|
CAPITAL
SCIENCE EVENINGS
|
Season| Thursday |
September 30, 2004 6:45 PM |
Robert Langer
Chemical
Engineering Department, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (photo by John Nikolai)
Biomaterials and How They Will Change Our Lives
Soon, you may have a “bionic” man or woman living next door and not even know it. The rapid pace of development in biomaterials seems almost limitless. New materials combined with drugs are beginning to treat problems ranging from cancer to heart disease. Microchip delivery systems of medicines will give new freedom, and the combination of mammalian cells with synthetic polymers will soon provide new treatments for patients with paralysis, extensive injury, or burns. What's next?
| Thursday |
November 4, 2004 6:45 PM |
Maria
Zuber - (video
on demand: low bandwidth -
;
high bandwidth -
- help)
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Climate Change on Mars
Something big happened on Mars. For years scientists believed the climate changed drastically from a watery past to a present-day frigid desert. But now that we have close-up views from unmanned space vehicles, it's the new Mars. It's the wetter, perhaps younger, but definitely way cooler Mars. Come and hear the latest about the red hot planet.
| Thursday |
January 6, 2005 6:45 PM |
Leroy
Hood (video
on demand: low bandwidth -
;
high bandwidth -
- help)
Institute for Systems Biology
Systems Biology: Changing Biology, Medicine, and Society
For those of you who hate the current system of health care, we bring you a glimpse of medical marvels to come: systems biology. Large data sets of the human genome that enable researchers to study biological systems may revolutionize medicine. Individuals could have predictive, preventive, and personalized care. Can we deliver?
| Thursday |
February 17, 2005 6:45 PM |
Greg
Asner (video
on demand: low bandwidth -
;
high bandwidth -
- help)
Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution
Eyes in the Sky: Air and Space Observations of Our National and Global Ecology
Carnegie's Greg Asner climbs mountains, flies in small aircraft, deep-sea dives, takes photographs, and uses satellites, all to give a thorough check of our ecosystems on Earth. Join us for his diagnosis of the Earth's biosphere and a prognosis for our planet's future.
| Thursday |
March 10, 2005 6:45 PM |
Laura-Ann
Petitto (video
on demand: low bandwidth -
;
high bandwidth -
- help)
Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Department
of Education, and Director, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory for Language &
Child Development
Dartmouth College
How the Brain Discovers Language
Communicating with language is something that almost every baby learns spontaneously. But the neural basis of language is very complex. Laura-Ann Petitto will explain how language acquisition is driven by our uniquely human capacity to detect, discern, and generate highly specific patterns found at the core of human language.
| Thursday |
April 7, 2005 6:45 PM |
Margaret
Geller (video
on demand: low bandwidth -
;
high bandwidth -
- help)
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
How to Make a Milky Way
Join Margaret Geller for a biography of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Throughout the fourteen billion year history of the universe, galaxies like ours develop by merging with their neighbors. Modern observations enable us to uncover this history within the Milky Way and to see other similar galaxies in their youth.
| Thursday |
May 12, 2005 6:45 PM |
Sean
Carroll
Laboratory
of Genetics, University of Wisconsin
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Butterflies, Zebras, and Embryos: Genetics and the Making of Animal Diversity
A new area in biological research—“Evo Devo,” for short—may be the key to understanding why and how the animal world has developed the spectacular evolutionary diversity we see all around us. From horseshoe crabs to giraffes to your new little nephew, this lecture will focus on the processes that have forged the animal kingdom.
Previous lecture seasons: