2013
Science on Tap Quizzo
2013 Philadelphia Science Festival
*** SPECIAL DATE*** Most Science on Tap programs take place on the second Monday of the month. In April we had an additional program for the Philadelphia Science Festival:
Monday, April 22, 2013
6 p.m.
National Mechanics
22 South Third St.
Philadelphia 19106
Doors open at 5pm. Ages 21+ or with a chaperone 25 years or older.
Science on Tap presents its third annual PSF Science Quizzo. Teams square off to answer tidbits of science trivia in this all-out battle for top scientific prowess (and great prizes)!
Monday, April 8, 2013
“Hans Holbein and the Renaissance Technology of Perspective”
The anamorphic skull in Hans Holbein’s painting The Ambassadors has been a subject of much debate and intrigue since the early Renaissance. Using computer-based image analysis and some historical detective work, Alex Boxer suggests that this famous skull was likely drafted according to a simple geometric scheme that appeared in print a few decades later.
Alex Boxer has been trying his best to live with one foot in the sciences and one foot in the humanities. He has a Ph.D. in physics from MIT where he worked on a nuclear fusion experiment, and a master’s in the history of science from Oxford where he wrote about Newtonian lecture demonstrations. College was at Yale where he majored in both physics and classics. Alex currently works as an undersea analyst in Washington, DC. In his spare time, he makes history of science YouTube videos for his website Idols of the Cave.
Monday, March 11, 2013
“Unexpected Specimens: What’s in the Academy Archives Anyway?”
The Academy Archives, a collection of one-of-a-kind documents, art, artifacts, film, photos, field notes, illustrations, and memorabilia, tells the story of the Academy from its founding in March 1812 through its two centuries of existence. The collection is comprised of not only official Academy documents, but also an abundance of scientific and personal unpublished materials from research scientists and others associated with the Academy.
Find out what we keep in the Archives, why we keep it, and how our oldest treasures contribute to current research. No appointment is required for this sneak peek into the Academy’s Archives!
Clare Flemming joined the Academy in 2009 as the Brooke Dolan Archivist and now directs the Library as well. Her early career included collection care, bibliographic research, fossil preparation, and field expeditions. She may be the only archivist we know who has described a species, an extinct fossil rodent from Jamaica (Xaymaca fulvopulvis), and has a species named after her—a blind cave scorpion from the West Indies (Heteronebo clarea).
Monday, February 11, 2013
“Shifting Gears: Challenging Students to Solve the World’s Toughest Problems… and Creating Badass Hybrid Cars in the Process”
How did urban high school students dream up the world’s first badass hybrid – a car that is faster than a Porsche and gets better fuel economy than a Prius? Simon Hauger will share the story of his awarding-winning hybrid vehicle program, which was recently honored at the White House and featured in a Frontline documentary. He will also share lessons learned from the first year at his new school, The Sustainability Workshop, and what it tells us about teaching and learning.
Simon Hauger is an engineer turned urban high school math and science teacher. He began the Hybrid X Team at West Philadelphia High School 13 years ago to engage his students in math, science and engineering. The students won multiple national competitions with the hybrid vehicles they designed and built and which outperformed top Universities and corporations. The innovative approach to education that powered the Hybrid X Team to victory is the basis for a new school that Simon and his colleagues began in 2012. The Sustainability Workshop challenges students to solve the world’s most pressing problems, and organizes teaching and learning in service of doing. Simon and his wife have three wonderful children.
January 14, 2013
“3D Printing for the Sweet Tooth: Are Sugar Glass Vascular Networks the Future of Organ Regeneration?”
The field of regenerative medicine attempts to replace organ donation with engineered tissues made from a patient’s own cells. Jordan Miller, PhD, will talk about the development and details for 3D printing temporary templates of blood vessels made from sugar for this field, and how this technology impacts the future of organ regeneration research.
Jordan S. Miller, PhD, is a post-doctoral fellow in the Tissue Microfabrication Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, a founding member of Hive76 in Philadelphia, and a RepRap core developer. His research in the department of Bioengineering combines chemistry and rapid prototyping to direct cultured human cells to form more complex organizations of living vessels and tissues. Miller has been in the 3D maker community since the beginning. He developed the first MakerBot heated build platform at Hive76 and is delighted to use his RepRap 3D printer every day in the lab for biomedical research and regenerative medicine.
