CARTA: Origins of Genus Homo – Carol Ward: Evolution of Early Human Body Form New fossil evidence of hominin diversity suggests that there was not a single transition to human-like body form in early Homo. In this talk, Carol Ward explains how this may be changing our ideas about the origins of our genus. Recorded on 02/05/2016.
	The Insider's Guide to the R/V Sally Ride Scripps Oceanography welcomes America's newest oceanographic research vessel: R/V Sally Ride. The ship features the most advanced oceanographic research tools available, and is named in honor of America's first woman in space, science advocate, and UC San Diego Professor, Sally Ride. Gain an insider's look at what it takes to design, build, and run one of the most important tools modern day explorers will use to understand and protect the planet. Recorded on 10/10/2016.
	Breathing Matters Jack Feldman, a distinguished professor of neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, shares the series of remarkable revelations he has made about breathing and the brain. Recorded on 10/17/2018.
	Chemical Bits: Finding New Drugs Using Computers with Stefano Forli Scripps Research's Stefano Forli shares about his work using computational tools to screen large libraries of compounds using methods such as high throughput virtual screening (HTVS) or designing focused virtual libraries based on specific synthetic pathways to identify molecules that can act as biological probes and novel therapeutic agents. Recorded on 01/26/2019.
	Beginnings in the Brain: Complex Waves from Cortical Organoids Model Early Human Brain Development A detailed overview of a study conducted by Alysson Muotri's lab at the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program which found complex network signaling developing in human cortical organoids that appear to recapitulate fetal brain development, offering an in-vitro model to study functional development of human neuronal networks.
	The Ocean's Stethoscope: How Technology is Being Used to Study Fish Populations - Exploring Ethics Sooner or later, the food requirements of nine billion people with increasing appetites for seafood must be addressed. Although aquaculture may supply the majority of the global 'seafood', most aquaculture is fed meal from wild caught fish, such as sardine and anchovy. To estimate the distributions and abundance of these and other small fish off the west coast, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center routinely conducts "acoustic-trawl" surveys. David Demer will briefly describe the vessels, instrumentation and methods that are used to conduct these surveys, and provide a virtual tour of the world-class facilities in La Jolla that are used to develop the next generation of autonomous, ocean-sampling technologies. Join us to learn more about this exciting technology and be part of a discussion about possible ethical challenges.
	In the Mood: Deciphering Complex Brain Signals The human brain contains approximately 86 billion neurons, and 100 trillion connections between those neurons. Despite our inability to image each neuron and determine their exact connective patterns, several approaches for noninvasive imaging of the living brain have been developed and utilized to great benefit. LLNL scientist Alan Kaplan explores the immense landscape of the human brain and quantifies the brain in terms of data flow. Then describes engineering applications of recorded electrophysiological data and explores methods for analyzing such data to determine the pattern of signals that arise during various activities and mood states. Recorded on 02/09/2019.
	California's Alpha Clinics: Bringing Science to the Clinic Creating Cures for You Alysson Muotri and Catriona Jamieson discuss how cutting-edge stem-cell-based cures will reach patients through California's network of Alpha Clinics.
	Working with Natural Born Killers: Using Natural Killer Cells to Improve Cancer Immunotherapies Natural Killer - or NK - cells are one of our immune systems most potent defenses, able to attack viral infections and destroy cells that exhibit tumorigenic characteristics. UC San Diego physician Dr. Dan Kaufman, who has specialized in treating blood cancers for over 20 years now leads a research group at the UC San Diego Stem Cell program that is using induced pluripotent stem cells to generate NK cells that are targeted to destroy cancer cells. With the goal of providing safer, more effective, off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapies, the methods his lab has developed are being employed in a first-of-its-kind clinical trial anywhere in the world being conducted at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.
	How Do We Know Humans are Impacting the Health of Our Planet? - Exploring Ethics The ocean plays a major role in regulating Earth's temperature through exchange of chemicals and microbes with the atmosphere. When waves break, ocean-derived biological species including viruses and bacteria are transferred into the atmosphere. These species can ultimately form clouds, altering precipitation and climate. Highlights will be presented of novel experiments being conducted in a unique ocean-atmosphere simulator developed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE). Kimberly Prather, Professor of Climate, Atmospheric Science, and Physical Oceanography at UC San Diego will focus on recent CAICE studies aimed at advancing our understanding of how the oceans influence human and planetary health. New insights will be discussed as well as future studies designed to unravel human versus microbial impacts on the changing Earth's system.
