Sci in the City

By Teresa Jusino

I’m just going to put this out there – science is hot. I mean, math is pretty cool, too (and science requires a lot of math), but while math seems wrapped up in answers, science seems more interested in questions. There’s something sexy about passionate wonder, exploring how things work, discovery. Sexier than the topic itself are people who are interested in it; people who share a giddy glee in the discovery of a new species here on Earth, or a new moon in space. Or a new, enormous ring around Saturn, for that matter. Sexier still are people who are knowledgeable about science; the people making the big discoveries.

What’d you do today?

Ah, you know. Went to that temp job and did data entry, came home, watched Glee. What’d you do?

I did data entry, too. About that PLANET I DISCOVERED. Then I DVR’d Glee.

Now, put that sexy topic and all those sexy people in a beautiful room with a glowing replica of the Planet Earth above them and give them inexpensive alcohol. Do you see the possibilities?

The American Museum of Natural History in NYC has started an awesome new monthly event where sexy, geeky science enthusiasts can mingle over wine and munchies while sitting in a beautiful museum and listening to a genius in his or her field talk about their work in terms that won’t make you doze off. It’s called SciCafe, and I attended the very first one this week!

The first topic was Exoplanets and The Search For Life In the Universe. After attendees bought inexpensive drink tickets and settled in with wine and pita chips/hummus in hand, astrophysicist Ben Oppenheimer gave a great lecture on exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) and his role as a principal investigator in The Lyot Project, an effort to build an instrument that can clean up starlight enough to see the dust (and planets!) orbiting those stars.

You mean, the stars we see in the sky EACH possibly have planets orbiting them? Each of those is possibly a sun to something smaller; something that could eventually evolve into a planet like ours? OOH! Or are those bits of dust what we’re destined to become?! OOH! So, if you can see more of that stuff that’s orbiting those stars, you might not only discover other life in the universe, but you will also be able to learn more about how our planet has, and will continue to, evolve??

Uh, yup.

GET THE HELL OUTTA TOWN! Teensy Earth-twin planets? Really?!

In addition to getting you successfully hopped-up on science, what’s great about SciCafe is the laid-back atmosphere wherein you can mingle with fellow science lovers after the lecture. You could tell that the museum staff was surprised by the large turnout, this being the first of these events and all. Not only did it attract a large crowd, it was a wonderfully diverse crowd: those just old enough to drink legally, and those who’ve been drinking since Prohibition was repealed; a balanced mix of men and women; multiracial; differing ideas about religion and spirituality; gay/straight/bi and other; geeks and non-geeks. I met two really cool people with whom I’m now Facebook friends, one of whom made me seethe with jealousy when she told me that she actually GOT TO GO TO SPACE CAMP WHEN SHE WAS LITTLE! (That bitch!) We’re already planning on going to the next one of these together. There were also cute geek girls and guys there. Space Camp Girl and I scoped out the boys together as my new guy friend talked to my housemate. Nothin’ says lovin’ like astrophysics, I tell you what.

The next one is on November 4th. The topic? Darwin on Facebook: How Culture Transforms Human Evolution. Apparently, anthropologist Peter Richerson is going to be filling us in on how social media is contributing to our success as a species. No, really!

If you want to attend the next, or any, SciCafe, here are some tips:

• It’s for ages 21+ because of the alcohol. Sorry, young geeklets. You’ll have to get your science on elsewhere.

• It’s FREE.

• GET THERE EARLY. You’ll need to stand in a bit of a line if you want to buy drink tickets, and you’ll want to get the tickets, get your drinks, and score a seat in the central rotunda thingy before the lecture starts.

• Get all the drinks you’ll want for the lecture before the lecture. Once you’ve got a seat and the lecture starts, you’re not going to want to get up again. Trust me. The room isn’t really designed for a fixed crowd like that.

• Eat dinner beforehand if you can. While they do serve some nibbles, it’s a two-hour event at 7pm, and you don’t want to have to process science (or alcohol) on an empty stomach.

An event that’s actually educational and fun! Way to go, Museum of Natural History! It is, indeed, “a happy hour Mr. Wizard would be proud of.”

TERESA JUSINO was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so. As a writer, her work has appeared in Elmont Life newspaper, and on the sadly defunct website, CentralBooking.com. She is a founding member and editor of The Revolving Door Commune Blog, is currently at work on a collection of short stories, and is writing a web series for Pareidolia Films called The Pack, which is set to debut this fall! As a geek, Teresa loves all Star Trek, Lost, Fringe, comics, and anything Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, and Neil Gaiman ever touched. She is also an aspiring fangbanger. Get Twitterpated with Teresa, or visit her in The Red Room.

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