IN-PERSON @ THE BELL HOUSE on Monday, December 12 @ 8PM, Secret Science Club & the Dana Foundation present Neuroscientist Xiaosi Gu on “The Social Brain,” FREE!

Secret Science Club & the Dana Foundation present the “Dana Foundation Neuroscience & Society Lecture” with Neuroscientist Xiaosi Gu

IN-PERSON @ THE BELL HOUSE on Monday, December 12, 8PM (Doors open at 7:30PM), Free!

Should I ask him out? Is my boss mad at me? Can my frenemies be trusted? Managing social interactions is hard work for our brains—and it’s probably our social natures that make the human brain so complex. It’s also what makes a lack of positive social interactions potentially damaging to our mental health.

At the next Secret Science Club, neuroscientist Xiaosi Gu explores the mysteries of the social brain. She asks:

-- How do our social lives and social interactions impact our moods and well-being—in both good ways and bad?

-- How do our brains adapt to shifting social situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, or changes in social norms? How can that be studied?

-- How do social norms, pressures, and expectations affect decision-making?

-- How can computational methods be used in psychiatry to improve mental health treatment?

Dr. Xiaosi Gu is a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience and the director of the Center for Computational Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her research examines the neural and computational mechanisms underlying human beliefs, emotions, decision making, and social interactions—in both health and disease—through a synthesis of neuroscience, cognitive science, and behavioral economics. She uses a variety of technologies, including brain imaging and machine learning, to study the brain’s processes, with the goal of improving general knowledge about the brain as well as psychiatric treatments. She is the co-developer of the Social Brain app, which uses games and participatory narratives to measure the relationship between social behaviors and mental health.

Before & After
--Imbibe our specially made cocktail of the night, the Social Hour
--Shimmy to synapse-soothing grooves
--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

This mind-blowing edition of Secret Science Club - the “Dana Foundation Neuroscience & Society Lecture” featuring Xiaosi Gu - is supported by the Dana Foundation as part of its Dana Education program, which includes the coordination of Brain Awareness Week in mid-March. The Dana Foundation is dedicated to advancing neuroscience and society by supporting cross-disciplinary intersections such as neuroscience and ethics, law, policy, humanities, and arts.

Secret Science Club meets in-person on Monday, December 12, 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. Just bring your smart self.

*This event will be mixed seated/standing. Arrive early for best seat selection.*

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

LIVE ONLINE: Thursday, December 1 @ 8PM, Secret Science Club presents Karen Bakker & the Smart Earth Project, FREE!

Sounds of Life! Secret Science Club Online presents Karen Bakker & the Smart Earth Project

Join us live via Zoom on Thursday, December 1 @ 8PM (Eastern Time USA) "Doors" open at 7:30PM 

Shhh... everyone on our mailing list will be emailed the Zoom link the night before.  To join the Secret Science Club mailing list (or just request the Zoom link), send us an email (secretscienceclub@gmail.com)

The natural world teems with remarkable conversations, many beyond the range of human hearing. Prairie dogs and dolphins whistle to each other by “name.” Elephants share their whereabouts with far-off relatives, using low-frequency rumbles. Even coral reefs are filled with a symphony of ultrasonic sounds.

At the next Secret Science Club, Karen Bakker jumps off from her new book The Sounds of Life to explore the ways scientists are using groundbreaking digital technologies to eavesdrop on Earth’s animals and ecosystems, from the Arctic to the Amazon.

Karen Bakker is a professor of geography at the University of British Columbia, focusing on the environment, sustainability, freshwater issues, natural sounds, and bioacoustics. The recipient of numerous awards, she was recently named a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow and a 2022-2023 Radcliffe Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, where she is currently working on the Smart Earth Project. The author of over 100 academic publications, she has written seven books, including her most recent The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants.

Before & After
--Mix up our murmuring cocktail of the night, the "Sonic Tonic"… (recipe below!)
--Groove to wild tunes & natural soundscapes
--Bring your questions for the live Q&A
--Snag a copy of Karen Bakker’s fascinating new book, The Sounds of Life here or wherever you buy books!

This is a FREE event.

What’s next at Secret Science Club?
We will be back in-person at the Bell House on December 12 with neuroscientist Xiaosi Gu on the "Social Brain." Stay tuned for details!

You can support Secret Science Club's programming by making a DONATION via:

Credit Card, PayPal, Apple Pay, or Google Pay on Donorbox

Cash App: $SecretScienceClub

Zelle: scienceliveproductions@gmail.com

(Note: If you don't already have the Zoom meeting app on your computer or mobile device, you can download it for free at zoom.us)

Cocktail Recipe for the “Sonic Tonic” (created by the Secret Science Club Experimental Mixology Lab)
Ingredients: 2 oz Fresh-squeezed Blood Orange Juice, 1 oz Cranberry Juice, 2 oz Gin, 4 oz Tonic Water, Slices of Blood Orange and Fresh Cranberries (for garnish), Ice
- Pour juices and gin into a rocks glass filled with ice
- Slowly add tonic water, and stir
- Top off with a slice or two of blood orange and a few cranberries
** (For a mocktail version, skip the gin, double the amount of juice, and add a splash of lime.)

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

LIVE @ THE BELL HOUSE on Monday, November 21 @ 8PM, Secret Science Club presents Astrophysicist Nora Eisner, FREE!

We're Blasting Off to Other Worlds…

LIVE & IN-PERSON @ THE BELL HOUSE on Monday, November 21, 8PM (Doors open at 7:30PM), Free!

Secret Science Club presents Astrophysicist and Planet Hunter Nora Eisner

Astrophysicist Nora Eisner is hunting for the most complex, the most unusual and the most exciting planetary systems in our Galaxy.

The drastic improvement in telescopes over the last 50 years has led to the discovery of thousands of exoplanets. While many exoplanets resemble planets in our own solar system, there are also strange systems including gigantic exoplanets (called “hot Jupiters”) and even exoplanets that orbit multiple stars.

At the next Secret Science Club, Dr. Eisner describes her work with citizen scientists to detect some of the most elusive exoplanets in the Milky Way.

NORA EISNER is an astrophysicist at the Center for Computational Astrophysics at the Flatiron Institute in New York City. She scans the galaxy with the help of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and she is the project leader for Planet Hunters TESS, a citizen science project involving over 35,000 people around the globe. Her research focuses on studying unique planetary and stellar systems that are missed by automated searches. As an advocate for making science more accessible to the public, she collaborates with a team at NASA Ames to develop tools on how to conduct exoplanet science from the comfort of your own home. Dr. Eisner and her research have been featured in New Scientist, Astronomy, CNN and Forbes.

Before & After
--Imbibe our otherworldly cocktail of the night, the “Thrilling Atmosphere”
--Groove to interstellar tunes
--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

This edition of the Secret Science Club meets Monday, November 21, 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. Just bring your smart self!

*This event will be mixed seated/standing. Arrive early for best seat selection.*

What’s next at Secret Science Club Online?
On December 1, join us on Zoom with Karen Bakker of the Smart Earth Project with The Sounds of Life. Stay tuned for details!

You can support Secret Science Club's programming by making a DONATION via:

Credit Card, PayPal, Apple Pay, or Google Pay on Donorbox

Cash App: $SecretScienceClub

Zelle: scienceliveproductions@gmail.com

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