July ChiMe Activ­ity Bulletin Dead­line. Last day for these submissions to the July ChiMe. Interested in organizing and hosting a virtual or in-person event? There’s bound to be an activity or a restaurant you want to try, but you just want some other people to experience it with you. So invite your fellow Mensans. Find out how by visiting our guide to hosting events.

July ChiMe Editorial and Ad­vertising Dead­lines. Last day for editorial submissions to the July ChiMe. Please submit original ar­ticles, insights, puzzles, brain teasers, photographs, or short poems. Your fellow Chicago Area Mensa members would love to hear from you.

British Mensa : Dark Thoughts - A Mind Without Illusion 1:30 PM. Many people assume that questioning ideas such as purpose, fairness, or control reflects pessimism or emotional fragility. In practice these thoughts often arise in ordinary moments: waiting for a bus, watching a kettle cool, or noticing something mundane that suddenly feels oddly exposed. Following Bob Hurling's Talking Point article A mind without illusion (May/June 2026 IQ, pp 44-45), Hurling will explore what he calls 'Dark Thoughts'. These reflections appear when the mind's usual interpretive layers fall away and familiar explanations begin to feel less secure. What if some of the things we feel most certain about the mind are not quite what they seem? Psychological research shows how easily we detect patterns that are not really there, how strongly beliefs defend coherence when predictions fail, and how the sense of intention and decision making may be less straightforward than it appears.

Rather than presenting a bleak picture, the talk suggests that life does not lose its value when some of the stories we rely on are questioned. Experience itself remains intact: relationships, curiosity, pleasures, frustrations, and the ordinary moments that make up daily life. For the full write-up, including information about author Bob Hurling, registration instructions, and how to become a guest on the British Mensa website, visit the American Mensa event. The talk is free for members to attend. The Zoom link will be sent to all registrants the week commencing 1 June.
Virtual Event!!

New Zealand Sunday Seminars: Floods: Risk and Severity of Events Likely to Happen in New Zealand over the Next 50 Years 7 PM (Sunday Noon NZT ). What will it take to future-proof a nation's infrastructure? This talk explores New Zealand's long-term plan, with a focus on flood risk, natural hazards, and the growing impact of climate change on communities and critical systems. The list of the upcoming seminars and any details can be viewed on their website.
Virtual Event!!

Toronto Mensa Inquiring Minds : Beyond Disease: Building a Healthier Brain Across the Lifespan 1 PM. If you had the chance to reduce the risk of forgetting the people you love and losing your identity … would you take it? In this talk neurologist Dr. Alejandra Guerrero challenges the way we think about brain health. Instead of focusing only on disease, she will explore how brain health is shaped across the entire lifespan and why the actions we take long before symptoms appear can influence how our brain ages. Her message is both urgent and hopeful: protecting the brain is not only about living longer—it is about preserving memory, independence, and identity.

Dr. Alejandra Guerrero, an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute, is a neurologist dedicated to advancing brain health and preventing cognitive decline across the lifespan. With a background in clinical neurology and a strong focus on lifestyle and preventive neuroscience, she works to translate complex brain science into practical strategies that help people protect their cognitive function and age with resilience. Through her work as a speaker, educator, and brain-health advocate, Dr. Guerrero focuses on raising awareness about dementia prevention, cognitive reserve, and the impact of everyday habits on long-term brain health. Her mission is to empower individuals to take proactive steps to protect their memory, mental clarity, and independence long before disease appears.

See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Event.
Virtual Event!!

GOBS Request Deadline Noon. Today is the last day to submit a request for GOBS funds to be approved at this Tuesday’s virtual Business Meeting for any planned, eligible event, activity, or class taking place after Tuesday, June 16th through Tuesday, July 21st and, optionally, later; to be eligible, events involving CAM members must be published in the issue of ChiMe corresponding to the month in which they occur.

Irish Mensa Lecture and Discussion: The Price of Pixels: Unmasking the Environmental Impact of Our Digital Lives 1 PM. Irish Mensa meets virtually on the third Monday of each month at 7 PM Irish Time; a discussion then follows the lecture.

