OMSI Hosts Virtual Science Pubs

On Tuesdays, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) is hosting free virtual science pubs via Facebook Live. The local science center has kicked off a new online series of short talks on topics such as geology, ethology and physics.

Since OMSI’s Facebook page is public, you can watch the livestream even without a Facebook account. Visit their page to tune in.  You can also watch the live event on their Youtube channel.

The virtual science pubs are free, but OMSI does encourage a $5 donation that can be made on their website.

Here are the descriptions and details about the upcoming virtual science pubs.

OMSI Virtual Science Pubs

Searching for the Origin of Time in the Brain

Timing is essential for survival: a split second decision can save your life when crossing a busy intersection. The concept of time may emerge by learning associations between consecutive events (lightning followed by thunder), or learning a complex sequence of actions leading to a reward (when playing video games). In this talk, Dr. Mazzucato will share recent results from neuroscience, showing how the amazing temporal variability found in animal behavior may emerge from the collective activity of neurons in the brain. Using neural networks as models of brain circuits, we can explain how sequences of actions are generated by our brain; how we can flexibly control the timing of our reactions to adapt to a changing environment (faster when attentive, slower when distracted); and how we may learn about time by connecting the dots between events occurring at different moments in time.

This talk is Tuesday, August 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Hanford Hazards Update

Come hear the about the most recent efforts to clean-up the Hanford Nuclear Site. Hanford is home to the world’s largest environmental cleanup and work is ongoing to reduce risks at the site. Established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project, Hanford produced plutonium for America’s nuclear weapons program for 45 years. That process created enormous amounts of radioactive and chemically hazardous wastes and impacted the Columbia River at times. Since cleanup began in 1989, there have been some significant accomplishments and some spectacular challenges. Cleanup is not expected to be completed until the 2070s or later. Learn about the extent of contamination at the beginning of cleanup, and the progress and challenges that remain, including the 56 million gallons of high-level waste stored in 177 aging underground storage tanks.

This talk is Tuesday, August 25 at 6:30 p.m.

After the lectures there will be a Q&A session. You will be able to easily ask your questions via the comment section on the Facebook Live. For more information, visit OMSI’s website.

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