Grab a blanket and some sunscreen and meet us on the front lawn for this free event featuring games, bounce houses, face paint and hands-on activities from the C2ST and the Griffin MSI Education team and some of our incredible community partners.

• Free swag from organizations including The Midwest Dairy Association, Chicago White Sox and Gatorade
• Facilitated STE(A)M activities hosted by Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST), Chicago Architecture Center, Robothink Chicago and more
• The CTA will be bringing one of their historic vehicles
• And so much more to enjoy!

This outdoor event is free and open to the public — food will be available for purchase. Admission to the Museum requires a ticket purchase. Ticketed guests may exit and re-enter freely.

Have you felt political tensions in the US rising? Many report feeling overwhelmed, divided, and, sometimes, threatened when discussing politics. American elected officials have expressed increased concern about their exposure to threats and violence. Has political violence actually increased? If so, what is causing it? How does it affect the country’s public servants? And how does the public respond? Join us as we hear from Dr. Alexandra Filindra, Professor of Political Science and Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago, as we address such questions, using data from recent surveys conducted among public officials and citizens, and infuse a neuroscience perspective to tackle why folks might react the way they do to political tensions.

Interested in the brain science behind political reactions? Here’s a helpful sheet on the brain regions responsible for how we process and integrate political information and the theories that explain our behaviors.

The Chicago Council on Science and Technology and Chicago Public Library present The Science of Pokemon! In the world of Pokemon, adventurous explorers – called Pokemon trainers – can travel far and wide, catching and cataloging fantastical creatures to fill out their Pokedex, a digital index of various pokemon species. While you can’t find a Pikachu in any of the viridian forests on Earth, Pokemon masters have a real-world counterpart in the form of scientists! Scientists can be found in every corner of the world, discovering new species and cataloging their unique characteristics. This real life data collection has become the foundation for the design of Pokemon themselves! We’ve brought a panel of experts from across the sciences to talk to us about the real-life plants and animals that Pokemon are based on. If you’ve ever wanted the chance to have a conversation with Professor Oak, this is the next best thing! We’ve gotta catch them all!

Wild Science Encounters: Beyond the Pokeball

In the world of Pokemon, adventurous explorers- called Pokemon trainers- can travel far and wide, catching and cataloging fantastical creatures to fill out their Pokedex, a digital index of various pokemon species. While you can’t find a Pikachu in any of the viridian forests on Earth, Pokemon masters have a real-world counterpart in the form of scientists! Scientists can be found in every corner of the world, discovering new species and cataloging their unique characteristics. This real life data collection has become the foundation for the design of Pokemon themselves! We’ve brought a panel of experts from across the sciences to talk to us about the real-life plants and animals that Pokemon are based on. If you’ve ever wanted the chance to have a conversation with Professor Oak, this is the next best thing! We’ve gotta catch them all!

Join C2ST and the National Science Policy Network for a conversation with policymakers, legal experts, and researchers as we explore AI’s influence on medicine and the crucial role science policy plays in shaping its future. You’ll have the chance to engage with the experts and share your own questions and insights.

Read more…

Join C2ST at Half Acre Brewery for our next Science Speakeasy. We will be chatting with neuroscientist Austin Lim all about the brain science behind some of our favorite horror and science fiction stories. What real-life science inspired writers to create the scary worlds and characters we enjoy? When were scientists inspired by those scary stories to discover new things? What is happening in our brains when we jump into a scary story?