The World Science Festival is taking place in New York this weekend from May 28th to June 1st, and this year there will be a number of really exciting and interesting programs. Don’t live in New York? Pffft, this is science and we live in the future now! You can watch a whole bunch of the events live right here. See? No excuses.
First started in 2008, the World Science Festival is an annual event that’s been hailed by the NYT as a “new cultural institution,” and has hosted notable thinkers like Stephen Hawking, Oliver Sacks, Walter Isaacson, Mary Claire-King, and others. Their website boasts that the physical event has drawn close to a million visitors over the past six years, with millions more watching online.
The first streaming event, the 2014 Kalvi Prizes, will begin on tomorrow at 8am EDT. We’ll be updating this post throughout the weekend to refresh the streams, so if you see something that piques your interest in the schedule (which we’ve crossposted below for you), check back here to watch it live.
Thursday 5/29
8:00-10:00 AM – 2014 Kavli Prizes: The prestigious biennial Kavli Prizes recognize scientists for major advances in three research areas: astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience—the big, the small and the complex. Come watch the 2014 winners announced live via satellite from the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo.
8:00-9:30 PM – Measure for Measure: Quantum Physics and Reality:When no one is looking, a particle has near limitless potential: it can be nearly anywhere. But measure it, and the particle snaps to one position—but just how do subatomic objects shed their quantum weirdness?
8:00-9:30 PM – Cells to Silicon: Your Brain in 2050: For now, brains still need bodies to turn thought into action, but scientists are already building rudimentary mind-to-machine links. Hear how the science fiction dream of uploading new skills and memories directly to your mind might not be too far off.Friday 5/30
8:00-9:30 PM – Designer Genes: Fashioning our Biological Future: Gene therapy, DNA analysis, and genetically modified organisms are entering the mainstream and inspiring heated debates. Our capacity to manipulate life continues to deepen, but how far should we go?
8:00-9:30 PM – Ripples from the Big Bang: Listening to the Beginning of Time: Recently, scientists reported evidence of ripples in the fabric of space-time produced by the Big Bang, a long-sought prediction of our most refined approach to cosmology, the inflationary theory. But has the champagne been uncorked prematurely?Saturday 5/31
2:00-3:30 PM – Better, Stronger, Faster: The Future of the Bionic Body:In the future, deploying engineering and circuitry inside the human body could help erase disabilities—and, more controversially, enhance human capacities beyond their evolutionary limits.
8:00-9:30 PM – Alien Life: Will We Know It When We See It?: When searching for life beyond our home planet, how do we know what to look for? What human prejudices might cause us to overlook intelligent life forms very different from what we expect?
8:00-9:30 PM – The Craving Brain: The Neuroscience of Uncontrollable Urges: Addiction short-circuits the brain’s reward system, but scientists foresee a future in which a simple medical procedure might undo the damage. Join leading researchers studying how addiction changes the very fabric of the brain, and what new insights could mean for addicts trying to win back their lives.Sunday 6/1
1:00-2:00 PM – Cool Jobs: Imagine exploring the Amazon river to dig up a rare breed of leeches, or heading into space to repair the famed Hubble Space Telescope…the World Science Festival has assembled the coolest group of scientists to give you first-hand accounts of the most interesting jobs on the planet.
1:00-2:30 PM – The Deceptive Watchman: Mind, Brain, and Time: The first minute of a roller coaster ride and the ninety-seventh minute in line at the DMV don’t seem to pass at quite the same rate. Time is relative—not just in an Einsteinian way—but because the brain colors and shades its passage.
4:00-5:00 PM – What is Color?: How do you see colors, and do they look the same to everyone? It’s not an easy question. Actor Alan Alda leads this action-packed exploration of the science of the spectrum.
5:00-6:30 PM – Go Figure: Predicting the World with Math: Explore the surprising predictive power of math and the theoretical limits of even the most promising computers of tomorrow. We’re tackling ever more complex problems—but are there some problems simply beyond the reach of machines?
(via World Science Festival)
- Yesterday’s Google doodle celebrated Rachel Carson
- This isn’t suspended animation, but it’s still very cool
- Soon we’ll be able to make a baby with three biological parents
