Welcome back to Science Fair, Bwog’s weekly roundup of science events happening around campus. As always, email science@bwog.com if you want your event featured.

Evolutionary Creativity and Artificial Life

  • Monday, May 9, 2022, 11 am to 12 pm
  • Online over Zoom and Milstein 913. Registration required.
  • “This talk will cover innovations in the fields of evolutionary computation and artificial life, which seek to capture the unrivaled generative potential of evolution in computational processes and simulations. A brief introduction to evolutionary algorithms will be given, followed by a discussion about what kids of artificial environments foster the kind of richness necessary for innovation.” More information here.

Feeling the Heat: Tips and Tricks of a Thermosensory Neuron in C. elegans

  • Monday, May 9, 2022, 12 pm
  • Online over Zoom or Fairchild 601. Email biology@columbia.edu for a Zoom link.
  • “C. elegans exhibits the remarkable ability to detect temperature changes of as little as 0.01°C across a 10°C temperature range, and exhibits experience-dependent thermosensory behaviors. Thermosensation in the innocuous temperature range is mediated primarily by the single AFD sensory neuron pair.” Discussions of this research and “ongoing work exploring the temperature experience-dependent transcriptional and non-transcriptional mechanisms that operate in this single sensory neuron pair to drive behavioral plasticity.” More information here.

Stephanie LeMenager – Near Futures: Three Short Essays on Transition Aesthetics

  • Monday, May 9, 2022, 5 to 6:30 pm
  • Online, via Zoom. Registration required.
  • “Transition” as “the profound socio-economic shifts that our climate crisis demands.” and the “psychological or even spiritual atmosphere in the current US and other regions of the North where the hegemonies of liberal modernity and liberal humanism are shattering, where mainstream media channels are overwhelmed by the noise of populist propaganda, where humanities programs are questioning whether “humanities” disciplines can comprehend and adapt, toward decolonial thought, toward the ecological facts of a collapsing climate.” More information here.

Exposomics and Society: Biological, Social, and Ethical Perspectives

  • Wednesday, May 11, 2022, 8:45 am to 4:15 pm
  • Lerner Hall. Registration required.
  • “This conference organizes thematic sessions, each bringing together biomedical science researchers with social scientists and epidemiologists, to explore how exposure to environmental factors interacts with genomic, epigenetic and cellular processes, and may have an unequal and disproportionate impact on marginalized communities, leading to life-long health disparities. The organizers strongly believe that the overall success of the conference depends on facing the issues from both sides and fostering a conversation that cuts across disciplinary boundaries.” More information here and here.

Addressing Algorithmic Harms: Practices and Provocations for Health AI

  • Friday, May 13, 2022, 12 to 1 pm
  • Online. Registration required.
  • “Unique threats to patient safety and well-being from artificial intelligence (AI) in health care applications, such as bias, are now well-recognized. At the same time, policymakers and regulators are grappling with the challenges of evaluating and regulating AI-based technologies in order to minimize these threats”…“This panel will discuss innovative regulatory, policy, and other approaches to minimizing harm to patients from health care AI.” More information here and here.

Perhaps the last time we see the Bird in the vacuum! via Bwarchives