Lecture Series History: 2015
In 2015, the Natural History Museum of Utah's annual Lecture Series presented the theme "Envisioning the Future." Read on to learn more about the theme and speakers.
About the 2015 Lecture Series
In this year's lecture series, we are Envisioning the Future through the reality of artificial body parts, the possibility of life on other planets, the world of technology, and the creation of sustainable communities.
As Einstein so famously said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand." We invite you to examine revolutionary, cutting-edge innovations in the areas of medical science, astrobiology, and technology that will significantly alter our everyday lives, and closer to home, will consider challenges and exciting opportunities in a rapidly expanding Utah.
I'm grateful to the R. Harold Burton Foundation-our Founding Underwriter-for its tremendous and ongoing support of the series since 2007.
I'd also like to acknowledge our Underwriter the Cultural Vision Fund, our Presenting Sponsor JPMorgan Chase & Co., and our additional generous partners for making this year's series possible.
2015 Speakers
Nina Tandon
Body 3.0
Where sci-fi meets reality-that is where you will find Nina Tandon. On the cutting edge of science, she has been profiled in Wired and named one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business.
We are living in an exciting era where, with the help of manufacturing and information technology, we are on the verge of being able to grow human tissue.
And engineered tissues are just the beginning. Tandon will walk us through the eye-opening process of growing tissue and transplants and discuss what this means for the future of medical science.
Caleb Scharf
Cosmic (In) Significance
Director of Astrobiology, Columbia University Author of The Copernicus Complex
In his newest book, The Copernicus Complex, Caleb Scharf uses the latest scientific findings to reconsider where we stand in the balance between cosmic significance and mediocrity, order, and chaos. One of his ultimate goals-finding planets that could harbor recognizable life and detecting the presence of that life. Get ready as Scharf takes us on a thought-provoking, scientific grand adventure exploring our quest to learn about life in the universe, what it all means, and where it's leading us.
Robert J. Grow
Envisioning Utah's Future: Challenges and Opportunities
By 2050 Utah's population is expected to almost double. Will we have clean air to breathe? Enough water? Affordable energy supplies that won't damage our environment? Robert Grow believes the answers to these questions depend on the choices-and plans-we as a community collectively make. Join Grow for an enlightening overview of the "Your Utah, Your Future" project. Launched in 2013, this visionary initiative was designed to proactively plan how to meet Utah's future growth challenges using a groundbreaking process introduced by Envision Utah that allows residents themselves to choose the path forward. The information gathered through the online game "Build Your 2050 Utah," interviews, mapping exercises, and surveys is being used to develop different community scenarios that will be presented to the public in 2015.
David Pogue
Disruptive Tech: The Unrecognizable World of Tech and Culture
In this fast, funny presentation, Pogue will help us consider what we'll gain, what we'll lose, and what beliefs may morph into something we've never seen before. He will stick his neck out to predict which will actually cause major, disruptive changes. He'll display, discuss, and even demonstrate the technological advances-in personal entertainment, cellular tech, Web 2.0, and more-that will have the greatest impact on society in the coming years.