Tuesday, September 20, 8PM @ the Bell House, Secret Science Club presents Deep-Sea Biologist Mercer Brugler, FREE!

Take the plunge! Just returned from exploring undersea canyons and corals with the deep-diving Alvin research submarine, marine biologist Mercer Brugler shares secrets of the seafloor at the next Secret Science Club.

Cruise with Dr. Brugler as he explores the unusual and beautiful life-forms that thrive on the ocean floor. Dive to ocean depths where no light penetrates and chemicals bubbling from cold seeps fuel strange ecosystems and undersea microbes convert methane into food via chemosynthesis.

An evolutionary biologist specializing in the deep sea, black corals, and anemones, Mercer Brugler is assistant professor at City Tech-CUNY and research associate at the American Museum of Natural History. In addition to two deep dives in the storied Alvin, he has participated on several missions with deep-diving remote-operated research vehicles. He is one of the only people on Earth to have visited Bear Seamount, a 100-million-year-old extinct undersea volcano. Dive!

Before & After

--Quench your thirst with our grog of the night, the Strange Blue World. Drink up, me hearties!

--Groove to deep-sea shanties

--Stick around for the waves of Q&A

The next submersive edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, September 20 at 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave, R to 9th St.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover.

Secret Science Club (North) presents Linguist John McWhorter & Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins, Fall 2016 at Symphony Space!

Secret Science Club will be back at the Bell House in Brooklyn with our regular monthly talks starting September 20. Stay tuned for details! Meanwhile, heading into Manhattan...

 

Secret Science Club (North) is teaming up with Symphony Space for two special, ticketed events this fall!

***Secret Science Club (North) presents Words on the Move with Linguist John McWhorter, Monday, October 10, 8PM @ Symphony Space, $25. (Use code SECRET15 to get $15 tickets.)

Think the friction between red states and blue states is rough? Try checking out the culture wars over "proper English." Linguist and master observer of American culture, John McWhorter parses our shape-shifting language in this talk coinciding with the release of his new book Words on the Move---and explores why some of the tensions over Lingua Americana may be central to our identities and views about culture and race in America.  

Before & After: Try our cocktails of the night, the "Old-fashioned Grammarian" and the "YAAASSSSS!"; take our language quiz for a chance to win pithy prizes; sway to wordplay-inspired tunes; stick around for the Q&A; and snag a signed copy of John McWhorter's latest book.

John McWhorter is a linguist and professor at Columbia University. He writes for Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Root, Politico, The New Republic, and The Atlantic, and he is a frequent guest on NPR, CNN, and MSNBC. His popular and critically acclaimed books include The Power of Babel, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue, What Language Is, and most recently, Words on the Move: Why English Won't---and Can't---Sit Still (Like, Literally).

Get $15 tickets for John McWhorter here with code SECRET15 and enter the code at checkout. You can also use the code at the Symphony Space box office (call 212.864.5400 or visit in person). 

***Secret Science Club (North) presents The Selfish Gene with Richard Dawkins, Tuesday, November 15, 8pm @ Symphony Space, $25. ($15 with code SECRET15)

Join evolutionary biologist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins to commemorate the 40th anniversary of The Selfish Gene. In this classic work, Richard Dawkins gives a gene's-eye view of evolution that is imaginative, powerful, and stylistically brilliant.

Are our bodies merely vehicles for ensuring the immortality of our genes? How can selfish genes support kindness and altruism? Why does our understanding of the evolution of life matter? As our knowledge of the genome grows by leaps and bounds in the 21st century, Richard Dawkins continues to change and challenge our view of Earth's life-forms and our own human experience.

Before & After: Visit our Mixology Lab, and sample a "Gene Fizz"; sway to natural selections and (r)evolutionary sounds; snag a signed copy of the special anniversary edition of Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene; and don't miss the Q&A!

Richard Dawkins is emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's inaugural Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science (1995-2008). He is a fellow of the Royal Society and best-selling author of such acclaimed works as The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker, The God Delusion, Unweaving the Rainbow, The Ancestor's Tale, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, The Magic of Reality, An Appetite for Wonder, and Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science.

Get $15 tickets for Richard Dawkins here with code SECRET15 and enter the code at checkout. You can also use the code at the Symphony Space box office (call 212.864.5400 or visit in person). 

Secret Science Club North meets @ Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 to 96th Street. Doors for both events open at 7:30pm.

