A Letter to the 18+ STEAM Aficionados:

by Paola Salazar

PC: The Franklin Institute, Adults-Only Event guests

Please let it be known that you have not been forgotten! We have a lot of great events lined up for our more mature members in the CSF community. In fact, we’ve rounded up a couple of favorite events just for you!

I mean really, who ever said we were too old to find STEAM fun?

Science & The Arts

improvscience LIvE: Behind the Lab Coat, at Taco Night, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, Monday April 18^th

Once (Cuisine en Locale), 156 Highland Ave, Somerville. Free!

While it may not be the first topic that comes to mind, science happens to be a great subject for improv, as per improvscience. Come join us and enjoy the Cuisine en Locale menu and some performances about what it’s like to be a scientist—from academics and beyond!

Others:

Listen to some musical renditions of spring and pray that Boston and Mother Nature are hearing too with: Harbinger of Spring, 7-8:30pm, Sunday April 24^th. Harvard University, Knafel Center, 10 Garden St., Cambridge. $15, details here.

Swing by for an Artisan's Asylum Tour, 8:00pm - 9:00pm, Wednesday April 20th

Artisan's Asylum, 10 Tyler St, Somerville. Free. Register here.

Stop by and learn about how scientists and artists combine two seemingly unrelated worlds in some unique ways with: Science, Music, and the Art of Creative Thinking, 7:00pm - 8:30pm, Friday April 22^nd. Broad Institute Auditorium, 415 Main Street, Cambridge. Free, RSVP: stefanie@aceraschool.org

Our speakers include Psyche Loui, a neuroscientist & violinist, Lisa Wong, a pediatrician & champion of the arts, Gus Halwani, a jazz musician, educator & neuroscientist, and Susanna Ogata, of the Handel + Haydn Society.

Another Beer, Please!

Crowd and speaker at a Science by the Pint event in February 2014. PC: Paola Salazar

Science by the Pint  @ Aeronaut: Gravitational Waves Unplugged, 5:30-7:30pm, Sunday April 24^th

Aeronaut Brewing Company, 14 Tyler St, Somerville. Free. 21+. Cash Bar.

You may have heard back in February about gravitational waves.  MIT Professor Scott Hughes and members of his group from the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research and the MIT LIGO Laboratory will be around to discuss this incredible discovery and what it means for us and the future of physics. Come grab a seat!

Others:

In a Haze: Studying Marijuana, 5:30pm - 7:30pm, Wednesday April 20^th

Aeronaut Brewing Company, 14 Tyler St, Somerville. Free, 21+. Cash Bar.

Science Pint Night, 6:30pm - 8:00pm, Thursday April 21^st

Rattlesnake Bar and Grill, 384 Boylston St, Boston. Free, 21+. Cash Bar.

Brewing Science with Aeronaut, 12:30-4pm, Sunday April 24^th

Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler Street, Somerville.

Society, Science, Shenanigans

Worthy of AtTENtion: 10 Years of Discovery in 10 Minutes, 6:00pm - 8:30pm, Saturday April 16^th

MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Free!

Eric Hoffner once said that learners will inherit the world, while the learned find themselves only equipped for a world that no longer exists. And so this event is a bit of a shoutout to some of the greatest learners of a constantly changing world, at least for the last ten years. Hear from ten different researchers as they reflect on the developments in their fields over the last decade and take a peek into what they expect to come next.

Science Fiction Panel of Experts, 6:30pm - 8:00pm, Wednesday April 20^th

Cambridge Public Library Lecture Hall, 449 Broadway. Free!

For the SciFi fans, we bring you M.T. Anderson, Gary Braver and Jeffrey Carver, some diverse and well-known authors in the genre. 

Others:

Big Ideas for Busy People, 7:30 - 9:30pm, Friday April 15^th
First Parish in Cambridge, 1446 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. More details... $10, Register here.
Science Trivia: Einstein, Acronyms, Astronomy, 4:30pm - 6:30pm, Friday April 15^th

John Harvard Brewery & Ale House, 33 Dunster Street, Cambridge. More details... Free, 21+ Register here.

60-minute Dialogues on Science in Society, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, Wednesday April 20^th Free!

Prop open your laptops and get ready for one or two Google hangouts, depending on your time! 7:00pm Topic: Science and Policy that Would Improve Responses to Extreme Climatic Events. 8:00pm Topic: Genetic Purification or Biomedical Revolution?

Hope Jahren discusses LAB GIRL, 7:00pm - 8:30pm, Wednesday April 20^th

WorkBar Cambridge, 45 Prospect St., Cambridge. Free. More details...

