Science & Environment   

This SIG is intended for those who would like to go "Rockhounding" to discover what we know about the distant environments of Exoplanets, Moons, Planets and Asteroids. The role of Meteorites. Space Telescopes and Light will also be discussed. An (Earthly) excursion is planned TBA.

Medical marijuana will become legal in Kentucky on Jan. 1, 2025. This course will provide information that should help participants make more informed decisions about its use. We will define terms associated with medical marijuana, discuss its general effects and the ways it can be taken, and summarize research-based evidence related to its use. Participants will learn how to interpret labels and consider dosages. We’ll summarize the Kentucky laws that will govern the medical marijuana program, including the conditions for which it is approved. The course does not advocate for or against medical marijuana or provide medical or legal advice.

“If you bite it and you die, it’s a poison; if it bites you and you die, it’s a venom.” Part 1 of this course talked about naturally occurring plant poisons. In Part 2 we will discuss animal venoms. We’ll talk about 6 groups of animals that are venomous. We’ll look at how they inject venom and what the venom does to the body. We’ll also mention the venoms that have become the basis for medical treatments. You don’t need to have taken Part 1 to take Part 2. No science background is required.

For many of us, thinking plants belong in fairy tales and Disney films, hardly in adult literature. Yet, over the last decade, serious authors have published books with titles like "Planta Sapiens"; "What A Plant Knows"; "The Language of Plants"; "The Hidden Life of Trees"; "Finding the Mother Tree"; A popular biography ("Braiding Sweetgrass"), a philosophical hit ("Plant Thinking: A Philosophy of Vegetal Life"), and a Pulitzer Prize winning novel ("The Overstory") feature the sophistication of plant life. Why such interest from functional humans? The Cognitive Revolution of the last century left some scientists and philosophers skeptical that plants are merely blind chemical machines. Curiosity led to flourishing research in plant complexity. In this course, we explore some of this work for evidence of plant cognition (‘thinking’) – without attempting to persuade but rather to spark discussion, critique, and deeper inquiry. We end by considering whether, if plants are indeed cognitive, we owe them a kind of ethical duty.

This course will discuss the “street drugs” that are most prevalent now nationally and in central Kentucky. This will include fentanyl, methamphetamine, xylazine (“tranq”), cocaine, nitazines, and other new psychoactive substances. We’ll discuss the brain changes that take place in addiction (“substance use disorder”) that make it so difficult for users to stop taking the drugs. We will also have information about harm reduction programs with emphasis on those in central Kentucky. An outside speaker is planned. No science background is required.

This course will examine the history of Earth and life from the Precambrian (beginning 4.55 billion years ago) to the present. This class will look at everything from meteorites and the early solar system, to trilobites to dinosaurs and will end with human evolution and climate change. The class will cover historical geology with an emphasis on life of the past as understood by paleontologists and earth scientists.

Since the book, "Life After Life" (1976), was published, many other books and hundreds of professional journal articles have appeared in print on near-death experiences. Scientists, physicians, and others have explained the phenomenon in terms of anoxia, the influence of medications, or a maneuver of dying brains to protect us from a rapid approaching reality of death. On the other hand, scientists, physicians (including neurologists and cardiologists), clergy, and many common, rational people have made extraordinary claims about their own experiences. This course will explore the phenomenon in terms of examining personal accounts and current research. Course will include PowerPoint presentations, lectures, and discussion.