The
”
boom
”
from the fireworks in the stadium made us jump as we headed for
our club seats in the HP Pavilion to see the home opener of the
Arena Football SaberCats Saturday night.
The “boom” from the fireworks in the stadium made us jump as we headed for our club seats in the HP Pavilion to see the home opener of the Arena Football SaberCats Saturday night. We had just stuffed ourselves with food and top-shelf margaritas during a pre-game party in the arena grill while chatting with Morgan Hill residents Dr. Brian Conrey and his wife Jan. Dr. Conrey is the director of the American Institute of Mathematics in Palo Alto and our conversation was occasionally interrupted with people stopping by to congratulate him on the institute’s big announcement.
In case you haven’t been reading the more than 200 worldwide papers covering the discovery, including the French publication Le Monde where the institute has received most of its Web hits in the past week, celebrating AIM’s proof of the exceptional Lie group E8 has become a major breakthrough for the world of math and science.
By the third round of informal lectures given at the dinner table Saturday night, I finely clued into the most basic level of understanding of the E8 phenomenon – It’s a really cool and complicated spirograph project (think: size of Manhattan if written out in formula in teeny-tiny print!). I’m glad someone has the patience to work these things out.
Of course, with a typical results-oriented Silicon Valley mind, everyone that congratulated Dr. Conrey followed it with the question, “so what can you do or make with it? – i.e., when can I buy stock?” Don’t ask because they don’t know yet. But the posters of the graphic are going to be really outrageous! According to Dr. Conrey, the object could give rise to discoveries in physics (string theory), algebra, geometry and chemistry. In case the four-dimensional world we live in boggles your mind, try the 248 dimensions of the Lie group E8.
Saturday night the SaberCats played on a three-dimensional artificial turf winning in regulation time against the Tampa Bay Storm, winning 69-49. Just to prove that mathematicians are human too, Dr. Conrey and Jan showed up on the kisscam and satisfied the arena audience with demonstrated passion.
Passionate about sharing memories and lessons learned on their recent trip to Antarctica, Morgan Hill residents Ramune Ambrozaitis and Kristin White threw an “Ice Party” Sunday evening where they debuted their 10-minute documentary/travelogue produced in high-definition format and screened in their host’s beautiful home theater. Among the local attendees were Bill Christopher and Tanya Bonesio, Pam and Jeff Martin, Gwynn and Steve Dorcich, Mike and Sue Pfefferlen, Dr. Pamela Stuart, William White, Rick and Rebecca Santos, and Greg and Linda McNulty.
Centered on the appetizer table of crustaceans and sushi, an ice sculpture of a Penguin rose 3 feet high and the bar served icy blue martinis. A most delightful out-town-guest was Jed York, director of strategic planning for the San Francisco 49ers and son of 49ers owners John York and Denise DeBartolo York.
Jed patiently accepted my lack of sports knowledge as my husband stood near shaking his head as I asked Jed how the DeBartolo family reunions play out. A native of Youngstown, Ohio Jed still hesitates to say he has fully adopted the California lifestyle but affirmed his love of the great West Coast city of San Francisco. A growing love of Santa Clara seems to be budding as Jed confirmed the intention of the team to move to Santa Clara County.
“Only 9 percent of our season ticket holders live in San Francisco. Most of our support comes from the South Bay,” explained York. York also confirmed the team’s name would remain the San Francisco 49ers, citing examples of professional teams such as the New York Jets and Giants who play in New Jersey but use the namesake of New York.
As the ice continued to melt on the sculptured penguin I couldn’t help think how apropos the image was after hearing about the unusually warm weather the Antarctic visitors, Ramune and Kristen, encountered while down at the South Pole. At least York experienced the warm welcome of the South County and hopefully he can make more visits when the team moves south.
Ciao for now.
News flash: this just in by e-mail. In researching Antarctic topics this week I remembered a field biology instructor I traveled with 22 years ago in Switzerland who later went on to study penguins in Antarctica. After 19 summers in Antartica, Dr. Gary Miller and I reconnected via the Internet.
Dr. Miller, as it turns out, happens to be known as “Dr. Penguin,” having held the position of scientific consultant on the movie “Happy Feet.” The world is getting smaller and the ice is melting!
