Hello and welcome back to Science Fair, Bwog’s weekly roundup of science events happening around campus. I hope you find joy in these fun events after break! As always, email science@bwog.com if you want your event featured.

The History and the Present of the Green Revolution

  • Tuesday, March 24, 4:30 pm to 6 pm.
  • Knox Hall, Room 207. Registration required.
  • India’s Green Revolution helped solve food scarcity in the 1960s, but critics argue it inflicted socio-economic and ecological injustices. Prakash Kumar, Associate Professor of History at Penn State, examines the long historical past that paved the way: colonial legacies, partition and refugees, Nehruvian ideals of community participation, land reforms, and post-independence reconstruction. Join Professor Kumar to discuss how contingent history is often hidden by a dominant technocratic narratives and bureaucracy. More information.

The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence

  • Wednesday, March 25, 11:45 am to 1:00 pm.
  • Uris Hall, Room 107. Registration not required.
  • What does the economic data actually say about AI hype? Avi Goldfarb, Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare at University of Toronto, argues that AI is likely the next general purpose technology with outsized impact on productivity and living standards, but like electricity and the internet, this depends on redesigning systems, not just inserting AI into existing processes. Explore economic models of AI’s implications for existential risk, jobs, inequality, market power, and misinformation. More information.

Off the Spectrum: The Lost Girls of Autism

  • Wednesday, March 26, 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm.
  • Barnard Hall, James Room. Registration recommended.
  • For decades, autism research has focused overwhelmingly on boys and men, as some researchers even see autism itself as “masculine.” This event goes beyond highlighting autism’s manifestations in women and girls to illuminate the entangled matter of gender/sex, autism, and neuroscience, exposing the devastating effects of systemic gender bias in autism research and services. Hosted by the Barnard Center for Research on Women. More information.

Water for Life Screening

  • Wednesday, March 26, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
  • Jerome Greene Hall, Room 107, 435 West 116th Street. Registration recommended.
  • A screening of Water for Life, which explores the collision of water rights, Indigenous beliefs, and resource extraction through the lives of three Latin American community leaders. The right to clean water is a global issue, and in Latin America it has become a matter of life and death. Food will be served along with a discussion with the director! More information.

Saturday Science: The Human Machine

  • Saturday, March 28, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
  • Columbia’s Jerome L. Greene Science Center. Registration recommended.
  • Join the Zuckerman Institute to explore how your brain works, adapts, and keeps you going. Through hands-on activities and interactive demonstrations, discover the amazing systems that help your brain think, move, and grow stronger over time. From forming new connections to learning and creating, our brains are constantly changing and responding to the world. More information.

Science Fair via Madeline Douglass