Your Support Is Our Rocket Fuel!

Donate to Secret Science Club's holiday pledge drive and help launch us into 2020.

At Secret Science Club this year, we've taken an amazing, curiosity-inspired ride, with public talks on brain science, virus hunting, human & animal emotions, climate science, quantum physics, artificial intelligence, ocean science, and more. We want 2020 to be just as mind-blowing and science-filled!

Please join us in celebrating science as a vital part of culture and public life and standing up for science as we head into a new decade. 

To make a donation and support Secret Science Club 2020 (and an all-new season of free and low-cost public science events), visit our secure pledge page. You can get fun pledge prizes, too (SSC T-shirts, lab notebooks, secret swag, and more!). For those of you who don't want pledge rewards, click here for faster check out.

Thanks to all the brilliant scientists who presented at SSC this year, to the awesome staff at the Bell House & Symphony Space, and to our fabulous partners, volunteers, and supporters. And thanks to YOU - our wonderful, ever-curious audience members.

Cheers to everyone for supporting SSC's mission! Science for All! Happy holidays! 

Secret Science Club is a program of Science Live Productions, Inc, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and your donations are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by law.

For more information, contact secretscienceclub[at]gmail.com

Make a Splash! Secret Science Club presents Marine Biologist & Explorer David Gruber, MONDAY, December 16, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

We’re getting wet and wild for the holidays!

Take the plunge at the next Secret Science Club with ocean explorer and marine biologist David Gruber.

Just returned from an expedition exploring the frigid waters underneath the ice in Greenland, David Gruber typically spends about two months of the year conducting undersea research—scuba diving or riding in tiny submersible vehicles that allow him to spend hours below the surface.

He’s curious about unsung, strange ocean creatures, such as deep-sea jellyfish and sponges, and how they live in diverse environments—from coral reefs to the Arctic. He’s invented techniques—such as “soft” robotic arms—to interact with delicate marine organisms. And he’s fascinated by biofluorescence, with his research leading to the discovery of the first biofluorescent sea turtle and over 200 other “glowing” sea animals.

Dr. Gruber tries to see the ocean through the eyes of sea creatures and lately, he’s particularly interested in how these animals communicate. He asks: Can we learn how to talk to whales using artificial intelligence? What are fish “saying” with biofluoresence and bioluminescence? How can we use new technology to understand undersea species?

David Gruber is a marine biologist and professor at Baruch College at the City University of New York and CUNY Graduate Center. He is an Explorer for National Geographic and a researcher at the American Museum of Natural History. His research & writing have appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times, National Geographic, and The Best American Science Writing. This year, Dr. Gruber was awarded the 2019 Lagrange Prize, the greatest international recognition for complex systems science, for his research “focused on the conservation of biodiversity, protection of resources and the safeguarding of ecosystems."

Before & After

--Dive into the holidays with our cocktail of the night, the Jingle Shell!
--Groove to sea shanties, surf music, and whale song 

--Plunge into the sea-salty Q&A

This deep-sea edition of the Secret Science Club meets Monday, December 16, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. in Brooklyn (between 2nd and 3rd avenues). 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!

Photo credits: David Gruber by Elias Carlson; Comb Jelly by David Gruber

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Secret Science Club (North) presents Astronaut & Author Kathryn Sullivan, Tuesday, December 3, 8PM @ Symphony Space, $25

Grab your space boots! Secret Science Club is rocketing into Manhattan for a special edition!

Secret Science Club (North) presents Handprints on Hubble with Astronaut & Author Kathryn Sullivan, Tuesday, December 3, 8PM @ Symphony Space, (Use code SECRET20 to get $20 tickets.)

A scientist with a PhD in geology and oceanography, Kathryn Sullivan is the first American woman to walk in space. A veteran of three NASA missions, Dr. Sullivan was on the crew of the Discovery shuttle that launched the Hubble Space Telescope. Celebrating 30 years in orbit, the Hubble today continues to transmit revelatory images and data to scientists back here on Earth.