For more information about the Secret Science Club, contact secretscienceclub@gmail.com

Or visit us on the Web at http://secretscienceclub.blogspot.com 

Photo Credit: Eileen Barrosa--Columbia University (John McWhorter)

Tuesday, August 9, 8PM, Secret Science Club & the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation present the “2016 Lasker Public Lecture” with Nobel-Prize-Winning Biologist Harold Varmus at the Bell House, FREE!

Dr. Harold Varmus has been studying cancer—a tricky and dangerous foe— for nearly five decades. He and his colleague Michael Bishop won the Nobel Prize for their groundbreaking discovery that cancer is not just a mysterious mass attacking the body, but a disease of the genome. This revelation opened floods of new research, and Dr. Varmus went on to become the director of the National Institutes of Health and later the National Cancer Institute, helping reshape America’s biomedical research agenda and public health policy.

Today, Harold Varmus is back in the lab (not that he ever really left). While people overall are living longer after a cancer diagnosis than they did when his career began, cures for most cancers are still elusive. Worldwide over 8 million people die of cancer every year and in many U.S. states, cancer is the #1 cause of death. As the battle against cancer rages on, new computational and genomic technologies are making Dr. Varmus’s historic research more relevant than ever, offering unprecedented opportunities to develop advances in treatment.

At the next Secret Science Club, Dr. Varmus asks: How will individualized genetic profiles—or precision medicine—affect the future of cancer research and care? Will Big Data and new DNA sequencing technology be the tipping point in the war on cancer? What cancer therapies, diagnostic tools, and prevention strategies may be in our future?

The co-winner of the Nobel Prize for pioneering research on the genetic origins of cancer and recipient of the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, Dr. Harold Varmus joined the Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medical College as the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine in 2015. Previously, he was Director of the National Cancer Institute (2010 -2015), President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (2000 – 2010), Director of the National Institutes of Health (1993 – 1999), and Professor of Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics at UC San Francisco (1979 –1993). The author of over 350 scientific papers and five books, he was co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, co-founder of the Public Library of Science, and chair of the Scientific Board of the Gates Foundation Grand Challenges in Global Health.

Before & After: Sample our cocktail of the night, the Scientific Method; groove to beats you can feel on a cellular level; and stick around for the scintillating Q&A

This multicellular edition of the Secret Science Club, the 2016 Lasker Public Lecture in honor of Al Sommer, is sponsored by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. The Foundation works to foster the prevention and treatment of disease and disabilities by honoring excellence in basic and clinical science, educating the public, and advocating for support of medical research.Yeah!

The next Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, August 9, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave, R to 9th St.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. Just bring your smart self.

Wednesday, July 13, 8PM @ the Bell House, Secret Science Club presents Astrophysicist & Author Priyamvada Natarajan, FREE!

At the next Secret Science Club, we’re blasting off with astrophysicist and author Priyamvada Natarajan on a mission to explore black holes and dark matter—two of the most mysterious entities in the Universe.

In this mind-blowing talk, coinciding with the release of her new book Mapping the Heavens, Dr. Natarajan examines the most recent breakthroughs in cosmology—from mapping invisible dark matter to the discovery of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of spacetime predicted by Einstein.

Priyamvada Natarajan is a professor of astronomy and physics at Yale University, specializing in dark matter, dark energy, and black holes. A fellow of the American Physical Society, Royal Astronomical Society, and Explorers Club, she is the author of over 100 scientific papers and has written for The Huffington Post, Washington Post, New York Review of Books, and Discover Magazine. She has just published her first book, Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas that Reveal the Cosmos, which brilliantly explains advances in our understanding of the heavens from ancient times up through the most pressing questions at the frontier of astrophysics today.

Before & After

--Imbibe our starry-eyed cocktail of the night, the Cosmic Explorer

--Sway to groovitational tunes and stick around for the celestial Q&A

--Snag a signed copy of Dr. Natarajan’s fantastic new book, MAPPING THE HEAVENS

This out-of-this-world edition of the Secret Science Club meets Wednesday, July 13, 2016, 8pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave; R to 9th St. 

Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. Just bring your smart self!

Monday, June 13, 8PM, Secret Science Club presents Roboticist Hod Lipson @ the Bell House, FREE!

A roboticist who works in the areas of artificial intelligence and digital manufacturing, Hod Lipson designs cool, biologically inspired machines—and he sees a future where robots are not only autonomous but creative. He and his colleagues build robots that do what you’d least expect robots to do: Self replicate, self-reflect, ask questions, and even come up with their own ideas. 

At the next Secret Science Club, Hod Lipson asks: Can robots ultimately design and make other robots? Can machines be curious? Will robots ever be truly self-aware? Can they evolve? Dream?

