Party in Your Neurons! Think, drink, and kick the holidays into high gear!
December 3, 2014
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!
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!
November 18, 2014
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)
(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.
November 12, 2014
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!
October 30, 2014
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
--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!
October 21, 2014
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!
October 20, 2014
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.
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.
October 3, 2014
Secret Science Club (North) presents Invertebrate Zoologist Mark Siddall @ Symphony Space, Tuesday, October 14, 8PM

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!
September 15, 2014
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
September 2, 2014
Thursday, September 11, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club presents Rob Fergus on Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence
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!
August 5, 2014
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!
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!
July 9, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club presents Marine Biologist and Explorer David Gruber
Light it up! Marine Biologist and National Geographic
Explorer David Gruber lures the Secret Science Club into the depths—uncovering
the secrets of the seas and technicolor reefs in his quest for biofluorescent
creatures. On a series of recent high-tech expeditions, Gruber and
colleagues uncovered dozens of cryptically aglow sharks, rays, eels, and
other fishy beasts.
Don’t miss a nanosecond of this glow-in-the-dark, tripped-out talk!
Don’t miss a nanosecond of this glow-in-the-dark, tripped-out talk!
Before & After
--Groove
to incandescent tunes
--Stick
around for the tidal Q&A
This next submersive edition of the Secret Science Club meets
Tuesday, July 22, 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!
June 24, 2014
Cool Lasker Contest!
Happy summer, everyone!
Before briefly heading off to Secret Science Club's
underground laboratory, we wanted to give a heads up about this cool
challenge:
Calling all med students, PhD students and post-docs in
biomedical research, and grad students in public health and other health
professions! Our pals at the Lasker Foundation want your great ideas on
how to build public support for medical research. Enter their essay
contest for a chance to win $10,000! Get the details here. Deadline: August 8, 2014
The Secret
Science Club dives back into the Bell House on Tuesday, July 22. Stay tuned for details!
May 22, 2014
Tuesday, June 10, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club & the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation present the 2014 Lasker Public Lecture with Award-Winning Cancer Researcher Charles Sawyers
Each of us
is made of trillions of cells. It's scary to think that just one cell or a tiny
group gone wrong can bring down our whole being. But that's how cancerous
cells work—their genes mutate, and then they go rogue, multiplying and refusing
to die.
Charles
Sawyers is a molecular monster slayer, fighting on the front lines in the battle against deadly cancers. In
clinical trials of new cancer drugs, he has observed dying patients dramatically improve, and he has also witnessed relapses when resistance to new drugs develops. Cancer
cells are tragically, maddeningly crafty. But scientists like Sawyers are crafty, too, and
recent advances allow them to study and defeat cancer cells in ways unthinkable
in the past.
With colleagues, Dr. Sawyers pioneered one of the first-ever targeted molecular drugs
for cancer treatment, and he recently developed one of the newest—translating
lab discoveries into clinical trials and life-extending therapies. At the Secret Science Club, Dr. Sawyers explores the science “From Cancer Genomics to
Cancer Drugs” and asks: What causes cells to mutate and turn into cancerous rogues? How has mapping the human genome changed cancer research? What future therapies are part of the hunt for new
cures? Will cancer one day be a controllable condition?
Charles
Sawyers is chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center , investigator at
the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and professor in the Cell and
Developmental Biology Program and Department of Medicine at the Weill Cornell
Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Dr. Sawyers has received numerous
accolades, including the Lasker-Debakey Clinical Medical Research Award (often
hailed as the American Nobel Prize) for his work on the development of a
molecularly targeted treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia, the Doris Duke
Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, and the 2013 Breakthrough Prize in Life
Sciences. He is past president of the American Association for Cancer Research
and serves on the National Cancer Advisory Board.
BEFORE & AFTER
--Imbibe
our scientifically inspired cocktail,
the Cell-o-bration!
--Groove to clinically approved tunes
--Stick around for the ever-evolving Q&A
--Stick around for the ever-evolving Q&A
The Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, June
10, 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.
May 7, 2014
Tuesday, May 20, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club presents “It’s a Jungle in There” with Microbiologist & Author Martin Blaser
Say hello to your little friends—all 100 trillion of them. Microbiologist Martin Blaser explores the human microbiome (the 1,000 or so microbial species that inhabit our noses, mouths, guts, and skin); the health benefits conferred by our inner ecosystem; the dangers of overusing antibiotics; how obesity, asthma, diabetes, and even mood swings may be linked to changes in our microbiota; and—yes!—fecal transplants.
