The Systems Biology Department at Harvard Med "invites accomplished artists to Harvard Medical School to talk about their practices. By sharing their interests, processes and final works, they provide insight into different ways of understanding the world. Many of these artists use science, math and technology in their pieces. This overlap gives us a common language to compare and contrast our goals and techniques."

@ 4 p.m. today in room 563 at 200 Longwood Ave. Kevin Van Aelst will give a talk on his work, which he defines as "an attempt to reconcile my physical surroundings with the fears, fascinations, curiosities, and daydreams occupying my mind. The photographs and constructions consist of common artifacts, materials, and scenes from everyday life, which have been rearranged and reassembled into various forms, patterns, and illustrations. The images aim to examine the distance between where my mind wanters to and the material objects that inspire those fixations.

Tomorrow evening, the Harvard Museum of Natural History @ 26 Oxford St. Cambridge opens an exhibit of underwater photos, Life in the Extreme Deep, with a Lecture by Peter Girguis. Oct. 12, 6:30 p.m. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill 2010 was the largest accidental marine disaster in history, dumping nearly 5 million barrels into the ocean, causing extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats, and to the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries. Peter Girguis, Loeb Associate Professor of Natural Sciences at Harvard, will discuss how biologists are working with environmental and industry officials to understand how natural “oil-eating” microbes are able to aid in the cleanup.

A reception to follow in the museum’s new photographic exhibition, Life in the Extreme Deep, a collection of deep-sea photographs by scientists who work in the field with Professor Girguis. Admission: Members free/Nonmembers $10

Space is limited. Pre-registration recommended. RSVP to members@oeb.harvard.edu or 617.496.6972.

MEMBERS ONLY alert: If you are inclined to join the MFA, this event if for Friends of Asian Art only:

Thursday, October 13, 2011, 6-8 pm

A History of the Chinese Jade Collection in the British Museum and How Science is Helping to Reevaluate It

For more than 250 years, the British Museum has been open to the public and actively collecting. The Chinese collections started as a small part of the whole, but have continued to grow in importance and size, especially from the late 19th century onwards. Today the Museum’s Chinese collections number in the area of some 25,000—approximately 1,000 of these being jades and hard stone objects. In this talk, Carol Michaelson, curator of Chinese Art at the British Museum, describes how the collection was acquired over the years, with reference to important jades in the Museum’s holding and major collectors and various activities that were influential in its formation.