Friday, March 8 from 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Saturday, March 9 from 9 a.m.–3 p.m.

#BIOH19

Basement Exhibits

Introduction to the Microscopy Suite—B604 & B606, Atrium

Microscopy Suite staff display and describe 3D X-ray microscopes, fluorescence microscopes, and the field-emission environmental scanning electron microscope (used for Bugscope) with Elemental Analysis.— Microscopy Suite, Imaging Technology Group

Through the Looking Glass: Adventures in Imaging Science—Room B668

Visit the NSF-funded state-of-the-art Molecular Imaging Laboratory (MIL) equipped with a PET/SPECT/CT scanner, which uses positrons, gamma radiation, and X-rays to look inside the body. Investigators from the Experimental Molecular Imaging Laboratory (EMIL) will demonstrate the operating principles and applications of nuclear, laser doppler, and thermal imaging for testing new therapeutic interventions in cardiovascular complications, detecting cancer, and studying effects of nutrition on cancer progression.— EMIL & MIL, Biomedical Imaging Center

Visualization Lab Studio—Room B650G

See the specialized equipment used for 3D scanning, macro photography, high-speed video, and other equipment used to create stunning visualizations, and talk to staff who help researchers create these dynamic images and videos.— Visualization Lab, Imaging Technology Group

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Atrium & First–Floor Exhibits

Film Screening: “The Instrumental Chemist: The Incredible Curiosity of Arnold O. Beckman”—Auditorium, first floor

Note: The film will start at the top of each hour. Learn more about the legacy of Arnold O. Beckman—successful inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist—whose donation and vision helped shape the Beckman Institute.—Independent film funded by the Chemical Heritage Foundation

3D Printing Pens—Atrium

Get hands-on 3D printing experience with 3D pens. What will you make?—Tissue Microenvironment Group & ENVISION

Autonomous Materials Systems—Atrium, Room 3712

The Autonomous Materials Systems Group designs materials that respond to everyday stimuli. Visit our labs to see liquids that rapidly transform into structural solids with a small application of heat, materials that heal after damage, plastics that disappear, and polymers that change color in response to force. Guests also will learn about the science behind 3D printing, damage detection, and vascular materials.—Autonomous Materials Systems Group

Biobots: Building with Biology—Atrium

Using living materials, we can engineer systems that adapt and respond to their environment in ways traditional building materials cannot. Robots will demonstrate how an engineered “biobot” built from skeletal muscle cells and a soft 3D-printed skeleton is guided to walk by light stimulation. This interactive exhibit allows visitors to control the motion of various types of robots.—Gillette Lab

Biomechanics of Growth and Locomotion—Atrium

How does changing bone structure during growth affect movement? How does ground reaction force during a vertical jump change with jump height? How do our muscles use electrical energy during different activities? This exhibit will reveal the answers to these questions using sheep, basketball players, rats, horses, EMG sensors, and a force plate you can jump on.—Tissue Biomechanics Lab

Brain Matching Game—Atrium

This game features life-size images of brains of various species of animals, mixed with photos of the animals they belong to (not to scale). Guests are invited to connect the right brain to the right animal. Learn about comparative neuroanatomy, the importance of brain size and complexity.—Rhodes Laboratory

Brain’s Chemistry Neuron by Neuron—Atrium, & Rooms 2620, 2636, & 2542

An animal’s brain is composed of numerous individual cells. Each cell is a separate entity that communicates with others, so it is important to study individual neurons. The chemical interaction of those cells controls bodily functions and complex behavior, and encodes memory and learning. The Sweedler Group has developed tools to study the chemistry of the brain—neuron by neuron—and will demonstrate some state-of-the-art analytical techniques that probe biologically important molecules in single identified neurons.—Sweedler Research Group

Building Better Batteries: Energy Research in the JRL Lab—Atrium

Several displays demonstrate how batteries work, how to make next-generation battery electrodes, and new concepts for energy storage. Discover classic zinc batteries, ultra-thin carbon, and a flow battery system.—Rodríguez-López Lab

Cellular and Neuroscience Imaging Lab—Atrium

Neural imaging requires tissue processing techniques and labeling with fluorescent proteins to make visible specific proteins of interest by increasing the resolution of the image. These proteins often are markers of things like Alzheimer’s disease or traumatic brain injury. As a result, these techniques can help identify the progression and specific structural alterations in these pathologies.—Cellular and Neuroscience Imaging Lab

