How do our experiences, such as learning how to play music and playing sports, affect our brain? Although we are surrounded by sound all of the time, we rarely give much thought to this invisible yet powerful companion. The auditory system is a uniquely complex sensory system and the ability to make sense of sound relies on exquisite precision by the brain. Given the complexity and precision of the auditory system, accurate sound processing is particularly vulnerable to head injury. On the other hand, its precision can be honed by activities that exercise the auditory brain such as playing a musical instrument.

Continue reading “Head Banging: How Music and Concussions Impact Brain Health”

Most of us know what it feels like after a long night with little or no sleep, but do we know the wide-reaching effects such nights can have on our health?

Continue reading “Sleep and Clocks, Windows to Health”

Part of Illinois Institute of Technology’s Wanger Institute for Sustainability Energy Research (WISER) 2018 Distinguished Lectureship Series.

For most of our existence, humans have been sustained by solar energy harnessed on the same timescale as its use. Only in the last two centuries have we become dependent on fossil resources. Continue reading “Challenges and Opportunities in an Emerging Solar Economy”

Huge downpours, massive flooding, heat waves, prolonged droughts—these extreme events are occurring more frequently, and with greater intensity. “100-year-floods” are occurring every year or two; should we consider these weather events the new ‘normal’? How are cities and regions responding and planning under such uncertainties? Continue reading “Extreme Storms”