Teacher Resources (Video)

Merlin Donald (Queen’s Univ) opines that if one crucial adaptation had to be singled out as the signature move that started the human journey, he would nominate “mimesis,” or body artistry, which is the platform on which all complex skilled performance, including language, has evolved. A capacity for refining skill started to evolve very early in the emergence of hominids, as testified by the existence of very ancient stone tools that predate the appearance of our species. Such tools cannot be made without a capacity to rehearse systematically and an ability to imagine an idealized performance. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24984]

Our bodies are made up of trillions of different types of cells that carry out specific life processes. The way that these cells function is defined by the microscopic complexes contained within, which are smaller than the wavelength of light. Often times, dysfunction of these tiny cellular complexes lead to diseases, such as cancers and neurodegeneration. In this presentation, The Scripps Reasearch Institutes’ Gabriel Lander takes you on an exploration of the field of "structural biology", and the use of an important tool that allows us to image the impossibly small nanomachines in our cells, in order to find out how they work and interact with each other. Series: "Saturday Science at Scripps Research " [Science] [Show ID: 28684]

“Atmospheric rivers” are long, narrow bands of highly concentrated moisture that can carry as much water as Earth’s largest rivers and can have profound impacts when they hit the California coast. Join Scripps researcher Marty Ralph as he describes their crucial role in both water supply and flooding across much of the U.S. West Coast, and how improved forecasting can help us harness these California rainmakers. Series: "Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series" [Science] [Show ID: 29256]

What are fossil fuels? What is the greenhouse effect? How are the two related? Can we reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and lower the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere? Wind and solar power can help lead the way. Learn how state-of-the-art science and engineering can be used to utilize more clean, green energy from both the wind and the sun, right out of thin air. Series: "Lawrence Livermore National Lab Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 29610]

The oxygen content of earth’s ocean has changed dramatically through time, beginning with essentially no oxygen and rising to present-day levels, with important consequences for the evolution of life. Oxygen levels in modern oceans are also shifting as a consequence of global warming. Learn how low-oxygen settings in the modern ocean can inform us about the “explosion" of animal life more than half a billion years ago, mass extinctions, and the future our ocean. Series: "Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series" [Science] [Show ID: 29255]

V.S. Ramachandran (UC San Diego) argues that human mental uniqueness emerged from the fortuitous co-emergence of certain novel anatomical structures and functions and equally fortuitous synergistic interactions between them. These include structures involved in inter-sensory abstraction (IPL and its uniquely human subdivisions; supra-marginal gyrus and angular gyrus; certain frontal structures, Wernicke’s area, etc.) and sensorimotor abstraction (mirror neurons). He contends that these were then adapted for higher-level abstractions such as metaphor. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24986]

This CARTA symposium addresses the question of how human language came to have the kind of structure it has today, focusing on three sources of evidence. One source, which is discussed in these three talks, concerns neuroscientific investigations of functional specialization for language in the human brain and its dependence on the linguistic input the language learner gets during cognitive development. Evelina Fedorenko (Massachusetts General Hospital) begins with an examination of Specialization for Language in the Human Brain, followed by Rachel Mayberry (UC San Diego) on How the Environment Shapes Language in the Brain, and Edward Chang (UC San Francisco) on Neuroscience of Speech Perception and Speech Production. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29395]

This CARTA symposium addresses the question of how human language came to have the kind of structure it has today, focusing on three sources of evidence. One source, which is discussed in these three talks, concerns what contrasts between new and mature languages reveal about how language evolves. Mark Aronoff (Stony Brook Univ) begins with an examination of the Co-emergence of Meaning and Structure in a New Language, followed by David Perlmutter (UC San Diego) on Combinatoriality within the Word: Sign Language Evidence, and Ray Jackendoff (Tufts Univ) on What Can You Say without Syntax? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29394]

This CARTA symposium addresses the question of how human language came to have the kind of structure it has today, focusing on three sources of evidence. One source, which is discussed in these three talks, has to do with the ways languages get new structure not present in the language of the previous generation(s) of speakers or signers. Simon Kirby (Univ of Edinburgh) begins with an examination of Language Evolution in the Lab: The Emergence of Design Features, followed by Carmel O’Shannessy (Univ of Michigan) on Contact Languages and Light Warlpiri, and Ann Senghas (Barnard College) on Rethinking Recapitulation: Sources of Structure in Nicaraguan Sign Language. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29393]

A distinguished Earth scientist with extensive national and international experience in ocean science, global climate, and environmental issues, Margaret Leinen is director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Take an up close look at how some of the latest research activities at Scripps Oceanography are helping to shape worldwide conversations about the future of our planet. Series: "Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series" [Science] [Show ID: 29092]