Director of NYU’s Human Microbiome Program and Muriel G. and George W. Singer Professor of Translational Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Blaser is the author of Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues. He has recently been a featured scientist on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN, and NPR, and in the New Yorker and New York Times.
Before & After
--Try our bugged-out cocktail of the night, the Super Organism
--Wiggle to grooves that wriggle
--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A
--Snag a signed copy of Dr. Blaser’s spanking-new book, Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
This multicellular edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, May 20, 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.
Director of NYU’s Human Microbiome Program and Muriel G. and George W. Singer Professor of Translational Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Blaser is the author of Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues. He has recently been a featured scientist on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN, and NPR, and in the New Yorker and New York Times.
Before & After
--Try our bugged-out cocktail of the night, the Super Organism
--Wiggle to grooves that wriggle
--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A
--Snag a signed copy of Dr. Blaser’s spanking-new book, Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
This multicellular edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, May 20, 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.
April 14, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club presents Psychologist & Author Steven Pinker on the Better Angels of Our Nature
Have humans become less violent? The news—war, crime, terrorism—seems to contradict that notion. But experimental psychologist Steven Pinker crunches the empirical data and concludes we live in the most peaceful era in the existence of our species. Believe it or not, rates of violence are down. Combining science and history, Dr. Pinker explores the psychological and social forces that tend humans toward violence—or nonviolence. And he examines how our aggressive impulses are counterbalanced by our “better angels” (e.g. empathy, self-control, and the ability to reason).
Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Steven Pinker conducts scientific research on language and cognition. His popular and critically acclaimed books include The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Stuff of Thought, and most recently The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined. He writes frequently for the New York Times, Edge, Slate, and the New Republic. Take his pop quiz!
Before & After
--Try the Earth Angel, our flighty cocktail of the night!
--Groove to super cerebral tunes
--Stick around for the thought-provoking Q&A
--Snag a signed copy of Steven Pinker's latest book, The Better Angels of our Nature!
This edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, April 22, 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.
Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Steven Pinker conducts scientific research on language and cognition. His popular and critically acclaimed books include The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Stuff of Thought, and most recently The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined. He writes frequently for the New York Times, Edge, Slate, and the New Republic. Take his pop quiz!
Before & After
--Try the Earth Angel, our flighty cocktail of the night!
--Groove to super cerebral tunes
--Stick around for the thought-provoking Q&A
--Snag a signed copy of Steven Pinker's latest book, The Better Angels of our Nature!
This edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, April 22, 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.
Note: Early arrival to this event is advised. Capacity is
limited and entry is first-come, first-served.
April 7, 2014
Winners!
Congratulations to all the winners and oddly wonderful contestants at our 2014 Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest! And a ferocious thanks to our judges Robert Marbury, Joanna Ebenstein, and Tony Rodgers; our volunteers; the owners and staff of the Bell House; and everyone who came out to support. The night was immortalized by the Village Voice in a slideshow. How beastly!
![]() |
2014's Grand Master of Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy: Takeshi Yamada |
First
prize—Grand master, Takeshi Yamada, fearsome multiheaded monster, eek!
Second
Prize—Kelly Owen, jeweled jackalope and rat dolls
Third Prize—Shasta
Donegan, taxidermy opossum
Best in Bones Award—Tanis Meyer Thornton, “Resurrection of the Lamb"
Terribly Interesting Award—Mike Zohn, blue whale
penis
Kick Ass Award—Daisy Tainton, cat monster
battling beetle on horseback
Belle of the Ball Award—Mark Splatter, wet
specimen titled “El Topo”
First in Panache Award—Richard Sauntomauro,
ring-tailed lemur
You've got Chutzpah Award—Elizabeth Cohen, “Nicademus
the Evil Jackalope”
Urban Outdoorsman Award—Steven Rinella, "The Remains of the Hunt"
(skulls and rug of invasive Himalayan tahr)
Nate Hill Jumped the Shark Award--Joshua Goldstein and his squirrel Reginald
Judge’s Payback Award—Wilder Duncan, Dancing lambs”
March 12, 2014
Calling All Creatures . . . The Secret Science Club presents the "Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest," Sunday, April 6, 7:30 PM @ the Bell House, $12
The Secret Science Club presents the 7th (sorta-, kinda-, not-exactly-annual) "Carnivorous Nights TAXIDERMY CONTEST" @ the Bell House, Sunday, April 6, 7:30 pm. $12 advance, $15 at the door
Calling all science geeks, nature freaks, and rogue geniuses! Your stuffed squirrel got game? Got a beaver in your brownstone? Bring your beloved beast to the Bell House and enter it to win.
Show off your moose head, python skeleton, rabbit relics, and other amazing specimens. Share your taxidermy (and its tale) with the world. Compete for prizes and glory!
