{"111801":{"#nid":"111801","#data":{"type":"event","title":"First Life \u2013 A Multimedia Performance for String Quartet and Narration","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Sunday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m. the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts at Emory University will offer a rare treat to its patrons called First Life, which combines music and science in a unique multimedia performance. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E First Life blends string quartet, narration, live audio processing, surround sound diffusion, live motion capture video projection, and audience participation. Supported by the Center for Chemical Evolution, the composition of the work draws upon stochastic modeling of chemical data provided by Martha Grover\u2019s research group in the School of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFunded by the National Science Foundation and the NASA Astrobiology Program, the Center for Chemical Evolution is an interdisciplinary research collaboration focused on exploring chemical processes that enable the spontaneous formation of functional polymers \u2014 such as proteins and DNA \u2014 from much smaller and simpler starting materials.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E The inspiration for the First Life performance and the scientific basis that supports the composition stems directly from research conducted as part of the Center for Chemical Evolution. Each section of the work is constructed from contingent outcomes drawn from Grover\u2019s biochemical research exploring the early Earth formations of organic compounds. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u201cA biological organism has the ability to respond to its environment and learn from its past experiences, while human-designed systems are typically more rigid and thus less \u2018intelligent\u2019,\u201d Grover wrote in 2011 in Design of An Intelligent Material. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E Composer and conductor Steve Everett, an Emory University professor of music, director of the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, and assistant vice provost for academic affairs, credits this conclusion from Grover\u2019s work as important when forming his initial conception of the composition.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E The work also utilizes the results from the 1953 Miller-Urey experiments, which demonstrated that organic compounds such as amino acids, essential to cellular life, could be made easily under the conditions that scientists suspected to be present on the early Earth. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u201cThis interactive composition attempts to model a biological organism\u2019s ability to respond to the conditions of its environment by the use of real time computer programming systems generating live audio and video,\u201d says Everett. \u201cThis project attempts to create auditory models, or sonifications, of many of the elemental and environmental conditions present in early Earth, thus providing a new way to imagine the salient biochemical morphologies at play in the origins of evolution.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E Grover and David Lynn, department chair of chemistry and professor of biomolecular chemistry at Emory University, will speak about aspects of their research in the Center for Chemical Evolution during the Interludes sections of the First Life performance.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E The event is free for all students from any school or university and free for everyone who mentions the Atlanta Science Tavern at the box office.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis project was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award No. CHE-1004570) and the NASA Astrobiology Program. The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF or NASA.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Sunday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m. the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts at Emory University will offer a rare treat to its patrons called First Life. The performance combines music and science in a unique multimedia event, imagining the chemical origins of life and featuring the Vega String Quartet with narration by ChBE Associate Professor Martha Grover.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A multimedia performance imagining the chemical origins of life, First Life features the Vega String Quartet with narration by ChBE Associate Professor Martha Grover."}],"uid":"27255","created_gmt":"2012-02-23 08:53:02","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 01:58:10","author":"Josie Giles","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2012-03-04T18:00:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2012-03-04T19:30:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2012-03-04T19:30:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2012-03-04 23:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2012-03-05 00:30:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2012-03-05 00:30:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"111901":{"id":"111901","type":"image","title":"First Life Flyer","body":null,"created":"1449178213","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:13","changed":"1475894731","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:31","alt":"First Life Flyer","file":{"fid":"194134","name":"first-life-flyer.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/first-life-flyer_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/first-life-flyer_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2145819,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/first-life-flyer_0.jpg?itok=f-4o67B6"}},"112001":{"id":"112001","type":"image","title":"Dr. Martha Grover","body":null,"created":"1449178213","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:13","changed":"1475894731","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:31","alt":"Dr. Martha Grover","file":{"fid":"194140","name":"grover3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/grover3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/grover3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2924991,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/grover3_0.jpg?itok=1F62lgrn"}}},"media_ids":["111901","112001"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.meetup.com\/AtlantaScienceTavern\/events\/52804942\/","title":"Atlanta Science Tavern"},{"url":"http:\/\/chemistry.emory.edu\/faculty\/lynn.html","title":"Dr. David Lynn"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/grover.php","title":"Dr. Martha Grover"},{"url":"http:\/\/music.emory.edu\/COMPUTER\/Steven_Everett.html","title":"About Steven Everett"},{"url":"http:\/\/centerforchemicalevolution.com\/","title":"Center for Chemical Evolution"},{"url":"http:\/\/arts.emory.edu\/","title":"Arts at Emory"}],"groups":[{"id":"1240","name":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"1450","name":"Biomolecular Engineering"},{"id":"10339","name":"center for chemical evolution"},{"id":"560","name":"chemical engineering"},{"id":"4798","name":"Concert"},{"id":"14110","name":"David Lynn"},{"id":"1098","name":"interdisciplinary"},{"id":"12615","name":"martha grover"},{"id":"1180","name":"Music"},{"id":"167634","name":"steve everett"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJosie G. Giles\u003Cbr \/\u003ESchool of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E(404) 385-2299\u003Cbr \/\u003Eevents@chbe.gatech.edu\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}