HGP member David Gray discusses genetically modified foods. He looks at the health risks and at the environmental effects. He examines reasons for opposition and considers the limitations that other countries have imposed. He also touches on the controversy over labeling foods containing GE ingredients. Gray holds a BS in Civil Engineering.
Video of Programs (search and sort)
Genetically Engineered Foods (2)
01/18/2015
David Gray
The Origins of Life on Earth
01/11/2015
Niles Lehman
Niles Lehman discusses what is known about the origins of life on the Earth, approximately four billion years ago. He notes some of the largest gaps in our understanding of this process. He outlines the sequence of events that must have occurred, and he touches on the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. Lehman is a professor of chemistry at PSU. He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA in evolutionary biology.
Franklin, Jefferson, and the Common Man
12/28/2014
Dave Collamer
Presentation by HGP member Dave Collamer. Humanists in general support democratic principles, especially the responsibility of common people to solve problems, plot their destiny, and govern the republic. To what extent did the Framers really believe this possible? Collamer looks at the attitudes of the Framers, especially Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson to see what they were really thinking.
Complexity
12/14/2014
Melanie Mitchell
Computer scientist Melanie Mitchell presents examples of how the interdisciplinary field of complex systems science is discovering principles underlying different natural and technological systems. As science probes the nature of life and society, what it finds is complexity. The behavior of social insects, the genome, and the structure of the World Wide Web -- these are examples of systems that challenge scientific understanding. Melanie Mitchell is Professor of Computer Science at Portland State University. She has published books and papers on artificial intelligence, in cognitive science, and about complex systems.