The Revenge of the Mammoths

Science is zooming by in the fast lane at 250 km/h, leaving most of us stuck behind a truck. Are we headed for a massive Stau? Or will the “zipper system” finally work?

Russ Hodge, native Kansan (his parents’ fault), long-time resident of Germany (his wife’s fault), and science writer (his own fault) takes us to the brink of today’s research (and occasionally way over the brink) in a talk loaded with fascinating information. For example, the human genome is 4% Neanderthal, 14% Genghis Khan, and 48% Jim, a sheep farmer from Wisconsin. Random and useless facts are woven together with practical information about the Republican plan for surviving the Zombie Apocalypse, building your own anti-tornado device, and how to launch a successful Biotech start-up using only the contents of your belly-button.

We’ll explore the evolution of horror films, how to distinguish true Conspiracy Theories from crazy stuff on blogs, and the search for Amelia Earhart’s DNA in the species that ate her.

The talk will be held in Kansas English, refined and distilled for European consumption.