SITN
kbonham | June 12, 2013A couple of weeks ago, I gave a talk for
Tonight, I'm presenting at the Science In The News (SITN) Spring lecture series. If you're in the vicinity of Boston, you can come watch at 7pm in Pfizer Auditorium, located in the Mallinckrodt Chemistry Lab, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138.
If you can't show up in person though, SITN is now broadcasting live via google hangouts. Check out this page for details, and I'll try to upload the video feed here around 6:30 ET.
Start about 22min in
kbonham | October 28, 2011Last month, I linked to an article written by Harvard graduate student Laura Strittmatter about Resveratrol, a compound in red wine that had been linked to anti-aging effects in studies on rodents. Recently, a paper was published in Nature calling that research into question. This isn't a problem in science - this is how it's supposed to work. New research examines previous claims, and strengthens the case or knocks it down. Either way, we win.
In that spirit, Laura picked through the new paper and brings us a special edition of the Flash:
A recent article in the journal Nature calls into…
kbonham | September 29, 2011Christie Wilcox has a great post over at Science Sushi about why scientists should be on social media. I don't disagree with anything she says, and I try to do it myself (see: the twitter and G+ links to the left... I also recently signed up for tumblr which is kind of fun). But sometimes the social media is just the first step.
Last night I, along with fellow graduate students Sky Brubaker and Jillian Astarita, gave a lecture for the Science in the News lecture series about how an immune response gets started. The SITN fall lecture series is something I've done for the past few years, first…
kbonham | September 27, 2011For anyone in the Boston Area, two of my colleagues and I will be giving a talk on how the immune system recognizes and responds to pathogens, and how understanding this will allow scientists to design better vaccines and more effectively treat illness.
How to Spot a Virus: The origins of an immune response.
This lecture series is aimed at a general audience and it starts at 7pm tomorrow (Wednesday) night at Armenise Amphitheater at the Harvard Medical School. Come watch! (and stop by to say "hi" afterwards).
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Full schedule:
SITN archives.
Last year's lecture series on Vimeo.
kbonham | September 20, 2011Harvard Science in the News begins its fall lecture series this week with a talk on the interface between human brains and machines:
I went to the practice talk last week, and it's going to be great! From retinal implants to controlling robots with your mind, Harvard neuroscience graduate students will take you through the science behind melding mind with machine. The lecture is tomorrow (wednesday) night at 7pm in the Armenise amphitheater at the Harvard Med School. Check out the website for more info.
Next week: Me! I'll be presenting next wednesday along with my lab mate Sky Brubaker and…
kbonham | September 15, 2011The latest Science in the News Flash is up, and it examines the anti-aging research surrounding the molecule resveratrol, which is present at low concentrations in red wine:
If resveratrol were able to mimic the lifespan-extending effects of caloric restriction in people without requiring such an extreme diet, it would be very popular, especially if it gives people an excuse to drink more wine! However, to consume enough resveratrol to benefit from the life-extending effects seen in yeast, the average person would have to drink 1000 bottles of wine per day, an endeavor with consequences that…
kbonham | September 1, 2011And speaking of milestones, the Harvard Science in the News Flash - a student written and student edited writing series just posted their 100th article:
Sleep clears the mind: How sleep prepares the brain for new learning
Despite the fact that sleep is essential to our health, its function and what makes it necessary have remained mysterious. Over the years, scientists have accumulated data showing that sleep, or the lack thereof, affects the brain. Most of this work focused on the idea that sleep is important for consolidating newly formed memories. However, evidence is now building that…
kbonham | June 14, 2011Attention: Boston-based Beasties
Tomorrow is the second Tuesday of June, and you know what that means: an all new Science by the Pint. From the organizers:
As always, Science by the Pint is at 7:00pm on the second Tuesday of the month (June 14th) at Tavern in the Square in Porter Square. Tavern in the Square will provide a $10 gift card for every 10 people in attendance to raffle off as a door prize. Science by the Pint is primarily a mingling event, but there should be ample table space available. If you plan to eat dinner, make sure to arrive early to get a seat and to get your orders in!…
kbonham | May 4, 2011Last night, Heather and I got to attend a dinner and panel on science journalism and new media. In addition to getting to meet two of my science blogging heros, Carl Zimmer* and Ed Yong, it was a great opportunity to interact and hear from lots of folks far more tuned into the writing and journalism worlds than we are.
