Chemicals in the Environment: Pssst--Have you heard?...Using no-stick frying pans can kill your parakeet. Bottled water causes infertility. Vaccines cause autism. Pesticides in your food cause cancer. Tuna fish causes brain damage... True or false? And how can you sure which is which? How do you find reliable information when the next scary story appears on the news? We will look at chemicals in the news now to examine the risks posed by chemicals in the environment-both to humans and to the environment itself. Specific topics will include (but need not be limited to) environmental endocrine disrupters, pesticide residues in food, and mercury and other metals in food and drugs. CRN: 30387
Bioinspiration: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Nature can serve as inspiration for important technological advancements. In the future our health, the environment, and other societal problems will benefit from basic research in biology. In this course animal and plant physiology, behavior and ecology will be discussed to serve as inspiration for innovation. Examples of the varied topics to be discussed: efficient architecture, cooperative control, robotics, multimodal sensory integration, and advanced materials. This course requires students to participate in group-work and in-class presentations and work at an accelerated rate because of the 8-week format. CRN: 54271
Biology in Science Fiction Films: Students will be introduced to the span of biological disciplines through the lens of Hollywood science fiction films. Representative films will be viewed in clips or in their entirety to introduce concepts in molecular biology, genetics, anatomy, endocrinology, immunology, pharmacology, plant biology, and entomology. Discussions will focus on the contrast between biological reality and the biological errors made by screenwriters and filmmakers. CRN: 59823