Welcome back to Columbia and to Science Fair, Bwog’s weekly roundup of science events happening around campus. As always, email maggie@bwog.com if you want your event featured, especially if you are part of an undergraduate club!

A Crisis of Trust: The University, Regulatory Science, and the Ethical Challenges of Our Time

• Tuesday, November 18, 1 to 2 pm
• In person at the Vagelos Education Center, Room 902, and online via zoom. Registration required.
• It is obvious that the relationship between science, medicine, and politics is in a state of crisis. The social contract which previously gave trust to medical institutions is breaking down, and the previous autonomy of universities is being increasingly threatened by political interference. How does this impact biomedical research? What does this show about public mistrust of science? This event will reconsider areas for intervention and rebuilding both trust and academic freedom.  Learn more.

Fentanyl Test Strip & Naloxone Training

• Tuesday, November 18, 1 to 2 pm.

• John Jay Hall, Third Floor Conference Room. Registration not required.
• Join Columbia Health to learn the facts on opioid overdoses and how to treat and respond to them. Those who take the training will learn how to use fentanyl test strips and administer naloxone. Attendees will also be able to take a fentanyl test strip or a naloxone kit. More information.

Human Rights and Climate Change Post-COP 30

• Thursday, November 20, 12:00 to 1:00 pm.
• Center on Global Energy Policy, First Floor. Registration optional.
• Hosted by the Center on Global Energy Policy’s Women in Energy initiative, this interactive discussion will feature Monica Medina, SIPA Adjunct Professor and former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, sharing reflections from COP 30 in Brazil. The session will explore the growing debate about balancing climate mitigation with adaptation, equity, and public health, as well as recent international legal developments holding major emitters accountable. More information.

SEAS Colloquium in Climate Science with Tiffany Shaw, U of Chicago

• Thursday, November 20, 2:45 to 3:45 pm.
• In person at Mudd Hall, Room 214. Registration not required.
• This Seas colloquium will feature Prof. Tiffany Shaw from the University of Chicago discussing “Fast upper level jet stream winds get faster under climate change.” Her research examines how climate change is projected to accelerate upper-level jet stream winds, with fast winds (>99th percentile) increasing ~2.5 times more than average wind response. The findings have implications for commercial flight times, clear-air turbulence, and severe weather occurrence. More information.

AI & a New Archival Impulse

• Thursday, November 20, 5:45 pm to 7:30 pm
• In person at Schermerhorn Hall, Room 612. Registration required.
• The Center for Comparative Media will explore emerging archival and artistic challenges generated by our rapidly evolving relationship with AI. To recieve pre-circulated texts, email comparativemedia@columbia.edu. More information.

Lecture Series in AI: Jingren Zhou, CTO Alibaba Cloud

• Friday, November 21, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm (check-in at 10:30 am).
• Schapiro CEPSR, Room 412. Registration required.
• Hosted by Columbia Engineering, this lecture will feature Jingren Zhou, CTO at Alibaba Cloud and Fellow of ACM and IEEE, discussing “Building Foundation Models at Scale: System Experiences and Challenges.” Dr. Zhou will share experiences developing Qwen (large language models) and Wan (video generative models), covering major systems challenges in training and inference at scale, including distributed computation, parallelization strategies, and trade-offs among throughput, latency, cost, and availability. More information.

Header via Madeline Douglass