C2ST in the News

Local science community rallies around opposition to Trump, plans march

By Patrick M. O'Connell, Chicago Tribune

Originally published at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-trump-scientists-chicago-met-20170319-story.html

In Illinois coffee shops and theaters, scientists and science fans gather to plan a march. At government offices they fret about the appointment of Cabinet leaders who hold skeptical views on climate change. And in labs they worry about the freeze on their research projects.

The regional science community has felt apprehension since the early days of Donald Trump’s presidency — concerns that further crystallized Thursday with the release of the administration’s budget proposal. Trump seeks deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and other areas of federal government that rely on scientific research.

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Press Release

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

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

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

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

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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