HOME /

Events

    Civilizing the Internet of Things

    Location: 

    Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge,

    The Internet of Things (IoT) is a deeply interconnected ecosystem of billions of devices and systems that are transforming commerce, science, and society. IoT technologies can be used to disrupt, exploit, bias, bully, and intrude as well as to make our lives safer, more efficient, and more convenient. Join Francine Berman, Edward P. Hamilton Distinguished Professor in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in an exploration of the larger social and environmental ecosystem needed to develop an IoT that maximizes benefits, minimizes risk, and promotes individual protections...

    Read more about Civilizing the Internet of Things

    Recreational Marijuana and CBD: Public Attitudes, Science and the Law

    Location: 

    Online webcast from The Forum at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

    In the last decade, Americans’ relationship with cannabis has transformed: today, dozens of states have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use and American farmers can grow hemp on an industrial scale. Meanwhile, shoppers can find cannabidiol (CBD), which is derived from cannabis but does not produce a “high” like marijuana, in everything from oils to vapes, chocolate bars, cosmetics—even dog treats. Some say CBD can relieve stress, pain, anxiety, and more, with no side effects. But the evidence for many of these claims is limited, and state and federal laws around the sale...

    Read more about Recreational Marijuana and CBD: Public Attitudes, Science and the Law

    Science and Cooking Public Lecture: "Dialogue between Science and Cooking at El Celler de Can Roca. Evolution"

    Location: 

    Harvard Science Center, Lecture Hall C, 1 Oxford St., Cambridge

    This lecture is part of the Science and Cooking Public Lecture series, which pairs Harvard professors with celebrated food experts and renowned chefs to showcase the science behind different culinary techniques.

    “Dialogue between Science and Cooking at El Celler de Can Roca. Evolution”
    Featuring:

    • Joan Roca (@CanRocaCeller), El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain, best restaurant in the world 2013 and 2015
    • Heloise Vilaseca (@heloiselois), director of R&D, El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain
    • Dimou...
    Read more about Science and Cooking Public Lecture: "Dialogue between Science and Cooking at El Celler de Can Roca. Evolution"

    The Remarkable Nature of Edward Lear

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Join the Harvard Museum Natural History for a public lecture with Robert McCracken Peck, Curator of Art and Artifacts, Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University.

    Edward Lear (1812–1888), best known for The Owl and the Pussycat and other nonsense poetry, was also an accomplished painter of birds, mammals, reptiles, and landscapes, and an adventurous world traveler. His paintings of parrots, macaws, toucans, owls, and other birds are among the finest ever published. Robert McCracken Peck will discuss the remarkable life and natural history paintings of this...

    Read more about The Remarkable Nature of Edward Lear

    Pulsatility and the Search for Life

    Location: 

    Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge

    Pulsation permeates the universe at every scale, from heartbeats to pulsars. Join the artist Dario Robleto and the astrophysicist Abraham (Avi) Loeb, both of whom engage deeply with pulsatility in their work, for a conversation on how the arts and sciences can explore a common set of understandings.

    This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. 

    ...

    Read more about Pulsatility and the Search for Life

    Paleovirology: Ghosts and Gifts of Ancient Viruses

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Join the Harvard Museum of Natural History for a public lecture with Harmit Malik, Principal Investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

    Human genomes are ancient battlegrounds of arms races waged between viruses and their hosts for millions of years. Just as historians reconstruct battlefields to better understand historical battles, evolutionary biologists and virologists can reconstruct how ancient viruses affected their hosts by analyzing their “fossil” remains in our genomes. Paleovirology is the study of such extinct viruses. Harmit Malik will discuss...

    Read more about Paleovirology: Ghosts and Gifts of Ancient Viruses

    Adversity, Belonging, and Survival Among Baboons

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Join the Harvard Museum of Natural History for a public lecture with Susan Alberts, Robert F. Durden Professor of Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University. 

    The social environment—both in early life and adulthood—has major effects on human health and survival. But how and why does the social environment get “under the skin” to also affect our physical health? Susan Alberts pursues this question by studying wild baboons in Kenya. Baboons, like humans, evolved as savannah dwellers. They rely on social relationships to solve problems and—like humans...

    Read more about Adversity, Belonging, and Survival Among Baboons

    The Diffusion and Adoption of Welfare-Enhancing Innovations

    Location: 

    Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge

    Todd Rogers is a behavioral scientist and professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Using his two decades of work in behavioral policy as a base, he will discuss his current research into what leads to welfare-enhancing innovations and practices. In particular, he aims to help scholars and practitioners design, identify, and invest in innovations that are likely to successfully scale.

    This event is free and open to the public. 

    ...

