C2ST’s Science in the City Gala 2016

Please join C2ST for our sixth annual fundraiser gala, Science in the City, on Thursday, May 5, 2016 at UI Labs on Goose Island from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.

Enjoy stimulating conversation with leaders of Chicago’s scientific, business and philanthropic community, take a tour of the digital manufacturing lab** and enjoy a plated dinner. Chicago-based distillery KOVAL will also be hosting a tasting of its spirits. Proceeds from this event will support C2ST’s programming efforts to educate the public on scientific issues of critical importance.

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In the past decade, we’ve heard a lot about the innate differences between males and females. So we’ve come to accept that boys can’t focus in a classroom and girls are obsessed with relationships: “That’s just the way they’re built.”

Lise Eliot, Ph.D., argues that infant brains are so malleable that small differences at birth become amplified over time, as parents, teachers, peers—and the culture at large—unwittingly reinforce gender stereotypes. Of course, genes and hormones play a role in creating boy-girl differences, but they are only the beginning. Social factors, such as how we speak to our sons and daughters and whether we encourage their physical adventurousness, are proving to be far more powerful than we previously realized. As a parent, Eliot understands the difficulty of bucking gender expectations, but also the value of doing so.

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One in ten adults suffer from addiction.

Everyone who has watched a loved one suffer from addiction wonders, “Why are they acting like this? Why can’t they stop?” And people with addictions wonder the same things about themselves. Many people think of addiction as a moral failing, or as a conscious choice—yet neither belief is supported by scientific evidence.

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Saving Giants of the Amazon at Geek Bar Chicago’s SCIENCE! Tuesday

The Rupununi region of Guyana is a mix of lowland savannas and tropical forests. The vast savannas include an expansive network of wetlands that connect the Guyana’s main river drainage, Essequibo River, to the Amazon River during the rainy season. This unique biogeographic feature influences fish communities of the area. One of the fish species found here is in dire need of protection. Arapaima, threatened throughout their range, are the world’s largest scaled fish, weighing as much as 400lbs, and belonging to one of the most ancient lineages of freshwater fish; their ancestors shared the vast wetlands of prehistoric South America with the dinosaurs. They are also a historically important resource for Guyana’s indigenous communities.

Continue reading “C2ST Speakeasy with Dr. Lesley de Souza”