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Showing posts from February, 2010

The Secret Science Club presents “A Mind-blowing Evening,” Tuesday, March 9, 8 PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

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Neuroscientists Joseph LeDoux and Daniela Schiller lecture on fear, memory, and the brain. Then they jam with their "heavy mental" band, the Amygdaloids. Dr. LeDoux and Dr. Schiller discuss: --What is fear? What parts of the brain are most involved with emotions? --How are frightening and traumatic memories stored? Can fearful memories go "out of contol"? --Are memories subject to revision, like stories? Can bad memories be erased? Should they be? --What are links between music, brain biology, and our emotions? Plus! The Amygdaloids perform original songs like “Memory Pill,” “Mind Over Matter,” “Brainstorm,” and “Piece of My Mind” “They’re not rocket scientists. They’re brain scientists who rock it!” The Amygdaloids are -- Joseph LeDoux , guitarist, professor of neuroscience and psychology at NYU, and author of The Emotional Brain and Synaptic Self -- Daniela Schiller , drummer, NYU neuroscientist, and Moth StorySlam winner -- Tyler Volk , guitarist, biologist, s

The Secret Science Club presents Molecular Biologist Gregory Hannon, Tuesday, February 9th, 8 PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

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Put on your lab coats and prepare to enter the world of inner space . . . Molecular biologist Gregory Hannon of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is one of the world’s foremost genetic researchers, deciphering the mechanisms used by cells to fight invaders and that soon may be used to create treatments for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Dr. Hannon is a pioneer in the field of RNA interference (RNAi), a powerful new tool for gene analysis. Hannon and his colleagues have harnessed RNAi, a naturally occurring process of gene regulation, to selectively turn off genes in living cells. Hannon uses the technique to study cancer development and to probe the mechanisms that make this method of gene control so effective. The author of over 200 scientific papers, Dr. Hannon was recently in the news with groundbreaking research on the origins of a mysterious communicable cancer that is attacking the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial , the Tasmanian Devil. He is the recipient of