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+