Calendar: Oct. 12-18

Today
IS THERE A DOCTOR ON THE FIELD?
Men are notoriously bad about taking care of their health. But what if you held checkups in a football stadium? That's the idea behind ''Men's Health Day" this afternoon at Gillette Stadium, where men can, in no particular order, meet a Patriots player, hang out with cheerleaders, and get screened for health problems such as cancer and high blood pressure. ''Men's Health Day," Gillette Stadium, One Patriot Place, Foxborough. Call 508-549-0236 or visit www.patriots.com and click ''homepage" for information. From noon to 6 p.m. Free.

TONIGHT
I GOT FEVER
If the low-level hepatitis A scares at local restaurants have you worried, just imagine living in New York in the beginning of the 20th century, when a perfectly healthy cook could infect dozens of people with typhoid fever before anyone figured out what was going on. The case of Typhoid Mary became a national sensation when the culprit, Mary Mallon, left quarantine and resumed her cooking career under a different name -- in a hospital, no less. A new ''NOVA" episode portrays her case as a medical detective story that highlights the tensions between personal liberty and public health. ''The Most Dangerous Woman in America," WGBH-TV (Channel 2), 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 13
UNDERGROUND ARMY

(Update: The lecture described below has been cancelled.)

In 1974, a group of farmers in the Chinese countryside began digging a well and instead unearthed a clay torso, and another, and another. Soon it became clear that they had discovered something breathtaking: A vast terra-cotta army of life-size soldiers. Buried more than 2,000 years ago to escort the ruthless Emperor Qin Shihuang to the afterlife, the subterranean legions have become a linchpin of Chinese tourism, spawning chess sets and trinkets and even ''Qin Army Powdered Milk." In a talk on Wednesday, archeologist Robert Murowchick will describe this extraordinary burial and what might lie behind it. ''Making Silent Sentinels Speak: The Archeology of China's Buried Armies of Clay," Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Ave., Room 224. At 7 p.m. Free.

Thursday, Oct. 14
WE CAME FROM OUTER SPACE
At some point on this planet, a bunch of chemicals got together and formed long, complicated compounds that could reproduce themselves, a process echoed deep inside our own bodies every time a strand of DNA replicates. Or did life really start that way? Even experts disagree, and the primordial evidence has long since been melted, crushed, or ground to dust. So scientists are looking for answers elsewhere, both within our cells and in the far reaches of outer space. Astrobiologist Antonio Lazcano will appear at Harvard Thursday to lay out several theories on how the earliest structures of life may have arisen on Earth. ''The Origins of Life on Earth: Did It All Begin in a Warm Little Pond?", Harvard Museum of Natural History, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge. Call 617-495-3045 for information. At 6 p.m. Free.

OBESITY AND DIABETES
Why are we so fat? Obesity has quickly become public-health enemy number one in America, a rising problem closely linked to a number of other health issues, including diabetes. It all boils down to how the body processes energy, and it will be the topic of this week's ''Science in the News" public seminar at Harvard Medical School. ''Obesity and Diabetes," Harvard Medical School, Arminise Amphitheatre, 200 Longwood Ave., Boston. Register at www.hms.harvard.edu/sitn, or call 866-748-6267. From 7 to 9 p.m., with lab tours before and after the talk. Free.

Thursday and Friday,Oct. 14 and 15
WHO GETS TO REPRODUCE?
Some of the most dramatic -- and, for some, troubling -- recent changes in medical science have come in the realm of human reproduction. Politics and economic forces push some people toward having children and others away; and for affluent families, the process of conceiving a baby can approach science fiction. The cumulative effects on the human population have just barely begun to be felt. This week, the Radcliffe Institute will host an open, two-day conference featuring noted experts on these issues. Check www.radcliffe.edu for a full schedule, or call 617-495-8600 for information. ''Reproductive Health in the 21st Century," Agassiz Theatre, Radcliffe Yard, 10 Garden St., Cambridge. Opening panel from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, and Friday sessions from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Free.

Event notices may be sent to healthscience@globe.com.