Larry Smarr, Gretchen Rubin Get into Health(care) & Happiness

Our presentations of “The Atlantic Meets the Pacific” forum continue into the New Year, but first we’re wrapping up 2012 with two stellar presentations from the three-day forum held at UC San Diego in October.

Premiering tonight (Dec. 17) at 9pm (and online now) is “The Human Laboratory: One Researcher’s Quest to Personalize Medicine,” a fascinating conversation between Calit2 director Larry Smarr, the subject of a recent piece in “The Atlantic,” and author Mark Bowden, who wrote the screenplay for Katherine Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” and riveting works of non-fiction like “Black Hawk Down.” In this program, Smarr and Bowden talk about Smarr’s determination to understand everything about his own body, and how that kind of knowledge will become standard in the future of healthcare.

And what better to way to complete the year than with a look at the science and philosophy of happiness with none other than Gretchen Rubin, author of the bestseller “The Happiness Project.” In “Don’t Worry, Be Happy Now: The Science and Philosophy of the Happiness Movement,” Rubin chats with James Fallows, National Correspondent for The Atlantic, about finding contentment in everyday life. That program premieres Dec. 28 at 7pm, but you can start your happy journey early by watching it online now.

Surf's up! But why?

Every summer, the California surfing community enjoys the arrival of a long, regular swell from the southwest. The origin of the swell is in the winter storms of the southern hemisphere, some in the Indian Ocean, half way around the Earth.

In the latest program from Birch Aquarium’s Perspectives on Ocean Science series, join internationally renowned Scripps professor Walter Munk to learn how World War II and measurements of Guadalupe Island led to this discovery and what it means for surfers today.

Watch “Where the Swell Begins” tonight (Dec. 12) at 8pm on UCSD-TV, or online now.

Human Origins: Lessons from Autism Disorders

This month we present another fascinating series from the folks at UC San Diego’s Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) , who brought together the foremost rsearchers in the world to explore the newest understandings of the roots of autism spectrum disorders.

Tune in to “Human Origins: Lessons from Autism Spectrum Disorders” Wednesday nights at 9 (through December 19), or watch online.

Here’s the first episode in the three-part series, “Genetic Etiology, Surprising Findings in Autism, and The ‘Like-Me’ Theory for Connecting Self and Others.”

Yoshimi's Battle Bridges Science and Art

A groundbreaking science fiction musical is wowing audiences at the UC San Diego-based La Jolla Playhouse. Directed by Des McAnuff, the Tony Award-winning director of Broadway musicals “Jersey Boys” and “The Who’s Tommy,” “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” is a magical tale of love and the struggle for survival set to the music of The Flaming Lips and featuring a 14-foot robot puppet, dancers in “glowing” LED costumes and stunning projections

But beyond the cutting-edge stagecraft, “Yoshimi” is a testament to the intertwined and largely unexplored relationship between science and art. In this sold-out event, leading San Diego medical researchers and La Jolla Playhouse artists, including McAnuff and Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, have a frank and fascinating discussion about the creative ground they share.

Moderated by Daniel Einhorn, medical director of Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute, the panel also includes Gerald Joyce, professor in the departments of chemistry and molecular biology at The Scripps Research Institute, Thomas Albright, director of the Vision Center laboratory at Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and Pamela Itkin-Ansari, adjunct assistant professor at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute.

Watch “The Art in Science, The Science in Art” on UCSD-TV December 4 at 8:30pm or online now.

J. Craig Venter: Manufacturing Life with Synthetic DNA

The future is here. At least it feels that way after watching one of the most buzzed-about panels from The Atlantic Meets the Pacific forum held at UC San Diego in October.

In “Manufacturing Life: How Synthetic DNA Will Change Our World,” Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, James Bennet, chats with J. Craig Venter, CEO of Synthetic Genomics, about finding genomic-driven solutions to address global needs such as new sources of energy, food and vaccines. The program is introduced by Pradeep Khosla, UC San Diego’s new chancellor.

Watch it tonight (Nov. 26) at 8pm on UCSD-TV or online now.