Natural Science   

Consider this: if we threw a ball against a wall, we'd expect it to bounce back; or driving on a road, we would know where we are and how fast we'd be going; we might all agree that we eat and sleep just not do both at the same time. Well, in the world of Quantum Physics, none of the above is true….or is it? With what appears to be such odd behavior, how can we understand it?  And what led us to even consider such a drastic aspect of our world where intuition fails? To better comprehend this phenomenon, let's take a trip into this exciting world and get a better understanding of what surrounds us in our everyday life. In fact, it is what makes up everything we see, smell, touch, taste and hear, yet we know so little. 

General George Washington was America's first Spymaster. Elizabeth Van Lew was America's second. This Virginia born aristocrat, educated in Philadelphia, abhorred slavery and when the war broke out, she hated to see the Union broken apart. She followed all the protocols that a CIA Case Officer does today, but did it 150 years ago, all in a courageous effort to bring resolution to this bloody, tumultuous page in American history. To honor her, she is enshrined in the United States Military Intelligence Hall of Fame for her many deeds in this fratricidal war.

Music is food to the soul. But, what is music? Why is it so important for humans? How do we hear it and analyze it? And how does it affect our mood and well-being? These topics will be covered in this lecture. Inspiration and data for this talk was drawn by Dr. A. Patel's Great Courses on Music and the Brain, Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia and the work of Zartorre's laboratory at the Montreal McGill Institute. The lectures cover areas including, music perception and the brain, the interaction between music and neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as the on the effect of music therapy on a number of medical conditions.

In 1971, Peter Lauterbur discovered a means to encode information using magnetic field gradients. This led to the development of what today we call Magnetic Resonance Imaging, which is widely used in our medical industry. But what is it? How does it work? How does it differ from a CT scan? It is a fascinating blend of the latest medical information with the atomic structure of our bodies. We will explore the structure of our cells and how we use that to diagnose medical issues. We'll also explore the pros, the cons and the cautions we should heed. The results are absolutely fascinating. 

In this course using the Teaching Company video “The Evidence for Modern Physics,” we will learn how the claims made by physicists are justified by experimental and observational evidence. Some of the topics to be explored are: How do you know there is Dark Matter, why do we think the expansion of the universe is accelerating, what is the case for Cosmic Inflation. These and many more questions will be explored. Along the way, we will learn about how the universe works based on our current best theories.

Our Universe is about 15 billion years old. And Earth is about 5 billion years old. But how did our planet, our solar system, in fact our entire Universe come about? Our nighttime sky is filled with stars, fiery bodies that are hotter than anything we have ever experience on our own planet. Did these bright, fiery objects play a role in Earth's origin? To understand the answers to these questions and so many more, let's take a voyage back through our cosmic history….back in fact to the beginning of time itself! And in doing so, we'll understand our fascinating Universe and the Birth of our Earth.

Join us to learn about Florida's interconnected waters from crystal-clear springs and wetlands to the aquifer beneath our feet. We will talk about local efforts to protect our water resources and create individual art pieces that tell the story of our personal connections to and experiences with water.

Discover the beautiful, bizarre, and monstrous creatures of the oceans from shape-shifting fish, bioluminescent creatures, a fish that fishes, a fish that walks and the truth about sharks.