Hod Lipson is a professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Creative Machines Lab at Columbia University. His work on robots and bio-printing has received widespread media coverage in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time, and on CNN and NPR. He has co-authored over 200 technical papers, the recent book Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing, and the forthcoming book, Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead.

Before & After

--Sample our self-replicating cocktail of the night, the Drinkbot

--Groove to algorhythmic tunes

--Stick around for the all-too-human Q&A!

This rock’em, sock’em robots edition of the Secret Science Club meets Monday, June 13, 8PM @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave, R to 9th St.  Doors open at 7:30PM.  Please bring ID: 21+.  No cover.

Tuesday, May 10, 8PM, Secret Science Club presents Theoretical Physicist & Author Sean Carroll with "The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself" @ the Bell House, FREE!

Fasten your seatbelts, cosmonauts! Physicist and best-selling author Sean Carroll travels to the edge of time, space, and the limits of human understanding. On a grand tour of the Universe—observed from quantum, cosmic, and human perspectives—Sean Carroll probes the areas where physics, chemistry, astronomy, philosophy, and biology intersect. At the next Secret Science Club, he asks: What do we know about the Universe? What is the arrow of time? What does physics have to say about consciousness and the origin of life? What can the physical Universe tell us about the all-too-human quest for meaning in the world?

Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist and research professor at Caltech, specializing in cosmology, gravitation, field theory, quantum mechanics, and the evolution of entropy and complexity. The recipient of prizes and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Packard Foundation, American Physical Society, American Institute of Physics, and Royal Society of London, Dr. Carroll has been a featured scientist on Colbert, PBS’s NOVA, and Through the Wormhole, and writes about physics on his blog, Preposterous Universe. He is the author of three critically acclaimed popular science books: The Particle at the End of the Universe, From Eternity to Here, and most recently, The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself.

Before & After 

--Sample our quantum cocktail of the night

--Groove to the cosmic ballet & interstellar tunes

--Stick around for mind-bending Q&A 

--Hot off the presses! Snag a signed copy of Sean Carroll’s new book, The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself

This intergalactic edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, May 10, 8PM @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave, R to 9th St. 

Doors to open at 7:30PM. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. (We're expecting a big crowd, so get there early!)

Books will be sold by WORD Bookstore.  Thanks, WORD!

 

Tuesday May 3, 7:30PM, Secret Science Club (North) presents Marine Biologist Fernando Bretos @ Symphony Space

Secret Science Club is diving into Symphony Space for a special event...

Tuesday, May 3, 7:30PM, Secret Science Club (North) presents Marine Biologist Fernando Bretos @ Symphony Space, $20 ($15 with code SECRET15)

Ocean currents and ecosystems don’t acknowledge embargoes. Home to endangered manatees, crocodiles, sea turtles and sharks, Cuba’s underwater environments are ecological wonders. For two decades, marine biologist Fernando Bretos has worked alongside Cuban biologists, studying the island’s remarkable sea creatures, coral reefs, and the ocean ecosystems that bind us all together. 

At the next Secret Science Club (North), step into liquid with Fernando Bretos as he dives deep into Cuba’s underwater world.

Before & After: Grab a rum punch, sway to the sounds of salsa and son, and stick around for the post-talk Q&A!

Snag tickets for $15 here with code SECRET15, by phone at 212.864.5400, or in person at the Symphony Space box office. 

Fernando Bretos is director of the Cuba Marine Research and Conservation Program, curator of ecology at the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in Miami, and director of Trinational Initiative for Marine Science and Conservation in the Gulf of Mexico and Western Caribbean, a program to restore coastal and marine resources shared by Cuba, Mexico and the United States. For over 15 years, he has worked in Cuba on marine biodiversity expeditions, coral reef health assessments and research on green sea turtles. He was a featured scientist on CNN’s The Wonder List and the award-winning PBS documentary, Cuba: The Accidental Eden.

This wet-and-wild edition of Secret Science Club (North) meets Tuesday, May 3, 7:30pm @ Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 to 96th Street. 

Doors open at 7pm. This is an all-ages event!

Photo credits: Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science; Fernando Bretos

Monday, April 25, 8PM, Secret Science Club presents Primatologist & Author Frans de Waal on "Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?" at the Bell House, FREE!

In his new book Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? primatologist and best-selling author Frans de Waal takes a deep look at animal cognition and the many kinds of intelligence in the animal world—from tool-making crows and self-aware apes to discriminating elephants and octopuses that are slippery (in more ways than one). 

At the next Secret Science Club, Frans de Waal asks: How does intelligence evolve? What clues about the human mind are revealed by studying animal cognition? What mental skills do animals have that we are just beginning to understand?

