Press Release

Tales From the Sea: How do Baby Fish and Other Marine Species Find Forever Homes?

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How do fish and other marine species find forever homes? How long do they remain drifters?

Adults spawn and release eggs that hatch into larvae that temporarily join the drifting communities of the open ocean, plankton. What happens from there is not easy to study–larvae are tiny; almost invisible, and the ocean is huge. In this talk you will learn about the unique strategies and characteristics that fish and invertebrates use to increase their odds of survival as they search for a coral reef. For example, baby lobsters hitch rides on and make meals of floating jellyfish, as they surf the current. Baby fish may stay together as a group by grunting, and many species can follow signals from the sun, stars, wind and waves to find the right home.

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Blog Post

March and the Birth of Another Giant of Science

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By Sanford (Sandy) Morganstein

It will be the 138th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s birth on March 14.

Einstein once wrote to Freud: “[Great men] have little influence on the course of political events. It would almost appear that the very domain of human activity most crucial to the fate of nations is inescapably in the hands of wholly irresponsible political rulers.”

Ouch!

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Video

Dr. Herman B. White: Particle Physics & Romantic Love

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Dr. Herman Brenner White was the first African-American physicist hired by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He is also the first African American to have a scientific equation bear his name: the Stefansky-White Model for Neutrino Production. For Valentine’s day & Black History Month, Chicago Council on Science and Technology Artist in Residence Aaron Freeman talks with Dr. White about the intersection of particle physics and romantic love.
Blog Post

The March for Science: An Opportunity to Mobilize

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By Janet McMillan

Many within the scientific community have expressed fear that a March for Science, like the Woman’s March, will become divisively political, and widen divides between scientists and skeptics. This is a self-defeating perspective: this divide is wider then it has ever been, and will continue to widen regardless of whether scientists march. The benefits of speaking out far outweigh this potential damage: there is an overwhelming need to strengthen communication between scientists and the public, and the current political climate provides an opportunity for this conversation to happen in an unusually impactful way.

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Blog Post

February and the Birth of Scientific Giants

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By Sanford (Sandy) Morganstein

February is an especially good time to think of the scientific method and its deep connection to truth.  It’s also a good time to think about the relationship of science to the citizen’s role in emphasizing truth.

Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809.  Galileo Galilei was also born in February (February 15, 1564).  Whether or not you like the over-simplification of tagging Galileo as the “father of the scientific method,” you still might appreciate the view that Darwin is the intellectual godson of Galileo.  Both Darwin and Galileo upset deeply held established views on the nature of, well, nature!  Both suffered as a result…but, importantly, to differing degrees.

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