Eligible to enter: taxidermy (bought, found, homemade), biological specimens, articulated skeletons and skulls, jarred specimens--and beyond (way beyond).
Entrants: Contact secretscienceclub@gmail.com to register.
Spectators: Don't miss a beastly second of this wild night. . .
Tickets: Advance tickets are available for purchase here
Hosted by: Dorian Devins & Margaret Mittelbach of the Secret Science Club
Judging by: Robert Marbury of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermy, Tony Rodgers of the Metropolitan Museum of Art & Joanna Ebenstein of the Morbid Anatomy Library and Museum
Kicked Off by: Our patron beast,the illustrious Rump Ape, wrangled by first-ever Carnivorous Nights grand master Andrew Templar
Plus!
--Groove to ferocious tunes
--Imbibe savage specialty drinks
--Get lucky and take away furry-and-fanged door prizes
This special edition of the Secret Science Club meets Sunday, April 6 at 7:30 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 pm. Please bring ID: 21+ . $12 adv, $15 door.
Calling all science geeks, nature freaks, and rogue geniuses! Your stuffed squirrel got game? Got a beaver in your brownstone? Bring your beloved beast to the Bell House and enter it to win.
Show off your moose head, python skeleton, rabbit relics, and other amazing specimens. Share your taxidermy (and its tale) with the world. Compete for prizes and glory!
Eligible to enter: taxidermy (bought, found, homemade), biological specimens, articulated skeletons and skulls, jarred specimens--and beyond (way beyond).
Entrants: Contact secretscienceclub@gmail.com to register.
Spectators: Don't miss a beastly second of this wild night. . .
Tickets: Advance tickets are available for purchase here
Hosted by: Dorian Devins & Margaret Mittelbach of the Secret Science Club
Judging by: Robert Marbury of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermy, Tony Rodgers of the Metropolitan Museum of Art & Joanna Ebenstein of the Morbid Anatomy Library and Museum
Kicked Off by: Our patron beast,the illustrious Rump Ape, wrangled by first-ever Carnivorous Nights grand master Andrew Templar
Plus!
--Groove to ferocious tunes
--Imbibe savage specialty drinks
--Get lucky and take away furry-and-fanged door prizes
This special edition of the Secret Science Club meets Sunday, April 6 at 7:30 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 pm. Please bring ID: 21+ . $12 adv, $15 door.
March 6, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club presents Cognitive Scientist and Author Paul Bloom on the Origins of Good and Evil
Are we blank slates at birth when it comes to right and wrong, or is there some innate system of guidance baked into our very beings? Can we instinctively separate heroes from villains? Do we have a tendency toward compassion? How about hard-wiring for revenge? Developmental psychologist Paul Bloom demonstrates that human beings are born with a moral compass—it's just not perfectly calibrated.
In his latest book, Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil, Dr. Bloom examines the morality of infants, chimps, and psychopaths, drawing on insights from psychology, behavioral economics, and evolutionary biology (as well as observations from Darwin and Louis C.K.)
Before & After
--Try our morally compromised cocktail of the night, the "Right Amount of Wrong"
--Sway to seemingly altruistic grooves
--Stick around for the uninhibited Q&A
--Snag a signed copy of Paul Bloom's wickedly good new book!
In his latest book, Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil, Dr. Bloom examines the morality of infants, chimps, and psychopaths, drawing on insights from psychology, behavioral economics, and evolutionary biology (as well as observations from Darwin and Louis C.K.)
Professor of psychology and
cognitive science at Yale, Paul Bloom researches how children and adults understand
the physical and social world, with a special focus on morality, religion, fiction,
and art. The author of over 100 scientific papers and numerous books, Dr. Bloom writes
for the New Yorker, New York
Times, Atlantic , and Slate.
Before & After
--Try our morally compromised cocktail of the night, the "Right Amount of Wrong"
--Sway to seemingly altruistic grooves
--Stick around for the uninhibited Q&A
--Snag a signed copy of Paul Bloom's wickedly good new book!
This edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, March 11, 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 4th Ave/9th St.
Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. Just bring your smart self!
February 9, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club presents Primatologist and Conservation Biologist Mary Blair
Homo sapiens may be a lonely genus. But just a
short climb up the taxonomic ladder, we have plenty of relatives. Worldwide, there are more
than 600 species of apes, monkeys, lemurs, and other primates, with most species living
in tropical forests. Primatologist Mary Blair explores jungles from Central
America to Vietnam
to survey rare and endangered primates in their wild homes—and to work for their
preservation and survival.
