Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1999 09:40:22 -0800 (PST)
From: Rose Falanga <rosef@exploratorium.edu>
To: pinhole@exploratorium.edu
Subject: Frog Webcast series at the Exploratorium
FROG TALKS at the Exploratorium: A Webcast series.
March - May 1999
The Exploratorium presents Frog Talks, a fascinating look at frogs with
researchers in the field, in conjunction a major new exhibition on Frogs
on view at the Exploratorium through September 12, 1999. These engaging
illustrated lectures by national experts reveal how research on frogs
has implications for human and environmental health, as well as on areas
as diverse as robots and popular entertainment, like computer graphics
in film.
All three lectures will take place on Saturdays at 2 p.m. in the
Exploratorium's McBean Theater. All events are free with admission to
the Exploratorium and will be webcast live and archived using RealAudio.
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Saturday, March 6, 1999
"From the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to the Amazon Basin: In search of
golden toads, 100-eyed giants, and pregnant frogs"
Dr. Tyrone Hayes, UC Berkeley
McBean Theater, 2pm
Frogs make fascinating research subjects in both the lab and the field.
Dr. Tyrone Hayes, who studies frogs and toads in their native habitats
in Africa, South America and the United States as well as in his lab at
UC Berkeley, will discuss amphibian diversity, development, and disease.
Some of his basic research projects have lead to "accidental"
discoveries that also have applications for conservation biology and
human health. For instance, while studying the evolution of development
and color changes in female African reed frogs, he and his colleagues
have discovered a way to identify chemicals in the environment that may
affect the action of estrogen in the body. This information may help
scientists detect agents that may cause breast cancer in humans and
identify potential anti-cancer drugs. Dr. Hayes will tell stories of his
adventures in the field chasing down frogs and discuss the implications
of that work on both human and environmental health.
Dr. Tyrone Hayes is an assistant professor at the University of
California at Berkeley, where he teaches endocrinology and conducts
research on frogs and toads. His research focuses on the role of steroid
hormones in amphibian development and growth and touches on many levels
from the molecular to the ecological. Dr. Hayes research subjects
include the California toad (Bufo boreas), the African clawed frog
(Xenopus laevis), the Japanese kajika (Buegeria buegeri), and the Pine
Barrens treefrog (Hyla femoralis).
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Saturday, May 1, 1999
"The Case of the Missing Frogs"
Dr. Karen Lips
McBean Theater, 2pm
For years, scientists have been mystified about the disappearance of
frogs all over the world. No one knew for sure what was killing the
amphibians; suggested culprits have included disease, vanishing
wetlands, environmental pollutants, climate change, and a thinning ozone
layer. Karen Lips jumped into the investigation after finding dozens of
dead and dying frogs in the jungles of Panama in 1997. When pathologists
looked at the skins of dead frogs that Lips collected, they found
mysterious round growths, the likes of which had never been seen before.
The frogs were being infected with a skin fungus, an amphibian parasite
new to science. But how were they being infected? Are frogs especially
vulnerable to this new parasite and why? Dr. Lips will discuss the
detective work that eventually lead her and her colleagues to a major
scientific discovery about amphibian deaths and will touch on the
mysteries that have yet to be solved.
Dr. Karen R. Lips is an assistant professor at Southern Illinois
University in Carbondale, IL, where she teaches herpetology,
conservation biology, and zoology. For the last several years, she has
conducted field research on disappearing frog populations in Panama and
Costa Rica, as the leader of a SWAT team funded by the National Science
Foundation. As part of that work, Dr. Lips and her colleagues recently
discovered that a skin fungus is involved in the deaths of frogs and
toads. Dr. Lips is a board member of the Declining Amphibian Populations
Task Force, and recipient of the Presidential Award of the Chicago
Zoological Society, and the Biodiversity Leadership Award of the Bay and
Paul Foundation.
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Saturday, May 22, 1999
"See How They Run -- Animal Locomotion"
Dr. Robert Full, UC Berkeley
McBean Theater, 2pm
According to Discover Magazine, "Two legs are a lot to move, four legs
are considerable. Six legs are a quandary and forty-four are
formidable." In the wake of such popular films as A Bug's Life and
Antz, don't miss this multimedia presentation from the Poly-PEDAL
Laboratory of Dr. Robert Full. The lab studies all forms of animal
locomotion - including Hall of Fame baseball players, ants, roaches,
crabs, and hopping toads. Engineers and computer scientists are
convinced that walking insect-like robots would be ideal for moving over
rough terrain - whether on this planet or others in the universe.
Full's lab has begun to reveal basic research towards that end. Did you
know that the American cockroach can run five feet per second, a speed
the Guinness Book of World Records recognizes as the fastest of any
insect on Earth? A human would have to run 200 miles an hour to match
that rate. Did you know that six-legged roaches tilt up their bodies and
sprint on their two back legs when they're really in a hurry? Dr. Full
will share his biomechanical revelations in the field of animal
locomotion and show high-speed video of frogs, bugs, crabs and rodents.
This is the very stuff that has inspired the design of not only
functional robots but also giant insect and movie monsters, including
the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park and the giant cockroach in Mimic.
Dr. Robert Full is Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of
California, Berkeley and has been named a Chancellor's Professor, one of
the university's highest honors. He is the director of the UC's
biological visualization center. Dr. Full's internationally recognized
research program in comparative physiology and biomechanics shows how
examining a diversity of animals leads to the discovery of general
principles of animal locomotion. His research has provided biological
inspiration for the design of multi-legged robots and computer
animations.
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The Exploratorium is located inside the Palace of Fine Arts in San
Francisco's Marina District. Museum admission is as follows: Members
FREE; Adults (18-64) $9.00; University Students (with ID) $7.00; Senior
citizens (65+) $7.00; People with disabilities $5.00; Youth (6-17)
$5.00; Children 3-5 $2.50; Children Under 3 FREE. First Wednesdays of
the month FREE. The Exploratorium's winter hours, from Labor Day through
Memorial Day, are TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY 10am -5pm (WEDNESDAYS UNTIL
9:00pm), CLOSED MONDAYS, except for most holidays. From Memorial Day
through Labor Day, the Exploratorium is open SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, from
10am -6pm (Wednesdays until 9pm). The Exploratorium is wheelchair
accessible.
LINDA DACKMAN <lindad@exploratorium.edu>
Erin Wilson ewilson@exploratorium.edu
(415) 563 7337
http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/