IN-PERSON @ THE BELL HOUSE, Secret Science Club presents Biochemist Antonio Cerullo on Tuesday, April 23 @ 7:30PM, FREE!

Secret Science Club slips & slides into one of the most fascinating substances on Earth with BIOCHEMIST ANTONIO CERULLO!

IN-PERSON @ THE BELL HOUSE

Tuesday, April 23, 7:30PM (Doors open at 7PM), Free!

We’re not going to sugarcoat it: Mucus is miraculous.

Every day, humans produce at least a quart of this sticky, slimy, slippery stuff. We need it for everything from blinking our eyelids to digesting food to protecting our bodies against pathogens.

Creatures throughout the animal kingdom use mucus in astonishing ways, too. Hagfish pump out thick mucus to gum up the gills of sharks. Parrotfish blow mucous bubbles and use them as sleeping bags. Hippos secrete red mucus that serves as both an antibiotic and sunscreen for their skin.

At the next Secret Science Club, biochemist Antonio Cerullo is here to tell us that mucus is beautiful: “a choreographed chaos” of complex components “coming together to do wondrous things.” 

Dr. Cerullo has been collecting slime specimens—from snails, jellyfish, and even oysters—to study their wide-ranging and seemingly magical properties. Could these strange secretions hold the secrets to new cures and therapies?

Don’t miss a nanosecond of this ooey-gooey evening!

Before & After
-- Try our curious cocktail of the night, the Viscosity! It'll keep you lubricated....

--Groove to smoooth tunes

--Stick around for the scintillating Q&A

ANTONIO CERULLO is a biochemist, slime scientist, and editor at Nature Communications. While working on his PhD at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, he investigated the compositions and properties of mucus from the world's most exotic animals, including hagfish, salamanders, jellyfish, frogs, and snails. He and his research on these secretions have been featured on NPR’s Short Wave, National Geographic, and Scientific American.

This edition of the Secret Science Club meets Tuesday, April 23, 7:30PM @ 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 7PM.

Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. Just bring your smart self!

What's next at Secret Science Club?
We’ll be back at the Bell House on Wednesday, May 15, with Theoretical Physicist Sean Carroll!

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