Exploring Career Options in STEM: Speed Networking, 5:30pm - 9:00pm, Friday April 22^nd

Picower Institute, 43 Vassar Street (MIT bldg. 46), Cambridge. $15-$30. Register here. More details...

When Science Met Media

PC: TBC

Dimensions of Doctor Who, 7:00pm - 9:30pm, Saturday April 23rd

MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. $10-15, Cash Bar. Tickets here.

What’s that box in the sky wheezing its way to the MIT Museum? Oh you know, just the TARDIS!

Ladies and gents, we are happy to announce that we’ve prepared an evening dedicated to exploring the realms of truth behind the Doctor Who universe. Better yet, we’re bringing you local scientists and the research they’re doing that might just get us to a world closer to that of the Doctor’s Cosplay welcome, of course! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go prepare for when I finally get to be a companion…

You’re the Expert: Live at CSF 2016, 7:30pm - 9:00pm, Thursday April 21^st

Brattle Theater, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge. $20 (MIT-free). Tickets here.

WBUR/NPR’s You’re the Expert​ uses comedy to make academic research more accessible and exciting—and it’s coming to you. Through game show segments and hilariously misguided guesses, a panel of comedians will try to get to the bottom of what a distinguished scientist studies all day. You won’t want to miss being part of the audience for this live show and podcast taping. You're the Expert is hosted by Chris Duffy and produced by Pretty Good Friends. Doors at 7pm.

Science Writing Workshop: Stealing from Fiction's Toolkit, 1:00pm - 4:00pm, Sunday April 17^th

MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. $10 (includes Museum admission). Register here.

So this is a mandatory event for a science festival, given that most of us have a dual life as sci-fi authors (or, you know, if we can dream it, we can believe it).

Others:

The Science of TV's The Big Bang Theory: Explanations Even Penny Would Understand, 6:00pm - 7:30pm, Thursday April 21^st

Aeronaut Brewing Company, 14 Tyler Street, Somerville. More details...

Science Festival After Dark Film Series with the Brattle Theatre, 9:30pm - 11:00pm, Tuesday April 19th

Brattle Theater, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge. Click here for details and tickets.

Science & Our Environment

The Green Dream: Powering the World With Clean Energy, 5:30-7:30pm, Wednesday April 20^th

Google Cambridge, 355 Main Street, 5th Floor. Free. Register here.

Are we technologically ready to abandon fossil fuels? What are the political, economic and social barriers to adopting green technology? Join us as Tufts’ Kelly Sims Gallagher and MIT’s Richard Lester and Jessika Trancik walk us through the logistics of creating and supporting a greener tomorrow.

Mapping Climate Change through Citizen Science and Art, 2:00pm - 3:30pm, Tuesday April 19^th

MassArt Design and Media Center, 621 Huntington Ave., Boston. Free.

Join us for a presentation and workshop on the convergence of Art, Biology, and Storytelling that examines the effects of climate change on Puerto Rico’s island ecology.

Others:

Cambridge Explores the Universe, 12-4pm, Sunday April 23rd
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, Cambridge. Free.

3D Printing Cambridge in the Idea Hub, 12-4pm, Sunday April 24^th

MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Free.

CSF’s TechWorld

PC: Artisan's Asylum

Circuit Hacking Night at Artisan's Asylum, 6:00pm - 8:00pm, Wednesday April 20^th

Artisan's Asylum, 10 Tyler St, Somerville. Free, 18+. Register here.

On this one night, the electronics & robotics lab will be open to the public. There will be an introductory soldering lesson, electronics kits on hand for sale for those who wish to make things, and experienced hackers and engineers around to answer all your questions. Feel free to bring your own projects to work on if you have them!

Others:

TECHnically Art: A Collaborative Mural, 10:00am - 1:00pm, Tuesday April 19^th

MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Free with museum admission.

CIC Technology Showcase, 4pm-6pm, Wednesday April 20^th

CIC, 1 Broadway St., Cambridge, 5th Floor. Free.

MIT Museum Revealed: Undersea Robotics Tour,  2:00pm - 3:00pm, Friday April 22^nd

MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Limited to 25 participants - teens and adults only. Free with Museum admission. Tickets available one half-hour before; first-come, first-serve.

Creative Kinetic Sculptures in the Idea Hub, 12-4pm, Sunday April 24^th

MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge Free with Museum admission

Paola Salazar is a Boston-based science journalist with a background in social and life sciences.