Colorado Café Scientifique in Denver

We are taking the summer off as usual, and will resume in September. Check back for the fall schedule, or click here to get on the email reminder list. Have a happy holiday!

News 2 July 2009: The first H1N1 (novel influenza, formerly "swine") infection found to be resistant to the antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) represents an "isolated case" with "no public health implication" at this time, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday. The patient has recovered without event and no secondary cases have been recorded.
The May Café was sponsored by the Colorado Chapter of the American Chemical Society, who treated us with appetizers. Our thanks to our friends at ACS! Click on the logo to visit their interesting site and learn more.
News 24 May 2009: Atlantis landed safely at Edwards AFB instead of the Kennedy Space Center in rainy Florida this morning, after waiting 2 days for clear weather. It puts that 30 minutes you spent in a holding pattern over DIA in perspective. All but a part of one mission was successfully accomplished.
News 11 May 2009: Space Shuttle Atlantis is on its way today to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. If all goes well, one of the most important and productive instruments in history will send even more spectacular pictures and data to us, at least until 2014. Fingers crossed. BBC does its usual excellent reporting about the launch here.
News 8 May 2009: This May will see the world premiere of Angels & Demons, a thriller based on Dan Brown’s best-selling novel that focuses on an plot to destroy the Vatican using a small amount of antimatter. In the book and the movie, that antimatter is made using the Large Hadron Collider and is stolen from the European particle physics laboratory CERN. Parts of the movie were actually filmed at CERN. The particle physics community is using this opportunity to tell the world about the real science of antimatter, the Large Hadron Collider and the excitement of particle physics research. The Colorado lecture will be in Boulder at 2 PM on 16 May: click here for information.
News 3 March 2009: The Large Hadron Collider continues to struggle after its breakdown last year. It is now scheduled to come back on line in late September 2009, and if it does it will be run through the winter, in spite of the expensive electricity at that season, to try to make up for lost time. " I have a bet of one hundred dollars that we won't find the Higgs," says Stephen Hawking.
News 14 January 2009: On NPR's Morning Edition today, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said: "In the economic recovery package, we are going with proposals that we have, in general, for infrastructure, for innovation, for health care, and for energy independence, and they are all related. I said, if you want four words to describe this: science, science, science, and science."

Older news items...

The Café Scientifique idea started in England a few years ago, based on the French Café Philosophique. In the Café Scientifique, people (often science buffs) come together in a friendly pub after work and hear an informal (no PowerPoint!) introduction to an interesting current scientific topic, led by an expert. We take a short break for refreshments, to meet new people, and chat, and then we return for questions and answers and general discussion. All questions and comments are welcome, as this isn't a seminar, it's a chance for all of us to express an opinion, expert or otherwise.

Grady Booch, Chief Scientist at IBM, who spoke at the Café in 2004, wrote: "While I typically speak only to fellow geeks, this was absolutely the most refreshing encounter I've had in a very long time. It's wonderful to be among a group of such intelligent and diverse people who are passionate about pursuing knowledge and understanding." Dennis Van Gerven said of his talk: "I can honestly say I haven't had that much fun without losing consciousness in years!" Gene Abrams, who had to be convinced that Security would protect him from the angry mob if he tried to talk about mathematics, wrote: " In what ranks as one of the most satisfying and rewarding opportunities of my career, I had the privilege to share what I do with a group of tavern-goers who were thirsting for more than just the local microbrew." Dr. Connie Price described her talk about antibiotic-resistant MRSA as "Probably one of the most fun things I've done in my career."