DENTON (UNT), Texas — Discover how the person you marry can affect your health. See what a photo app reveals about urban ecology. Learn about political repression around the world. All of these answers and more will be on view as University of North Texas researchers share their work in two special events this June.

Six UNT exhibitions exploring themes of scientific relationships will be on display during the Social Science: Relationships event from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. June 21 (Friday) at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, 2201 N. Field St., in Dallas. The Perot Museum created Social Science  as an after-hours, adult-only event designed especially to inspire the minds of adults ages 21 and older about science and nature through the use of guest speakers, performers, interactive demonstrations and experiments positioned throughout the museum halls and galleries.

As guests explore the Museum’s exhibit halls at their leisure they can also enjoy a signature cocktail, specially created for the evening, at Wolfgang Puck bars located throughout the Museum that evening, and grab dinner or have a small bite at the Café.

The June 21 Social Science: Relationships event will explore relationships between various scientific topics – between humankind and robots, culture and the stars, and more. Tickets are $15 for non-members and $10 for Museum members and should be purchased online in advance at perotmuseum.org as they are selling out quickly.

Get a sneak peek of the research that will be featured at Social Science: Relationships at 2 p.m. June 8 (Saturday) at UNT on the Square, 109 N. Elm St., on Denton’s historic courthouse square. Admission is free.

Research on display will include:

• How Does Whom You Marry Relate to Your Health? — Dr. John Ruiz, UNT assistant professor of psychology, studied coronary artery bypass patients married to spouses who were anxious and chronic worriers. Patients were more likely to report symptoms of depression after surgery if they were unhappy with their marriages — but those in happy marriages were no more likely to report depression even if married to anxious spouses. 
• rePhoto: Relating Urban Ecology to Participatory Culture — Associate Professor Ruth West is collaborating with researchers at the University of Vermont and Washington University St. Louis to create rePhoto -- a mobile application that  helps people collect imaging data about the urban ecology in their communities. For instance, when taking a photo of a tree, the app’s overlay feature helps align the camera viewpoint with previous photos of that tree. Each person’s contributions are added to the larger set of images of a location or subject and help to create long-term time lapse sequences, showing how things change over time.
• ATLAS in silico — Like "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" for the scientific set, ATLAS in silico is a beautiful, interactive 3D experience that uses a participant's movement to trigger mesmerizing, life-size audiovisual effects created using data from the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition. ATLAS in silico is a new media artwork that reflects upon humanity's long-standing quest for an understanding of the nature, origins and unity of life. It explores new ways of representing nature in the era of metagenomics.
• Relating People to their Government — Exhibitions will examine patterns of repression across the world, death squad violence in El Salvador, protest and political violence in Africa, and more.
• Decoding DNA and its relation to diseases — DNA is the blueprint for all living organisms. This interactive exhibit will introduce how genes relate to genetic and infectious diseases. For example, a single change in the DNA of a certain gene can alter the shape of a person's red blood cells, causing sickle cell anemia. Even viruses have genes — different strains of the influenza virus can swap genes to create new strains that require new vaccines.
• Relating Population Characteristics to the Spread of Disease — Researchers from UNT’s Center for Computational Epidemiology and Response Analysis use novel methods to create computational simulations of disease outbreaks that can help public health professionals control and respond to real-life disease outbreaks.