Distinctive Voices — Climate change in the press
Public interest in news stories about climate change is at an all-time high. NPR Climate Correspondent Rebecca Hersher talks about how demand for stories about extreme weather, climate science and climate-related public policy has grown, how journalists can approach such stories and the important role of scientists, physicians and other experts in informing the public.…
Read MoreDistinctive Voices — Humble Creative Machines: A Higher Aim for Generative AI
Once the stuff of science fiction, creative machines are now reshaping culture and daily life. Much of today’s AI innovation reflects a sci-fi fantasy: the all-knowing oracle, an AI that ultimately surpasses its creators across the board. That dream powered extraordinary breakthroughs, but it also boxed the field into a narrow vision of what AI…
Read MoreCultural Programs—Symmetries & Broken Symmetries: Shanthi Chandrasekar and Michael Albrow
Distinctive Voices — Why Don’t We Live in an Anti-Universe?
According to all the known laws of physics, the Big Bang should have created a Universe consisting of both matter and antimatter. However, the Universe doesn’t contain any antimatter, which is why most people have never even heard of it. In this talk Dr. Hutzler will discuss this mystery of the missing antimatter, and how…
Read MoreWrong Answers Only: Climate and Health
Cultural Programs—NAS Building Timeline and Promethean Sparks
Distinctive Voices — Collective intelligence, or not: lessons from social insects
Human society or health, ecosystems or engineered systems: the processes most relevant to our lives all depend on collective behavior, that is, are shaped by the actions and interactions of many semi-independent units, whether they be people, cells in our bodies, species of organisms, or nodes in a biological or engineered ‘neural network’. What types…
Read MoreDistinctive Voices — Swells, Soundings, and Sustainability… But “Here be Monsters”
The lecture Swells, Soundings, and Sustainability… But “Here be Monsters,” will begin with a brief history of how the ocean has been mapped with ships, satellites, and intuition. In her lecture, Dr. Wright will also explain how modern-day mapping systems have become increasingly intelligent. These systems are changing what we measure, how we analyze, what predictions we…
Read MoreSpecial screening of award-winning LA Times documentary OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT
Distinctive Voices — Exciting times for US bee conservation
The US is on the cusp of dramatically transforming how we conserve bees and other insects, which have been historically excluded from many major conservation efforts. This presentation will share some of the exciting new directions for US bee conservation, the impact these projects will have on our imperiled bee fauna, and how you can…
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