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Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

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Museum of Science, Boston

One of the world's largest science centers, the Museum of Science, Boston attracts 1.6 million visitors a year through vibrant programs and over 550 interactive exhibits. Its mission is to stimulate interest in and further understanding of science and technology and their importance for individuals and society. Other features include the Thomson Theater of Electricity; Current Science & Technology Center; Charles Hayden Planetarium; Gilliland Observatory; and Mugar Omni Theater. The Museum's exhibit plan, Science Is an Activity, has been awarded several National Science Foundation grants and profoundly influenced exhibit development at other major science centers.

http://www.mos.org

Media and Women's Health: Sorting Fact from Fiction

Fri, May 6, 2005

Judy Norsigian, an expert in women's health issues and founder of the landmark book, *Our Bodies, Ourselves*, examines the media's increasing impact on women's medical decisions and public perception of illnesses such as breast cancer, depression, and addiction. Recorded for the 2005 National Women's Health Week. (Photo: "[Messalina by Eugène Cyrille Brunet](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Messalina_by_Eug%C3%A8ne_Cyrille_Brunet.JPG#/media/File:Messalina_by_Eug%C3%A8ne_Cyrille_Brunet.JPG "")" by Caroline Léna Becker - Self-photographed. Licensed under CC)

Mental Health Month

Partner:

Museum of Science, Boston
Monsters, Dwarfs, and Everything in Between

Wed, Apr 20, 2005

Sally Baliunas discusses how physics enables us to study rare and distant stars, from monsters 100 times heavier than the sun, to white dwarfs no larger than Earth but more than 100,000 times more dense. Baliunas explains that inside the nucleus of an atom, the laws of quantum mechanics successfully describe the domain of the incredibly small; yet the same laws influence the very large, including such objects as stars.

Forum Network

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Museum of Science, Boston
Roy Gould: Who Needs Physics?

Wed, Apr 6, 2005

Roy Gould, a researcher at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics tackles the question of how physics will help reveal the true nature of the cosmos.

Forum Network

Partner:

Museum of Science, Boston
David Charbonneau: Oddballs in the Cosmos

Wed, Apr 13, 2005

David Charbonneau, the Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University, takes time to discuss the possibility that, in the great cosmos, our solar system could be the exception to the cosmic rule, and not the standard model. The diversity of planets detected around our neighboring stars has taken astronomers completely by surprise. Recent unprecedented glimpses into distant worlds and their atmospheres have astronomers pondering exactly how these oddball planets came to be, and whether, after all, our own solar system might be the cosmic rarity.

Forum Network

Partner:

Museum of Science, Boston
Early Universe and the Origin of Galaxies I

Wed, Sep 21, 2005

Join us for the first in an eight-part lecture series that examines the "arrow of time" of cosmic evolution.

Forum Network

Partner:

Museum of Science, Boston
Birth and Death of Stars and Planets I

Wed, Sep 28, 2005

Astronomer Michael Shara and planetologist Dimitar Sasselov explore the many varied changes that have produced our star and our planet as we examine the "arrow of time" of cosmic evolution.

Forum Network

Partner:

Museum of Science, Boston
Growing New Body Parts

Tue, May 3, 2005

Tissue engineering involves the application of the principles and methods of engineering and the life sciences towards the development of biological substitutes to restore, maintain, or improve functions of tissues or organs. It is expected that engineered tissues can help address the growing problem of tissue and organ failure by implanting tissue substitutes grown in the laboratory that can provide immediate function and integrate with surrounding host issues. The field relies on an interdisciplinary approach to solve complex tissue and organ problems in the laboratory. Teams of engineers, biologists and clinicians are essential to the successful engineering of these systems. Requirements for tissue engineering generally include a cell source (often stem cells), biomaterial scaffolds (the structures upon which the cells will stick, grow and produce new tissue) and a bioreactor (laboratory environment designed to mimic some of the conditions present during normal tissue development). With the advanced systems we now have, tissues similar to those in our body can be generated in the laboratory. As a result of active research in the area, new opportunities become available, including the repair and replacement of damaged or diseased tissues in the body, the use of these tissues for the study of disease formation and progression (such as cancer), and therapeutic treatments (such as to identify new drugs). We have prepared a set of four presentations to illustrate some of the exciting opportunities that tissue engineering offers to clinical medicine.

Forum Network

Partner:

Museum of Science, Boston
Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth I

Wed, Oct 5, 2005

Lynn Rothschild, NASA astrobiologist, talks about cosmic evolution. Cosmic evolution is the modern scientific story of who we are and whence we came; the story of us.

Forum Network

Partner:

Museum of Science, Boston
Onset of Civilization and Prospects for the Future I

Wed, Oct 12, 2005

Fred Speir and Jill Tarter examine the continuously unfolding story of cosmic evolution, the modern scientific story of who we are and whence we came.

Forum Network

Partner:

Museum of Science, Boston
Doctors Without Borders in Niger

Sat, Nov 5, 2005

Milton Tectonidisas and Jonathan Spector describe Plumpy'nut, a revolutionary new approach that Doctors Without Borders is using to treat malnourishment in Niger; and they discuss what this technique could mean for how the organization will respond to nutritional crises and famine in the future. Doctors Without Borders has traditionally treated malnourished children through both supplementary feeding centers for the moderately malnourished and inpatient therapeutic feeding centers for the most severely malnourished. The organization is now moving toward a new approach, enabling medical teams to reach tens of thousands more children. Thanks to a new therapeutic nutritional technology called Plumpy'nut, Doctors Without Borders now treats severely malnourished children on an outpatient basis, allowing children to return home when they would normally be hospitalized. With the help of Plumpy'nut, Doctors Without Borders has a 90% cure rate in its outpatient programs in Niger and has treated 40,000 children so far in 2005.

Global Health

Partner:

Museum of Science, Boston