Coral Reef Project at Stratton Elementary—Room 1005

Visitors can touch tide pool animals in interactive touch tanks and see an exhibit of coral skeleton posters displaying marine biology concepts and research from three labs: clownfish neurology, octopus behavior, and 3D-printing coral propagation materials.—Stratton Academy of the Arts

Decode the Liver—Atrium

Learn about liver function, play games, and do interactive experiments to learn about the liver.—Anakk Lab

Do Health-Related Messages Spread Through Social Media Similarly?—Atrium

Social media has been increasingly used in health campaigns about prevention, testing, and treatment of HIV. The Health, Social Media, and Technology Group uses advanced statistical models and machine learning methods to identify language features from social media messages that predict the spread and actionability in the areas of HIV prevention and control. Learn about factors leading to the retransmission of messages on social media, and challenge yourself with an exciting puzzle game.—Health, Social Media, and Technology Group

Emotion, Cognition, and the Brain—Atrium

Emotion can impact cognition by exerting both enhancing effects (better memory for emotional events) and impairing effects (increased emotional distractibility). Emotion processing, however, also is susceptible to cognitive influences, typically exerted as cognitive regulation of emotions. Investigation of the mechanisms underlying these phenomena is critical for understanding mood and anxiety disorders, characterized by emotion dysregulation. A demo using “lie detection” will be available to test emotion regulation skills.—Dolcos Lab

Explore Your Brain with the Family Studies Lab—Atrium

Have you ever wondered how your experiences might influence your brain? Why teenagers might be particularly tuned in to their social environments? These are questions that the Family Studies Lab explores in an effort to understand how the brain processes emotional and social cues in adolescence. The exhibit’s interactive activities make learning about the brain fun.—Family Studies Lab

Exploring the World of Nanomaterials—Atrium

Visit our scanning tunneling microscope exhibit to learn about how to visualize materials on the nanoscale. Here you’ll explore how we can image and manipulate single molecules with large-scale models of the materials we study and a model of our laser-assisted microscope.—Gruebele Group

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Molecular Models—Atrium

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) allows researchers to identify unknown materials and investigate chemical composition. Learn how an FTIR instrument functions and discover the broad range of applications for FTIR imaging. Make edible molecular models and learn how different materials absorb infrared light based on their structure.—Chemical Imaging and Structures Lab

From Behavior to Brain and Back!—Atrium

Observe research in brain and behavior, and the production of computational models. Demonstrations include an electrical recording from a simple invertebrate brain; video demonstrations of behavioral decisions in a predatory sea-slug; and interactive, computational models of decision in hunting behavior in the predator.—Rhanor Gillette Group

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Second–Floor Exhibits

Brain’s Chemistry Neuron by Neuron—Rooms 2620, 2636, & 2542, & Atrium

An animal’s brain is composed of numerous individual cells, which are each a separate entity that communicates with others, so it is important to study individual neurons. The chemical interaction of those cells controls bodily functions and complex behavior, and encodes memory and learning. The Sweedler Group has developed tools to study the chemistry of the brain—neuron by neuron—and will demonstrate some of its state-of-the-art analytical techniques that probe biologically important molecules in single identified neurons.—Sweedler Research Group

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Third–Floor Exhibits

Autonomous Materials Systems—Room 3712, Atrium

The Autonomous Materials Systems Group designs materials that respond to everyday stimuli. Visit our labs to see liquids that rapidly transform into structural solids with a small application of heat, materials that heal after damage, plastics that disappear, and polymers that change color in response to force. Guests also will learn about the science behind 3D printing, damage detection, and vascular materials.—Autonomous Materials Systems Group

Laser Imaging of Living Dynamic Cells—Room 3510

How do cells behave in our body? Do they stay or migrate? This lab uses laser imaging to observe the cell behavior in a living rat. The laser imaging lab will demonstrate 3D real-time images and videos of living dynamic cells, and guests will get to know the revolutionary laser imaging system that makes all these possible.—Biophotonics Imaging Lab

Using Light to See Into Your Ear and Eye—Room 3520

Have you ever wondered what your eardrum or the back of your eye looks like? The Biophotonics Imaging Laboratory has developed advanced imaging tools using light to see into body parts at the micron scale and to observe what may lie below the surface. Visit the doctor’s office of the future and learn about an optical imaging technique called optical coherence tomography, and get a close-up picture of the inside of your ear or eye.—Biophotonics Imaging Lab

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