Jumping off from her new book Handprints on Hubble, Kathryn Sullivan is here to tell the epic tale of the Hubble, her own pioneering space missions, and how the world's most iconic telescope has revolutionized our understanding of the Universe.

Kathryn Sullivan is a former NASA astronaut who has spent over 500 hours in space. Until 2017, she served as the Administrator of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), overseeing a network of satellites, ships, and airplanes that monitor Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. Handprints on Hubble is her first book.

Before & After 

--Try our space-shuttle-inspired cocktail of the night, the Atlantis

--Groove to the cosmic ballet

--Stick around for the far-out Q&A 

--Hot off the presses! Snag a signed copy of Kathryn Sullivan’s new book, Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut’s Story of Invention

Get $20 tickets for Kathryn Sullivan here with code SECRET20 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).

This rocket-fueled edition of Secret Science Club North meets Tuesday, December 3, 8PM @ Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 to 96th Street. Doors open at 7:30pm. This is an all-ages event!

Secret Science Club & the Dana Foundation present the Dana Foundation Brain Lecture with Neuroscientist Nim Tottenham, TUESDAY, November 12, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

When we are born, our brains don’t have much hard-wiring. But newborn neurons are exquisitely primed to make brain circuits as a baby learns new things. Compared to the minds of other species, young human brains are remarkably plastic and adaptable: Over the course of our prolonged childhoods, over 1 million new neural connections form every second, as we acquire language, play, and interact with parents and caregivers.

At the next Secret Science Club, neuroscientist Nim Tottenham explores human brain development and its relationship to emotional behavior, stress, and well-being. She asks:

--How are early-life experiences linked to emotional functioning in adulthood? Why do some early experiences matter so much?

--How is brain development affected by relationships with parents and primary caregivers.

--Can childhood stress rewire our brains?

--How does brain plasticity in childhood relate to psychological resilience and vulnerability?

Nim Tottenham is a neuroscientist, professor of psychology, and director of the Developmental Affective Neuroscience Lab at Columbia University. Her research examines brain development underlying emotional behavior in humans. She uses brain imaging, behavioral, and physiological methods to examine the development of brain circuitry in children, teens, and their parents, and she is the author of more than 80 scientific papers. A recipient of the National Institute of Mental Health Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists (BRAINS) award and the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology, Dr. Tottenham has been a featured scientist on CNN and NBC news and in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.

BEFORE & AFTER
--Sample our cocktail of the night, the Smartini
--Shimmy to mind-blowing grooves
--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

This edition of Secret Science Club—the Dana Foundation Brain Lecture featuring Nim Tottenham, is sponsored by the Dana Foundation. The Dana Foundation is dedicated to advancing understanding about the brain in health and disease through research grants and public outreach.

This Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, November 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 9th St.

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

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Secret Science Club presents Atmospheric Scientist Sonali McDermid, SUNDAY, October 20, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

Something in the Air! Secret Science Club presents Climate Scientist Sonali McDermid, SUNDAY, October 20, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

When Sonali McDermid first began studying the atmosphere, she was drawn in by the sheer power and dynamism of Earth’s oceans of air. Compared to our planet’s massive size, our atmosphere is thin and insubstantial. Yet, the amount of energy being transported through the system and the resulting storms, wind currents, temperature shifts, and climate zones are phenomenal and fascinating. Changes in the atmosphere can make or break us. 

At the next Secret Science Club, Dr. McDermid explores Earth's phenomenal atmosphere, its relationship to Earth's ecosystems and agriculture systems, and the perils of climate change. She asks:

--Does the way we grow food impact local and global climate? How?

--How do wild ecosystems influence weather and climate—and vice versa?

--What impact will climate change have on the world’s ability to feed itself?

--Can soil help solve the climate crisis?

