Get Ready to Blast Off . . . into 2009

Happy holidays to all you brainiacs from the Secret Science Club!

Polish up your anti-gravity boots and prepare to float into the new year with our first lecture of 2009 on Tuesday, January 13 @ Union Hall. We promise it will be "elevating."

And stay tuned for more news of upcoming lectures and special events, including the Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest.

Cheers!

The Secret Science Club presents Neuroscientist Carl Hart on Wednesday, December 3 at 8 pm

Wednesday, December 3 @ 8 pm at Union Hall
Neuroscientist Carl Hart lectures on "Methamphetamine: A Good Drug Gone Bad"

Carl Hart is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at Columbia University, and Director of the Methamphetamine Research Laboratory at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Hart’s NIH-funded research focuses on understanding neurobehavioral and physiological effects of psychoactive drugs in humans. He is the author or co-author of dozens of peer-reviewed scientific articles, co-author of the influential textbook, Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior, and a member of a NIH review group.

Before & After
--Groove to dopamine-spiked tunes and video in Union Hall’s subterranean grotto

--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

--Cocktail alert! Enjoy the Brain-Boggling Libation of the Night—the Synapse Sling!!

The “Secret Science Club” meets December 3 at 8 pm in the basement @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave.

FREE! Just bring your smart self.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE. 21+

The Secret Science Club presents Biologist and Biosphere Expert Tyler Volk at the Bell House on Wednesday, November 5 at 8 pm FREE!

Secret Science Alert: This month, the Secret Science Club will be meeting at the Bell House, an all-new all-awesome venue in Gowanus, Brooklyn, created by the owners of Union Hall (our lovely hosts).

Where will you be on the night after the presidential election? The Secret Science Club is “ready on day one” with more Earth-shattering lectures, flaming cocktails, and scorching-hot sounds.

Wednesday, November 5 @ 8 pm at the Bell House
Tyler Volk of New York University lectures on the State of the Earth: “CO2 Rising: The World’s Greatest Environmental Challenge”

Without carbon, we are nothing. The fourth most abundant element in the Universe, carbon is in the soil, the air, the oceans, the cells of every living thing—and unfortunately in the fossil fuels we burn. As fossil fuels are combusted, they release carbon atoms that have been locked underground for millions of years, causing gigatons of CO2 to enter the global carbon cycle.

Biologist Tyler Volk is science director of the environmental studies program at New York University, the author of a just-released book CO2 Rising: The World’s Greatest Environmental Challenge, and the guitarist for the all-scientist rock band, the Amygdaloids. For more than 20 years, his research has focused on the global carbon cycle, the dynamics of the biosphere, and closed ecological systems for life support. Dr. Volk asks: How is CO2 changing the natural world? Can new technologies and new energy sources—carbon sequestration, biomass, solar, wind, and nuclear—hold back the carbon tide? Why are the exhaled breaths of the growing human population not net additions to atmospheric CO2? How much carbon can the world’s oceans and forests hold? What facts should every Earth citizen know about the carbon cycle?

Before and After
--Try our fiery cocktail of the night, the Hunk of Burning Love (it will sizzle your swizzle . . .)

--Groove to sultry sounds and too-hot-to-handle global video

--Stick around for the blistering Q&A, and pick up a signed copy of Dr. Volk’s new book: CO2 Rising—it's hot off the presses.

The “Secret Science Club” meets November 5th at 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn, p: 718.643.6510 Subway: F to 4th Ave.

FREE! Just bring your smart self.

Doors open at 7:30 PM. 21+

Union Hall’s “Secret Science Club” is teaming up with the Imagine Science Film Festival for a night of science-lovin’ films! Wed, Oct 22 at 7 PM FREE!

Calling All Brainiacs . . . and Cine-maniacs

Comedy. Techno thriller. Documentary. Science Noir. On Wednesday, October 22 at 7 PM, we’ll be showing a selection of short films that are in competition for big prizes sponsored by Nature magazine and the Imagine Science Film Festival. You get to contribute to the judging—AND meet some of the filmmakers. The first-ever Imagine Science Film Festival is the brainchild of SSC resident scientist/filmmaker, Alexis Gambis—he’ll be on-hand to answer your brainiest questions and oversee the mixing of the cocktail of the night: the Lab Rat.

