|
| |
Salado Institute Spring Program 2005
| |
The Human Edge: Technology, Mankind, and the Future
|
Theoretical Physics -- Michio Kaku, PhD
|
Dr. Kaku holds the Henry
Semat Professorship in Theoretical Physics at the City University of
New York. As co-founder of string field theory, Dr. Kaku has continued
Einstein’s quest to find the “theory of everything,” an equation
that would unify all four fundamental forces of the universe. From
interviews to documentaries, Dr. Kaku explains the most fascinating
and complex ideas in science today — superstring theory,
supergravity and hadronic physics — in ways elegant and easy to
understand. His most popular and best-selling books include
“Hyperspace” and “Visions: How Science Will Change the
Twenty-First Century.” He is also the host of Explorations, a weekly
science program carried on radio stations around the country. He was
featured on NOVA and the PBS documentaries: Einstein Revealed, Stephen
Hawking’s Universe, and Science Odyssey.
|
Dr.
Kaku spoke on
”PARALLEL WORLDS, HYPERSPACE, STRINGS AND THE MIND OF GOD”
|
Nanotechnology -- Zvi Yaniv, PhD
|
Dr. Yaniv is President and
CEO of Applied Nanotech, a company that conducts research on carbon
nanotubes — molecular-sized cylindrical structures used in building
electronic displays. Dr. Yaniv is an authority in electro-optics,
liquid crystal technology, amorphous semiconductors, technology
commercialization and business management. He has published over 100
articles and holds more than 50 patents. In March 2000, Dr. Yaniv
accepted the honorific title of Senior Research Fellow of the IC2
Institute of the University of Texas. In addition to being a scientist
and businessman, he is also an artist. In 1999, Dr. Yaniv introduced a
new expression of kinetic art (Digital Window™), allowing static
two- or three- dimensional artworks to become dynamic and interactive.
The Website of Dr. Zvi Yaniv,
President and CEO of Applied Nanotech
|
The title of his lecture was
NANOTECHNOLOGY - THE NEXT, LAST FRONTIER
|
Artificial Intelligence -- Benjamin Kuipers, PhD & Doug Lenat, PhD
|
Dr. Kuipers holds an endowed
professorship in Computer Science at the University of Texas, where he
has served as chairman of his department. His current research focuses
on artificial intelligence, with a particular interest in the
foundations of common sense knowledge. He works with robots to study
how human and robot knowledge of space can be grounded in sensory and
motor interaction with the physical world.
|
Dr. Lenat is one of the
world’s leading computer scientists and the founder of the Cyc
Project. Cyc, as in “en-cyc-lopedia,” is the world’s most
ambitious artificial intelligence project. Its objective is to codify
the millions of pieces of knowledge that comprise human common sense.
In 1994, Lenat founded Cycorp to
research, develop and commercialize artificial intelligence.
|
Dr. Kuipers daytime seminar
was entitlted
WHAT BUILDING ROBOTS CAN TEACH US ABOUT THE MIND
|
Sunday evening, Dr. Lenat
spoke about
COMPUTERS VS COMMON SENSE
|
Biotechnology -- John Gearhart, MD
|
Dr. Gearhart is professor of
gynecology and obstetrics and of physiology at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine, holding a joint appointment in the
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Bloomberg
School of Public Health. Much of Dr. Gearhart’s research career has
focused on how genes regulate the formation of tissues and embryos.
For decades he has tried to determine the exact causes of mental
retardation and other congenital birth defects, and he has been
outspoken in his advocacy of federal funding for further embryonic
stem cell research. His work has profound implications for drug
development and the treatment of diseases and injuries such as Lou
Gehrig’s disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and
spinal cord injuries, and raises the possibility of growing human
tissues in the laboratory to replenish failing organs.
|
|
Dr.
Gearhart spoke about
STEM CELLS: THE SCIENTIFIC AND ETHICAL ISSUES
|
Audio copies of these
lectures can be bought through the Institute for the Humanities for
$11.00 each. Contact Erin at 254/947-5729.
|
|
