[Computer rendering of DNA. Via Caroline Davis2010 on Flickr & CC 2.0] The Talk: “DNA-mediated Signaling with Metalloproteins” In Plain English: DNA can conduct electricity–like metal wire–and that helps the cell life The Speaker: Jacqueline Barton of Caltech The Sponsor: MIT Inorganic Chemistry (invited by the grad students) What It Covered: When Jacqueline Barton’s lab …
“Should I go to science journalism grad school?” I’ve been asking myself that question since my junior year of undergrad, and I asked myself every day I spent MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing. In fact, I’m still asking myself that question. Hi. My name is Diana Crow, and I’m a science writing grad school …
The Talk: “Planetary Changes from Deep Time to the 4th Kind” In Plain English: Life doesn’t just adapt to geochemical features; it transforms them simply by…living. The Speaker: Andrew Knoll of Harvard and David Grinspoon of the Planetary Science Institute The Sponsor: Planet and Life Series, sponsored by MIT Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences dept. …
The Talk: Storming the Ivory Tower: Why autism interventions don’t work as they should in the community and what to do about it In Plain English: Autism treatments & management techniques that succeed in neuroscience labs often fail in public schools. (And we really, really need to figure out why…) The Speaker: David Mandell of …
Every week, I compile a list of biology-related talks at the universities and museums around the Boston Metro Area. A pdf of this week’s complete list can be found here. (PDF includes links to event details.) This week I added a new section called “Out of Town But Intriguing” that includes talks at colleges outside …
This past Saturday, I got to listen in on an all-star panel sponsored by the Future of Life Institute on the potential risks and benefits of technologies like artificial intelligence, personal genetics, and automated factories. We heard from George Church, one of the world’s best-known synthetic biologists, on the future of bioengineering; Ting Wu, director …
Every week, I compile a list of biology-related talks at the universities and museums around the Boston Metro Area. A pdf of this week’s complete list can be found here. (PDF includes links to event details.) There aren’t very many talks this week, because almost everybody is busy graduating and/or being on summer break, but …
The Talk: Killing a Midwest Generation In Plain English: How a Chicago non-profit from a low-income neighborhood got an asthma-inducing coal plant shut down The Speaker: Kimberly Wasserman of Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) The Sponsor: Fossil Free MIT What it covered: When Kimberly Wasserman of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) took …
The Talk: The BICEP2 Results and What They Mean: The First Observation of Gravitational Waves from the Early Universe In Plain English: The guys who came up with gravitational wave theory explain the gravitational wave story that’s been blowing up everybody’s Facebook feed in terms undergrads can understand The Speakers: Alan Guth of MIT (the …
The Talk: Cardiac Reprogramming: From Developmental Biology to Regeneration In Plain English: How to turn the heart-dwelling cells that build connective tissues into replacements for damaged heart muscle cells The Speaker: Dr. Deepak Srivastava, MD of UC-SF‘s Gladstone Institutes The Sponsor: MIT Biology Colloquium What it covered: Dr. Deepak Srivastava is a cardiologist who experiments …