Friday, 1/30 Bill Shang “Neuroscience Enters Plato’s Cave: The Brain's Surprising Making of Reality”
“Neuroscience, informed by a breakthrough in AI, has radically reshaped our understanding of how the brain reconstructs reality. From the sense of self, free will to schizophrenia, research on the Default Mode Network (DMN) reveals that much of what we perceive is generated internally. This talk explores how planning, dreaming, and hallucinations arise from the same circuitry—and how these discoveries give new meaning to the ancient question posed by Plato’s Cave.”
Friday, 2/6 Mel Poeppelman "Vincent Van Gogh"
A behind the scenes look at why van Gogh’s paintings became popular after his death, and, a showing of van Gogh reproductions including “Sunflowers” and “Starry Starry Night”. (None for sale).
Friday, 2/13 Mark Welton “Law, Policy, and U.S. Intervention in Venezuela.”
The recent U.S. military intervention in Venezuela and removal of Nicolás Maduro to the U.S. raises numerous questions of law and policy. Was the action a violation of international law, U.S. law, neither or both? How do some of the policy implications for the U.S. and the international system factor into this action? This talk addresses the intersection of law and policy in the context of this important turning point for Venezuela and U.S. involvement in the Western Hemisphere.”
Friday, 2/20 John Shewchuk "Hurricanes and the Fujiwhara Effect"
Learn about the fascinating dance hurricanes perform when one storm enters the personal space of another storm. Depending on the relative size differences and the trajectory of each storm, the storms can engage in a temporary dance and then separate, or the larger storm may even completely absorb the smaller storm as the bigger one gains strength. Also learn about how and why hurricanes travel in unusual patterns and tracks.
Friday, 2/27 Drake Shepard "John D. Rockefeller Tells All"
Rockefeller comes alive and tells his rags to riches story detailing his life and how he transformed the once chaotic and mismanaged early oil industry into what it is today. He will discuss his aggressive, ruthless business tactics that made him an infamous robber baron by living up to his motto "Competition is a sin." His core values, however changed over time and he became a major American philanthropist. This is a personal, powerful story about redemption, giving back and self determination.
WANT TO BE A PRESENTER ?: Send us the short Title of your proposed talk, along with a descriptive paragraph or two describing the Subject of your Talk, your Interests and Qualifications to present it, and why we should be interested. Send your proposal to our Leader, Bob Brooke (bnbrooke @aol.com) [Google Groups discourages me from entering a clickable email address. So, to reach Bob by email remove the space between bnbrooke and @] 
