Science & Technology   

This course will help you understand the growing impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on our world. Recently, tools like ChatGPT and DeepSeek v3 have shown just how powerful AI can be. Experts in tech companies are even more excited because they believe we're just a step away from creating an "applied general intelligence" (AGI) – an AI so advanced it could evolve and think far beyond what humans are capable of. AI is only a small part of a bigger change happening globally, and it's starting to affect everything from our daily lives to governments, social systems, and even our personal beliefs. What once seemed like science fiction is now becoming a reality. This class covers these changes and explores possibilities for adaptation and management. While AI may be shaking up the way the world works, we can still find creative ways to handle these changes. However, doing so will require a lot more understanding and smart thinking than we currently have.

Dreamscape Learn is a collaboration between Arizona State University and Dreamscape Immersive, a former VR entertainment company. During your visit to Dreamscape Learn, you can look forward to being fully immersed in a narrative story-telling experience. Throughout the hour visit, guests will see both educational VR content used in courses for real students at ASU along with a fun, free-roam entertainment VR experience. Our mission is to merge the most advanced experiential pedagogy with the entertainment industry’s best cinematic storytelling to deliver unique virtual reality and 2D labs as well as full course experiences which are effective, readily scalable and emotionally engaging.

Have you ever felt like scientists are constantly changing their minds? Do you feel unsure about whether and when research can be trusted to help you make good decisions about health, behavior, or the environment? This class offers a deep, behind-the-scenes investigation of a world often inaccessible to those outside the scientific community. You will learn how modern science came to be, what scientists really do, and what makes findings reliable. Your tour guide won’t pull any punches when it comes to exposing weaknesses in the scientific process, and you will leave armed with a list of “red flags” that allow you to spot pseudoscience and untrustworthy research in the wild. Simply put, this course confronts the messy realities of scientific methodology, and—in so doing—forces us to abandon any sense of faith in science, and instead find trust.

Join Dr. Billie Enz, ASU emerita professor, in these two interactive sessions. We will discuss our intertwined memory systems, including sensory, working and long-term memory. We will also review factors that enhance and inhibit memory and review practical ways to strengthen our memory throughout our lives. Finally, we will clarify the differences between age-related memory loss and dementia.

NASA's Galileo mission provided valuable insights into Jupiter's moons, Io and Europa. Now, a new chapter begins with the launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission in October 2024. What can we expect from this spacecraft? Dr. David Williams, ASU Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and director of the NASA-supported Greeley Center for Planetary Studies, helps us offer some answers to this question. By revisiting Galileo’s discoveries, we look forward to Clipper’s exploration of "Ocean Worlds"—planetary bodies in our Solar System likely harboring salty, liquid water beneath their icy surfaces. This includes Jupiter's moons, as well as icy moons of Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, and the dwarf planet Ceres. Clipper will also collaborate with the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission.

This class will provide an overview of Arizona Tribal water law and policy and its interconnection with Federal Indian Policy and history. It will include a look at where Arizona Tribes stand in securing their water rights within Arizona and the Colorado River Basin as well as emerging issues related to protecting those rights. Cora Tso is a research fellow who analyzes and develops recommendations related to Tribal Nations' water interests, collaborating with both Tribal leadership and government agencies and stakeholders.

Millions of years of evolution have refined how plants and animals survive in nature. From flight to medicine, we can observe and study how challenges and problems were solved by natural selection and efficiently mimic them to solve human challenges. The conservation and economic implications of this business model are just beginning to be used and appreciated. Join Dr. David Pearson as he discusses the intersections of ecology, conservation, ecotourism, and education to develop methods that promote sustainable use of biodiversity.

Dr. Steven Semken, an ethnogeologist and geoscience-education researcher, will provide a non-technical review of Arizona’s geologic history in this class. This session explores how this history, spanning almost two billion years, is interpreted through scientific study and evidence-based analysis of the rocks, formations, and other features exposed in the state’s diverse desert and mountain landscapes.

As space exploration transitions from fiction to reality, physical, psychological, and ethical challenges will redefine our narratives. The space age, once limited by accessibility, is now rapidly evolving with major players like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic, alongside emerging space nations like China and India. While these ventures drive excitement and power struggles, quieter voices are raising ethical, legal, and environmental concerns, shaping fields like space ethics and global space governance. As digitalization and global collaboration grow, a critical question arises: Can existing institutions balance competing interests while protecting the common good? Addressing this requires an ethical, interdisciplinary approach that ensures space development benefits humanity. By fostering responsible governance, we can ensure space exploration enhances life on Earth rather than merely serving political and corporate ambitions.

How can we be sure humans evolved from a branch of the great apes? If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes? How does one species give rise to another? Is evolution still happening? What is the “theory of evolution by natural selection,” where did it come from, and how sure are scientists about it? In this class, we will look at the evidence scientists use to understand evolution, speciation, and the variety of life. In addition to examining ancient evolution, we will explore some of the ways in which humans have continued to evolve since taking our modern form, all as part of the fascinating story of how life came to be on our planet as it is today.

The relationship between science and faith is often perceived as conflicting, especially when it comes to evolution and creationism. In this participatory, interactive class led by Dr. David Pearson, we will discuss the logic of why some scientists claim that faith is anti-science, and the basis for why some religions prefer to ignore science when it runs counter to their beliefs. Together, we will explore: is it possible to be both scientific and religious? Is this conflict more a perception than reality?

The relationship between science and faith is often perceived as conflicting, especially when it comes to evolution and creationism. In this participatory, interactive class led by Dr. David Pearson, we will discuss the logic of why some scientists claim that faith is anti-science, and the basis for why some religions prefer to ignore science when it runs counter to their beliefs. Together, we will explore: is it possible to be both scientific and religious? Is this conflict more a perception than reality?

This session will explore the powerful connection between diet and health. We will discuss how the foods we consume can play a critical role in preventing, managing, and even reversing chronic diseases – specifically diabetes, heart disease, and respiratory infections. These foods include whole grains such as oatmeal, polyphenol-rich (e.g., brightly colored) vegetables and fruit, fermented foods, and healthy fats. Some of these foods contain constituents that promote the "good" gut bacteria which provide the healthful effects that directly impact brain function, heart health, and respiratory function. You will learn the science behind these healthful effects as well as practical tips for incorporating these foods into your daily diet.

Dreamscape Learn is a collaboration between Arizona State University and Dreamscape Immersive, a former VR entertainment company. During your visit to Dreamscape Learn, you can look forward to being fully immersed in a narrative story-telling experience. Throughout the hour visit, guests will see both educational VR content used in courses for real students at ASU along with a fun, free-roam entertainment VR experience. Our mission is to merge the most advanced experiential pedagogy with the entertainment industry’s best cinematic storytelling to deliver unique virtual reality and 2D labs as well as full course experiences which are effective, readily scalable and emotionally engaging.

This lecture will focus on the origins of modern-day bioethics, including a discussion of the atrocities that gave rise to these fundamental principles. The lecture starts with a pre-WWII view of humanity and medicine; we then proceed to discuss the Nazi atrocities and Tuskegee Syphilis experiment that drove society to prepare seminal documents such as the Declaration of Helsinki and the Belmont Report. Finally, the lecture will focus on each of the principles that comprise bioethics: beneficence, justice, non-maleficence, and autonomy.