This month we’re asking the Big Questions:
Where’s all the stuff that’s supposed to make up the universe?
Can we solve the climate crisis and keep our smartphones?
Could we perhaps solve the climate crisis with help from beavers?
Answers to these questions – and more – will be at our August 21st show!
“The Semiconductor Climate Conundrum”
By: Joe Palazzo
From cars and dishwashers to phones and all things AI, semiconductors are everywhere in most of modern society, and their relationship with the climate is extremely complicated. In 2021, the semiconductor industry accounted for an estimated 500 Megatonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions, the same as over 100 million gas cars on the road. But there is potential for positive change and impact. Join Joe Palazzo on his lifelong journey to unpack and share his hope for the complicated relationship between semiconductors and the environment.
Joe Palazzo is a Technical Program Manager at Google and a former semiconductor process engineer who left the factory to pursue sustainability. That detour led him to earn a PhD in Environmental Science & Management from UC Santa Barbara, where he was hand trained in industrial carbon impact modeling by Professor Roland Geyer. This unique background led to a career at the center of semiconductor industry decarbonization. In his time at Apple and Google, Joe helped conceive and shape the Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies & Systems program at Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre, widely considered the world’s most advanced effort to tackle the climate impact of semiconductor production.
“Lopsided Mystery: Searching to Solve the Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry of the Universe”
By: Tessa Johnson
Do you ever think about how we got here? Do those thoughts ever span back to the very first microseconds of the universe after the Big Bang? Before matter formed atoms, and atoms formed stars, and star dust formed planets, and on at least one planet, life evolved enough for you to read these words, some of the antimatter created during the Big Bang must have disappeared. Without this missing antimatter, there would be no stars or planets, and no you – making matter-antimatter asymmetry the ultimate existential problem. Join us on the journeys of scientists trying to figure out the fate of this missing antimatter, spanning from deep underground caverns to the depths of outer space.
Tessa’s PhD research centered around searching for exotic phenomena in double beta decay, which means she spent a lot of time in a mine babysitting a capricious particle detector. One of the exotic phenomena she was searching for would help resolve the matter-antimatter asymmetry problem. They never found it. She then did a postdoc searching for dark matter. They never found that either. Tessa decided she was tired of searching for elusive exotic phenomena and moved to San Francisco to work in tech. She spends her free time singing in a cover band called Lady and the Tramps.
“Bringing Back the Beaver!”
By: Samuel Weingast
Symbiotic Restoration partners with beavers to create healthy habitat, fire resilience, and naturally draw down carbon out of the atmosphere. We’ll dive into the ins and outs of process based restoration and see how humans can have a powerful effect in rebuilding critical ecosystems
Samuel has worked in the climate sector for a decade, with experience spanning ecological restoration, entrepreneurship, education, activism/policy advocacy, and wildlife tracking. He also sings, plays banjo and upright bass.