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Apr15
EVENT DETAILSmore info
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The Center for Synthetic Biology, in collaboration with the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern, is pleased to welcome Dario Robleto, award-winning multi-media artist, for a screening of his film Ancient Beacons Long for Notice. This third part of Robleto’s trilogy explores the legacy of the “Golden Record”—a gold disc representing Earth's diverse life and cultures, sent beyond our solar system on NASA’s Voyager space probes. The film asks a core question:“ is our moral obligation to fully account for our actions—the good and the bad—in perpetuity, off-planet, and to beings we have yet to confirm exist?” A community conversation after the screening will explore this question in the context of synthetic biology’s history, encouraging us to consider its ethical implications as we forecast the future.
Dario Robleto’s work has been widely exhibited and is held in prominent collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. A portfolio of the artists prints titled The First Time, The Heart (A Portrait of Life 1854–1913) was acquired by the Block in 2018 with support of Northwestern Engineering. His work has also been featured in numerous media outlets, including Krista Tippett’s On Being and The New York Times. Robleto has held numerous artist-in-residence positions at prestigious institutions, including the Smithsonian Museum of American History and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. In 2025, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Middlebury College.
From 2018 to 2023, Robleto Served as Artist-at-Large at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and the Block Museum of Art, where he developed and screened the first two parts of his trilogy about the history of the heart and the Golden Record. The residency culminated in the exhibition The Heart’s Knowledge: Science and Empathy in the Art of Dario Robleto, as well as a publication of the same name. During his time at Northwestern, Robleto built strong ties with the Center for Synthetic Biology and explored the intersection of art, technology, and ethics in society.
This event leads up to the Center for Synthetic Biology’s 10-year Anniversary, where Robleto is leading the development of a time capsule representing the future of synthetic biology at Northwestern and in the world.
Event Details - Northwestern University, Evanston Campus
📅 Wednesday, April 15, 2026
🕒 3:00–5:00 PM | Film Screening & Discussion
📍 The Block Museum of ArtTIME Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
LOCATION Block Museum of Art, Mary and Leigh map it
CONTACT Block Museum of Art block-museum@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Block Museum of Art
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Apr16
EVENT DETAILS
lessTitle: Math and physics of complex fluid interfaces: biological membranes, charged droplets, and active fluids
Speaker: Petia Vlahovska, Northwestern University
Abstract: Interfaces abound in multiphase materials and living systems. I will highlight my group’s research on modeling the dynamics of soft, fluid-embedded interfaces. Examples include electrohydrodynamic streaming leading to “Saturnian” droplets, curvature fluctuations of biomimetic membranes, and symmetry-breaking instabilities such as Quincke electrorotation, electroconvection, and the spontaneous propulsion of droplets enclosing active particles (microswimmers). These phenomena pose challenging multiscale, multiphysics free-boundary problems. Our approach integrates theory and experiment, developing analytical models that rationalize experimental observations and leveraging experiments to uncover new directions for modeling.
In this talk, I will focus on the dynamics of biomembranes (whose equilibrium shapes minimize the Willmore energy) and discuss how hydrodynamic dissipation within the membrane and its bilayer structure influence membrane remodeling and the statistics of thermally driven fluctuations measured using light, X-ray, or neutron scattering techniques.
Zoom: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/96605429763
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TIME Thursday, April 16, 2026 at 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
LOCATION M416, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Noor Kaur noor.kaur@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)
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Apr23
EVENT DETAILS
lessTitle: TBA
Speaker: Ned Wingreen, Princeton University
Abstract: TBA
Zoom: TBA
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TIME Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
LOCATION M416, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Noor Kaur noor.kaur@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)
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May13
EVENT DETAILS
lessTitle: Title TBA - Reiss Lecture
Speaker: Melanie Mitchell, Santa Fe Institute
Abstract: TBA
Zoom: TBA
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TIME Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
CONTACT Anne Umbanhowar anne.umbanhowar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)
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May14
EVENT DETAILS
lessTitle: Title TBA - Reiss Lecture
Speaker: Melanie Mitchell, Santa Fe Institute
Abstract: TBA
Zoom: TBA
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TIME Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
CONTACT Anne Umbanhowar anne.umbanhowar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)
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Jun4
EVENT DETAILS
lessTitle: TBA
Speaker: Neil Ribe, Université Paris-Saclay
Abstract: TBA
Zoom: TBA
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TIME Thursday, June 4, 2026 at 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
LOCATION M416, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Noor Kaur noor.kaur@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick-Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics (ESAM)