Flower Power! The Secret Science Club presents Plant Geneticist Rob Martienssen, Wednesday, August 24, 8 PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

Rob Martienssen studies the strange genetics and sex lives of plants—and his garden-variety discoveries have rocked the scientific world. Until recently plant breeders used trial-and-error methods to create newer, more beautiful, and more useful hybrids. Now Dr. Martienssen and his colleagues at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory are unlocking the molecular mechanisms at the heart of plant evolution. They hope to use their new knowledge to unravel the stories behind some of the world’s most successful breeds and to create the future’s most awesome new cultivars.

Dr. Martienssen asks:

--Can we breed better biofuels? Could duckweed—a plant growing in NYC’s ponds and parklands— be supercharged to become an efficient source of energy?

--What’s the story behind King Corn? How exactly was maize—the most widely grown crop in the U.S.—created in Ancient Mesoamerica from a native grass that looks almost nothing like corn?

--What does biotechnology have to do with food security and climate change? Could the sequencing of plant genomes and a fundamental understanding of “jumping genes” lead to the production of higher-yielding crops that consume fewer resources?

Before & After

--Groove to tunes inspired by pistils and stamens

--Try our cocktail of the night, the Planter’s Punch (pow!)

--Stick around for the cultivated Q&A

This edition of the Secret Science Club meets Wednesday, August 24 at 8 p.m. @ the Bell House, 149 7^th St. (between 2^nd and 3^rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn, p: 718.643.6510 Subway: F or G to 4th Ave; R to 9^th St.

No cover. Just bring your smart self!

Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+

The Secret Science Club presents an ENCORE SCREENING of “Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives,” Wed., August 10, 8 PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

Can time move backwards? Is the future different on other worlds? Are meetings of the Secret Science Club forbidden in a parallel universe?

Singer-songwriter Mark Everett of the band Eels grew up not knowing that his father, Hugh Everett, was a genius—to him, his dad was the chain-smoking guy who didn’t say much at the dinner table. The fact that Hugh Everett was one of the world’s pre-eminent quantum mechanics, the physicist who came up with the Theory of Parallel Universes was just one more thing they didn’t discuss.

Sadly, Hugh Everett’s theory was so revolutionary—so trippy in fact—that its elegance and importance were not recognized until well after his death. (Mark Everett was just 18 when he found his father lying dead at age 51 on the family’s couch.) Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives chronicles the journey of the musical-but-math-challenged son to learn more about his father’s profound contributions to science and the “Many Worlds” in which we all—for better or worse—may play out different versions of ourselves.

Mind-boggling and moving, this original BBC cut of the documentary features physicist Max Tegmark of MIT, plus a guest appearance by Schrodinger’s Cat.

Before & After

--Groove to tunes from other dimensions (wha-ha-ha!)

--Plunge into the Time Warp, a tessalating cocktail that will give you multi-vision

This cinematic edition of the Secret Science Club meets Wednesday, August 10 at 8 p.m. @ the Bell House, 149 7^th St. (between 2^nd and 3^rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn, p: 718.643.6510 Subway: F or G to 4th Ave; R to 9^th St

Free! Just bring your smart self! 
Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+