Maquiladora workers and activists Enrique Davalos and Rogelio Valencia will speak on "Maquiladoras: Impacts of Globalization on the U.S./Mexico Border Communities" at the California Institute of Technology on Friday, October 20 at 7:30 p.m., in Baxter Lecture Hall. This presentation will begin the 2006-07 season of the Caltech Y Social Activism Speaker Series. The event is free and open to the public. No reservations or tickets are required.

Several landmark discoveries over the past two years have linked the immune system with schizophrenia and also with autism. These findings provide support for a new mouse model of mental illness in which the activation of a pregnant mother's immune system alters the brain development and behavior of her offspring.

Jack DuVall, president and founding director of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, will give a presentation, "The Right of Resistance: The Legitimacy of Civic Force and Its Support," at the California Institute of Technology on Thursday, May 11, at 8 p.m., in the Beckman Institute auditorium. This presentation will be the final event of the 2005-06 season of the Caltech Y Social Activism Speaker Series. It is free and open to the public. No reservations or tickets are required.

Next time you're brushing your teeth in the morning, give a thought to biofilms, the complex communities of bacteria that form the slippery scum you're scouring off your teeth, along with the slime on river rocks, the gunk in clogged drains, and filmy coatings on just about any surface, anywhere, that's exposed to water.