STEM   

With powerful new telescopes, scientists are making observations that challenge our theories of the cosmos. Each week we will meet a different telescope, discussing why it was built, how it was developed, and what makes it special. Then we will review the key discoveries it helped make and how those confirm or disrupt our current understanding of the universe. The telescopes include the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the early universe and exoplanets; Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), dark energy and dark matter; Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a 10-year survey of the universe; Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe (SPHEREx); Euclid Space Observatory, dark energy and dark matter; Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), viewing the universe at radio wavelengths; Nancy Roman Grace Telescope. Prior knowledge of cosmology is not required, as we will review the underlying cosmological principles at an introductory level.

Explore how digital technologies and artificial intelligence affect the brain, behavior, and mental health. This course examines the impact of modern devices on attention, memory, emotions, and decision-making, while addressing ethical concerns like privacy and tech-based addictions. We will learn how neuroscience and psychology offer tools to support well-being in a rapidly evolving digital world.

This Osher Online course, offered through the Osher National Resource Center, lets you learn with fellow lifelong learners nationwide, guided by a world-class expert. After enrolling, you’ll receive and email inviting you to a Member Orientation on January 7 at noon to review course materials, access your Zoom classroom, and prepare for your first class.

Overexploitation of ground-water aquifers occurs worldwide. The Atlantic and Coastal Plains Aquifer in the U.S. exemplifies recent trends to rely more on ground water. Emerging topics include undersea fresh-water aquifers, how ground-water pumping is altering the rotation of the earth, and geoengineering to mitigate climate change. These are some of the emerging issues to be discussed in this course. As water scarcity becomes more acute—by 2030, fresh-water demand may exceed supply by 40%. Water-supply contamination and water-management issues are affecting drinking-water supplies in rural areas. A case study in the Guanajuato state in Mexico will involve water-supply contamination, regulatory conflicts, and frustrations by local community activists to resolve this issue. Mitigation of climate change using geoengineering may help reduce freshwater demands. Some of the proposed geoengineering methods include the three broad categories (1) carbon dioxide removal (CDR); (2) solar radiation management (SRM) and (3) earth surface interventions such as glacial geoengineering and ocean heat management.

Quantum mechanics is arguably the most important invention of the human mind. Our standard of living has increased significantly due to applications of technology in computers and communications, education, entertainment, medical devices, navigation, energy production, travel safety, and other advancements, yet many mysteries remain. Experiments show that the quantum world is weirder than science fiction. Scientists cannot agree on how to interpret its seemingly illogical predictions, despite the theory's continued success in explaining the world of the atom and its components. This class will present the history of quantum science, its key personalities, and a non-technical explanation of its guiding tenets, what is and isn't understood, and the exciting future it offers in computing and communication security. Professors usually say "Shut up and calculate" to students who want answers about the foundations of quantum mechanics. We will expose those shadowy areas and offer the best current explanations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) shapes our daily lives in subtle yet powerful ways. In this non-technical course, we will explore six case studies that reveal how AI systems work, the ethics behind machine decision-making, and the impact of these technologies on our world. We will gain a deeper understanding of AI’s current influence—and the possibilities ahead.

This Osher Online course, offered through the Osher National Resource Center, lets you learn with fellow lifelong learners nationwide, guided by a world-class expert. After enrolling, you’ll receive and email inviting you to a Member Orientation on January 7 at noon to review course materials, access your Zoom classroom, and prepare for your first class.

Some substances heal, others harm—and some do both. This chemistry-rich (but non-technical) course explores the fine line between pharmaceuticals and poisons. We will examine drug development, venom-inspired medicine, and the history of FDA regulation shaped by scandal and reform. From aspirin’s industrial roots to Gila monster hormones, participants will uncover the fascinating, sometimes unsettling chemistry behind what we choose to swallow.

This Osher Online course, offered through the Osher National Resource Center, lets you learn with fellow lifelong learners nationwide, guided by a world-class expert. After enrolling, you’ll receive and email inviting you to a Member Orientation on January 7 at noon to review course materials, access your Zoom classroom, and prepare for your first class.

Why are there volcanoes in Washington and Oregon, but not Idaho? Why is California threatened by large earthquakes, but Colorado is seismically quiet? Why is the island of Hawaii, the world’s highest mountain from sea floor to summit, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but Mt. Everest is landlocked? In this class we will review and discuss the history and evidence for the theory of plate tectonics, which was the most significant advance in geology in the 20th century. This unifying theory explained many geological conundrums, and has withstood the test of time. We will examine how the outer rigid layer of Earth is broken into several plates that move with respect to each other. Movement of these plates creates earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, ocean basins and continents. Buying a retirement home in California or Costa Rica? You might want to learn about plate tectonics first!

In this course, we will survey the lives of seven modern geniuses who profoundly altered their fields but who remain largely anonymous in the public eye: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (astronomy); Stanley Miller (chemistry); George Cantor (infinity); Vernon Smith (economics); Robert Trivers (biology); V. S. Ramachandran (neuroscience); and Kurt Gödel (truth). When we're done, we'll get a glimpse of the surprising connections across some of these seemingly disparate fields of study, and perhaps also a glimpse of the sometimes-porous boundary between genius and madness.

This class will be a mind-bending exploration of time travel—from its origins in literature and science to its influence on our understanding of time itself. We will explore physics, technology, philosophy, and art as each relates to time travel and tells the story of the concept's cultural evolution—from H.G. Wells to Doctor Who, from Proust to Woody Allen.

We will take a close look at the porous boundary between science fiction and modern physics, and we will ultimately delve into what it all means in our own moment in time—that is, the world of the instantaneous, with its all-consuming present and vanishing future.

Classes will include lecture, discussion, and presentations from The Great Courses series, “Mysteries of Modern Physics: Time.”

Required text: James Gleick, Time Travel: A History. Recommended additional text: Carlo Rovelli, The Order of Time, (2018).