Lectures

Did you know that the nests of some ants have air conditioning systems?  That ant workers follow traffic rules while walking on their busy highways? That ants are the only creatures besides humans with warfare and even terrorism?  That ants invented slavery and large-scale agriculture millennia before humans, and for many of the same reasons we did?

In Adventures Among Ants, learn this and much more with scientist and tropical explorer Mark Moffett, called the Indiana Jones of Entomology by the National Geographic Society. When not on expedition, Moffett divides his time between research positions at the University of California at Berkeley and the Smithsonian Institution. One of only a handful of people to earn a Ph.D. under the world's most respected ecologist, E.O. Wilson, Mark Moffett has written or photographed more than two dozen articles for National Geographic. Book signing following the lecture.

Sponsored by KUHF, 88.7 FM.

After eight years of searching Beaufort Inlet in North Carolina, in 1996 a team of divers discovered a room-sized mound of cannons, anchors and ballast stones. The team was lead to the artifacts by Mike Daniel who recently joined the team that year to direct field operations for the search of Queen Anne's Revenge, the flagship of the infamous Blackbeard. At the time of discovery, several artifacts were recovered that dated to the early eighteenth century including a bronze bell with the inscription 1705. After inspection of the site and recovered artifacts, state archaeologists agreed that it was quite possibly the remains of Blackbeard's ship lost in 1718.

Mike Daniel, shipwreck researcher, will explain how he used historical accounts to select the successful survey area, and what was learned about Blackbeard and the world of pirates through his research and discovery of Queen Anne's Revenge and other shipwrecks off the coast of North Carolina.

Sponsored by KUHF, 88.7 FM and Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.

This lectured is sponsored by Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies and is included in their course Real Pirates and the Science of Shipwrecks. The HMNS Distinguished Lecture Series is generously supported by the Favrot Fund.

For centuries, long lines of camels carried textiles, foods and all manner of luxury goods between the Far East, the Mediterranean and Europe. But there were other riches to found along the Silk Road - petrified history. The plateaus and deserts of western China offer spectacular fossil beds that fill gaps in our history of life. The earliest vertebrates and strangely armored fish can be dug from Gobi desert strata. Fossil remnants in what is now wild scrubland there show us how our mammal ancestors once fought with dinosaur clans for supremacy in forest and meadow. The last phases of the Darwinian drama are superbly represented by the Hipparion hordes - multitudes of "hippo-rhinos" and "moose-giraffes" - and eventually, the first members of our own human kin. Fossils from the Silk Road are now essential chapters in the half-billion-year saga of how the world was shaped.

Join Robert T. Bakker, Ph.D, curator of paleontology for the Houston Museum of Natural Science, for an entertaining overview of important Silk Road fossils. Bakker's engaging presentations are enjoyed by both children and adults.

Sponsored by KUHF, 88.7 FM.

Lois, the titan arum, or corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) became an overnight phenomenon with fans all over the world cheering her on - in person and virtually.  HMNS Horticulturists Zac Stayton and Soni Holladay will present The Life and Times of Lois the Corpse Flower. Zac will share the plant's fascinating flowering process, and Soni will explain how she cares for Lois and our other titan arum when they are not on display ... as well as share stories of the Lois media frenzy of July 2010.

Commemorative Lois T-shirts, buttons and photos will be available for purchase and signing by Zac and Soni after the lecture.

Along the ancient routes of the Silk Road, archeology has unveiled the material culture of the diverse populations of Central Asia - in a wider context than previously believed.  Dr. Lothar von Falkenhausen will explain how newly discovered material evidence can complement historical information. Addressing the peoples of the Silk Road, he will also discuss the social complexity in the oasis kingdoms, the symbiosis of the steppe and the sown, and how economic exchange served as a vehicle for cultural and religious diffusion.  

Dr. Lothar von Falkenhausen is professor of art history at UCLA. He directs excavations in the Yangzi River Basin through the Peking University-UCLA Joint Archaeological Project. His research concerns the archaeology of the Chinese Bronze Age. He serves as editor of the Journal of East Asian Archaeology and of the Early China Special Monographs Series.

Sponsored by KUHF, 88.7 FM and Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.

Starting in the Roman period, a maritime silk route as valuable as the overland Silk Road, developed in the Indian Ocean from China to Arabia. Fabulous silks, spices, incense, pearls, ivory and gem stones traversed these routes. This maritime route grew into the most important trade network in the medieval world where cultural exchange brought about shifts in ideas, technology and beliefs - and the beginning of a truly global economy. Archaeologist Dr. Derek Kennet will tell the adventurous tale of the development and impact of the silk route of the Indian Ocean, including the "graveyard of gold."

Dr. Derek Kennet has conducted archaeological field work at several locations along the Indian Ocean's silk route. He is a pioneer of economic archaeology that traces the patterns of economic interaction and interdependence. This lecture sponsored by AIA - Houston is underwritten by Saudi Aramco.

Over one hundred impeccably-preserved mummies dating back thousands of years to the Bronze Age have been discovered in Tarim Basin in the desserts of Western China. As shocking as their life-like appearance and brightly colored clothing is that the mummies appear to be Caucasian, challenging experts to identify them. Dr. Victor Mair, who has spearheaded the research, will share his team's current findings on the origins of the Tarim mummies including the latest genetic research.

Victor H. Mair, Ph.D., is professor of Chinese language and literature the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania.

Sponsored by KUHF, 88.7 FM and Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.

In 1984, after several years of research and exploration, the first verified pirate shipwreck ever found in U.S. waters was discovered. Lost in a storm off Cape Cod in 1717, the Whydah, a one-time slave vessel, has yielded so far more than 100,000 artifacts - including the Whydah's bell, cannon, gold and silver coins, African jewelry, weapons, and many other artifacts - helping to illuminate the world's understanding of pirates. Ken Kinkor, director of the Whydah Museum offers a unique glimpse into the Age of Piracy, and explains what the ship and its artifacts reveal about the real lives of the men who sailed under the black flag.

Sponsored by KUHF 88.7 FM and Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.