Events

    Hybrid Lecture: The Fascinating Feathers of the Sandgrouse

    Location: 

    Online or at Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    The birds that populate the Arnold Arboretum rarely have to go far to find water. In the deserts of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, it's a different story, and the sandgrouse that lives in these arid environments has developed a fascinating adaptation to stay hydrated: these birds have a unique ability to absorb and hold water inside of their feathers. The chicks can't yet fly the long distance from their nests to the watering hole, so adult males make the long journey with the lifesaving water secreted away in their feathers. But how do their feathers hold water so efficiently? Dr...

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    ArtsThursdays: AR/VR Explorations

    Location: 

    Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Join us for a free art + science night at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology!

    This month, we are exploring virtual and augmented reality within the galleries. Meet geologists visualizing seismic events. Try your hand at painting in 3D space using an Oculus headset. Watch how paleontologists digitize research specimens with handheld 3D scanners. Shape landscapes and study water flow in the AR sandbox.

    Artisanal cocktails and mocktails by CraftHouse Bartending will be available for purchase. Valid government ID...

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    Lecture: The Botany of Thanksgiving

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Talking more than turkey: This lecture will celebrate the plants that bring Thanksgiving to life. From stuffing, to cranberry sauce, to potatoes, cloves, carrots, celery, lettuce and sage. Come and explore the biology of this annual feast with Dr. Pamela Diggle, professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut.

    Learn more and RSVP.

    ...

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    Soil to Foil: Aluminum and the Quest for Industrial Sustainability

    Location: 

    Harvard Museums of Science & Culture—Online or at Haller Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    In Soil to Foil (Columbia University Press, 2023), Saleem Ali tells the extraordinary story of aluminum. He reveals its pivotal role in the histories of scientific inquiry and technological innovation as well as its importance to sustainability. He highlights scientists and innovators who discovered new uses for this remarkable element, ranging from chemistry and geoscience to engineering and industrial design. Ali argues that aluminum use exemplifies broader lessons about stewardship of nonrenewable resources: its seeming abundance has given rise to wasteful and destructive...

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    View from Above with Colonel Terry Virts

    Location: 

    Klarman Hall, Harvard Business School, Kresge Way, Boston

    This talk features astonishing aerial images of Earth from Colonel Terry Virts' book and takes of life from the edge of the atmosphere.

    Colonel (USAF retired) Terry Virts has spent over seven months in space during his two spaceflights, piloting the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 2010 and commanding the International Space Station in 2014/2015. He served in the US Air Force as a fighter pilot, test pilot, NASA astronaut, and is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Harvard Business School General Management Program.

    ...

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    Gallery Talk: Seeing in Art and Medicine

    Location: 

    Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

    Join curator Laura Muir for a closer look at portraits from Timm Rautert’s photographic series Germans in Uniform (1974), which are included in the exhibition Seeing in Art and Medicine, on view from September 2 to December 30, 2023. Muir will share insights about the series and encourage participants to reflect on the role uniforms play in constructing our professional identities and the way we relate to others.

    ...

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    Astronomy is for All of Us: Celebrating Women Astrophysicists and the History of Cosmic Discovery

    Location: 

    Harvard College Observatory Plate Stacks, 47 Concord Ave., Cambridge

    During Massachusetts STEM Week, join us for an evening celebrating remarkable women in astronomy from across the galaxy. Enjoy a dynamic lecture on exciting applications of astronomy, explore a captivating exhibition in the Great Refractor, engage in family-friendly STEM activities, and cap off the night with fall refreshments and stargazing.

    • Remarks from Professor Lisa Kewley, Director, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
    • Welcome remarks from Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll, highlighting...
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    Old and New: Herbarium Vouchers and the Plants They Came From

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    The Arboretum's Herbarium contains over 100 thousand dried and preserved plants, and almost half were taken from the Arboretum's own collections. These Herbarium specimens offer a blast from the past for these historic trees, and this unique program offers a chance to see both ends of the timeline: we will begin inside the Herbarium with a look at historical specimens from decades ago, and then head outside to see the trees they grew into.

    ...

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    Future of Cities: Extreme Heat

    Location: 

    Harvard Graduate School of Education, Askwith Hall, 13 Appian Way, Cambridge

    2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record. What do we do next?

    Rising air temperatures are now a fact of life in the world's cities, with major implications for public health and urban design. Join a panel of global experts, innovators, and practitioners to learn more about the impacts of extreme heat on our bodies, our buildings, and our cities–and what individuals and institutions can do to prepare.

    ...

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    Spotlight Tour: Out of This World, with Arielle Frommer '25

    Location: 

    Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

    On this tour, Arielle Frommer ’25 will explore the intersection of art and astronomy in three works: Light Prop for an Electric Stage [Light-Space Modulator] (1930), a reflective kinetic sculpture by László Moholy-Nagy, who had been a professor at the Bauhaus in Germany; Prince Shōtoku at Age Two (datable to about 1292), an iconic Buddhist sculpture from Japan; and The Gare Saint-Lazare: Arrival of a Train (1877), a large canvas that Claude Monet painted in Paris, soon after he began painting in the Impressionist style. An astrophysics student, Frommer will ask, “How does our...

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    Tree Mob: Oaks on Peters Hill

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Oaks are one of the most recognizable trees in New England, and one of the most ecologically important. Join Horticulturist Ryan Devlin for a Tree Mob on the Arboretum's oak collection on Peters Hill and get a closer look at this common but fascinating genus. Learn about oak reproduction, different oak species, mast years, and more through this short landscape talk.

    Learn more and RSVP.

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    Second Sundays

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Come by the Arnold Arboretum for our series of Second Sundays community events, celebrating Peters Hill and the neighborhoods surrounding it. Enjoy family activities, play lawn games, talk to a horticulturist or a scientist, sample local apples, take a tour, and more!

    Learn more and RSVP.

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    Spotlight Tour: Seeing in Art and Medicine, with Genesis Nam '24

    Location: 

    Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

    On this tour, Genesis Nam ’24 will put visitors in the shoes of the radiologists who have participated in the Seeing in Art and Medical Imaging program, which is offered by the Harvard Art Museums in partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The program promotes empathy, mindfulness, and tolerance for ambiguity in the medical community through conversations about works of art, focused on themes such as care, objectivity, and power. The stops on the tour are Shutter (2006), a glazed stoneware sculpture by Rosemarie Trockel, and an Attic grave stele, Woman dying in...

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    National Fossil Day

    Location: 

    Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge

    What treasures are found in the Harvard University paleontology collections? Meet Harvard paleontologists to find out! See their favorite fossils, learn about their research, and ask them your questions.

    Learn about local fossils and where to find them, see what new techniques and technologies are being used to study fossils, and hear about current research projects. Join us to celebrate National Fossil Day with short talks and table-top presentations for all ages.

    Regular museum admission rates apply.

    ...

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    Seeing in Art and Medicine: A Conversation

    Location: 

    Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

    Join us for a lively conversation about the exhibition Seeing in Art and Medicine and the museums’ medical humanities program that inspired it. Presenters include the program’s founders, Hyewon Hyun and David Odo, and exhibition curator Jen Thum. The talk will also include interactive segments based on the work of the program.

    Learn more and RSVP.

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    Cambridge Explores the Universe

    Location: 

    The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden St., Cambridge

    Become an astronomer for a day! Come visit us on Observatory Hill, and see what the Center for Astrophysics has been up to. Enjoy exploration stations that include hands-on activities, telescope tours, and solar observing. There’s even an opportunity to ask our scientists all of your burning space questions at our “Ask an Astronomer” tables.

    Find out the latest discoveries about the sun, exoplanets, and black holes and take your own telescope images using our robotic telescopes, or go on a virtual tour of space using the World Wide Telescope visualization lab- It’s out of this...

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    2023 Science and Cooking Lecture Series

    Location: 

    Harvard Science Center, 1 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Harvard Science and Cooking Public Lecture Series returns in 2023! The lectures pair Harvard professors with celebrated food experts and renowned chefs to showcase the science behind different culinary techniques. The series, organized by Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) is based on the Harvard course “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter”.

    All talks will be on Mondays at 7 pm E.S.T. and will take place in the Harvard Science Center (1 Oxford St., Cambridge...

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