Do you know someone who's scared of science? Someone who experiences nothing but terror and loathing at the thought of test tubes, dusty columns of data, or white lab coats?
Never fear - Science Café is here!
Science Cafés aren't your typical science gig:
* By taking place in a venue where the audience is accustomed to meeting friends, science cafés present science as a reason to get together and socialize.
* Unlike a typical lecture, people leave science cafés feeling like they had a personal interaction with a scientist.
* Science cafés can draw in people who normally do not seek out science events, while also providing an event that science enthusiasts are excited to invite friends to.
* Musicians can momentarily transfix a crowd. A televised sporting event can make a room erupt with energy. Science cafés can demonstrate that science talk has similar effects on par with these other social gatherings.
* Unlike a typical lecture, people leave science cafés feeling like they had a personal interaction with a scientist.
* Science cafés can draw in people who normally do not seek out science events, while also providing an event that science enthusiasts are excited to invite friends to.
* Musicians can momentarily transfix a crowd. A televised sporting event can make a room erupt with energy. Science cafés can demonstrate that science talk has similar effects on par with these other social gatherings.
Starting in September, Hays Kansas will be home to a series of Science Cafés. The first discussion will involve global climate change, with help from John Heinrichs and his own personal experiences with sea ice. It'll be held Wednesday, September 17, 7:30 pm at Cafe Semolino [MySpace, Facebook] in Hays. Hays is also known as "that wide spot in the road halfway between Denver and Kansas City."
The series is getting off the ground with help from FHSU's Science and Mathematics Education Center and Kansas Citizens for Science. We hope to get ongoing support from NOVA's ScienceNOW.
Other upcoming topics will include the value of alternative medicine, satellite missions which study the upper atmosphere, wind energy and biofuels, and a yet-to-be-announced astronomy topic. Here's to the spread of REAL Science!
posted by Cheryl Shepherd-Adams