Sonali McDermid is an atmospheric scientist, climatologist, and professor of environmental studies at NYU. Her research focuses on understanding interactions between climate change and variability, land-use, and agriculture, with an eye towards identifying and quantifying important feedbacks and uncertainties. She employs a variety of tools and datasets, primarily global climate models, but also observed and remote-sensing datasets, and process-based crop models. She has been a featured scientist on Vice News, NPR’s Morning Edition, and ScienceLine.

BEFORE & AFTER

--Imbibe our jazz-infused seasonal cocktail of the night: Autumn in New York (It’ll warm you up as the city cools down.)

--Groove to tunes that blow hot and cold

--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

This inclement edition of the Secret Science Club meets Sunday, October 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.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

UPCOMING SECRET SCIENCE CLUB EVENTS!

Happy fall, everyone! Check out our upcoming events at the Bell House in Brooklyn—and beyond!

--Sun Oct 20, 8pm @ the Bell House, Atmospheric Scientist & Climatologist Sonali McDermid, FREE

--Tues Nov 12, 8pm @ the Bell House, The Dana Foundation Lecture featuring Neuroscientist Nim Tottenham, FREE

--Mon Dec 16, 8pm @ the Bell House, Marine Biologist & Explorer David Gruber, FREE

Psssssst! We will be at Symphony Space in Manhattan on Tuesday, December 3 for a special event: “Handprints on Hubble” with Astronaut & Author Kathryn Sullivan. (Get tickets here and use code SECRET20 to get $20 tickets.)

One more thing! If you missed seeing Sean Carroll's talk about quantum physics and “Something Deeply Hidden” last month at our Secret Science Club North event, you can now watch the entire talk (with an intro by physicist Brian Greene) on C-SPAN’s Book TV.

SPECIAL EVENT! Secret Science Club (North) presents Physicist & Bestselling Author Sean Carroll, Tuesday, September 10, 8PM @ Symphony Space, $25

Adjust your trajectory! Secret Science Club is blasting off to Symphony Space for a special edition!

 
Secret Science Club (North) presents SOMETHING DEEPLY HIDDEN with Physicist & Bestselling Author Sean Carroll, Tuesday, September 10, 8PM @ Symphony Space (Use code SECRET20 to get $20 tickets.)

The quantum world is strange. Now theoretical physicist Sean Carroll is here to tell you it’s not just strange, but gob-smackingly wondrous.

Jumping off from his brilliant new book Something Deeply Hidden, Sean Carroll explores the current theories that describe the quantum realm. Taking these theories to their limits leads to mind-bending questions that could utterly transform how we think about space, time, and the Universe:

--Are we living in a multiverse?

--As you read these words, are multiple copies of you being created?

--Can Einstein’s theory of relativity be reconciled with quantum mechanics?

--Are there multiple pasts and multiple futures?

--Do we need to reboot our view of reality?

Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist at Caltech, specializing in cosmology, gravitation, field theory, and quantum mechanics. The recipient of prizes and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, NASA, Guggenheim Foundation, American Institute of Physics, and Royal Society, Dr. Carroll has been a featured scientist on PBS’s NOVA, StarTalk, and Through the Wormhole, and hosts the Mindscape podcast. He has served as a science advisor on films such as Avengers: Endgame and Thor. A bestselling author, he has written four popular science books, The Particle at the End of the Universe, From Eternity to Here, The Big Picture, and most recently, Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime.

Before & After 

--Contemplate the Universe with quantum cocktails at our Space Station bar  

--Groove to the cosmic ballet & interstellar tunes

--Stick around for the far-out Q&A 

--Smoking-hot off the presses! Snag a signed copy of Sean Carroll’s new book, Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime.

Get $20 tickets for Sean Carroll here with code SECRET20 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).

This special edition of Secret Science Club (North) meets Tuesday, September 10, 8PM @ Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 to 96th Street. Doors open at 7:30pm.

Secret Science Club & IFC Films present a sneak preview of THE SOUND OF SILENCE, Tuesday September 3, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

We've got a special event at the Bell House right after Labor Day!  

It's a free sneak peek of The Sound of Silence before it comes out in theaters. The film received accolades at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and has a cool science-y theme.

