Global sea level rise is one of the major environmental challenges of the 21st century. As lead scientist for multiple NASA JPL projects, Josh Willis and team are addressing this urgent problem from above and below.

Quantum effects are usually thought to be too delicate to manifest in the macroscopic world. However, recent physics breakthroughs have revealed that, in carefully engineered materials, such as metals, insulators, or magnets, quantum effects not only show up but also fundamentally change the way these materials behave. In this lecture, Professor Xie Chen will cover superconductivity, topological order, and a range of phenomena in quantum matters that may hold unprecedented power for quantum computers and even for our fundamental understanding of the universe.