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Premiere Performance of Last Summer - A New One-Act Play by Jim Ottaviani
The University of Michigan Summer Symposium in Theoretical Physics brought great minds from all over the world to Ann Arbor for 15 years between WWI and WWII. One evening in 1939, Enrico Fermi tried to convince his friend Werner Heisenberg not to return to Germany, where he would certainly be compelled to help the Nazis develop nuclear weapons.
Last Summer is a new one-act play about this pivotal conversation, based on the physicists' own writings, written for the stage by award-winning science comics writer Jim Ottaviani, and produced in partnership with the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre.
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AAPI Washtenaw Oral History Project - Cynthia Yao
Cynthia Yao was born in Kingston, Jamaica, where her parents settled after immigrating from China. In 1959, she moved to Boston to attend Emmanuel College. She met Edward York-Peng Yao who was at Harvard finishing his PhD in Physics. They married and came to Ann Arbor where they raised four children: Michelle, Mark, Steven and Lisa. She received a Master of Museum Practice from the University of Michigan in 1979. She was inspired by science centers and children's museums that she visited with her children. Yao proposed to the city a museum in the former firehouse building and worked with many community members to create the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum which opened on October 13, 1982. She served as Executive Director for 18 years.
Note: Cynthia and Ed’s eldest daughter Michelle passed away in 2022, after the recording of this interview. All four of their children have successful careers–three became doctors, and one became an engineer.
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JCC Conversations | Thomas Zurbuchen – Inside NASA
Chuck Newman interviews Thomas Zurbuchen, a distinguished Swiss-American astrophysicist. Dr. Zurbuchen has been the Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA since October 2016. He is responsible for the selection of NASA’s missions and their implementation. Get the inside scoop about NASA’s achievements and plans straight from the source!
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JCC Conversations | Andrew Nagy
Little did they know that the Nazi’s would soon invade Hungary and how desperate their fight for survival would be. Join Chuck Newman and hear the amazing story of how Andrew Nagy survived WWII in Budapest in significant part due to the heroic efforts of University of Michigan graduate Raul Wallenberg.
He subsequently escaped Communist Hungary and eventually immigrated to the United States where he became a distinguished Professor of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan. He still consults for NASA at the age of 89.
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Nerd Nite #71 - The Science of Switch Feel
Push buttons, knobs, touchscreens…Every day, we interact with hundreds of different switches around us, to do everything from prepare our coffee, type out our emails, turn ON the lights, drive our cars and everything in between. But have you ever paused to think about what goes into designing each of those micro-experiences? Have you thought about makes them all feel a certain way? How do you quantify and specify ‘feel’? Join me to learn about what makes our world click.
About Sagar Kamat: Sagar is an Automotive engineer by the day, where he helps craft the next generation of automotive user interfaces, and an all-out nerd by night, susceptible to frequent trips down the black hole of the internet reading about the vaguest of topics. Currently going through a podcast phase, he finds it difficult to carry on a conversation without, at least once, saying ‘Have you heard this podcast…..” You can read his blog at sagarkamat.com or find him on Twitter at @sagarkamat.
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Nerd Nite #68 - The Brain "Wants" What The Brain Wants
Over the course of evolution our brains have become excellent at detecting rewards (e.g. food or a potential mate) in our environment and in turn generating motivation to obtain that reward. While this system was originally necessary for survival, it can easily become maladaptive in a world where access to rewards (such as high-calorie food, drugs and alcohol, gambling) are present in abundance. Unfortunately, this reward detection system can become hypersentitive in some individuals, in turn causing excessive desire and craving each time they come across a reward cue in their world. This talk addresses how and why this reward system can become dysregulated in some individuals. Answering these questions will help scientists discover new treatment options for individuals living with addiction or psychiatric disorder.
About Erin Naffziger:
Erin is a PhD Candidate in Biopsychology at the University of Michigan studying how the brain creates the psychological processes: desire and craving. She wants to know how motivation is generated in the brain and how it may become dysregulated in mental illnesses. When she’s not playing with rats or using lasers to activate the brain, she enjoys true crime podcasts and hanging out with her elderly cat.
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Exploring the Mind | 7 Ways Children's Storytelling Skills Impact Literacy Development
Join Assistant Professor Nicole Gardner-Neblett of the University of Michigan for her presentation on the importance of storytelling in the development of literacy skills, and learn some strategies for supporting young children as storytellers.
Did you know that by the time a child is two or three years old they can tell a simple story? These early storytelling skills can help children develop a strong foundation for building later reading and writing skills. Research suggests that opportunities to practice telling stories helps children develop stronger language skills and a better understanding of how stories are structured. This presentation reviews seven ways that young children's storytelling skills can impact their literacy development.
Nicole Gardner-Neblett, Ph.D., is a developmental psychologist whose work focuses on the individual and contextual factors that promote children’s language and literacy development. She adopts a strengths-based approach to understanding children’s development and identifying effective practices to transform the early learning experiences of young children. In particular, Dr. Gardner-Neblett’s work examines the oral narrative, or storytelling, skills of African American children and the implications for literacy development and educational practice.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Thomas Overmire
Thomas G. Overmire was born 1926 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father was a banker and the family saw firsthand the difficulties caused by the Great Depression. He served in the army during World War II before getting his BA from Indiana University in Bloomington. Overmire’s evolving career included teaching high school biology, getting his PhD, serving as a college dean, working at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, and writing a biology textbook, The World of Biology (1986). He and his wife Joan have two sons, a daughter, and several grandchildren. He enjoys playing piano and bridge.
Thomas Overmire was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Genetic Genealogy: Discrepancies in Your Family Tree
Using actual case studies, learn how you can use your DNA test results to detect and solve potential discrepancies in your family tree, such as mis-attributed parentage. The case studies illustrate the use of autosomal DNA, Y DNA and X DNA test results to support or refute your family tree.
Mary Henderson has 45 years of experience with traditional, document-based genealogy, and 6 years of experience with genetic genealogy. She volunteers her services to adoptees seeking their birth parents and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
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Nerd Nite #67 - Let's Talk About Stress, Baby!
This A2 Nerd Nite talk features U-M PhD candidate in biopsychology Sofia Carrera explaining how neurotransmitters affect our behavior and feelings.