Back from Boston

Still recovering. Flights were smooth. I finally finished Jennifer Rohn's book on the airplane. I hated my Chapel Hill neighbors, lounging at the pool in 78F, as I was leaving for the cold, snowy Boston. But now I'm back.

The first night, a bunch of us went to the Science Cafe and discussed the possibility of intelligent life in the Universe and methods to find them if they are out there.

i-b18dd1541af9f8ecd2be268ce1fbe67e-Boston09 001.jpg
i-7c668768a9b453222aa4968118296627-Boston09 003.jpg
i-718aee19dbc9c34292fd13d36b9baf44-Boston09 004.jpg
i-9c7278e11d945a0916177774e3c2292b-Boston09 006.jpg

And had some dinner as well...

i-4750a217c35ec1167b6899640b675810-Boston09 002.jpg

On Monday, we gathered at WGBH station, in a nice, modern, green building, and about 20 of us discussed the PRI/BBC/NOVA/SigmaXi/WGBH/World project: how to build an online Science Cafe that is tied to their expanding science coverage on the radio show.

i-1d64050853f3417f6c55ed4868e574ba-Boston09 007.jpg

The room was full of brilliant people, each coming from a different background and having different experiences, expertise and ideas. There were key people from each of the above-mentioned organizations, including my friends here from Sigma Xi Katie Lord and Elsa Youngsteadt, plus Loren Terveen, Rekha Murthy, Bryan Keefer and myself as 'external advisors'.

i-0f549a66b8fb2d7cd0e05f050a1394a6-Boston09 008.jpg

We spent about seven hours brainstorming how to make this happen, what to do, what NOT to do, what to expect, how to go about it. Not more I can tell you right now - I'll keep you in the loop as these things get under way and become public - but I am quite excited about the project myself, I have to admit.

i-1e6bacce371f1111f97540463d023448-Boston09 009.jpg

We managed to finish the meeting just in time to catch the last few minutes of the live broadcast of The World, which we observed from within the studio (we had to keep very quiet!). The World has been making podcasts for quite a while, but just recently started doing science podcasts - four so far: check them out.

i-4f6c7bbf55f16686600a866a7c95d113-Boston09 010.jpg
i-cd99030a692e241d482e070df0a0ad81-Boston09 011.jpg

Then we went to Casablanca for some food and beer with friends: Anna Kushnir, Emily Chenette, Rachel Davis, Mary Mangan, Elsa Youngsteadt, Blake Stacey, David Whitlock, Michael Feldgarden and David Ozonoff . I love meeting friends, old and new, wherever I travel.

i-f88f20da85db65bae938dfc358792c0f-Boston09 012.jpg
i-25ea462991074fc1b2fbb22126013d7a-Boston09 013.jpg
i-3e8ce8874d8723fe9162b91a9621b7e6-Boston09 014.jpg
i-e95ba0af517d2144f4b286da8e156e87-Boston09 015.jpg
i-bb8666b10250b199dc63382cd43ae6c6-Boston09 016.jpg
i-4b9f4c7f40dcd13c9638106ef27e19a8-Boston09 017.jpg
i-ae25009ae516cf9a4b6b7bcc8fc7da78-Boston09 018.jpg

More like this