Upcoming Programs

Please mark your calendar for our next three programs!

Feb 18, 2010, 6:00 PM, Stillwater, Oklahoma Public Library

Where Should I Put My Wind Farm?

Modeling and Mapping the Oklahoma Windscape

Dr. Steve Stadler from the Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative will speak about his research modeling Oklahoma wind, which is key to developing the state's wind energy resource.

Apr 15, 2010, 6:00 PM, Stillwater, Oklahoma Public Library

What is the Shape of the Molecule?

Using X-ray Crystallography to Deduce Protein Structure

Dr. Christina Bourne from the OSU Department of Veterinary Pathobiology will speak about how potential disease-fighting drugs can be developed through understanding the shapes and functions of key protein molecules.

May 20, 2010, 6:00 PM, Stillwater, Oklahoma Public Library

The Older the Rock, the Brighter It Glows

Using Luminescence Dating to Determine the Ages of Rocks

Dr. Regina DeWitt from the OSU Physics Department will speak about a dating technique she has developed based on the natural ability rocks accumulate over time to luminesce. Dr. Dewitt's work is funded by NASA and her luminescence dating instrument may be selected for inclusion on a future Mars rover!

Building the Bat Family Tree

Last night we had another great Born to Do Science event here at the Stillwater Public Library.

I kicked things off with a new song called "Bat Man." (I'll get these songs posted one day, really, honest!)

Dr. Ron Van Den Bussche then guided us on how to study the tree of life. We learned that species that look alike may not actually be closely related. And visa versa: species that look very different can be closely related.

How do we know? By studying genes. The more closely related two species are, the more genes they have in common.

The physical characteristics of species (morphology) can be misleading. Studying genes can lead us to new conclusions about who's closely related to who. Then we can go back and look at morphology more closely to verify the new information.

That gives us multiple lines of evidence, or two different ways of knowing. When they agree with one another, we can feel more confident we've got it right. When they disagree, we need to do more research.

We also learned many cool things about bats. There are 1200 different kinds; the smallest is the size of a thumb; the largest has a wingspan as wide as a basketball player is tall.

At the end of the presentation, we looked at bat specimens. All the small brown bats in the photos below are members of the bat family that Dr. Van Den Bussche is trying to sort out. Each sample represents a different species.

Notice that there isn't much to go on as far as morphology is concerned! That's one reason this family of bats is the last to be organized. Dr. Van Den Bussche is the only one working on them. He's using DNA to sort them all out.

Next month, February 18 - wind energy! See you then!

Building the Bat Family Tree

Coming Thursday January 21, 2010, 6:00PM at the Stillwater Public Library...

Molecular Evidence Reveals Bat History

"Bat Man" Dr. Ron Van Den Bussche from the OSU zoology department will speak about his research into the evolution of a family of bats that makes up eight percent of all mammal species!

If you'd like to prepare for this presentation (or learn more afterwards) here are some resources to check out!

Other researchers doing similar work:

Scientists Fill Blanks on Bat Family Tree (article)

Bats and Their Evolution (video)

General Background:

Vespertilionidae - the family of bats we'll be looking at

The Tree of Life Web Project

Speciation (video)

The Tree of Life (video):