	Using Stem Cells to Research the Brain - Health Matters Stem Cell research could unlock the mystery of what makes the human brain special. Researcher Alysson Muotri is using stem cells to grow tiny versions of developing human brains in his lab to study everything from autism to the Zika virus. His lab is even looking into how space flight impacts brain development.
	A New Focus for Energy Efficiency Our planet is experiencing worldwide growth in energy consumption and CO2 emission and is experiencing temperature rise and climate change at an accelerating rate. This video introduces the Institute for Energy Efficiency at UC Santa Barbara and describes a path to reducing our energy consumption and CO2 emission. In his talk, John Bowers, Director of the Institute of Energy Efficiency and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Materials, discusses the evolution of photonics and what the future holds for more efficient, higher capacity data centers, which are important for machine learning and data processing. Recorded on 05/16/2019.
	The Uncharted Mind: Gender Diversity Drives Scientific Discovery Understanding how the brain works has traditionally been undertaken by men and about men but cognitive neuroscientist Emily Jacobs argues that diversity of researchers and their research is what drives science innovation. She discusses several studies undertaken in her lab so that questions about the brain can benefit women and men equally. Recorded on 06/26/2019.
	Sensory Implications of Brain Organoids with Patricia Churchland What defines consciousness? Can it develop in a petri dish? Patricia Churchland reviews the current state of brain organoid research and shares her views on how conciseness and physical structures within the brain intersect. She also cautions the media on the tendency to "over hype" new research advances. Recorded on 10/04/2019.
	Neural Organoids Are Not Brains in Vats with Evan Thompson Recently, some scientists have asked whether neural organoids will ever be conscious, and have wondered about the ethical implications of this possibility. Meanwhile, some philosophers have argued that neural organoids are miniature versions of "brains in vats." Evan Thompson feels that both scientist and philosophers should shift their thinking. He argues that the minimal instantiation of sentience is organismic - not just neuronal, and that conscious processes of moral interest require embodiment and the capacity to suffer. Recorded on 10/04/2019.
	The Ethics of Brain Organoids with Alysson Muotri Christof Koch Patricia Churchland Evan Thompson Leading voices in philosophy and neuroscience wrap up a conference on the ethics of research using brain organoids with questions from the audience. Panelists: Christof Koch, Chief Scientist and President of the Allen Institute for Brain Science; Patricia Churchland, Emerita Professor, UC San Diego; Evan Thompson, Professor of Philosophy, University of British Columbia; and Alysson Muotri, Director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell program. Recorded on 10/04/2019.
	Adding Soft to Robotics Elliot Hawkes's research focuses on bringing together design, mechanics, and non-traditional materials to advance the vision of robust, adaptable, human-safe robots that can thrive in the uncertain, unstructured world. He shows two projects; gecko-inspired adhesives to make a climbing robot and vine-inspired robots to navigate in cluttered environments. Recorded on 07/24/2019.
	Maturational Constraints on Learning: Impact of Early Life Deprivation on Cognition - Elissa Newport Our ability to learn languages fully and fluently changes over age. Young children are remarkable in learning languages so well – often much better than adults. Elissa Newport (Georgetown University) discusses how we have evolved to have such outstanding language learning abilities during childhood which do not continue throughout life. Recorded on 10/11/2019.
	Uncovering Mechanisms of Neglect in the Maternal Brain Early Life Deprivation Danielle Stolzenberg In 2017 alone, an estimated 674,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect in the United States and over 1,000 of these children died from maltreatment. Mothers were the perpetrators in 69% of these cases. How does dysfunction in the maternal brain arise? Danielle Stolzenberg (UC Davis) describes new research that has shed some light on how the brain regulates maternal and neglectful responses to infants with a particular emphasis on how the brain might change as mothers transition between these two behavioral states. Recorded on 10/11/2019.
	Researching CS Education to Drive Equity and Effectiveness Equitable and effective CS instruction is essential for broadening participation in computing, responding to the growing demand for computer scientists, and guiding the expansion of CS at the K12 level. Harvey Mudd College's Colleen Lewis shares a brief background of her work in this area and current projects from two newly-funded five-year NSF grants focused on understanding and optimizing CS learning, and understanding and removing barriers to CS. Recorded on 10/23/2019.