This event is free, but please RSVP!

  

Secret Science Club & IFC Films present a sneak preview of THE SOUND OF SILENCE, Tuesday, September 3, 8pm @ the Bell House, FREE with RSVP!

THE SOUND OF SILENCE follows a self-taught scientist, Peter (Peter Sarsgaard), working in New York City as a "house tuner"—a unique, highly specialized profession he's invented. His clients approach him with troubles like depression, anxiety, or fatigue. After extensive analysis of their homes' acoustic characteristics, he identifies some sonic combination that's altering their mood—a radiator mixed with a kitchen appliance, for instance—and is able to calibrate it. But following a routine house call where he meets Ellen (Rashida Jones), who is experiencing exhaustion, Peter obsessively searches for the fault in his practice after his initial conclusion proves incorrect. 

THE SOUND OF SILENCE is a serene contemplation of people living in their modern environment—and their desire to understand and even control it. 

Join us for a sneak preview followed by a post-screening Q&A with co-writer Ben Nabors and neuroscientist Bianca Jones Marlin, moderated by SSC host Dorian Devins.

BEFORE & AFTER:

--Groove to ambient beats and dulcet tunes

--Sample our special cocktail of the night, the Ultrasonic

Reserve your free ticket here.  

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

Doors open at 7:30PM. Ages 21 and up.  

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Beautiful Beasties! Secret Science Club presents Entomologist Jessica Ware, TUESDAY August 20, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

Secret Science Club BUGS OUT with Entomologist & Evolutionary Biologist JESSICA WARE on Tuesday, August 20, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

 

Strange, beautiful, overlooked, and essential—insects are the foundation of Earth’s ecosystems, representing 80 percent of all animal species. At the next Secret Science Club, we explore the “creepy, crawly residents of nature’s demi-monde.”

Entomologist Jessica Ware studies the amazing modern-day behaviors of insects, as well as their deep evolutionary origins. Ancestors of the wee beasties that Dr. Ware specializes in—dragonflies—were the first creatures on Earth to take to the air over 400 million years ago. Flash forward: Today there are more than 80 species of dragonflies in NYC alone. They can fly up, down, forwards, backwards—and migrate thousands of miles.

What can’t insects do? According to Dr. Ware not much: “Whatever people do, insects did it first. They waged war, they took slaves, they learned to work cooperatively, they flew, they farmed.”

Jessica Ware is an evolutionary biologist and entomologist at Rutgers University. She has conducted fieldwork around the globe in Guyana, Peru, Ecuador, Namibia, Canada, and good ol’ New Jersey. Earlier this year, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government to outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent research careers and showing exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology. Her research has been featured in the Atlantic, Guardian, and New York Magazine.

Before & After

--Raise your glass (and your antennae) to incredible insects with our cocktail of the night, the Love Bug!

--Groove to six-legged tunes

--Stick around for the buzzin’ Q&A

This buggy edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, August 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!

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Secret Science Club presents Ocean Researcher Vicki Ferrini, TUESDAY July 16, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

Dive! Dive! Secret Science Club takes the plunge with Ocean Researcher Vicki Ferrini, TUESDAY July 16, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

Mountain ranges longer than the Andes. Trenches alive with extreme animals. Tectonic plates that grind and pull, creating earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. The seafloor never fails to surprise and amaze. Yet 80 percent of our ocean floor is still terra incognita. Indeed, there are better maps available of Mars. Vicki Ferrini wants to change that.

 

Dr. Ferrini studies and explores the ocean - from its darkest depths to the emergence of new volcanic islands. Her goal? Creating a map of the entire ocean floor and understanding the geological processes that create its mind-blowing features. Through ocean expeditions, underwater robotics, data analysis, and visualization, Vicki Ferrini is uncovering a never-before-seen blue world.  