But wait, there’s even more filmic fun to be had . . . The Imagine Science Film Festival runs from October 16 to 25 at a whole host of venues around town. Don’t miss the festival’s opening night kickoff party at the New York Academy of Sciences on Thursday, October 16 at 7 pm—which is sponsored by our pals at Science & the City. For $25 ($15 for students), you get:

--a panel discussion on science, film and fiction, moderated by Science Friday’s Ira Flatow, featuring: Darcy Kelley, neuroscience professor, Columbia University, and scientific advisor, Tribeca Film Festival; Sidney Perkowitz, physics professor, Emory University, and author of Hollywood Science; Billy Shebar, screenwriter, Dark Matter; and Ari Handel, neuroscientist, screenwriter of The Fountain, and president of Protozoa Pictures

--a taste of some of the film festival’s best offerings on screen

--an awesome view of the city from the Academy’s 40th-floor perch

--And did we mention the wine & cheese at the reception? (Yum!)

For tickets to the film festival’s kickoff party, go to www.nyas.org/filmfest and click on “Register now.” Visit imaginesciencefilms.com for a list of all Imagine Science Film Festival events.

Now, back to the film screenings on October 22 @ 7 pm at Union Hall . . . Here's the lineup:

Conservation
Dir: Ian Harnarine. USA. 2008.
In this “science noir,” a desperate professor of physics decides that murder may be the most elegant solution . .

13 Ways to Die at Home
Dir: Lee Lanier. USA. 2007.
The cheery homes, kitchens, and laundry rooms of vintage 1950s instructional films are invaded by a host of diabolical threats. So many ways to die!

Séance of Maths
Dir: Andrew Gori & Jackie Goss. USA. 2007.
Two short-distance time travelers meet in a cheap hotel room to probe the past—and to raise the dead. If you crossed David Lynch with a geometry teacher, this could be the result.

Teratoma
Dir: Rupert Glasson. Australia. 2003.
A pipedream goes bad in this high-end horror flick about a doctor’s fatal flirtation with Lady Tobacco. With smokin’ 3-D animation . . .

Senate Hearing on Coral Bleaching
Dir: Randy Olson. USA. 2008.
The Groundlings Improv Comedy Group offers a hilarious look at a bleak subject, the reluctance of politicians to address the warming of oceans. Watch as a global warming scientist matches wits with some witless senators. . .

Chip Kick
Dir: Volker Han. Germany. 2008.
Dieter, a German scientist, and his robot Max explain to soccer fans the most mathematically efficient way to do “the wave.”

A Fruit Fly in New York
Dir: Alexis Gambis. USA/France. 2007.
The humble fruit fly gets its props! A scientist’s love affair with Drosophila takes him to the streets of Gotham.

See you at the movies . . .

FREE. JUST BRING YOUR SMART SELF.

LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE!!! 21+

The Secret Science Club Has Got Your Number @ the Bell House on Wednesday, October 1st at 8 PM with Cosmologist and Math Lover Tony Rothman!

Secret Science Alert: This month, we will be meeting at the Bell House, an all-new all-awesome venue in Gowanus, Brooklyn, created by the owners of Union Hall (our lovely hosts).

Move over Sudoku! Cosmologist Tony Rothman of Princeton University lectures on SACRED MATHEMATICS!!!!

At work, Tony Rothman studies the Big Bang and the early Universe. He also researches black holes on the verge of becoming naked singularities. But what does he do for fun? He does sangaku—clever math puzzles that decorated Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in 17th-century Japan. Wha—?? He even wrote a book about it: Sacred Mathematics: Japanese Temple Geometry. It all adds up! Don't forget to bring your slide rules and pocket protectors!!

Before and After
--Groove to an ever-multiplying collection of science-loving tunes and videos

--Stick around for the calculating Q&A and to get a signed copy of Dr. Rothman's new book!

--Sample our cocktail of the night, the Bamboozler. (It’s a conundrum . . . try saying that 3 times fast after you’ve had a few.)

The “Secret Science Club” meets October 1st at 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn, p: 718.643.6510 Subway: F to 4th Ave.

FREE!

Just bring your smart self. Doors open at 7:30 PM. 21+

The Secret Science Club presents Neuroscientist (and Smell-ologist) Leslie Vosshall of Rockefeller University on Wednesday, September 3 @ 8 PM

Smell is the most primitive of senses. The world is filled with scents that suggest danger, the presence of food—and mating opportunities. Humans can detect about 10,000 different odors—while insects can perceive only those that are essential for their survival.

