Presents

Nothing is more treasured — and mysterious — than the bond between mother and child. After a mother gives birth, her brain and body change in ways that enable her to care for the new life. Bianca Jones Marlin examines the brain dynamics behind these changes, some of which are ‘remembered’ in the genes and passed down for generations. In her talk, she will challenge the age-old concept of ‘nature vs. nurture’ and show how a bridge between learned and innate animal behaviors is built. Audience members will also have an opportunity to participate using their senses to explore the real-time effects of neurochemicals in social learning.

Behind the Curve provides a peek into the world of Flat Earthers. In the film, proponents share their reasoning and discuss their experimental approaches to proving their world view. Scientists and professional science communicators, including astronaut Scott Kelly, give their take on the flat Earth conspiracy and discuss the current scientific views on conspiracies and the possible consequences of a lack of critical thinking in society.

At first glance, the Sleeping Beauty problem appears to be a simple question about probability. But since being proposed 19 years ago by philosopher Adam Elga, the problem has incited passionate debate in the philosophy community. In this talk, Peter Winkler will describe the famous thought problem about a dozy princess being awoken once or twice depending on the toss of a coin.

Award-winning author Isabella Tree will recount the challenges and successes of restoring the wild ecology of her 3,500-acre farm.

The Most Unknown is an epic documentary film that sends nine scientists to extraordinary parts of the world to uncover unexpected answers to some of humanity’s biggest questions. How did life begin? What is time? What is consciousness? How much do we really know?

By introducing researchers from diverse backgrounds for the first time, then dropping them into new, immersive field work they previously hadn’t tackled, the film pushes the boundaries of how science storytelling is approached. What emerges is a deeply human trip to the foundations of discovery and a powerful reminder that the unanswered questions are the most crucial ones to pose.

In this talk, John Allen Paulos speaks about his memoir A Numerate Life - A Mathematician Explores the Vagaries of Life, His Own and Probably Yours. Moving back and forth seamlessly between personal vignettes and mathematics, Paulos offers up a path-breaking way to look at our lives and, not so incidentally, impart some deep mathematical understanding. This is a more personal human endeavor - the telling of our life stories. Paulos will ask: How does a mathematical sensibility change our attitudes toward memoirs and biographies and lead us to reevaluate our own lives?