Watch part 2 of this program here.

Moderator Mike Nowak chats with leading experts from The Morton Arboretum and across the United States about how cities and suburbs are leading the effort to combat global change, turning to trees to ensure their communities are healthier, cooler, and more sustainable places to live. Find out ways that you can get involved and influence your communities.

Panelists: Chuck Cannon, PhD – Director of the Center for Tree Science at The Morton Arboretum Colleen Murphy-Dunning – Director of the Hixson Center for Urban Ecology and the Urban Resources Initiative at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in New Haven, Conn Bill Schlesinger, PhD – Biogeochemist and president emeritus at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York Lydia Scott – Director of the Chicago Region Trees Initiative (CRTI), a collaboration between The Morton Arboretum and approximately 165 partner organizations across the region Jeff Walk, PhD – Director of conservation at The Nature Conservancy in Chicago

April 9, 2019

The Force, lightsabers, AI robots (with a sense of humor), hyperdrive, life on other planets, the Death Star – these phenomena presented in Star Wars have captured the imaginations of millions of moviegoers. We’ve seen nothing like them in the real world.  Might we someday?

On April 3, 2019, Dr. Dirk K. Morr, Professor of Physics at University of Illinois at Chicago, walked a large audience assembled at the Harold Washington Library Center through each of these phenomena and offered his take on how they square with the laws of Science, at least as we understand the scientific principles today.  It was a fascinating presentation, well worth your time to view on C2ST’s YouTube Channel (the presentation included film clips, music and very cool graphics).  Here are a few bottom lines from the program.

Continue reading “The Science of Star Wars: Fact, Fiction or Something in Between?”

As a part of our ongoing initiative to introduce students to STEM professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds, Horizon Pharma and The Chicago Council on Science and Technology visited Perspectives Math and Science Academy to talk to students about college and entering STEM fields. Check out our newest interview. Learn more about our partners Horizon Pharma: https://www.horizonpharma.com Perspectives Math and Science Academy: https://pcsedu.org/pcs-our-campuses/p

[Originally published on makeitbetter.net. Read the original article here.]

Chicago is home to many of the world’s largest scientific powerhouses and one organization is making sure Chicagoans know about the cutting-edge work that is being conducted around them. The Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST) works to increase the public’s understanding and appreciation of science and technology and their impact on society.

The council has grown to encompass much of the Chicago area and done its best to create a place where anyone from anywhere can come to learn. In the past 11 years, C2ST has developed quality public STEM programming that showed the wealth of science and technology talent in the region while clearly defining societal implications of the research showcased.

 

Continue reading “Science Lovers, Mark Your Calendar”

Watch the Q&A here.

Diversity in academia is in the public spotlight. Yet, despite some important strides for women in academic science careers, many workplaces and their cultures discriminate against women and can endanger them – professionally, psychologically, and even physically. Recent findings have played an important role in shaping new policies at field sites, universities, professional organizations, and funding agencies. Rutherford and Arreola will summarize this work and share suggestions from the evidence and from the recent NASEM (The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) #ScienceToo report for improving the academic climate for women.

Did you know there may be quantum calculators in your eyes? The bizarre properties of quantum mechanics are now helping neuroscientists more precisely understand how brains and other living things work. Join C2ST for a live recording of “Chicago Brain Buddies” with the dynamic hosts: University of Chicago neurobiology professor Peggy Mason and C2ST Artist in Residence Aaron Freeman. They are joined by physicist Maria Weber for a lively exploration of how quantum entanglement in the retinas of birds help them “see” magnetic north and how electron superpositions (their ability to be in many places simultaneously) may be involved in memory formation and storage.