World Science Festival

Collection of Live events from the 2017 and 2018 World Science Festivals in New York

1. E1. Engineering Immortality: The End of Aging?

   Jun 2, 2017

   Are there limits to the human lifespan? Is it possible to stop the process of aging? On average, humans now live far longer than at any point in our history thanks to science and technology. On the horizon, advances in new drugs and medical techniques promise a revolution in how we live, age and die. But these advances may come at a steep cost. In this program, experts explore future challenges while debating the ramifications of an immortal society.

2. E2. Cartographers of the Brain: Mapping the Connectome

   Jun 4, 2017

   Scientists are attempting to map the wiring of the nearly 100 billion neurons in the human brain. Are we close to uncovering the mysteries of the mind or are we only at the beginning of a new frontier?

3. E3. Harnessing the Power of Neuroplasticity: The Nuts and Bolts of Better Brains

   May 31, 2018

   What if your brain at 77 were as plastic as it was at 7? What if you could learn Mandarin with the ease of a toddler or play Rachmaninoff without breaking a sweat? A growing understanding of neuroplasticity suggests these fantasies could one day become reality. Neuroplasticity may also be the key to solving diseases like Alzheimer's, depression, and autism. In this program, leading neuroscientists discuss their most recent findings and both the tantalizing possibilities and pitfalls for our future cognitive selv

4. E4. Who Is Out There: Why Alien 'Life' May Be Weirder Than We Imagine

   Jun 2, 2018

   If we want to discover alien life out there in the universe, we first need to figure out where to look-and what we're even looking for. Will it be biological like us? Could it be artificial, or take some other form we haven't yet considered? And how do we find something so fundamentally different from ourselves? In this program, scientists devise plans for searching for beings beyond Earth while they grapple with the very definition of life.

5. E5. My Neurons, My Self

   Jun 5, 2018

   With ever more refined techniques for measuring complex brain activity, scientists are challenging the understanding of thought, memory and emotion-what we have traditionally called "the self." How do electrical and chemical currents translate to self-awareness? And why does the brain produce consciousness at all? Join a discussion among eminent neuroscientists, philosophers and psychologists who are redefining what it means to be human.

6. E6. The Social Synapse: Neuroscience and the Roots of Human Connections

   Jun 2, 2017

   Humans work together on enormous scales to build complex tools as large as cities and create social networks that span the globe. What is the key to our success? This program examines the development of the human brain - and the brains of other animals - asking how neurons orchestrate communal behavior and guide group interactions, demonstrating how our social nature is key to our humanity.

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