    Read more about The Diffusion and Adoption of Welfare-Enhancing Innovations

    The Once and Future Heart

    Location: 

    Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge

    For centuries, in both the arts and the sciences, the human heart has been a source of reverence and marvel. In this conversation, the artist Dario Robleto, whose exhibition at the Radcliffe Institute rethinks the deep history of cardiological recording, and Doris A. Taylor, a leading scientist in regenerative medicine, will discuss the surprising opportunities for both the arts and sciences to converge around new insights and questions of the human heart.

    This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. 

    ...

    Read more about The Once and Future Heart

    The Peril and Promise of Solar Geoengineering

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Solar geoengineering research aims to reduce the impacts of global climate change. One possibility is to put aerosols into the stratosphere to alter Earth’s energy budget. This emerging technology entails risks and uncertainties, along with serious challenges to global governance. The greatest threat, perhaps, is that it will be used as a technical fix and encourage people to avoid the emissions cuts that are fundamental to curbing long-term climate risks.

    Lecturer David Keith will describe the simple physics underlying the climate’s response to stratospheric aerosols, the...

    Read more about The Peril and Promise of Solar Geoengineering

    Fabulous Fungus Fair

    Location: 

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

    Explore the wondrous world of fungi! Join Harvard students for a closer look at the mushrooms, yeasts, and molds found in gardens, forests, and labs—even in our own refrigerators. This is an opportunity to investigate fungal diversity and participate in hands-on activities led by Harvard students.

    Note: Regular museum admission rates apply.

    Learn more about Fabulous Fungus Fair.

    Read more about Fabulous Fungus Fair

    National Fossil Day

    Location: 

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

    Celebrate National Fossil Day with ancient trilobites, sea scorpions, saber-toothed cats, giant ground sloths, and more. Meet Harvard paleontologists and learn about the amazing prehistoric animals on exhibit. Bring your curiosity and questions to this event for all ages!

    Note: Regular museum admission rates apply.

    Learn more about National Fossil Day.

    Read more about National Fossil Day

    An Evolutionary Journey through Domestication

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    As the earliest farmers began to select wild plants and animals that had desirable traits, they initiated a series of genetic changes in these species that gradually made them more suitable for agriculture. Plants became easier to grow, had greater yields, and were of higher quality. Animal species exhibited favorable changes in behavior, coat color, and reproductive traits. Barbara Schaal will discuss how the artificial selection of these species—a pivotal technological achievement—has influenced their genetics, evolution, and capacity to flourish in the care of humans.

    ...

    Read more about An Evolutionary Journey through Domestication

    Reptile Day

    Location: 

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

    Celebrate reptiles! Join Harvard students from the Harvard College Conservation Society for a variety of reptile themed activities including a scavenger hunt, storytime, and crafts. Come learn about the history and diversity of reptiles, and why they need to be conserved! All ages are welcome.

    Please note: Regular museum admission rates apply.

    Learn more about Reptile Day.

    Read more about Reptile Day

    Wildhood: Coming of Age on Planet Earth

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Adolescence is dangerous, difficult, and destiny-shaping for humans and other animals. In Wildhood (Simon & Schuster, 2019), Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers look across species and evolutionary time to find answers to a single, consequential question: Why do some adolescents safely, successfully, and independently enter the adult world, while so many others do not? The authors apply the results of their five-year study of wild animal adolescence to our species, presenting a new understanding of the dangers, stresses, and challenges we face on our journeys to...

    Read more about Wildhood: Coming of Age on Planet Earth

    Exhibit: Visual Science: The Art of Research

    Location: 

    The Special Exhibitions Gallery, Science Center 251, 1 Oxford St., Cambridge

    This exhibit features images and objects drawn from a variety of disciplines and time periods that show the importance of visual experiences in science. Images have played many roles in scientific research. Images can record fleeting observations, whether a painting of an animal glimpsed in the field or an interaction between sub-atomic particles that lasts a millisecond. They can also make unseen things visible.

    Physical models can make abstract mathematical concepts into something that researchers can touch; properly arranged, sand, metal plates, and a violin bow can make...

    Read more about Exhibit: Visual Science: The Art of Research

    All That Glitters Is Gold: Gravitational Waves, Light, and the Origin of the Heavy Elements

    Location: 

    Knafel Center, 10 Garden St., Cambridge

    Edo Berger, professor of astronomy at Harvard University, will discuss his efforts to explore the long-standing question of how gold and other heavy elements are created in the universe. In particular, his work aims to demonstrate the creation of these elements in neutron star collisions detected through their gravitational wave emission and the implications of the answer.

    Learn more about and...

    Read more about All That Glitters Is Gold: Gravitational Waves, Light, and the Origin of the Heavy Elements

Pages