Frans de Waal has explored how animals think for over three decades. His pioneering work with chimps and bonobos demonstrated that other species can be as conniving, conciliatory, compassionate, and politically minded as humans. Director of the Living Links Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center and professor of primate behavior in the department of psychology at Emory University, Dr. de Waal is the author of numerous best-selling books including Our Inner Ape, The Age of Empathy, Bonobos, and Chimpanzee Politics, as well as over 150 scientific papers, and essays in the New York Times, Science, Nature, and Scientific American. His work has been widely covered in the media, and he has appeared as a featured scientist on Colbert, NOVA, and the TED Radio Hour.

Before & After

--Hot off the presses! Snag a signed copy of Frans de Waal's new book, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
--Groove to wild tunes
--Sample our cogitating cocktail of the night, the Smartini

--Stick around for the mind-blowing Q&A

This edition of the Secret Science Club meets Monday, April 25, 2016, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave; R to 9th St. 

Doors to the main hall open at 7:30PM. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. (We're expecting a big crowd, so get there early!)

COMING UP!

Tuesday May 3, 7:30pm @ Symphony Space

Secret Science Club (North) presents marine biologist Fernando Bretos (Get tickets here and use code SECRET15 to get $15 tickets)

Tuesday May 10, 8pm @ the Bell House 

Secret Science Club presents physicist and cosmologist Sean Carroll, free

Spring into Science!

Secret Science Club is on hiatus for the month of March. Here's what's coming up in April and May!

Monday April 25, 8pm @ the Bell House

Secret Science Club presents primatologist Frans de Waal, free

Tuesday May 3, 7:30pm @ Symphony Space

Secret Science Club (North) presents marine biologist Fernando Bretos (Get tickets here and use code SECRET15 to get $15 tickets)

Tuesday May 10, 8pm @ the Bell House 

Secret Science Club presents physicist and cosmologist Sean Carroll, free

Tuesday, February 23, 8PM, Secret Science Club presents Biological Anthropologist & Love-ologist Helen Fisher on the "Anatomy of Love" @ the Bell House, FREE!

Love...  it's the inspiration for googly-eyed hand-holding, drunk texting, drive-thru wedding chapels, and nights of endless brooding. Love is uncontrollable, elusive, essential, joyful and heart-wrenching. So what does science say about love? At the next Secret Science Club, we’re about to find out…

Biological anthropologist Helen Fisher has written (and re-written) the book on love. She asks: Does romantic love have evolutionary roots? Why do we split up and stray? Can love be detected in a brain scan? How often do hookups turn into relationships? What are the signs of love addiction? Is Tinder a source of love at first sight—or cognitive overload?

Helen Fisher is a senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute and a member of the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University. She studies the evolution, brain systems, and cross-cultural patterns of romantic love, mate choice, marriage, “cheating,” and divorce. She is the author of five books: Why Him? Why Her?, Why We Love, The First Sex, The Sex Contract, and Anatomy of Love, and has been a featured scientist on the TED Radio Hour, NPR’s On Being, the Colbert Report, and Anderson Cooper 360. Dr. Fisher is the chief scientific advisor to Match.com, supervising the design and interpretation of the annual Singles in America national survey.

Before & After

--Snag a signed copy of Helen Fisher’s all-new updated classic, Anatomy of Love

--Sway to sappy seductive grooves

--Try our captivating cocktail of the night, the Mia Amore

--Stick around for the passion-filled Q&A

This love-soaked edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, February 23, 2016, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave; R to 9th St. 

Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. Just bring your smart self!

SOLD OUT! Thurs, Feb 11, 7:30PM, Secret Science Club (North) presents Neuroscientist and Smell-ologist Leslie Vosshall @ Symphony Space

Sniff out new discoveries! Secret Science Club is heading over to Symphony Space in Manhattan for a special event ...

Thursday, February 11, 7:30pm, Secret Science Club (North) presents Neuroscientist Leslie Vosshall @ Symphony Space, $20 (Shh… use code SECRET15 to get $15 tickets.)

Baking cookies. Smoke. Salty skin. The world is filled with smells suggesting danger, the presence of food—and mating opportunities. How many aromas can we detect? According to groundbreaking research by neuroscientist (and smell-ologist) Leslie Vosshall, humans can distinguish more than 1 trillion scents—far more than previously thought. 

Dr. Vosshall has a passion for the sense of smell. As head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior at Rockefeller University, she probes the brains, olfactory pathways, and DNA of creatures from fruit flies to Homo sapiens. She asks: Is love in the eye of the beholder—or in the schnoz? How do different animals detect smell and how do scents influence behavior? 

