Moderators: Elvis, DrVolin, Jeff
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.
Keith Barry: Brain magicWhy do we crave love so much, even to the point that we would die for it? To learn more about our very real, very physical need for romantic love, Helen Fisher and her research team took MRIs of people in love -- and people who had just been dumped.
Helen Fisher's courageous investigations of romantic love -- its evolution, its biochemical foundations and its vital importance to human society -- are informing and transforming the way we understand ourselves. Fisher describes love as a universal human drive (stronger than the sex drive; stronger than thirst or hunger; stronger perhaps than the will to live), and her many areas of inquiry shed light on timeless human mysteries, like why we choose one partner over another.
Almost unique among scientists, Fisher explores the science of love without losing a sense of romance: Her work frequently invokes poetry, literature and art -- along with scientific findings -- helping us appreciate our
First, Keith Barry shows us how our brains can fool our bodies -- in a trick that works via podcast too. Then he involves the audience in some jaw-dropping (and even a bit dangerous) feats of brain magic.
As Arthur C. Clarke told us, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." So think of Keith Barry as a technologist, an elite software engineer of the human brain. Witty and direct, he celebrates human cleverness even while he's hacking it.
Barry's repertoire ranges from outrageous stunts -- driving a car at full speed blindfolded -- to mind control, including hypnosis and mindreading. The Irish magician's relaxed style has made him an audience favorite worldwide, both in live shows and on his European television series, Close Encounters with Keith Barry, which aired in 28 countries. He's had specials on MTV and CBS, and tried his hand at acting as a murder suspect on CSI: Miami. There are rumors of a Las Vegas residency later in 2008.