World Science Festival 2008

May 28-June 1, 2008 is the World Science Festival in NYC. 

Speaker include: David Albert, Alan Alda, Nancy Andreasen, Karole Armitage, Steven Benner, Cynthia Breazeal, Blaine Brownell, Robert Butler, Majora Carter, Patricia Churchland, Francis Collins, Brian Cox, Antonio Damasio, Paul Davies, Daniel Dennett, Dickson Despommier, David Eagleman, James P. Evans, Mark Everett, Ira Flatow, Peter Galison, Jim Gates, Brian Greene, Saul Griffith, Heidi Hammel, Jonathan Harris, Eric Haseltine, Marc Hauser, Lucy Hawking, Peter Head, Shirley Ann Jackson, Mitchell Joachim, Tim Johnson, Bill T. Jones, Michio Kaku, Sandra Kaufmann, Helge Kragh, Bernie Krause, Lawrence Krauss, Robert Krulwich, Ray Kurzweil, Richard Leakey, Leon Lederman, Lukas Ligeti, Alan Lightman, Doug Liman, Marilyn Maye, Dan Nocera, Paul Nurse, Lyman Page, William Phillips, Vilayanur Ramachandran, Nikolas Rose, Oliver Sacks, Cliff Saron, James Schamus, David Sinclair, Anna Deavere Smith, Paul Steinhardt, Leonard Susskind, Julia Sweeney, Ian Tattersall, Max Tegmark, David Thoreson, Maggie Turnbull, and Richard Weindruch. 

You can find a list of events and buy tickets here.  I'm very excited about the talk on the Science of Morality on Thursday, May 29, 8:15 PM -  9:45 PM, at the 92nd Street Y, featuring Patricia Churchland, Antonio Damasio, Daniel Dennett and Marc Hauser.

Science is investigating the biological roots of empathy, altruism and cooperation to discover whether we possess an innate moral grammar, much like language, or whether morality arises from the interactions among biological and social systems.

In this presentation with the 92nd Street Y, Patricia Churchland, Antonio Damasio, Daniel Dennett and Marc Hauser discuss the science of right and wrong, and explore how our scientific understanding of morality may affect society, from shaping justice systems to deciding whether to engage in wars or to assist others in economic and humanitarian struggles.