Dr. Leslie Vosshall, head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior at Rockefeller University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, probes the brains and neural networks 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? How do sweet and stinky scents influence behavior? And why does camembert cheese smell like heaven to some people and offal to others?

Some of Vosshall’s current investigations include:

• Sexual attraction. Are ovulating women drawn to (or repulsed by) androstenon, a possible pheromone produced by men’s sweat glands?


• Global health. Could millions of lives be saved by scent research? Malaria-carrying mosquitoes use their sniffers to hone in on human blood meals. But what if they couldn’t smell their victims—and therefore didn’t bite them? Vosshall’s lab is investigating how to “blind” the mosquito nose.

It would stink to miss this odiferous lecture . . .

Before and After

--Groove to sweet-smelling tunes & video in Union Hall’s subterranean grotto

--Stick around for the scent-illating Q&A

--Want to get stinko? Try our cocktail of the night, the Schnoz-mopolitan!!

The “Secret Science Club” meets September 3 at 8 p.m. in the basement @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, p: 718.638.4400 Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave.

No cover charge. Just bring your smart self.

Doors open at 7:30 PM. LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE.

Calling All Filmmakers . . . Send in Your Science-Loving Film Now!!

The first-ever Imagine Science Film Festival runs from October 16 to October 25 in NYC. And the deadline for submitting original films---Tuesday, August 26---is fast approaching.

Drama. Comedy. Techno thriller. Animation. Music video . . . As long as your theme is science-oriented, your film is eligible. Click here for a complete set of festival submission guidelines, and submit your film today to: Imagine Science Films Corp., 1230 York Avenue, Box #252, New York, NY 10021

Once entered, your film is up for 2 awards, both sponsored by the science journal, Nature. The $2,500 Nature Scientific Merit Award will go to the film that most accurately portrays science. The $2,500 Nature People’s Choice Award will go to the film voted the best by audience members.

For updates on the Imagine Science Film Festival, click here. And stay tuned . . .

The Secret Science Club Presents Award-winning Cancer Researcher Scott Lowe of Cold Spring Harbor Lab on Wednesday, August 6 at 8:30 pm

Hold onto your wigs and key, ladies and gents, Dr. Scott Lowe is taking the Secret Science Club on a fantastic voyage through inner space to explore the microscopic machinery of the cell…

Scott Lowe explores “apoptosis”—the programmed death of damaged cells—a process necessary for organisms to properly develop and survive. He asks: How do cancer cells thwart the apoptotic machinery, enabling them to proliferate uncontrollably? What mutations may affect tumor development and responses to cancer therapies? If cancer genes are “switched off,” can cancer be cured?

Deputy Director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center and an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Scott Lowe has developed mouse models and genomic technologies to study the complexities of tumor evolution and resistance to chemotherapy. He is also involved in the search for the human cancer genome—“a comprehensive collection of the genetic alterations responsible for major cancers.”

The recipient of the Sydney Kimmel Foundation Scholar Award, a Rita Allen Foundation Scholar Award, the AACR Outstanding Investigator Award, the AACR-NFCR Professorship in Basic Cancer Research, the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, and the AAAS Fellow Award, Dr. Lowe is working to apply findings to developing improved cancer treatment and methods of overcoming drug resistance.

BEFORE & AFTER
--Groove to genetically altered tunes and stick around for the scintillating Q&A

--Try our cocktail of the night: the Lab Rat . . . it's one experiment, you won't want to miss!

--Check out the physics experiments at 6:30 pm in Brooklyn Bridge Park (see previous post)

The “Secret Science Club” meets August 6 at 8:30 pm in the subterranean grotto @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, p: 718.638.4400 Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave.

No cover charge. Just bring your smart self.

Doors open at 8 pm. LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE.

PLEASE BRING ID: 21+. Pocket protectors suggested.

Union Hall & the Secret Science Club perform Mind-Bending Experiments on Wed., Aug. 6 @ Brooklyn Bridge Park

All awesome—all FREE. Science. Live Bands. Comedy.

The Secret Science Club opens Union Hall’s “Music at the Bridge” show with experimenter extraordinaire David Maiullo and his hair-raising “traveling physics road show.” Maiullo and his liquid nitrogen will shatter all your expectations…

Plus three live bands—the French Kicks, Tiny Masters of Today, and Headlights—with comedian Dave Hill!!

