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Secret Science Alert: This month, we will be meeting at the Bell House, an all-new all-awesome venue in Gowanus, Brooklyn, created by the owners of Union Hall (our lovely hosts).

Move over Sudoku! Cosmologist Tony Rothman of Princeton University lectures on SACRED MATHEMATICS!!!!

At work, Tony Rothman studies the Big Bang and the early Universe. He also researches black holes on the verge of becoming naked singularities. But what does he do for fun? He does sangaku—clever math puzzles that decorated Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in 17th-century Japan. Wha—?? He even wrote a book about it: Sacred Mathematics: Japanese Temple Geometry. It all adds up! Don't forget to bring your slide rules and pocket protectors!!

Before and After
--Groove to an ever-multiplying collection of science-loving tunes and videos

--Stick around for the calculating Q&A and to get a signed copy of Dr. Rothman's new book!

--Sample our cocktail of the night, the Bamboozler. (It’s a conundrum . . . try …

Smell is the most primitive of senses. The world is filled with scents that suggest danger, the presence of food—and mating opportunities. Humans can detect about 10,000 different odors—while insects can perceive only those that are essential for their survival.

Dr. Leslie Vosshall, head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior at Rockefeller University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, probes the brains and neural networks of creatures from fruit flies to Homo sapiens. She asks: Is love in the eye of the beholder—or in the schnoz? How do different animals detect smell? How do sweet and stinky scents influence behavior? And why does camembert cheese smell like heaven to some people and offal to others?
Some of Vosshall’s current investigations include:
Sexual attraction. Are ovulating women drawn to (or repulsed by) androstenon, a possible pheromone produced by men’s sweat glands?
Global health. Could millions of lives be saved by scent research? Malaria-carrying …