Cafe Sci Orlando announcements for 2013-05: The Maya / kids': Hominid Skulls

[cafesciorl-annc]

contents:

• "After the Maya Apocalypse" at omnibus cafe
  
• "Skulls of Our Ancestors" at kids' cafe

This month we will have fascinating discussions at our Cafe Sci at 7PM on Wednesday 1 May, at Taste, in College Park; and at the Cafe Sci for kids at 6PM on Tuesday 14 May, at the downtown Orlando Public Library.

After the Maya Apocalypse: Caracol, Archaeology, and Time

When Arlen and Diane Chase first traveled to Caracol in 1983, the city was completely covered by Belizean jungle. In more than 25 years of research, the Chases, husband-and-wife anthropologists at the University of Central Florida, have pieced together what Diane describes as "a much more complete story about Caracol," one of the largest Maya cities. Through stable isotope analysis they can tell you what Caracol’s residents ate -- which residents had a high-maize, high-protein diet, and which didn’t -- and they can also tell you how the relatively uniform distribution of pottery suggests a strong sense of shared identity across social classes.

Directions

Taste

717 W. Smith Street

Orlando, United States

32804

Taste is near the corner of Princeton Street (really Smith Street after

the fork) and Edgewater Drive, so about 2 minutes from I-4 to parking.

One can park on the street or in the parking lot behind Taste.

• From Downtown and south, drive north ("east") on I-4 through downtown. At the exit for Princeton Street, exit and turn left/west.
  
• From Altamonte Springs and north, drive south ("west") on I-4 toward downtown Orlando. At the exit for Princeton Street, exit and turn right/west.
  

From I-4, drive a few blocks to Edgewater Drive. At the intersection, you should see a orange building ahead of you, labeled "Taste". Park on the street or behind Taste.

Skulls of Our Ancestors

We recognize that hosting a cafe-sci in a bar doesn't serve kids very well, so this is our first month of Cafes Sci especially for youngsters, aged 8 years and older.

This lecture and hands-on laboratory will follow the anatomical trends in the skulls of our earliest ancestors, who walked on two legs 4500 thousand years ago, to the evolution of modern humans 200 thousand years ago. We will use slides and casts of these paleontological species to answer questions such as “When and why did humans develop such big brains compared to other animals?”  ”Why do we have such a problem with tooth-crowding, requiring extractions and braces?” “When and why did we lose our big brow ridges and expand our foreheads?”

Leslie Sue Lieberman, Ph.D., is a biomedical anthropologist and the founding Director of the Women’s Research Center, Emerita Professor of Anthropology (June 2011) and Courtesy Professor of Medical Education at the University of Central Florida. She currently holds a position as a European Union Visiting Scholar. She is a founding member of the Orlando Cafe Scientifique. Most of her research is centered on obesity and diabetes among US minority populations. She is the former President of the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition and the Biological Anthropology Section of the American Anthropological Association, both the UCF and UF Chapters of Sigma Xi, the Florida Academy of Sciences and of the National Association of Academies of Science/AAAS. Her research and scientific activities have been supported by NIH, NSF, HRSA, NIMH and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Diabetes Research and Education Foundation, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the Florida Humanities Council, and private industry. She has co-authored or edited 11 books and published over 75 journal articles and book chapters and more than 200 other works: reports, reviews, and editorials.

Directions

Orlando Public Library, first floor

101 E Central Blvd

Orlando, Florida

32801

United States

The Library is at the corner of Central Blvd and Rosalind Ave, in downtown Orlando.  From northbound Rosalind, turn left/west onto Central.  From southbound Orange, turn left/east onto Central. The library is on the north side of the street, and directly across from it is a parking deck. The parking fee is a few dollars, never more than 10.  Or, from anywhere in downtown, ride free Lymmo busses to Central Ave.

[cafesciorl-annc]

After this, I expect we'll return to announcements at the start of each month.  Since this is the first of a new kind of event, Cafe Sci for kids,  I thought it warranted a reminder.  In case you are new to Cafe Sci, you can always refer to our web site http://cafesciorl.com/ , where you can look ahead with lists of events; twitter, facebook, and google+ info; and ical feeds.

For kids who are old enough to have a little exposure to real science in school, probably good for 6th grade and up, we have Cafe Sci for kids at 6PM on Tuesday 14 May, at the downtown Orlando Public Library.

- Chad MILLER <caf...@chad.org>

On Thursday, April 25, 2013 8:56:40 AM UTC-4, cafesciorl-annc wrote:

Skulls of Our Ancestors  

6PM on Tuesday 14 May, at the downtown Orlando Public Library.  Free.