Category: Seminars

Seminars

Our Universe’s Story: Cosmos from chaos

Presented by Stephen Portillo, Zachary Slepian, and Kate Alexander As the result of observational and theoretical breakthroughs starting in the twentieth century, the cosmology of the Big Bang Theory was established. A crucial part of this captivating story is explaining how, from the violence and chaos of the Big Bang, organized structures like our own Milky Way galaxy formed. The first part of this lecture … Continue reading Our Universe’s Story: Cosmos from chaos

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Seminars

Inputs and Outputs: How the brain allows us to interact with the world

Presented by Laura Driscoll and Shay Neufeld The simplest way to think about the brain is as a platform through which we can interact with the world. Highly specialized sensory structures in our peripheral nervous system detect information in our environment and send these sensory signals to the “information hub” of our bodies, the brain. Here, sensory information is processed to produce an internal precept … Continue reading Inputs and Outputs: How the brain allows us to interact with the world

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Seminars

The (Internal) War on Cancer: Using the immune system to fight tumors

Presented by Jernej Godec, Ezana Demissie, and Vikram Juneja The immune system has evolved to recognize foreign invaders into our bodies, such as bacteria and viruses. In a similar fashion, it is able to recognize when healthy cells transform into cancer cells, and attempts to clear them. When patients come to the clinic with a tumor, the immune system has failed at this job, often … Continue reading The (Internal) War on Cancer: Using the immune system to fight tumors

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Exploring the Quantum World: From Plants to Pulsars
Seminars

Exploring the Quantum World: From Plants to Pulsars

Presented by Mike Goldman, Joey Goodknight, and Tansu Daylan What do the interior of an atom, the bottom of a volcanic caldera, and the center of the sun have in common? Mike will begin with an introduction to quantum mechanics, which explores its relationship with our everyday world. Some aspects of the quantum world seem perfectly sensible but other concepts, like superposition, are deeply counterintuitive. … Continue reading Exploring the Quantum World: From Plants to Pulsars

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Seminars

Small Brains, Big Ideas: The value of model organisms to science

Presented by Yuly Fuentes-Medel Model organism systems amenable to genetic manipulation have made seminal contributions to many aspects of modern science. These organisms with small brains have inspired the discoveries of big ideas in such complex problems as cell death, ion channel function, and pattern formation during development. In this lecture you will learn what a model organism is and see some examples, with a … Continue reading Small Brains, Big Ideas: The value of model organisms to science

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Seminars

Investigating Symbiosis in Carnivorous Pitcher Plants

Presented by Leonora Bittleston The idea of a plant eating an animal is very strange. Scientists were ridiculed when they originally suggested plants could be carnivorous. But now we know that carnivory has actually evolved multiple times in plants, in a pattern called convergent evolution. My lecture will discuss how pitcher plants are perfect examples of this, as their particular form has evolved three separate … Continue reading Investigating Symbiosis in Carnivorous Pitcher Plants

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Seminars

Exploring Planets Near and Far

Presented by Anjali Tripathi How many planets are there? What are they like? In this lecture, we will talk about the variety of planets that are found beyond the Solar System. These so-called exoplanets have been discovered near and far, throughout the Galaxy. We’ll talk about the detection of these planets and their location in space, as well as their location relative to their host … Continue reading Exploring Planets Near and Far

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In the Loop with Poop
Seminars

In the Loop with Poop: Intestinal microbes in health and immunity

Presented by Chris Garris Did you know that the average human gut is home to over 100 trillion microorganisms? These numbers are not from a diseased state, but rather are representative of a normal, healthy human gut. Clearly, this suggests that the vast majority of microorganisms living within us are not pathogenic. Animal studies of germ-free or selective gut colonization by microbes provide growing evidence … Continue reading In the Loop with Poop: Intestinal microbes in health and immunity

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Seminars

More Than Food: Exploring human milk as medicine

Presented by Laura Klein Many of us are familiar with milk as a food in our supermarket aisles, whether as a beverage that pairs well with cookies, or as the starting ingredient for cheese and yogurt. But milk is also part of what makes us mammals, a class of animals that produces milk as the first food for our young. Our lecture will begin with … Continue reading More Than Food: Exploring human milk as medicine

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Seminars

Extreme Weather: Causes, Effects, and Connections With Climate

Presented by Ethan Butler, Karen McKinnon, Andy Rhines Extreme weather events, from hurricanes to heat waves, seem to be in the news with increasing regularity.But are extreme events actually increasing in frequency? And do they have a connection to our changing climate? Ethan will begin the lecture with an overview of some recent extreme weather events, and their impact on humans, whether due to flooding, … Continue reading Extreme Weather: Causes, Effects, and Connections With Climate

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