Science Talks Webinars

Enjoy your summer! We will see you in the Fall for our next Science Talks webinar.

Science Talks: Artificial Intelligence - What can language models tell us about the brain?

Language models like ChatGPT produce very human-like text, but do they understand it like we do? What can language models teach us about how the brain understands language?  Alona Fyshe (’05 BSc,’07 MSc) is an associate professor in both the Department of Computing Science and Department of Psychology,  and has discovered interesting connections between meaning representations in computer models and those in the human brain. Conversations about the use of highly accessible artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT have recently made their way to our offices, classrooms and kitchen tables. Learn how researchers are using language models to study how the brain processes language and what they have learned as a result.

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Science Talks: U of A Space Program: An Eye in the Sky

University of Alberta student group AlbertaSat made history in 2017 when they launched the first made-in-Alberta satellite, Ex-Alta 1. Now the group is set to launch their second satellite, Ex-Alta 2, to capture wildfire data from orbit and continue the space weather monitoring started on their first mission. Join us to hear from Katelyn Ball, Faculty of Science alumna and former AlbertaSat deputy project manager, and Ian Mann, AlbertaSat faculty advisor and professor in the Department of Physics, on what it’s like to build and launch space vehicles, work with the Canadian Space Agency and NASA, and test space equipment in zero gravity.
Note: Due to technical issues, the recording is unavailable.

Science Talks: Climate change on Canada's highest peak

In May of this year, ice core scientist Alison Criscitiello and her team drilled a record-breaking 327m high-altitude ice core on Mount Logan's brutal summit plateau. She and her team climbed Logan and then spent two weeks on the plateau drilling what may be the longest climate record in the North Pacific, and the oldest non-polar ice on earth. The geography and conditions of Logan's high plateau offer what is generally only possible at the poles: tens of thousands of years worth of climate data — critical to understanding past climate trends so we can predict future change. 

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May: Sleep to remember with Clayton Dickson
April: The Evolution of Ethics in AI with Eleni Stroulia and Nidhi Hegde
February:  COVID-19 modelling demystified with Marie (Betsy) Varughese and Michael Li
January: Fostering coexistence over conflict with urban coyotes through evidence-based methods with Colleen Cassady St. Clair
December: Taking Control of the Quantum World: Developing new technologies using ultracold atoms with Lindsay LeBlanc
November: Data permutations: How to understand human speech, the spread of COVID-19, and the Alberta electorate with Adam Kashlak
October: Searching for life outside of Earth: NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission with Chris Herd
September: Eavesdropping on communication in wild bats and mice with Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell
August: Community Approaches to Housing Affordability with Joshua Evans
July: The science of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Ben Dyson
June: Perspectives from new Canadian Arctic Ice Cores with Alison Criscitiello
May: Cretaceous Dinosaurs in Northern Alberta with Corwin Sullivan
April: Glycomics- Sugars and Human Health with Lara Mahal