HHMI's Holiday Lectures on Science show

HHMI's Holiday Lectures on Science

Summary: HHMI's Holiday Lectures on Science The Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a philanthropy that supports biomedical research and science education. As part of its mission to strengthen science education, the Institute presents the Holiday Lectures on Science, an annual series that brings the latest developments in a rapidly moving field of research into the classroom. These lectures are videotaped and technical, but even the lay person can learn from them. Audio files are available, but you do lose the visual aids. However, they are still useable. Previous subjects have included, dengue, RNA, and the idea of quorum sensing which is how bacteria decide when to attack, or fireflies coordinate their flashing sequence.

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  • Artist: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • Copyright: © 2017 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Podcasts:

 2016 Ecology Lecture 1 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 44:27

The ecosystem of a river depends on complex interactions between primary producers, grazers, and predators, which in turn are determined both by the traits of the individual species involved and the physical conditions of the river. River ecologist Dr. Mary Power illustrates these principles by describing how the dominant grazing fishes in a river ecosystem play a critical role in forming the aquascape.

 2016 Ecology Lecture 2 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 45:16

Coastal wetlands are dominated by a variety of plants adapted to a stressful environment. In the absence of a significant number of herbivores, the growth of these plants was thought to be limited only by nutrient availability. Through experiments, Dr. Brian Silliman revealed that salt marshes, like many other terrestrial ecosystems, are mainly controlled by the top-down forces of herbivores and other consumers.

 2016 Ecology Lecture 3 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 45:16

Many rivers of the world have vast seasonal changes in flow rates. Dr. Mary Power leads us in an exploration of Northern California’s Eel River and how the community of herbivores and predators is affected by changes in river flow. Drought years with no winter floods generate a very different ecosystem compared to years with floods. Human-induced water shortage will also have a drastic detrimental effect on river ecology.

 2016 Ecology Lecture 4 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 43:18

Many rivers of the world have vast seasonal changes in flow rates. Dr. Mary Power leads us in an exploration of Northern California’s Eel River and how the community of herbivores and predators is affected by changes in river flow. Drought years with no winter floods generate a very different ecosystem compared to years with floods. Human-induced water shortage will also have a drastic detrimental effect on river ecology.

 2016 Ecology Discussion | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 49:03

A discussion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, its complex food web, and the challenges of conserving and restoring the bay. Followed by a general discussion on ecology with the lecturers and students attending the 2016 Holiday Lectures, moderated by HHMI vice president of Science Education, Dr. Sean Carroll.

 2015 Ecology Lecture 1 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 23:04

Savannas cover 20 percent of Earth’s surface and much of Africa. The patterns and processes that occur in this globally important biome illustrate core concepts in ecology.

 2015 Ecology Lecture 2 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 34:02

Regular spatial patterns abound in natural systems. Understanding how patterns arise in ecosystems provides insights into how these ecosystems function.

 2015 Ecology Lecture 3 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 26:00

Large herbivores in the African savanna coexist by partitioning ecological niches by time, space, and diet.

 2015 Ecology Lecture 4 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 29:13

Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique provides several examples for how to model the growth of animal populations and then check the models against actual data.

 2015 Ecology Lecture 5 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 39:50

Ecosystems include complex interactions between animals and plants, which can be measured experimentally and investigated using mathematical models.

 2015 Ecology Lecture 6 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 24:28

Two important questions in ecology are "How do we conserve ecosystems?" and "When we try to restore damaged ecosystems, what state do we restore them to?"

 2015 Ecology Discussion 1 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 23:43

A discussion of camera traps and their use in ecological research.

 2015 Ecology Discussion 2 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 56:17

The 2015 Holiday Lecture discussion session.

 2014 Biodiversity Lecture 1 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 29:06

The fossil record contains evidence of five mass extinctions, when more than 75 percent of species went extinct. Mammals are a key group for comparing past and present extinction rates. Many living species are threatened, but there is still time to avoid a sixth mass extinction.

 2014 Biodiversity Lecture 2 | File Type: video/mp4 | Duration: 33:04

Human activities have caused the extinctions of many species in the past, and that is also happening today. Human population growth is driving habitat destruction and climate change, both direct threats to biodiversity.

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