World Science Festival Courses

World Science Festival

Rewiring the Brain: The Promise and Peril of Neuroplasticity

Syllabus: Introduction Welcome What is brain plasticity Critical periods The importance of critical periods Technology and plasticity Control of plasticity Reopening brain plasticity Dolphin II Immersive Experience Brakelike factors Reopening a critical…

• YouTube
• 1-2 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

The Deep: Exploring Earth’s Last Frontier

Syllabus: Intro Welcome What drives each of you The Deep Ocean The Descent The Bottom Map of Manhattan How important is having a live person How much of the ocean has been mapped The history of deep diving Life in the deep ocean Marine snow Vickys experi…

• YouTube
• 1-2 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

Sacred Nature with Karen Armstrong

Syllabus: Introduction Mythos Myth vs Truth Logos vs Mythos The denial of death Science Ego dissolution Mythical poetic action Your individuality doesnt matter Historical transition Karens view of God Karens PhD was rejected The importance of reverence f…

• YouTube
• Less than 1 hour of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

School’s Out, but Science Never Stops: Live Discussion with Brian Greene

Syllabus: Introduction String Theory Theory of Everything Black Holes Hawking Radiation Gaia Telescope Mission Where did all the stuff for the Big Bang come from Does inflation assume a preexisting space Are there physically viable ways to construct clos…

• YouTube
• 1-2 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

Riddles of Reality: From Quarks to the Cosmos

Syllabus: Intro The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics The fundamental substrate of our world The power of mathematics Making better models Deeper structure What drives you Foundations Black Holes Strong Nuclear Force Why cant you isolate quarks H…

• YouTube
• Less than 1 hour of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

Lifespan Expanded: The Scientific Quest For A Fountain Of Youth

Syllabus: Introduction Guest Introductions Is aging inevitable Is aging a disease Superagenarians Telomeres Long telomeres Cell senescence What is inflammation The hallmarks of aging Cellular qualities of aging Exosome Senescent cells Unified approach Wh…

• YouTube
• 1-2 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

Science, Life, and Purpose: a Conversation With Francis Collins and Brian Greene

Syllabus: Introduction Meet Brian Greene Brians background Francis background Scientific Orientation The Emergence of Life The Infinite regress The morality argument Good and evil Faith in science Human Genome Competition The Human Genome Does God set ev…

• YouTube
• Less than 1 hour of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

Mind Your Language: Thought, Metaphor and Imagination

Syllabus: Intro Interview with Noam Chomsky Alfred Russel Wallace The strongest evidence Oneoff chance event The Fermi Paradox Language as an instrument of thought The inner voice The capacity for thought The limit of our language Human creativity Langua…

• YouTube
• 1-2 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

Our Mathematical Universe: Brian Greene & Max Tegmark

Syllabus: Introduction Max Tegmark The spectrum of views The dimensionality of space Mathematical description of particles How humble are we Artificial Intelligence Humility What is mathematics Multiverses Space Time Our Mathematical Universe Selfawarene…

• YouTube
• 1-2 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

Steven Weinberg and the Quest to Explain the World

Syllabus: Intro Who was Steven Weinberg The power of mathematics Meeting Steven Weinberg Meeting Weinbergs Parents Giving Credit Electroweak Ideas Electroweak Unification Weinbergs Approach The First Three Minutes Differential Geometry Advice for Student…

• YouTube
• Less than 1 hour of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

Alan Alda: The Art of Communicating Science

Syllabus: Intro Introduction Host of Scientific American Frontiers Improv The Flame Challenge Richard Feynman Marie Curie Communication in the digital world The Alda family A special announcement

• YouTube
• Less than 1 hour of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

WSU Master Class: From Chemistry to Living Materials: Matter & Sound with Markus Buehler

Syllabus: Introduction Module Overview How are things built How do spiders build webs The team Discussion Scanning the Spider Web Vibrations and Waves Virtual Reality Experiment Case Study Can we use sound to design new materials Universality of vibratio…

• YouTube
• 1-2 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

The Believing Brain: Evolution, Neuroscience, and the Spiritual Instinct

Syllabus: - Introduction - Overview of religious beliefs - Panelist intros - Panelists share personal religious beliefs - Broadening our views of belief - Do other animals have a sense of spirituality? - What is evolutionary psychology? - Are hum…

• YouTube
• 1-2 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

Alien Contact: What Happens Next?

Syllabus: - Participant intros - How are scientists searching for intelligent life? - Sending messages into space - What kind of alien signal are we likely to detect? - Would we be able to interpret an alien signal? - What is the closest that intel…

• YouTube
• 1-2 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

World Science Festival

Rethinking the Internet: How We Lost Control and How to Take it Back

Syllabus: - Opening film - Jaron Lanier intro - Mass behavior modification - Algorithms in social media - Business model of social media - Symptoms of social media addiction - Following without knowing we’re following - Social media role in propag…

• YouTube
• Less than 1 hour of material
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course