The environment we are exposed to in the womb shapes our health, even as adults. Learn about efforts to understand how maternal conditions can affect things like obesity and cardiovascular health decades later.
Cochlear implant technology has revolutionized auditory learning for infants with profound hearing loss. Exciting learning and behavioral changes reveal how infants respond to cochlear implants and where the field of auditory prosthetics may focus next.
Color is everywhere in our world, informs our sense of everything. Yet it is at the same time something elusive, mysterious and even sometimes maligned. This lecture will explore why this has been so, and discuss how color has been understood by artists since Isaac Newton.
Even without ears, plants experience an incredible world of vibrations. We will explore the strange universe of plant-borne vibrations, and talk about new research showing that plants pay attention to the crunching of hungry caterpillars.
Our earliest animal ancestors lived nearly 600 million years ago; in the geological blink of an eye, they evolved to representatives of nearly every major animal group known today. We'll talk about how and why this incredible event occurred and more.
Plant domestication began nearly 10,000 years ago, in the tropical lowlands of Central and South America. Come hear what archaeology and paleoethnobotany - the study of ancient plant remains-can tell us about the crops and agricultural practices of Native peoples in the Americas.
There is increasing evidence that information beyond the DNA sequence gets passed from one generation to the next: for example, a father's access to food can alter metabolism in his children. I will discuss our efforts to understand the molecular mechanisms responsible for ancestral control of health and disease.
This talk will introduce some of the basic concepts and models of sociobiology, a field that studies the evolution of social behavior, including altruism and spite. Hear about how cooperation and punishment varies across societies.
The end of February marks Rare Disease Day and this year's focus is on "Living with a Rare Disease". Linh Ngo will describe her experiences with Marfan's Syndrome and Madeline Miller will discuss advances in research for a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
How do molecular machines function in greasy membrane environments? Come learn why the challenges of this environment can facilitate Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
What was life like as a Roman soldier on the Empire's eastern edge? Excavations at Gharandal uncover exciting and surprising finds beneath the sand.
How can we comply with regulations for the disposal of radioactive materials when future conditions and activities are uncertain? Come and find out.
'Next-generation sequencing' is revolutionizing the rate at which genomic data are being collected and data generation is becoming addictive. Here we discuss the process of making biological insights from vast amounts of biological data.
Who are the scientists? How are they trained and how is research funded? We will discuss the reality of how scientific advancement occurs.
Nanotechnology has become an integral part of our everyday living. In this talk, I will give you a nano-peek inside magnetic material of practical importance.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSRA) has become a global public health problem. In a world where antibiotics are failing us, is there a chance to stop it?
A total solar eclipse is coming to the US in 2017. Come learn about eclipses and why EVERYONE should be excited about this coming celestial treat.
Just because it looks clean doesn't mean it is. Learn about the efforts and challenges of Missouri communities to deliver "high quality H2O".
This presentation will demonstrate how different parts of the brain and different neuropsychological processes (i.e., self-focus, other-focus) interact to create spiritual experiences and empathetic behaviors.
The vertebrate eye impresses with its complexity and performance, yet it is also amazingly imperfect. Our current knowledge of eye evolution explains why this imperfection occurs and how natural selection can result in highly complex traits.