Before & After

--Imbibe our seductively perfumed specialty cocktails

--Sway to sweet-smelling tunes

--(If you dare) inhale (and attempt to identify) our mysterious scent samples

--Be nosy! Hang out for the post-talk Q&A

Snag tickets for $15 here with code SECRET15, by phone at 212.864.5400, or in person at the box office. 

This edition of Secret Science Club (North) meets Thursday, February 11, 7:30pm @ Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 to 96th Street. 

Doors open at 7pm. This is an all-ages event!

Monday, January 25, 8PM, Secret Science Club presents Cognitive Psychologist & Dolphin Researcher Diana Reiss at the Bell House, FREE!

Ever wonder what it would be like to encounter an alien intelligence? Psychologist and marine mammal researcher Diana Reiss knows how it feels. Dr. Reiss has been researching dolphins for over 30 years, and while she has experienced moments of interspecies understanding, the mind of the dolphin remains as mysterious and exciting as ever.

Dolphin brains are large and their social lives are complex, but how far does dolphin intelligence go? Using clicks, whistles, and body motions, dolphins clearly communicate among themselves. So far though, scientists have little idea what they might be saying. To investigate, Dr. Reiss designed a pioneering underwater keyboard for dolphins to facilitate communication with human researchers. Dr. Reiss asks:

--How do we study the mind of an animal so different than us?

--Can new technology help us crack the code of dolphin communication?

--What role do scientists play in the protection of dolphins and their habitats?

Diana Reiss is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Hunter College and the Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience Program at the CUNY Graduate Center. Dr. Reiss's research focuses on cetacean cognition, communication, and the evolution of intelligence. Much of her work focuses on vocal communication and vocal learning in dolphins using observational and experimental approaches. Dr. Reiss was scientific advisor for the Oscar-winning film The Cove, and author of the book, The Dolphin in the Mirror.

Before & After

--Try our chatty cocktail of the night, the Click & Whistle

--Groove to sounds of the surf, sea shanties, and whale song

--Stick around for the ebb & flow of Q&A

This deep-diving edition of the Secret Science Club meets Monday, January 25, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave; R to 9th Street.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. 

Secret Science Club's End-of-Year Pledge Drive!

RED ALERT! Join our end-of-year pledge drive and support Secret Science Club 2016. SSC PLEDGE DRIVE ENDS SUNDAY, JANUARY 17 AT 5PM.

Secret Science Club is serious and passionate about science communication. As we approach our 10th anniversary, we're as committed as ever to keeping our regular monthly events free, and we're determined to expand our low-cost, high-quality programming to feed the need for more public science events.

This year Secret Science Club has gone on a fabulous, curiosity-fueled ride through astrophysics, brain science, evolution, the microbiome, and more. We want 2016 to be even more mind-blowing, awe-inspiring, and science-filled.

To make a donation and support Secret Science Club 2016, visit our secure pledge page. You can give in your own name or in honor of a friend (or snag a limited-edition T-shirt!). For those of you who don’t want pledge rewards, click here for faster check out.

PLUS! Secret Science Club is now a fiscally sponsored project of Science Live Productions, Inc, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. That means your donations are tax deductible!

Join us in celebrating science as a vital part of culture and public life, and thanks for your generous support of SSC's mission. Science for all!

See you in 2016!

Wednesday, December 2, 8PM, Secret Science Club presents Biologist & Animal Behavior Specialist Simon Garnier at the Bell House, FREE!

What is intelligence? Good question . . . Safely encased in our human skulls, our 85 billion neurons gather information, form thoughts, and dictate our actions. But is that the only kind of smarts? Biologist Simon Garnier studies animals that use a more external operating system and exhibit highly coordinated group behavior—or collective intelligence. Think army ants, schools of fish, flocks of birds, the Borg (gulp).

Director of the Swarm Lab and professor of biology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Simon Garnier researches ant-mimicking robot swarms, bridge-building army ants, and socially networked slime molds to learn how intelligent collective behaviors and decision-making emerge in groups of social animals. He also considers the question of self-organization in nature—in everything from cells to human crowds. Simon Garnier’s work has been widely covered in the media, and he has been a featured scientist on Science Friday, the Guardian technology video series, National Geographic, Scientific American, and Mashable.

Before & After

--Try our hive-minded cocktail of the night, the Perfect Swarm

--Wiggle to grooves that wriggle

--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

This crowd-sourced edition of the Secret Science Club meets Wednesday, December 2, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave; R to 9th Street.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+

No cover. Just bring your smart self!