Tuesday, January 20, 8PM, Secret Science Club presents Paleoanthropologist Shara Bailey on Human Origins @ the Bell House, FREE!

Dig into 2015! Several different species of humans (hominins) have existed over the last few million years. They're gone now. All that's left is good-old Homo sapiens. But don’t feel too lonely. At the next Secret Science Club, Shara Bailey introduces our long-lost cousins—the Neandertals, Homo floresiensis (the “Hobbit”), Australopithecus, and more.

A physical anthropologist at NYU and the Center for the Study of Human Origins, Shara Bailey delves into the the history of human evolution. She asks:

—What hominin species existed before modern humans—or even co-existed with us?

—How did our human ancestors change as they evolved? How are we different, and where were the earliest Homo sapiens found?

—What can 3-D imaging, confocal microscopy, computer modeling, and genetic analysis of bones and teeth tell us about the lives, childhoods, and diets of our ancient ancestors?

Before & After

—Sip our early-modern cocktail, the Paleo Riot
—Bone up! Stick around for the taxonomically challenged Q&A
—Stomp to Anthropocene grooves

This all-too-human edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, January 20, 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!

Monday, December 15, 8PM, Secret Science Club presents "The Future of the Brain" with Cognitive Scientist Gary Marcus @ the Bell House, FREE!

Secret Science Club brings beautiful brain science to the Bell House, Monday, December 15, 8PM with cognitive scientist and best-selling author Gary Marcus on "The Future of the Brain."

Party in Your Neurons! Think, drink, and kick the holidays into high gear! 

Before & After

--Have a little nip of our wet-wired cocktail of the night, the Holiday for Your Brain

--Warm to jolly neuro-grooves

--Stick around for the Q&A and snag a signed copy of Gary Marcus’s new book, The Future of the Brain

Gary Marcus is professor of psychology and neural science at NYU, visitor at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, contributor to the New Yorker, and author of Guitar Zero: The Science of Becoming Musical at Any Age and Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of the Human Mind. Mostly recently, he co-edited of The Future of the Brain: Essays by the World’s Leading Neuroscientists.

This holiday edition of the Secret Science Club meets Monday, December 15, 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! 

Secret Science Club North presents Psycholinguist & Author Steven Pinker at Symphony Space, Tuesday, December 2, 8PM

Tuesday, December 2, 8PM, Secret Science Club North presents Steven Pinker @ Symphony Space, $25
(Shh... use code SECRET15 to get $15 tickets)

Cognitive scientist, world-renowned linguist, and best-selling author Steven Pinker takes on the English language. In this special talk coinciding with the release of his new book The Sense of Style, Dr. Pinker asks: How does language evolve? What makes it so hard to put our thoughts on paper? How can we all be more effective communicators? What do our words say about ourselves and our culture?

Steven Pinker is professor of psychology at Harvard University and chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary.  His popular and critically acclaimed books include The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Stuff of Thought, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and most recently The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. 

Before & After

--Try the cocktail of the night, the Zombie Noun

--Sway to our Steven Pinker-inspired playlist

--Stick around for the Q&A and snag a signed copy of Steven Pinker’s latest book

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

Secret Science Club North meets Tuesday, December 2, 8pm @ Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 to 96th Street. All ages.

Monday, November 17, Secret Science Club presents Quantum Chemist Garnet Chan at the Bell House, FREE!

Delve into the mysterious borderland between chemistry and physics with Quantum Chemist Garnet Chan!

Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University and Fellow at the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, Garnet Chan researches the interface of theoretical chemistry, condensed matter physics, and quantum information theory, and is concerned with quantum many-particle phenomena and the numerical methods to simulate them. He recently received the William O. Baker Award from the National Academy of Sciences.

Before & After 

--Sample our electron-filled libations

--Groove to music of the spheres

--Stick around for the supercharged Q&A 

This quantum edition of the Secret Science Club meets Monday, November 17, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd aves) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F/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!

Tuesday, November 11, 7PM, Secret Science Club presents Stand-up Mathematician & Author Matt Parker at BRIC House, FREE!