WHERE: Under the tent in the historic Tobacco Warehouse @ Brooklyn Bridge Park

SPECS: Gates open at 6 pm. Rain or Shine.

HOW DO YOU GET TO THE SHOW? It’s easy! Click here for directions to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

CAN’T GET ENOUGH SCIENCE? Head over to Park Slope’s Union Hall (702 Union St. @ 5th Ave.) for a secret science lecture the very same evening. The doors of Union Hall's subterranean grotto will open at 8 pm. Pocket protectors suggested.

BONES! Join paleoanthropologist William Jungers at the Secret Science Club on Wednesday, July 2 @ 8 pm

Set the dial on the "Wayback Machine," Sherman. We’re heading for the Paleolithic—and beyond.

One of the world’s most eminent evolutionary morphologists, Dr. William Jungers asks: How have hominids changed over the last 6 million years? What do we know about the behavior of our human ancestors? When (and why) did some primates start walking upright? Are the little people of Flores (Homo floresiensis)—whose 18,000-year-old Hobbit-like bones were discovered in Indonesia in 2004—really a new species of early human? And what happened to the giant lemurs of Madagascar?

Chair of the Department of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University’s School of Medicine, Dr. Jungers investigates the function and structure of living and fossil primates. His research focuses on the evolution of human locomotion, body size, and biomechanical scaling, as well as vertebrate paleontology. The former editor of the Journal of Human Evolution, Dr. Jungers has authored more than 100 scientific articles and edited/co-authored several books. He recently received two major grants for his research on evolution—from the Leakey Foundation and the National Geographic Society.

Dr. Jungers is also part of the international team involved in the analysis of the controversial Homo floresiensis bones.

Before and After
--Groove to bone-jangling tunes and video in Union Hall’s subterranean grotto

--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

--Try our cocktail of the night, the Naked Ape. (It’ll strip you bare . . . )

The “Secret Science Club” meets July 2 at 8 p.m. in the basement @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, p: 718.638.4400 Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave.

No cover charge. Just bring your smart self.

Doors open at 7:30. LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE.

PLEASE BRING ID: 21+. Pocket protectors suggested.

The Secret Science Club Presents Genomics Expert Rob DeSalle on Wednesday, June 4 @ 8 pm

At the molecular level, Homo sapiens shares a common genetic heritage with all animals. Even a fly has more than one-third the same genes as a human being. Want to know more? Step into our miraculous shrinking machine and explore inner space as micronaut and genetic sleuth Rob DeSalle lectures on the incredible diversity of life, what molecular evolution tells us about disease, and how DNA research is helping save endangered species.

Curator at the American Museum of Natural History and research scientist at the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, Dr. DeSalle leads an international group of scientists working on molecular systematics, molecular evolution, population and conservation genetics, and evolutionary genomics of a wide array of life forms ranging from viruses, bacteria, corals, and plants to insects, reptiles, and mammals.

PLUS!
--Don’t miss our special screening of Dr. Funque and His Petri Dish, directed by scientist/filmmaker Alexis Gambis of IMAGINAL DISC (Science and Film Productions) and the Imagine Science Film Festival

--Stick around for the Q&A

--Sample the genetically altered cocktail of the night, the Gene Fizz!

--Groove to self-replicating tunes beneath the taxidermy in Union Hall's mysterious, subterranean grotto

The “Secret Science Club” meets June 4 at 8 pm in the basement @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, p: 718.638.4400 Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave.

No cover charge. Just bring your smart self.

Doors open at 7:30. LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE.

PLEASE BRING ID: 21+. Pocket protectors suggested.

The Secret Science Club Presents "IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE!" on Wednesday, May 7 @ 8 pm

One of the most important contributors to our understanding of climate change, Earth scientist Wallace Broecker lectures on our increasingly hot planet—and what we can do about it.

“The Earth’s climate system is an angry beast,” says Dr. Broecker. “And we’re poking it by adding greenhouse gases.” Every day, 60 to 70 million metric tons of carbon dioxide are dumped into the atmosphere. And even if a well-meaning fairy godmother were to turn all the world’s citizens into energy-saving paragons overnight, the resulting reduction in CO2 emissions could not stop the great warming tide headed our way.

The Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, a longtime researcher at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and author of the just-released book Fixing Climate: What Past Climate Change Reveals about the Current Threat—And How to Counter It, Dr. Broecker has been investigating the link between ocean chemistry and global warming for more than 40 years.

