October 27, 2016

British International School of Chicago, Lincoln Park
814 West Eastman Street, Chicago, IL, USA

The human race, like all macrobiological life, evolved in a sea of microbes. There was no way to keep the bacterial and archaeal hoards at bay, so instead life evolved mechanisms to live with these invaders. The immune system was refined over millions of years to control our interaction with the microbial world, and even to use it as a mechanism of defense, food processing, and vitamin production. Read more…

October 6, 2016

Loyola University Center for Translational Research & Education
2160 South 1st Avenue, Maywood, IL, USA

The brain is what allows us to function, yet we understand little about how it works.

Using electrodes implanted inside people’s brains during surgery we can learn how thinking, deciding, feeling and dreaming works. In this talk, you will learn about the current neuroscience research about the way our neurons code our behavior, and how understanding this can help us grasp the nature of free will and our identity kernels. Read more…

Running 26.2 miles.

The human body wasn’t exactly designed to accomplish this, let alone very easily.

The toll a marathon takes on a body cannot be taken lightly: the inflammatory storm caused in the body can wreak havoc, affecting myriad bodily functions. In order to achieve this feat of athleticism. one must prepare, with months of training and strategic planning. Read more…

September 28, 2016

Shedd Aquarium
1200 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL, USA

The area with the most diverse marine life on earth, an area with more documented species than any other place on the planet, is the Verde Island Passage. A ten-mile wide strait in the Philippines, this area lies at the heart of the Coral Triangle, an area in the western Pacific Ocean which includes the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands. Read more…

The drinking you do in your teenage years may affect your children.

Underage drinkers in the United States account for over 20 percent of all alcohol consumption in the United States. Over 90 percent of underage drinking is consumed in binge drinking patterns, defined as raising the blood alcohol level above the legal driving limit (0.08%) within two hours. Read more…

August 17, 2016

Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Center
400 South State Street, Chicago, IL, USA

Female apes are easily overshadowed by their larger, more boisterous male counterparts. Thus, the nature of female social relationships has been shrouded in mystery. The subtlety of social behavior in female chimpanzees belies a complex set of strategies that allow them to navigate the costs and benefits of group life.

Read more…