To the power of infinity! Adjust your trajectory and make a straight line to the Stoop . . . Secret Science Club is heading over to BRIC House with mathematician, comedian, and author Matt Parker for a numerical night of magic and madness.

Matt Parker is the author of Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension: A Mathematician’s Journey Through Narcissistic Numbers, Optimal Dating Algorithms, at Least Two Kinds of Infinity, and More. Possibly the only person to hold the prestigious title of London Mathematical Society Popular Lecturer while simultaneously having a sold-out comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Matt Parker is always keen to mix his three passions of mathematics, magic, and stand-up. Matt brings his multidimensional pop-up show to the Secret Science Club at BRIC House as the first stop on his U.S. tour.

Before & After

--Grab a snack or cocktail at BRIC House’s Hungry Ghost cafe
--Snag a signed copy of Matt Parker’s new book, Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension

This special calculating edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, November 11, 7 pm @ the Stoop at BRIC House, 647 Fulton St. (enter on Rockwell Pl.) in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Subway: Subway: 2, 3, 4, or 5 to Nevins; B, Q, or R to DeKalb; G to Fulton. All ages welcome. FREE!

Blown Away! Tuesday, October 28, Secret Science Club presents Climate Scientist, Physicist & Author Adam Sobel @ the Bell House, FREE!

Batten down the hatches! Secret Science Club storms back into the Bell House with Atmospheric Scientist, Physicist & Author Adam Sobel on our changing climate, extreme weather and the lessons of Hurricane Sandy.

Dr. Sobel asks: How do physicists predict extreme storms and create climate models? What impacts will climate change have on natural disasters of the future? How can vulnerable coastal cities prepare for Future Weather in a Future Climate? Get ready to be swept off your feet!

Adam Sobel is an atmospheric scientist and professor at Columbia University in the departments of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics.  He has been a featured scientist on PBS’s NOVA, CNN, All Things Considered, and StarTalk Radio. His first book, Storm Surge, has just been released.

Before & After

--Try our inclement cocktail of the night, the Tempest (in a Tumbler)

--Stay warm and dry with weather-proofed tunes

--Stick around for the whirlwind Q&A

--Snag a signed copy of Adam Sobel’s thunderous new book, Storm Surge

This next breezy edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, October 28, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd aves) 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!

Saturday, October 25, 8PM, Secret Science Club beams up to MASS MoCA for a special screening of Particle Fever with Physicist Chad Orzel

Secret Science Club is zooming up to MASS MoCA for a special screening of Particle Fever on Saturday, October 25 @ 8pm. 

This "dazzling, dizzying" and "smashingly cool" documentary follows six high-energy physicists as they seek to unlock the mysteries of the universe and recreate conditions that existed just moments after the Big Bang. 

Secret Science Club is taking over MASS MoCA's Club B-10, where rocket-fueled cocktails will be poured and out-of-this-world tunes played. Physicist Chad Orzel (who blogs at Uncertain Principles) will be in the house to answer all your questions before and after the screening. Doors open at 7pm! 

This smashing edition of the Secret Science Club meets Saturday, October 25, 8PM at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts. Get details, directions, and ticket info here.

Secret Science Club (North) presents Invertebrate Zoologist Mark Siddall @ Symphony Space, Tuesday, October 14, 8PM

Tuesday, October 14, 8PM, Secret Science Club (North) presents "What Are You Eating?/What's Eating You?" with Invertebrate Zoologist Mark Siddall @ Symphony Space, $25. (Shh... use code SECRET15 to get $15 tickets.)

Mark Siddall has a passion for invertebrates—from worms, leeches and grubs to scorpions and giant squid. An explorer, zoologist, and curator of invertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History, Dr. Siddall wades into Rwandan wetlands and the rainforests of Madagascar in quest of new and fascinating species. He studies them, but he also sometimes… eats them. 

In this gourmet talk, Dr. Siddall turns the food chain upside-down and inside-out and asks: What are you eating/what’s eating you? What invertebrates are incredible AND edible? Bring your appetite for science!

Before & After 
--Wiggle to grooves that wriggle 
--Sample our invertebrate munchies 
--Try the jiggly cocktail of the night, the Spineless Wonder 
--Stick around for the bugged-out 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. 