The assistant
director for research and strategic planning at the American Museum
of Natural History’s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, Mary Blair conducts lab- and field-based research on the evolutionary biology of primates and how changes in habitat and human activities affect their populations. On her most recent expedition, she wrote about prowling Vietnamese forests at night in search of slow lorises and waking to the the eerily flutelike calls of gibbons for the New York Times’ “Scientist at Work” column. Dr. Blair teaches at Columbia University and the Richard Gilder Graduate School, and is a recent
recipient of a fellowship from the National Science Foundation to study wildlife trade and illegal trafficking.
Before & After
--Try our cocktail of the night, the Nocturnal Prowler
--Swing by your tail to almost-human grooves
--Stick around for the eye-opening Q&A
This wild edition of the Secret Science Club meets Wednesday, February 12, 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 4th Ave/9th St.
Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. Just bring your smart self!
Photo Credits: Mary Blair, by Khuong Thang; Pygmy Slow Loris, Courtesy of David Haring/Duke Lemur Center
February 3, 2014
Blast Off to Planet Earth! Thursday, February 13, Secret Science Club collides with the Crossroads Project @ Symphony Space
Pick up your fervent brain and your wild beating heart . . . Secret Science Club is stepping out for a night of pre-Valentine's revelry and illumination!
Join us as we head uptown for a one-night-only special event . . .
Thursday, February 13, 7:30PM, $20
Physicist Robert Davies and the acclaimed Fry Street Quartet converge at Symphony Space for the NYC debut of the Crossroads Project.
"Transformative . . . impassioned .... a powerful collaboration . . ."
Fusing art, science, and new music, Dr. Davies and crew take a profound look at the state of the planet in what can only be described as an intensely immersive experience. Davies' scientific presentation is masterfully merged with the music of composer Laura Kaminsky and projected visual artworks in an ever-evolving, explosive exploration of Earth systems and the human condition.
Join the Secret Science Club at the pre-party at 7 pm and get your drink on with special guests Gavin Schmidt of NASA and biogeochemist William Schelesinger of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, who will be on hand before and after to interact, along with artists, the composer, and musicians.
Tickets are just $20 with code SCIENCE at symphonyspace.org or 212.864.5400. PLUS! You get a free Lagunitas micro-brewed beer (IPA, PILS, or Lil Sumpin) with your ticket if you use the code (courtesy of the Bar Thalia)! Be still, my beating heart! SOLD OUT!
WHERE: Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 train to 96th Street.
WHEN: Pre-party 7 pm, Crossroads Project 7:30 pm, Thursday, February 13
See you there!
Join us as we head uptown for a one-night-only special event . . .
Thursday, February 13, 7:30PM, $20
Physicist Robert Davies and the acclaimed Fry Street Quartet converge at Symphony Space for the NYC debut of the Crossroads Project.
Fusing art, science, and new music, Dr. Davies and crew take a profound look at the state of the planet in what can only be described as an intensely immersive experience. Davies' scientific presentation is masterfully merged with the music of composer Laura Kaminsky and projected visual artworks in an ever-evolving, explosive exploration of Earth systems and the human condition.
Join the Secret Science Club at the pre-party at 7 pm and get your drink on with special guests Gavin Schmidt of NASA and biogeochemist William Schelesinger of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, who will be on hand before and after to interact, along with artists, the composer, and musicians.
Tickets are just $20 with code SCIENCE at symphonyspace.org or 212.864.5400. PLUS! You get a free Lagunitas micro-brewed beer (IPA, PILS, or Lil Sumpin) with your ticket if you use the code (courtesy of the Bar Thalia)! Be still, my beating heart! SOLD OUT!
WHERE: Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 train to 96th Street.
WHEN: Pre-party 7 pm, Crossroads Project 7:30 pm, Thursday, February 13
See you there!
January 8, 2014
Wednesday, January 15, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE! Secret Science Club presents Physicist Max Tegmark + Our Mathematical Universe
Mind = Blown. Is math a human invention? Or is there something
mathematical about nature itself? Max Tegmark doesn't think the universe is
just described by math—he proposes the universe IS math. Take a joyride to
another dimension with one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists as he
explores the multiverse, "quantum weirdness," computer models of the
brain, and the probability of life in other galaxies.
A professor of physics at MIT, Max Tegmark has authored and
co-authored over 200 scientific papers and been a featured scientist on Science
Channel’s Through the Wormhole, BBC’s
Horizon, and BBC/NOVA’s Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives. Dr. Tegmark has
just completed his first book, Our
Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality. Yeah!
Plus!
Calculated cocktails, exponential grooves, mindblowing Q&A + book signing
This edition of the Secret Science Club meets
Wednesday, January 15, 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!
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