Provided

Illusionist Jeff McBride will perform at the State Theatre Jan. 23.

Alex was an African gray parrot that, with intensive training, developed the vocabulary and understanding of a 2-year-old child. He could also understand emotions, numbers and colors. When he died in 2007, his last words to animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg were "You be good. I love you."

Pepperberg will talk about Alex and the mechanisms of learning, cognition and communication in parrots, in the lecture "In Search of King Solomon's Ring," Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. in Statler Auditorium, as part of the 2009 Light in Winter Festival of Science and the Arts, Jan. 23-25. Cornell is one of the festival's university sponsors.

The festival, now in its sixth year, will also bring illusion, astronomy, origami, musical brainwaves, the science of caffeine and wine, dance, multimedia, and classical and electronic music to Ithaca. More than two dozen events are scheduled.

"Magic at the Edge" -- a headline performance by illusionist Jeff McBride combining pantomime, sleight of hand, drumming, grand illusion and Kabuki theater -- comes to the State Theatre Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Also, McBride and physicist/magician Alex Stone will discuss "Magic and the Mind: Why We Love to Be Fooled," Jan. 24 at 12:30 p.m. in Statler Hall.

Jan. 24 at 8 p.m., the athletic and gravity-defying PUSH Physical Theatre and students from Rochester's National Technical Institute for the Deaf will stage "PUSHING the Limits" at the State Theatre. PUSH also invites the public to participate in a dance workshop, Jan. 23 from 1-4 p.m. at the Community School of Music and Art. The State will also screen Stanley Kubrick's classic science-fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey" Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m.

Events in Cornell's Statler Hall include:

• Physicist Robert J. Lang's "From Flapping Birds to Space Telescopes: The Modern Science of Origami," Jan. 24 at 11 a.m.
• "Trio for EEG Machines," Jan. 24 at 2 p.m., where neuroscientist/composer David Sulzer (aka David Soldier) combines actual music with the music of the mind and will project the brainwaves of percussionists as they play.
• "A Short History of Nearly Everything." Jan. 24 at 4 p.m., a play based on Bill Bryson's best-seller.
• "Across the Great Divide: Artists and Scientists Collaborate," Jan. 24 at 4 p.m., with free admission.
• An "educational" wine tasting and lecture, Jan. 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the Statler Atrium.
• "Coffee on the Brain," Jan. 25 at 11:30 a.m., presented by neuroscientist Linda Nowak and barista Chris Granger.
• "Is God a Mathematician?" Jan. 25 at 2:30 p.m., presented by astrophysicist Mario Livio.

The festival finale will be "The Music of the Spheres," Jan. 25 at 4:30 p.m. in Bailey Hall, with new work by Cornell composer Roberto Sierra inspired by the planet Saturn, and images of Saturn from the Cassini spacecraft with Cornell astronomer Joseph Burns. The finale features the Cornell Symphony Orchestra and baroque trio Elizabethan Conversation.

The festival also offers a free "Hall of Wonders" science fair in Statler Hall, poetry and writing workshops, museum and gallery tours and more. Tickets are available at http://lightinwinter.com and the Ticket Center at Clinton House, 607-273-4497. See the Light in Winter Web site for a full schedule and more information.