the department of physics and astronomy and department of aerospace engineering at texas a&m university are teaming up to showcase science and technology later this month as part of physics & engineering festival 2010 an entertaining and informative weekend scientific extravaganza for all ages no fees or tickets are required for the free annual event scheduled for saturday march 27 from 10 am to 5 pm at the new george p mitchell 40 physics buildings on the texas a&m campus all events are sponsored by the departments of physics and astronomy and aerospace engineering the texas a&m college of science and the george p and cynthia woods mitchell institute for fundamental physics and astronomy activities will begin with a hands-on science exhibition and engineering technology demonstrations and conclude with a public lecture by internationally recognized cosmologist dr chris impey a university distinguished professor in the steward observatory and deputy head of the department of astronomy at the university of arizona in between attendees will have the opportunity to take in the amazing talents of internationally acclaimed physics showman tom noddy also known as the bubble guy whose exquisite bubbles lively humor and engaging sense of fun leave his audiences both delighted and intrigued from 10 am to 4 pm participants are encouraged to unleash their inner scientists aboard a homemade hovercraft or square-wheeled bicycle and to try their hands at generating electricity or testing gravitys limits in other fun experiments and displays illustrating basic scientific and engineering technology-related concepts and principles two additional feature attractions located within the mitchell institute are the 83-foot foucault pendulum a silent yet stunning demonstration of earths rotation and the intricate penrose tile that graces the first-floor atrium area which cannot be shifted and still match the original pattern all exhibits are manned by texas a&m faculty staff and students including representatives from the departments of chemistry and mathematics at 4 pm impey will present how strange might life be in the primary lecture hall of the mitchell physics building the lecture will describe some of the most surprising and extreme places life is found on earth from high and arid deserts and on the sea floor to deep within rocks and how that correlates to similar possibilities on moons and planets around many of the few billion sun-like stars in our own milky way galaxy impey whose research interests include observational cosmology quasars and distant galaxies has written 160 research papers and two astronomy textbooks the recipient of 11 teaching awards he has served as a national science foundation distinguished teaching scholar a phi beta kappa visiting scholar and the carnegie councils arizona professor of the year in addition he is a former vice president of the american astronomical society (aas) and a fellow of the american association for the advancement of science (aaas) his first popular book the living cosmos was published in 2007 and his second how it ends will appear in 2010 before first bringing his performance to television in the early 1980s noddy spent more than a decade developing a new kind of performance piece armed only with dime-store bubble solution a childlike sense of wonder and an adult sense of humor in his 30-plus-year career as americas bubble guy noddy has appeared numerous times on prime-time daytime and late-night television shows including the tonight show as well as at nightclubs and universities he has presented at the international congress of mathematics and been the featured performer for science centers bubble festivals attracting up to 17 000 people in a single weekend regardless of venue noddy has taken his uniquely warm charm and intellectual interest in soap bubbles to audiences around the world performing in more than 50 countries to date prior to saturdays events dr george w kattawar professor of physics and astronomy at texas a&m and an expert in optics will deliver a free public lecture polarized light in nature on friday (mar 26) at 7 pm in the stephen w hawking auditorium tickets are not required for the event in which kattawar will discuss examples of exciting ways both terrestrial and marine animals from humans and honeybees to shrimp and octopus use polarized light for such purposes as navigation foraging mating identification and survival a member of the texas a&m faculty since 1968 kattawar received a bachelors of science degree from lamar university with highest honors and both his masters of science and phd degrees from texas a&m university on a national defense and education act fellowship before coming to texas a&m he was at los alamos scientific laboratory esso production research and the university of north texas his research interests include atmosphere and ocean optics quantum optics and applied physics kattawar is a fellow of the optical society of america formerly associate editor of the journal of geophysical research: oceans and the journal of transport theory and statistical physics in 1981 he received the amoco foundation award for distinguished teaching and in 1990 won a teacher/scholar award for the latest details regarding physics & engineering festival 2010 including event directions and parking information please visit the event website -atm- contact: shana k hutchins (979) 862-1237 or shutchins@sciencetamuedu