Science on Tap - Oregon & Washington

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
As the climate emergency worsens and biodiversity shrinks, we humans get used to it—we adapt, we normalize, we forget. Scientists call this “shifting baseline syndrome” and warn that it’s why we are increasingly sleepwalking toward disaster.

In this positive and inspiring manifesto, the environmental activist and longtime editor-in-chief of Sierra magazine Jason Dove Mark offers an antidote, focusing on four simple but powerful rules that everyone can use to resist environmental amnesia:

Go outside. Bear witness. Make a record. Pass it on.

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
Each night when we fall asleep we lose consciousness while our brains remain remarkably active. Early in the night, neurons across the cortex begin firing together in synchrony, producing the slow delta waves of deep sleep. Later, we shift into cycles of REM sleep, when our brain activity resembles wakefulness while our bodies remain paralyzed in slumber, eyes darting rapidly beneath closed lids.

Kindra Crick has been interested in sleep and memory for over a decade. In February 2024, she began sleeping while wearing a portable EEG at night to track her own brainwaves, while also keeping a sleep diary logging dreams, ruminations, and the daily variables that might explain a good or bad night. Along the way, she worked with researchers studying circadian rhythms and a brain region called the claustrum thought to play a key role in synchronizing slow-wave activity, as well as a sleep physician focused on midlife sleep disruption.

In a series of figurative paintings built from sleep data, Crick renders deep sleep, REM, and restless nights of insomnia. By making the brain’s hidden nighttime work visible, Nocturnal Worlds asks us to look differently at our own unconscious hours, when the brain is consolidating memories. Find out why some researchers describe REM sleep as overnight therapy. As a bonus, you’ll walk away with a few thoughts on what to do the next time your mind is looping at 3am.

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
“Your package couldn’t be delivered.”
“Put tape over your webcam.”
“Click here to pay your ticket.”
“Your geek squad protection renewal is due”

You’ve heard all of these. Which are real/scams? Which matter? Which are valid security tips vs urban legends? As with most things in life, it’s complicated.

In this talk, two security specialists will discuss a number of the security questions that come up in everyday life to help you understand why they happen, how to respond to them, and maybe, when you can just ignore them.

We’ll start by discussing threat modelling. What’s at risk? How much effort are you willing to expend for prevention or response? How is that different from person to person? This context will help us explore concerns including hardware security (why can’t I unlock my late relative’s iPhone?), national security (why were Netgear routers banned?), and personal security (why is having a good credit score a liability?).

We’ll leave you with some tips for how to improve your overall security posture, as well as a few ideas to help you think about security as you encounter everything from sensational reporting and SMS scams, all the way to nation-state attackers knocking on your company’s door.

Joe FitzPatrick (@securelyfitz) is a trainer and researcher at SecuringHardware.com with a personal mission to make all hardware devices at least a bit more secure. He builds tools like Tigard and Erebus, and teaches Applied Hardware Attacks trainings to help people break – and secure – their hardware devices.

Eric is a Business Information Security Officer at Thoughtworks, a software consulting company. His background is in computer security, systems administration, and detection engineering and threathunting.

COST:
$15.00 DISCOUNT (senior, student, it's your birthday, just can't afford the GA price right now)
$25.00 GENERAL ADMISSION
$35.00 VIP Premium seating (front center rows)
$45.00 SUPPORTER: Premium seating, pint glass (beer not included), and good feelings for supporting the program

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
In the 1960s, biologists introduced wolves to Coronation Island in Alaska after deer overran it and decimated the forest understory. The wolves ate all the deer and, with nothing left to eat, starved. About 50 years later, the wolves of Pleasant Island Alaska found themselves in a similar situation: living on an island in the Pacific with no deer left to eat. The wolves of Pleasant Island, however, have not died out. Instead, they’ve broadened their palate to include sea otters.

What scientists don’t know is how widespread this surf-and-turf phenomenon is. How does the complex web of wolf, deer, sea otter, hundreds of islands and a massive logging industry interact?

In 2024, a rescued border collie named Barley joined the investigation. Employed with K9 Conservationists, Barley is a professional scat detection dog with three field seasons under his belt. With the “understudy” dogs Tooma, Niffler, and Skipper, they have located over 1,500 wolf scats across 25 islands. Back at OSU, Kayla Fratt works to extract the DNA of the wolves and their prey from the fecal samples. She then uses cutting-edge genetic techniques, lasers shot from airplanes, and an awful lot of math to tell the story of the Tongass National Forest through the bum of a wolf.

Bonus ending: This talk will conclude with a live demonstration from one of Kayla’s trained conservation detection dogs in the theater!!