Mark Siddall has been a featured scientist in the New York Times, Discover, New Yorker, boingboing, and on PBS’s NOVA ScienceNOW and StarTalk Radio. He is the author of Poison: Sinister Species with Deadly Consequences, and president-elect of the American Society of Parasitologists. An expeditionary gastronomist and purveyor of peripatetic parasites, he tweets @theleechguy

Secret Science Club (North) meets Tuesday, October 14, 8pm @ Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 to 96th Street. This is an all-ages event!

Next up . . . Tuesday, October 28, Secret Science Club @ the Bell House with Climatologist & Author Adam Sobel

SOLD OUT! Secret Science Club (North) presents Astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan @ Symphony Space, Tuesday, September 30, 8PM

Kick it into warp drive! Secret Science Club is blasting off into its ninth year with a special series of lectures & happenings @ Manhattan's Symphony Space. First up... we're heading out—way out!

Tuesday, September 30, Secret Science Club (North) presents "Dark Discoveries, Constantly Cosmic" with Astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan @ Symphony Space, $25. 

Rocket into deep space with astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan as she explores dark matter and dark energy! Making up 95 percent of the known Cosmos, the Dark Duo are maddeningly invisible—yet they shape the very structure of the Universe and drive its expansion.  

Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University, Dr. Natarajan presents an out-of-this-world talk on cosmology, black holes, and the Dark Duo. She shares how new telescopes, space missions, and experiments are giving scientists unprecedented views and clues, allowing us to peer into the earliest growing pains of the Universe. Don't miss a nanosecond of this cosmic talk!

Before & After 

--Imbibe the starry-eyed cocktail of the night, the "Cosmic Ray"

--Lift off with intergalactic grooves

--Enter our quantum quiz contest!

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

Secret Science Club (North) meets Tuesday, September 30, 8pm @ Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 to 96th Street. This is an all-ages event!

Next up . . . Tuesday, October 14, Secret Science Club (North) @ Symphony Space with Zoologist Mark Siddall

Thursday, September 11, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club presents Rob Fergus on Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence

Can computers see like humans? At NYU and Facebook, Rob Fergus is eyeing the possibilities.

Seeing ain’t easy. About one-third of your brain is devoted to vision. And that complexity makes vision one of the thorniest problems in artificial intelligence. Computer scientist Rob Fergus and his colleagues aim to mimic or even surpass the capabilities of the human brain. But getting a computer to correctly identify a visual object (a cat, for instance) was nearly impossible until recently.

A technique called deep learning has radically improved the ability of devices to recognize images and interpret speech. Deep learning uses computerized neural networks to process information, and their performance at visual recognition is rapidly approaching that of humans.

Where is machine vision taking us? The Secret Science Club is ready to leap into the future. Dr. Fergus asks: What if you could tell your computer to use its “eyes” to organize your photo collection? Can space telescopes be trained to look for Earth-like planets? Are there medical conditions that can be screened for or diagnosed with machine vision? Could your personal robot valet’s eyes get so good that he never gives you mismatched socks ever again?

Rob Fergus is associate professor of computer science at NYU’s Courant Institute and a research scientist at Facebook’s new Artificial Intelligence lab.

Before & After

--Try our pixelated cocktail of the night, the Machine Dream!

--Do the robot to data-driven grooves

--Stick around for the wet-wired Q&A

This open source edition of the Secret Science Club meets Thursday, September 11, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave.

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

PLUS! Check out these three special SSC events coming up at Symphony Space!

Tuesday, August 12, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club presents Biochemist and “Poisonologist” Mandë Holford

Dangerous creatures, amazing medicine

Biochemist Mandë Holford, from the City University Graduate Center and the American Museum of Natural History, explores the fine line between deadly poisons and medical cures. Just returned from an expedition to Papua New Guinea in search of new species, Holford snorkels with some of the most venomous creatures on the planet—marine snails with hypodermic-needle-like spikes. When she’s not seeking deadly escargot, Holford is in the lab with her team, analyzing the chemical properties of venom … 

Before & After: What’s your poison? Try the SSC cocktail of the night, the "Venom Cure," and groove to infectious tunes!

This next gastropodal edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, August 12, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave. 

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