This month's discussion explores The Price of Pixels, a fascinating look at the hidden environmental costs of our digital lives—from rare earth mining and energy-hungry data centers to toxic e-waste and climate impacts. After watching a Gresham College lecture by pollution researcher Dr. Ian Mudway, attendees will dive into a conversation about technology, sustainability, and the true price of convenience.

For the full write-up and the Zoom information, visit the American Mensa event. One does not have to register for the event—simply use the Zoom link at the appropriate date and time.
Virtual Event!!

MWW: Nonfiction Book Discussion 4:30 PM CST. Please join us in discussing Fixing Fairness: 4 Tenets to Transform Diversity Backlash into Progress for All by Lily Zheng. We generally discuss what we liked about the book or found challenging. We also discuss what we would like more or less of, what format we read the book in, and whether it was a recent read. Can't make it this month? The next books will be Book Lust by Nancy Pearl (July 15), Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner (August 19), and 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History — and How It Shattered a Nation by Andrew Ross Sorkin (September 16).

See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Event.
Virtual Event!!

Mensa Foundation : Perspectives on Brain Health - Part One 2 PM. Presented by Mensan Dr. Doohi Lee, MD., this first session will explore brain health and traumatic brain injury. It's a pay-what-you-wish, two-part webinar series built around one question: what does it really mean to keep a brain healthy across a lifetime?

See the full write-up and find sign-up info on the Mensa Foundation website. Registering once covers both sessions, including Part 2 on July 11, which will carry forward ideas from this year's Mensa Foundation Colloquium in Fort Worth.
Virtual Event!!

SEMM : The AI Revolution: Understanding the Rapid Advancement, Singularity and Geopolitics 5:30 PM CDT. Tracking the developmental milestones toward Artificial General Intelligence, this presentation introduces AI as computer intelligence that learns, makes decisions, and solves problems, emphasizing its rapid advancement due to the abundance of data, powerful computers (GPUs), and smarter algorithms like deep learning. It highlights AI's presence in daily life through smartphones, social media, online shopping, healthcare, and self-driving cars. We will discuss “the Singularity”: the point where AI surpasses human intelligence and can rapidly improve itself, leading to unpredictable changes.

See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Event. All Zoom attendees must preregister by visiting the SEMM Monthly Gathering page and choosing "June 20, 2026 5:30 pm" from the dropdown. Due to rising Zoom costs, SEMM asks for a $5 donation, if you can afford it.
Virtual Event!!

SFRM : Paleontology - Far More Than Just New Fossil Discoveries 4:30 PM. Paleontology is one of the most popular yet most misunderstood fields of science. Paleontologists are assumed only to be interested in dinosaurs and are imagined as bearded white men in battered cowboy hats, with hammers and whisk brooms. Instead, paleontologists are a markedly diverse group of scientists who use cutting-edge methods. Headlines over exciting new fossils grossly underestimate the true importance of paleontology. Its real significance lies in how such discoveries illuminate the grand history of life on Earth. From its beginnings more than three billion years ago to the present day, fossils record how life adapted or perished in the face of major environmental challenges. Paleontologists know that understanding life’s past is critical to anticipating and adapting to life's and humanity's futures. Paleontology is vital because it brings its unique and critical perspective to current challenges in climate change, biodiversity loss, and the environment.

Roy Plotnick is an invertebrate paleontologist at the University of Illinois Chicago, where he joined the faculty in 1982, and is currently Professor Emeritus. He is a Research Associate at the Field Museum. Plotnick is a Fellow of both the Geological Society of America and the Paleontological Society and was an Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Yale University. He is the author of Explorers of Deep Time: Paleontologists and the History of Life (2022, Columbia University Press). His degrees include an A.B. from Columbia University, 1976; an M.S. from the University of Rochester, 1978; and a PhD from the University of Chicago, 1983.

For more details, visit the SFRM Zoom RSVPs FB Group or the SFRM List of Presentations. To register, visit San Francisco Regional Mensa (SFRM)’s registration signup.
Virtual Event!!