Winter 2006

01/21/2006 | Evolution: The Fossil Record and the Origin of Whales -- Philip Gingerich (U-M Museum of Paleontology)

Evolution is a science of change through time, founded in the 18th and 19th centuries to describe and explain fossils that geologists observed to differ in successive layers of the earth’s crust. Microevolutionary studies in paleontology link species through close intermediates and address change on short time scales. Macroevolutionary studies trace profound changes in body plans through longer intervals, as seen in the origin and early evolution of whales.  

01/28/2006 | Nanomedicine -- A New Frontier for Physics -- Jens-Christian Meiners (U-M Physics)

Life emerges on the nanometer length scale between the size of a molecule and a cell. Discover the often surprising and counterintuitive physical principles that govern biological systems on that scale, and look at how they inspire new approaches in the development of medical diagnostics and therapeutics.  

02/04/2006 | Evolution of Infectious Diseases: from Host-Parasite Arms Races to Superbugs -- Johannes Foufopoulos (U-M Natural Resources)

Pathogens have always existed in a changing environment where keeping up with the quickly shifting immune defenses of the host is key for survivial. Because of their impressive capacity to respond rapidly to change, bacteria and viruses have been able to evolve multiple molecular answers to many of today's antibiotics. Learn how the rise of antibiotic resistance can impact your life and what is being done to deal with this challenge.  

02/11/2006 | Genomes and Evolution -- George Zhang (U-M Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)

How big is a genome and what elements are in a genome? How does the genome change in evolution? Do genomic studies provide any novel perspectives on the structure, function, and evolution of cellular life? How will genomics change our daily lives in the future?  

02/18/2006 | Natural Selection & the Regulation of Defense Responses: How Much Suffering is Enough? -- Randolph Nesse (U-M Psychiatry and Psychology)

If natural selection is so great, then why is life so full of pain, cough, nausea, fever, anxiety and fatigue? A signal detection analysis reveals it is for the same reason that smoke detectors scream when we make toast. Knowing that most instances of defensive arousal are unnecessary but completely normal offers the missing scientific foundation for deciding how we should use new drugs.

03/11/2006 | How Old: The Physics of Dating Artifacts -- Fred Becchetti (U-M Physics)

Documenting the course of evolution depends on the accurate dating and sequencing of ancient artifacts. Physics has provided some of the primary techniques for doing this, in particular radioactive dating such as C14 dating. The basic techniques and some of the recent developments in this field will be reviewed together with some of the implications.

03/18/2006 | Scientific Uncertainty and Public Policy: Moving On Without All the Answers -- Henry Pollack (U-M Geology)

One frequently hears scientific uncertainty offered up as an excuse to avoid making important public policy decisions. We will hear about sources of uncertainty, both real and 'manufactured', and offer perspectives on why policy formulation must proceed in the face of uncertainty.  

03/25/2006 | Mars and the Evolution of Thought -- Eric Rabkin (U-M English Language & Literature)

Once the gods fought in our heavens; now we see the orderly progress of stars. Once the night sky harbored our enemies; now we see planets as resources for the taking. This lecture will consider how, driven in part by our changing understanding of the Red Planet, these shifts and others reflect the evolving of self-conceptions of humanity.

04/01/2006 | Evolution of Robotics -- Peter Swanson (FANUC Robotics America, Inc.)

Take a look at how an industrial robot works, and how it has evolved with improvements in processing power and control technology. See how robotic technologies are being used in telepresence and autonomous vehicles. Look to the future as haptics, prosthetics, and exoskeletons begin to blur the line between human and robot.  

04/08/2006 | Evolutionary Guide to the Tree of Life -- David Mindell (U-M Museum of Zoology, U-M Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)

Observe an illustrated overview of life's diversity together with discussion of the history of evolutionary thought, and the computational challenges involved in discovering the patterns of life's diversification over the past 3.8 billion years.  

04/22/2006 | Applied Evolution: Domestication, Disease, Crime & Culture -- David Mindell (U-M Museum of Zoology, U-M Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)

Understand how evolutionary biology is much more than an explanatory concept, and that it is indispensable to the world we live in. When we domesticate wild species for agriculture or companionship; when we manage our exposure to pathogens and prevent or control epidemics; when we foster the diversity of species and safeguard the functioning of ecosystems; and even when we link biological crime scene evidence to suspects: in each of these cases, evolutionary biology is applied.