Great Minds Gather Here

The amazing advances made in mapping the human genome don’t alter one longstanding fact: when it comes to unlocking the scientific secrets of life, fruit flies rule. Uptal Banerjee, Chair of the the Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology at UCLA, explains that most principles that have been laid out in developmental biology — from mechanisms of stem cell maintenance to how a head differs from a tail — came from work in Drosophila. Series: "UCLA Faculty Research Lectures" [Science] [Show ID: 30565]

Arch Getty explores the intriguing details surrounding Lenin’s body, which was embalmed shortly after his death in 1924 and has been on public display ever since in a mausoleum on Moscow’s Red Square. Getty is a Distinguished Professor in the UCLA Department of History. Series: "UCLA Faculty Research Lectures" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30567]

Efrain Kristal explores the shadow war cast over the life and writings of the Argentine Jorge Luis Borges whose family found itself comfortably stranded in neutral Switzerland during World War I, whose translations introduced the Spanish-speaking world to German expressionist poetry from that era and who later monitored the rise of Nazism with dismay. Series: "UCLA Faculty Research Lectures" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30566]

UC Berkeley lecturer Saru Jayaraman gives a rousing talk describing the harsh and unequal treatment of the nation’s restaurant staff as she argues for increasing the minimum wage in what is now the second largest and fastest growing industry in the country. Jayaraman is presented as the keynote speaker at the Fall 2014 Board of Advisors Dinner for the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. Series: "The Goldman School - Berkeley Public Policy" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 28940]

The Neanderthals are the closest extinct relatives of all present-day human and the Neanderthal genome sequence provides unique insights into modern humans origins. Svante Pääbo, a biologist and evolutionary anthropologist, describe the current understanding of the genetic contributions of Neanderthals to present-day humans and to extinct human groups. He also describes preliminary analyses of genomic features that appeared in present-day humans since their divergence from a common ancestor shared with Neanderthals and discusses how they may be functionally analyzed in the future. Pääbo is the Director of Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Science] [Show ID: 28720]

Jan Nederveen Pieterse in conversation with Noam Chomsky, linguist, philosopher and political commentator. Chomsky is Emeritus professor of linguistics at MIT. Jan Nederveen Pieterse is professor of Global Studies and Sociology at University of California, Santa Barbara. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 28120]

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder of NantWorks, describes his vision for turning cancer into a chronic but controllable disease by using advanced rapid gene sequencing, supercomputing and other methods of analysis to transcend the genome to the proteome. This approach has the potential to redefine how cancer is diagnosed and to develop therapies precisely tailored to the molecular profile of a particular tumor. Dr. Soon-Shiong anticipates a revolution in drug research, development and delivery of molecularly designed cancer treatments to patients. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 25909]

The Atlantic’s Steve Clemons leads a provocative session on energy issues with Pulitzer-Prize winning author Daniel Yergin, Steve Koonin of the US Dept. of Energy, Dan Kammen of the World Bank and biofuels expert Stephen Mayfield of UC San Diego. Alexis Madrigal follows with Amory Lovins, author of “Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era. Series: "The Atlantic Meets The Pacific" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 22775]

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama returned to UC Irvine to engage students and the community about compassion and global leadership. Series: "Great Minds Gather Here" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 22640]

Steven Squyres, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University, was the principle scientist behind the Mars Exploration Rover Project. He discusses the engineering challenges that had to be met in getting the rovers to Mars, as well as the scientific results obtained by both vehicles over more than seven years of exploration. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Science] [Show ID: 21040]