So how can—and should—we deal with the high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere? Dr. Broecker proposes some radical technological solutions. . . .

Before and After
--Pick up a signed(!!) copy of Dr. Broecker's new book: Fixing Climate. It's HOT off the presses.

--Groove to sultry sounds and too-hot-to-handle video

--Sample the eco-cocktail of the night, the fiery Heat Miser. (It will sizzle your swizzle . . .)

The “Secret Science Club” meets May 7 at 8 pm in the basement @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, p: 718.638.4400 Web: unionhallny.com Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave.

No cover charge. Just bring your smart self.

Doors open at 7:30. LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE.

The Secret Science Club Presents Astrophysicist Ben Oppenheimer and His Quest for New Worlds on Wednesday, April 2 @ 8 pm

Fuel up your flying saucer . . . the Secret Science Club is blasting off with astrophysicist Ben Oppenheimer, the principal investigator of the Lyot Project, an ambitious mission to discover and record images of planets outside our solar system. He’ll discuss the challenges scientists face in probing for exoplanets and reveal some of the Lyot team’s latest results.

An astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History, Ben Oppenheimer was the subject of a recent New York Times article “Star’s Dust May Hold Clue to New Planet,” documenting the observation that a gap in dust circling a young star in the constellation Auriga may be a planet in the making.

Dr. Oppenheimer also studies brown dwarfs, white dwarfs and galactic structure. He served on NASA’s Terrestrial Planet Finder Science and Technology Definition Team, and has been appointed to several National Research Council Panels, as well as numerous NASA and NSF committees.

Before and After
--Groove to space-age tunes and video in Union Hall's subterranean grotto
--Stick around for the Q&A
--Try our cosmic new cocktail: the George Jetson

The "Secret Science Club" meets April 2 at 8 p.m. in the basement @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, p: 718.638.4400 Web: unionhallny.com Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave.

No cover charge. Just bring your smart self.

Doors open at 7:30. LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE.

PLEASE BRING ID: 21 and over only.

The Secret Science Club recommends . . .

Check out this cerebral event: The Neuroscience of the Groove!

Neuroscientists Dave Sulzer (a.k.a. composer Dave Soldier) and John Krakauer discuss the brain activity that makes us groove to music. Krakauer co-directs Columbia University's Motor Performance Laboratory and Sulzer/Soldier investigates synaptic connections that underlie memory, learning, and behavior. This event features the premiere of Soldier's "Quartet for percussion and brain waves," a live performance/experiment with drummers and electroencephalographs. (And its sponsored by our pals at CUNY’s Science & the Arts program.)

When: Monday, March 24 at 6:30 pm

Where: CUNY Grad Center, 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street), NYC

FREE!

Pre-registering holds your seat until 15 minutes before curtain; then seating is first come, first served. Pre-register by phone or email: 212-817-8215 or continuinged@gc.cuny.edu

March Madness! Union Hall's "Secret Science Club" Presents TWO Extraordinary Events

Nobel Prize-Winning Biologist Paul Nurse lectures on Wednesday, March 5 @ 8 pm.

British biochemist Paul Nurse has it ALL going on.
--Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to humanity
--Co-host of the science series on PBS’s Charlie Rose Show
-- Winner of the Nobel Prize for illuminating the process by which cells copy themselves—and furthering our understanding of growth, development, and cancer.
-- And to top everything off, Sir Paul is now officially a New Yorker! (He’s president of NYC’s prestigious Rockefeller University.)

Break out your test tubes and get ready to bust out of the winter doldrums, as Paul Nurse takes us on a whirlwind tour of life’s most basic unit: the cell.

Before and After
--Screen the special bio-video by scientist/film-maker Alexis Gambis: A Fruit Fly in New York
--Groove to science-inspired tunes
--Stick around for the Q&A
--Sample the cocktail of the night—the Night Nurse. It will fluff your pillow!

The “Secret Science Club” meets @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, p: 718.638.4400. Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave.

No cover charge. Doors open at 7:30. LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE. PLEASE BRING ID: 21 and over only. Pocket protectors suggested.

Then . . .

Your Brain on Music at BAM on Saturday, March 8 @ 6:30 pm

A mind-blowing performance of John Adams’ 21st-century masterpiece, Dharma at Big Sur, is launched in BAM’s mothership of an opera house by the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The Secret Science Club is onboard with a pre-concert soirée, featuring free brew and a chance to “Ask the Neuroscientist.”

