:58)

Marcelo Gleiser, Ph.D., is a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College. He specializes in cosmology, nonlinear physics, and astrobiology. His main research interests fall into two general areas. The first is the interface between cosmology (which studies the universe as a whole) and particle physics (which studies the smallest material constituents of the universe). Fishing is a sport of leisure. You might go out early in the morning alone, and wait hours until you have a bite. In those hours, many people sit in silent reflection, but few people spend their time pondering about particle cosmology. But Dr. Marcelo Gleiser does just that, his book “The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected” describes how he travels the world to attend scientific conferences, fishing wherever he goes. At each stop, he considers how physics and his hobby inform each other.

Smartphones and The Law (1:01:32)

Tim Holbrook is a professor of law at Emory University School of Law. He is one of the nation's leading patent law experts, with commentary appearing in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNN, Scientific American and Science on the patent system and on the Apple v. Samsung smartphone wars. On October 11th, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments over a $400 million verdict against Samsung for infringing several Apple iPhone design patents like the smartphone’s ability to create links automatically to webpages and phone numbers, and the “slide to unlock” screen function. The key to this case is that the Supreme Court case is about design patents, not utility patents. But what’s the difference, and why is that important?  Tim Holbrook explains.