Heather and I want to get other people as excited about science as we are, and we want to communicate science our science, but we aren't trained writers. Any scientist can make a blog, but it takes a lot of effort to make it engaging or even readable. When I first started…
kbonham | May 2, 2011If you don't live in/around Boston, feel free to move along. Otherwise:
Dear SITN followers,
For a number of years, Science in the News (SITN) has organized a free public lecture series in the Brigham Circle/Longwood Medical area. This spring, due to high demand, we are delighted to announce that we will be extending our lecture series into Cambridge! For our extended series we will be having the following exciting lectures:
May 4
Black Holes and Cosmic Roles: Understanding the Center of the Galaxy
May 18
The Mystery of Sleep: How Neuroscientists are Solving One of the Brains Most…
kbonham | April 12, 2011If you're in the greater Boston area, go get your beer on and learn some great science!
This is a reminder that Science by the Pint is tonight at 7pm at Tavern in the Square in Porter Square. As usual, we'll raffle off a $10 gift certificate for every 10 attendees.
We're bringing Welkin Johnson and his lab members to talk about how viruses like HIV replicate.
Heather had a great time last month - you can have a great time this month!
Beer, science... what's not to love?
kbonham | January 31, 2011Local announcement for folks in the Boston area:
Science by the Pint is back in full force for its second season at a new venue, the Tavern in the Square in Porter Square. Science by the Pint is SITN's own science cafe - a fun, informal event where scientists mingle with the general public to talk about their research, why they do it, and how it affects the world. Join us the second Tuesday of each month from 7-9pm.
In our next Science by the Pint, Elizabeth Thomas and her colleagues from Brown University will chat about their work studying climate change in the recent past and present. Join…
kbonham | December 19, 2010Know anything about quantum computing (other than it sounds awesome)? Well, I didn't, until I read the latest edition of the Harvard Science in the News Flash.
Thus far, utilizing charged electrons to make computers has been endlessly fruitful, allowing us to build smaller and faster computer chips. Unfortunately, we cannot continue improving technology simply by scaling down to smaller sizes because we will eventually reach atomic sizes where our devices will no longer function. As we look ahead into the not-too-distant future, we will need to explore new, innovative technologies that go…
heathero | December 1, 2010NASA has made a bit of a stir by announcing a press conference for tomorrow at 2pm EST. Scientists are going to reveal some exciting new findings relvent to the search for extraterrestrial life. Some people are anticipating/hoping that they will announce that extraterrestrial life has been confirmed. No one would be more excited than I (I love being able to make silly statements like this) were that the case, but I would bet a lot of money that it is, sadly, not. Don't get me wrong, I am super-excited about this announcement because most likely it is going to deal with extremeophile…
kbonham | November 29, 2010Did you know that bacteria make up 90% of the cells in your body? That they make up ~5% of your mass? That they colonize you at the moment of birth and are different if you were born via c-section than if you were born naturally?
All this and more in the SITN production, "Our Microbial Organ: The good and bad bugs of the gut." And who's that handsom devil presenting (at least the first part)? Why, it's me!
Part 1: Living in a microbial world
2010 Fall Lecture 7.1: Our Microbial Organ: The Good and Bad Bugs of the Human Gut from Science in the News on Vimeo.
Part 2: Our Microbial Organ
Part 3…
kbonham | November 16, 2010The last lecture of the Science in the News Fall lecture series is tonight at 7pm in the Armenise amphitheater.
Star Power: New Ways to Harvest Energy From Our Sun
I heard great reviews from people who were at the practice talk, so if you're in the Boston area and interested in alternative energy, come on by. If you're not in the area, don't fret, we'll be posting them online (eventually) too.
Check out the lecture on the Light Amplified by Stimulated Emission of Radiation from week two:
2010 Fall Lecture 5.1 - The Laser Turns 50 from Science in the News on Vimeo.
Part 2: Using Lasers to…
kbonham | November 6, 2010I think understanding the basics of inheritance is pretty easy for most people - the traits of parents are passed down from parents to offspring. Simple! Humans have known and exploited this fact for thousands of years. When Gregor Mendel came along, he meticulously worked out some mathematical rules for inheritance in peas, and we now know that these rules work (more or less) from plants, to ants to elephants, and we know the molecular basis lies in the replication and transmission of DNA.
There's far more nuance than you learn in basic biology, of course. Most visible traits aren't governed…
kbonham | November 3, 2010If you're in the Boston area, come see me (and two other awesome grad students) give a talk on microbes, especially the ones that live in you and on you.
We've got everything from fecal transplants to whether bacteria can make you fat or not. Come out to Armenise amphitheater at the Harvard Medical School at 7pm, you won't regret it!
kbonham | November 1, 2010We beasties came together through our love of microbes, but also through a graduate student group called Science in the News. SITN is completely run by graduate students, and our mission (much like the mission of this blog) is to share our love of science with the general public. We have a lot of events to this end, from school out-reach to a monthly newsletter to Science Cafes (called "Science by the pint" - we basically get drunk and talk science with whoever happens to be in the bar). But our main event is a lecture series every fall.
And it just so happens that this week, I'll be…