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Forum Network

Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

Funding provided by:
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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

  • Aerodynamics of Sports: High-Performance Equipment

    Mon, Feb 16, 2004
    **Dr. Kim Blair** shares how he and his students turn work into play and influence world class sports from bicycling to mountain climbing. Blair describes what the New England Patriots, Lance Armstrong, and Tiger Woods all have in common. In addition to being champions and having large salaries, all of their performance has benefited from sports engineering. From safer helmets to faster bikes, aeronautics and computer modeling have helped to improve the performance of a world of sports equipment and those that use it.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Museum of Science, Boston

  • Next Generation Communication Technologies

    Wed, Jan 14, 2004
    This discussion looks at the current and potential uses of communications technologies and what the implications may be for today and tomorrow. From the invention of the telegraph in 1837 to modern day digital cell phones and GPS navigation systems, communication technologies have come a long way in a short time. Communication devices now serve a broad range of uses, from controlling satellites more than a billion miles from Earth to communicating with tiny networks of devices inside the human body.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Museum of Science, Boston

  • Out of Hibernation: Exposing the Secret Lives of Bears

    Mon, Mar 1, 2004
    John Foster introduces us to black bears, the often misunderstood bear species that is making a population comeback all over New England. Foster, the founder of the New England Naturalist Training Center, has spent a lifetime with these furry creatures, and shares his insight and photographs.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Museum of Science, Boston

  • Nanotechnology: The Next Small Thing?

    Wed, Jan 21, 2004
    Nancy A. Burnham, W. Grant McGimpsey, and William Durgin discuss consumer products that take advantage of the possibilities of nanotechnology, and what we can expect to see on the market in the near future. The computer industry is continually working to make transistors smaller, cheaper, and faster. As systems become tinier, they behave in ways that are fundamentally different from those made on a macroscopic scale. Because of this great difference, nanotechnology presents new opportunities and possibilities.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Museum of Science, Boston

  • Transit of Venus: Passing the Sun

    Wed, Apr 7, 2004
    David A. Aguilar and Jay M. Pasachoff discuss June 8th, 2004, when we on Earth will witness Venus passing in front of the Sun for the first time in 122 years. This phenomenon, known as the transit of Venus, is one of the rarest of planetary alignments. The transit lasts about 6 hours and is visible from most of Europe, Africa, and Asia though, similar to an eclipse, it cannot be witnessed without a sun filter. Observations of the transit were used in the 18th and 19th centuries to determine the size of the solar system. That method has since been dismissed for its impracticality, but the transit will provide much opportunity to develop and test new techniques for the study of planets outside our solar system.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Museum of Science, Boston

  • Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Airplane

    Fri, Feb 7, 2003
    Tom Crouch, expert on the Wright Brothers and senior curator at the National Air and Space Museum, discusses how Wilber and Orville Wright started revolutions in transportation, warfare, leisure, and communication, and changed how we all see our world: as a whole. Before the Wright Brothers took their historic flight in north Carolina almost 100 years ago, jetting off to Bermuda was about as realistic as vacationing on Mars.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Museum of Science, Boston
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    Artist's Talk: Chris Jordan on "Running the Numbers"

    Fri, Apr 30, 2010
    An Artist's Talk with Chris Jordan about his *Running the Numbers* series. Sociologists tell us that the human mind cannot meaningfully grasp numbers higher than a few thousand. Yet, understanding the consequences of our choices requires us to comprehend the incremental effect of millions or billions of small acts. Photographer Chris Jordan’s large-format prints, assembled from thousands of smaller photographs, dramatically translate the raw language of statistics into powerful images of global mass culture that we can respond to emotionally.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Museum of Science, Boston
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    Food, Glorious Food: Our Palate vs. Our Planet?

    Fri, May 7, 2010
    Celebrity foodies Joanne Chang and Corby Kummer, along with national food-sustainability expert Helene York, explore the relationship between our love affair with food and our desire to protect the planet.
    Forum Network
    Food and Wellness
    Partner:
    Museum of Science, Boston

  • An Evening with "Her Deepness" Sylvia Earle

    Wed, May 12, 2010
    Marine biologist Sylvia Earle, discusses her book, _The World Is Blue_, which reveals a global ecosystem on the brink of irreversible environmental crisis unless we act immediately. Sylvia Earle, the first woman to walk freely on the ocean floor (at a depth of 1,250 feet), has been called “Her Deepness” by The New Yorker and The New York Times. An Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society since 1998 and named Time magazine’s first “hero for the planet,” Earle has been at the forefront of deep ocean exploration for four decades. She is a dedicated advocate for the world’s oceans and the creatures that live in them.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Museum of Science, Boston
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    Halsey Burgund: Ocean Voices

    Fri, Jul 30, 2010
    A performance of sound artist Halsey Burgund's *Ocean Voices*. Musician and sound artist Halsey Burgund, in collaboration with marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols, has used a collection of audio recordings from people around the world as they reflect about the ocean to create *Ocean Voices*. Interwoven with live music by Burgund and his band, *aesthetic evidence*, and video footage of underwater scenes, these audio recordings create an inspired and inspiring performance that represents a collective human response to the ocean.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Museum of Science, Boston
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