You may have noticed a new addition to the science cafe recently…the collectible mini cards handed out. At the beginning of each event, I have handing out mini cards (from MyMiniCards.com) as a combination raffle ticket and a good conversation piece. There are about 10 different images per event, all related to the topic of discussion. If you’re selected as the raffle winner…you win a free beer (or drink of your choice…I’d choose the beer).
Keep an eye out for the mini cards at upcoming events!

JCHS’s Zeke Kossover at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts (He’s our next speaker!)
One of my favorite magazines, SEED (a magazine about the intersection of science & culture), just put out a great piece about the public perception of science.

Yes. People within the academic culture, in general, do not know how to speak to the public. And that’s not only scientists—that’s English professors, too. Some of the political problems the scientific community encountered in the past decade had to do with scientists not getting out into the public square …

It was a great cafe last month. I always think no one will show up…boy was I wrong this month. it was a packed house at the Atlas Cafe, we had over 150 people squeeze through the doors.
We started with an interview of Adam by Jeff Miller of LBL that debunked many of the myths around memory & aging (some such as that menopause affects memory were confirmed). Adam then dove into his presentation on aging, highlighting the distinctions between attention and memory. His lab utilizes a combination of …