 

Before & After  

--Dive into the Deep Blue Sea, a beguiling cocktail from Davy Jones' Locker 

--Groove to sea shanties, surf music, and whale song

--Plunge into the sea-salty Q&A

 

Vicki Ferrini is an ocean researcher at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and an affiliate professor at the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping. Her research focuses on using mapping techniques to understand the volcanic and tectonic processes that shape the seafloor. She has been on more than 20 ocean expeditions mapping everything from coastal waters to deep-sea environments. Her research has been featured in the BBC News, Popular Science, Newsweek, and Atlas Obscura.  

 

This undersea edition of Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, July 16, 8PM @ the Bell House, 149 7th St, Brooklyn (between 2nd and 3rd avenues). Subway: F or G to 4th Ave, R to 9th St.

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

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

SPECIAL EVENT! Secret Science Club presents a rare & riveting screening of "The Cleaners," PLUS Internet Law Professor Kate Klonick, SUNDAY, June 30, 2PM @ the Bell House, $10

“A neon-lit documentary shot like a noir thriller”

Secret Science Club presents a special screening of THE CLEANERS, with Social Media Researcher Kate Klonick (live!), SUNDAY, June 30, 2PM @ the Bell House, $10

Delete ... Ignore ... Delete … Ignore… Someone is out there censoring your social media feed.

THE CLEANERS enters the shadowy world of human content moderators, hired by tech giants like Facebook and Google to do “digital cleaning.” They sift through and remove what they deem as inappropriate content on the internet, thereby influencing what people see and think all over the world. But who are they? Who makes the rules the digital cleaners enforce, and what are the consequences? The Cleaners charts social media’s evolution from a shared vision of a global village (and LOLcats) to today’s dangerous stew of fake news, online extremism, and outrage. “A movie of the moment.”—The Verge

KATE KLONICK starts us off with a mini-lecture on the perils of policing social media.. Dr. Klonick is an assistant professor at St. John’s University School of Law, and an affiliated fellow at Data & Society, New America, and the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. Her research focuses on law and technology, as seen through the lens of cognitive and social psychology. Most recently she has been studying and writing about private internet platforms and how they govern online speech. Dr. Klonick’s work has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, New York Times, Atlantic, Vox, Slate, and The Guardian.

 

BEFORE & AFTER: Sunday afternoon cocktails (try Klonick's Tonic!), delicious bites, and door prizes!

Tickets: Advance tickets are available for purchase here.

This cinematic edition of the Secret Science Club meets Sunday, June 30 at 2 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 1:30 pm, 18 and over, $10.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

SPECIAL EVENT! Secret Science Club presents a mind-blowing screening of “The Creeping Garden” PLUS Swarm Scientist Simon Garnier, SUNDAY, June 16, 2PM @ the Bell House, ALL AGES, $10

Secret Science Club presents a special screening of The Creeping Garden, one of the coolest & trippiest indie documentaries out there. PLUS Swarm Scientist Simon Garnier gets this cinema party started with a mini-lecture on some surprisingly smart life-forms. 

BEFORE & AFTER: Sunday afternoon cocktails & mocktails, delicious bites, and door prizes!

THE CREEPING GARDEN is a real-life sci-fi movie, exploring the extraordinary world of plasmodial slime molds as revealed through the eyes of scientists and startling time-lapse macro-cinematography. A movie about slime mold? You betcha! These curious organisms are the new stars of biologically inspired art & design, emergence theory, computing, and robot engineering. THE CREEPING GARDEN is a “cinematic cabinet of curiosities that will leave you giddy and delirious with wonder.”

SIMON GARNIER is director of the Swarm Lab and professor of biology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He researches robot swarms, army ants, and socially networked slime molds to learn how intelligent collective behaviors (and not so intelligent ones) emerge in groups. Dr. Garnier has been a featured scientist on Science Friday, the Guardian technology video series, National Geographic, Scientific American, Mashable, and The Verge.

Tickets: Advance tickets are available for purchase here.

