Cookie seminar

General Information: Cookie seminar will take place on Mondays at 3:30 in the 9th floor lounge area. Talks should be of interest to the general math community, and generally will not run longer then 20 minutes. Everyone is welcome to talk, please just sign up on this page. Alternatively I will also sign interested people up at the seminar itself. As one would expect from the title there will generally be cookies provided, although the snack may vary from week to week. To sign up to bring snacks one week please visit the Cookie Sign-up

To sign up please provide your name and a title. Abstracts are welcome but optional.

Seminar talks:

January 30

Speaker	George Craciun
Title	Persistence in biological networks
Abstract	I will describe some open problems in mathematical biology, having to do with existence of invariant regions for nonlinear dynamical systems. There is NSF grant funding (RA support) to work on some of these problems.

February 6

Speaker	Leland Jefferis
Title	Intuitive computational methods

February 13

Speaker
Title
Abstract

February 20

Speaker	Uri Andrews
Title	Hercules and the Hydra
Abstract	We will talk about important techniques of self-defense against an invading Hydra. The following, from Pausanias (Description of Greece, 2.37.4) describes the beginning of the battle of Hercules against the Lernaean hydra: As a second labour he ordered him to kill the Lernaean hydra. That creature, bred in the swamp of Lerna, used to go forth into the plain and ravage both the cattle and the country. Now the hydra had a huge body, with nine heads, eight mortal, but the middle one immortal. . . . By pelting it with fiery shafts he forced it to come out, and in the act of doing so he seized and held it fast. But the hydra wound itself about one of his feet and clung to him. Nor could he effect anything by smashing its heads with his club, for as fast as one head was smashed there grew up two.