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Science in the Streets

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Science in the Streets: A free public engagement event from the History of Science Society Thursday, Nov 21, 3-6 pm, Boston Convention & Exhibition Center [I have asked  Conevery Bolton Valencius , who teaches at UMass Boston, to write a guest post about an event she is helping to organize at this year's HSS.  Many readers of this blog are interested in popular science & science popularization, and I urge everyone to join us for what promises to be a fascinating discussion!] Current newspaper headlines make clear how anti-science and science-illiterate many Americans are, at least about some political issues.  But there are effective and interesting efforts going on all around to engage people in the workings and the wonderings of science.  Further, historians of science are doing a lot of that work – and sometimes have particular insight about what is new or very old about rhythms of scientific skepticism or scientific enthusiasm.  At next week’s annual...
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Tuesday, June 18, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club presents “Robot (R)Evolution” with Biologist and Cognitive Scientist John Long

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Humans have backbones, as do tens of thousands of other creatures . But why? To discover how vertebrates evolved, biologist John Long uses futuristic technology to peer deep into the past. He creates  bio-robots that simulate the behavior of animals, both living and extinct. His bio-robots search for resources, compete for mates, deal with threats—and adapt. Author of the recently published book, Darwin's Devices: What Evolving Robots Can Teach Us About the History of Life and the Future of Technology , Dr. Long asks: --How do bio-robots evolve? Is robot sex just zeroes and ones? --What does it mean to be intelligent? Are big brains really necessary? --How can evolvabots re-create conditions known only from 500-million-year-old fossils? --What can shark robots teach us about human evolution? How do robo-prey escape robo-predators? John Long is chair of the biology department, professor of biology and cognitive science, and director of the Interdisciplinary ...
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The Secret Science Club presents Computer Scientist Christoph Bregler, Tuesday, January 12, 8 PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

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He's Got the Moves: Computer Scientist Christoph Bregler lectures on "Virtual You" Don't move a muscle . . . Every human being has a unique body signature. Your hand gestures. Your facial expressions. The way you walk. Computer scientist Christoph Bregler of NYU's Courant Institute is a master of analyzing and recreating such subtleties--designing systems to track human movement and train computers to recognize and animate all that "you-ness." Jumping off from recent collaborations with dancers, animators, film producers, and game designers, Dr. Bregler discusses: -- motion capture in science and entertainment --massive multiplayer "Mocap" games and flying "Squidballs" -- "Obama-ness" versus "Palin-ness" --his "GreenDot" iPhone app, an experiment in community video and nonverbal expression Before & After --Groove to animated tunes --Try our machine-coded cocktail of the night, the Wet Wire --Sti...
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