This cinematic edition of the Secret Science Club meets Sunday, June 16 at 2 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 1:30 pm. ALL AGES! $10.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Secret Science Club presents Social Psychologist Daniel Yudkin on the “Moral Mind,” TUESDAY, May 28, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

Right or Wrong? From playgrounds to politics, what is “moral” can be different for different people. Social psychologist Daniel Yudkin dives deep into the moral mind, in-groups and out-groups, the high costs of enforcing the rules, and how it all relates to human cooperation. Dr. Yudkin asks:

--How do humans determine what is morally right and morally wrong?

--Are we born with a moral compass? How early in life do we develop a sense of justice?

--How do group memberships influence moral judgments?

--Does social psychology offer any hints for navigating our current political climate?

Daniel Yudkin researches social & moral psychology at Yale University’s Crockett Lab, where he investigates how people assess & influence their surroundings and how transformative experiences change people’s values & behaviors. He is associate director of research at More in Common, a nonprofit devoted to using social science to understand the roots of political divisions. Dr. Yudkin’s work has been featured in the New Yorker, Atlantic, Washington Post, New York Times, and on CNN. His essays have appeared in Scientific American and the New York Times.

BEFORE & AFTER

--Imbibe our morally ambiguous cocktail of the night, the Right Amount of Wrong

--Groove to harmonious beats

--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

This edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, May 28, 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.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Secret Science Club & the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation present the 2019 Lasker Public Lecture with Cell Biologist Elaine Fuchs, MONDAY, April 15, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

The skin is the largest organ in the human body, and it’s a pretty amazing organ, too. When you move, your skin stretches and springs back. When you get a scrape, it heals. Old skin cells are constantly shed and new cells replace them. In fact, every 2 to 4 weeks the outer layer of your skin is completely regenerated—thanks to a reservoir of stem cells in your epidermis.

The skin’s ability to self-renew has long fascinated cell biologist Elaine Fuchs. She has spent her career researching the skin’s stem cells and how their basic biology can be used to create new therapies and cures.

At the next Secret Science Club, Dr. Fuchs asks: What are stem cells? How do they make and repair tissue? What is the role of stem cells in cancer? How can stem cells be used in regenerative medicine?

Elaine Fuchs is the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development at The Rockefeller University and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her groundbreaking contributions to skin and stem cell biology have been recognized with multiple awards and honors, including the National Medal of Science, the March of Dimes Prize, the L’Oreal-UNESCO Award, and the E.B. Wilson Prize from the American Society of Cell Biology.

BEFORE & AFTER 

--Sample our cocktail of the night, the Skin Deep

--Shimmy to pluripotent grooves

--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

This edition of the Secret Science Club, the 2019 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.

The Secret Science Club featuring Elaine Fuchs meets Monday, April 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.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Secret Science Club presents Primatologist & Best-selling Author Frans de Waal, MONDAY March 18, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

Secret Science Club presents Primatologist and Best-selling Author Frans de Waal on the Fascinating World of Animal & Human Emotions

With rigorous science and riveting storytelling, Frans de Waal jumps off from his new book, Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves.

Drawing on decades of research, Frans de Waal delves into the inner lives of animals, showing that humans are not the only species with the capacity for love, revenge, guilt, hope, pride, and empathy.

Frans de Waal discusses facial expressions, the emotions behind human politics, the role of feelings in survival, as well as “depressed fish, empathetic rats, envious monkeys,” and the chimpanzee Mama, whose dying farewell to her longtime caretaker provided the inspiration for de Waal’s latest book. 

The takeaway is one of continuity between humans and other animals and the many ways in which species are connected via evolution, physiology, and brain chemistry.

Frans de Waal is 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, He is the author of numerous best-selling books, including Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, 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. 

BEFORE & AFTER

• Hot off the presses! Snag a signed copy of Frans de Waal's new book, Mama’s Last Hug
• Groove to wild tunes & try our cocktail of the night
  
• Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

This edition of the Secret Science Club meets Monday, March 18, 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 the performance space open at 7:30PM. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. (We're expecting a big crowd, so consider arriving early. First come, first served!)

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.