Time: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 18th Join us on: Zoom or YouTube Live Speaker: Daniel Richard Evolution acts most strongly during times of change – favouring those species that are best equipped to handle new challenges. In the distant past, climate change has acted as a strong driver of evolutionary change – shaping species and whole ecosystems as they adapt to their new environments. Given … Continue reading May 18: Survival of the Quickest: How Climate Change Has Shaped Evolution

Time: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 6th Join us on: Zoom or YouTube Live Speaker: Alex Plesa Aging is the major risk factor for multiple human disorders such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration, accounting for approximately 90% of deaths in developed nations. With the global population experiencing an unprecedented growth in the proportion of older individuals, aging is becoming an increasingly significant public health concern … Continue reading May 4: Turning Back the Clock: The Science of Staying Young

Time: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 27th Join us on: Zoom or YouTube Live Speaker: Michael Foley In the past five years, our perspective of our local Milky Way has shifted from 2D to true 3D. This remarkable achievement has been made possible by data from many observatories, especially the Gaia satellite. This data has enabled numerous discoveries about nearby star forming regions, star clusters, supernova … Continue reading April 27: In Dust We Trust: Mapping Out Our Galaxy in 3D

Time: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 20th Join us on: Zoom or YouTube Live Speaker: Xiaohan Wu The universe at present is filled with gas that is hot and transparent to ultraviolet light. But shortly after the Big Bang, the gas was cold and opaque. How did the gas go through such a big transition in its physical state, and how did this transition affect the … Continue reading April 20: The first light of the universe – piercing through the gas in between galaxies and lighting everything up

Time: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 6th Join us on: Zoom or YouTube Live Speaker: Junjie Dong and Matt Brennan In December 2020, Massachusetts published the 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap with the goal of combating climate change by reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. How will we reach these goals? This talk will present three tools that may lead the way: batteries, wind power, and new … Continue reading April 6: From Blue to Red: How Mars Got and Lost Its Water

Time: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 30th Join us on: Zoom or YouTube Live Speaker: Ellen Considine In December 2020, Massachusetts published the 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap with the goal of combating climate change by reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. How will we reach these goals? This talk will present three tools that may lead the way: batteries, wind power, and new strategies for reducing … Continue reading March 30 – The Promise of Blue Skies: Air Pollution, Health, and Data Science