Pre-concert cerebral soirée at 6:30 pm, sponsored by The Onion and Peak Organic Brewing Company
Grab yourself a complimentary pale ale, and ask our resident neuroscientist “Why does music influence our emotions? and “Can harmony transform my brain chemistry?” Free drinks! Door prizes!

Alter Your Perceptions at 7:30 pm with the Brooklyn Philharmonic
Prepare to be saturated by pleasurable neurotransmitters as John Adams’ concerto for electric violin—Dharma at Big Sur—fills the opera house. Also on the bill: Musicians seated throughout the auditorium perform Toro Takemitsu’s Signals from Heaven and create a sound sensation that will rewire your temporal lobe. Plus Takemitsu’s Three Film Scores and Béla Bartók’s Divertimento.

Price: $25 includes a ticket to the concert in the opera house’s best available seats, entrance to the pre-concert soiree with FREE libations, and the opportunity to display your “geek chic” badge of honor. LIMITED AVAILABILITY.

How to get tickets: Just call the BP Patrons Services line at (718) 488-5913 and identify yourself as a Secret Science Club party creature!

Where: This special edition of the Secret Science Club meets at 6:30 p.m. in the Natman Room—BAM’s private lounge—in the Peter J. Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Howard Gilman Opera House in the Peter J. Sharp Building.

Getting to BAM: Via subway: 2,3,4,5, B, D, M, N, R, Q to Atlantic/Pacific; or the G to Fulton. Click here for a neighborhood map and driving directions

The Secret Science Club Presents "GO CELLULAR!" on Wednesday, February 6 @ 8 PM

DNA Sleuth Bruce Stillman Lectures on the Future of Molecular Medicine @ 8 pm

President of New York’s prestigious Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Dr. Bruce Stillman take us to the frontlines of cancer and disease research.

Get ready to go cellular as Dr. Stillman asks: Where will the latest discoveries in genetics take us? Will it be possible to live with cancer one day? What are the most promising new technologies for biomedical researchers? How can we employ the latest breakthroughs in science to benefit public health?

A recipient of the Curtin Medal for Excellence in Medical Research, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Stillman focuses his research on DNA replication. In addition to serving as Cold Spring Harbor's president, he is the director of the laboratory's cancer center.

BEFORE AND AFTER
--Groove to science-inspired tunes and self-replicating bio-video

--stick around for the Q&A

--sample the cocktail of the night—the Double (Make That a Triple) Helix.

The “Secret Science Club” meets February 6 at 8 p.m. in the basement @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, p: 718.638.4400 Web: unionhallny.com Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave.

No cover charge. Just bring your smart self.

Doors open at 7:30. LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE.

Special Event on Tuesday, January 15: Public Discussion on Global Warming

Hear ye! Hear ye! Yo! Yo! Union Hall’s Secret Science Club is partnering with Public Agenda to confront the problem of global warming. And we’re having a town meeting—with a twist (of lime). You must RSVP for this special event!

When: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 7 pm
What: A Public Dialogue on the Challenges of Climate Change
Where: Union Hall’s subterranean grotto, 702 Union St., Brooklyn, NY

We all know global warming is real. But what are we doing about it? Come meet your neighbors. We’ll work in groups to share ideas and brainstorm—and then get together to raise the roof.

Special guests! Radley Horton, climatologist at Columbia University’s Center for Climate Systems Research and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies + Ben Jervey, author of The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City will be on hand to answer your questions.

What impact will global warming have on New York City and the world? How should we deal with it? You be the judge!

Plus!
--Groove to low-impact tunes
--Sample the Eco-Cocktail of the Night: the Climate Cooler.
--Enjoy Earthy snacks gratis!

Please RSVP to secure your spot—only 50 seats are available! No cover change.

This special event meets Tuesday, January 15th at 7 p.m. in the basement @ Union Hall, 702 Union St. (at 5th Ave.) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, p: 718.638.4400 Subway: R to Union St.; F to 4th Ave.; Q, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic

For more information or to RSVP, contact secretscienceclub@gmail.com

The Union Hall Secret Science Club is a free event and lecture series, dedicated to exploring scientific discoveries and the public understanding of science.

Public Agenda is a New York City-based nonpartisan opinion research and civic engagement organization that has been working to help Americans explore and understand critical issues since 1975.