2012
November 12, 2012
“Winging It in Mongolia”
Stephen Mason, The Academy of Natural Sciences
October 8, 2012
“The Science of Vampires”
Kathy Haas, Assistant Curator at the Rosenbach Museum & Library
Everybody knows about Dracula, but did you know that his creator, Bram Stoker, had a degree in mathematics and that several of his brothers were doctors? Science, technology, and medicine permeate the novel and Kathy Haas, assistant curator at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, will explore the tension between science and superstition in this classic tale of terror. The talk will include a look at images of Stoker’s working notes for Dracula (owned by the Rosenbach) including material from his brother, William Thornley Stoker, a noted surgeon. Anna Dhody, curator of the Mütter Museum, will also offer a look at medical conditions that may have inspired tales of vampirism.
Kathy Haas is the assistant curator at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, which preserves Bram Stoker’s working notes for Dracula. She has curated several exhibitions on Dracula for the Rosenbach.
September 10, 2012
“Alien Invasion: Invasive Species in Our Oceans”
Amy Karpati, Assistant Professor of Biology, Temple University
July 9, 2012
“Flash! A Quick History of Photography in Motion”
Jane E. Boyd, Independent Curator
June 11, 2012
“Do-It-Yourself Evolution: A Historian’s Guide to Amateur Plant Breeding”
Helen Anne Curry, Visiting Fellow, Chemical Heritage Foundation
May 14, 2012
“The Science and Magic of Fairy Tale Birth”
Linda J. Lee, Graduate Program in Folklore and Folklife, University of Pennsylvania
April 23, 2012
Science on Tap QUIZZO!
Part of the Philadelphia Science Festival
April 2, 2012
“Mongolian Fish Hunt”
Mark Sabaj Pérez, Ichthyology Collection Manager at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
March 12, 2012
“Tiny Conspiracies: Cell-to-Cell Communication in Bacteria”
Bonnie Bassler, Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology, Princeton University
February 13, 2012
“Violence in the Laboratory: How Science Changed War and War Changed Science”
M. Susan Lindee, Professor and Associate Dean for the Social Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania
January 9, 2012
“When Good Drugs Go Bad”
Antoinette Thwaites, Forensic Chemist, Philadelphia Police Department
2011
December 12, 2011
“Yoüth in the Building: Shaking up the Bones at the Mütter Museum”
Jacqui Bowman, PhD, Director, Education and Public Initiatives; Director, Karabots Junior Fellows Program, The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
November 14, 2011
“Supermassive skeleton Skillfully Secured from South America”
Jason C. Poole, Manager of the Fossil Prep Lab at the Academy of Natural Sciences
October 10, 2011
“The Science of Demonology”
Jonathan Seitz, Ph.D., Assistant Teaching Professor of History, Drexel University
September 12, 2011
“Chile Peppers: Heat and History”
Joseph Rucker, Ph.D., Director of Research and Development, Integral Molecular, Inc.
July 11, 2011
“Underwater Communication: Fiber Optics and Whale Songs”
Thaddeus Phillips, theater director, performer and set designer
June 13, 2011
“Imagining the Body Abnormal: Art and Artifice in Historical Medical Photography”
Evi Numen, MFA, Exhibits Manager, Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
May 9, 2011
“Shocking Streams and Freaky Fish”
Dr. Richard Horwitz, Senior Scientist, Fisheries, Academy of Natural Sciences
April 18, 2011
Science on Tap QUIZZO!
Part of the Philadelphia Science Festival
April 11, 2011
“Fermentation: The Amazing Mother of it all in Wine and Beer”
Solomon H. Katz, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania; Director of Penn’s Krogman Center for Childhood Growth and Development; editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Food and Culture (2003)
March 14, 2011
“Living the High Life: Insights on the Private Lives of Giraffes”
Christine Bartos, Curator of Ungulates and Small Mammals, Philadelphia Zoo
February 14, 2011
“The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements”
Sam Kean, science writer, correspondent for Science magazine
Jan. 10, 2011
“Benjamin Rush’s Heartbreak: The Bloody Battle Against Yellow Fever in 1793”
Annie Brogan, College Librarian, Historical Medical Library, The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
2010
Dec. 13, 2010
“Fertilizer: More than Just The Brown Stuff”
Dr. David Hewitt, Research Associate, Botany Department, The Academy of Natural Sciences
Nov. 8, 2010
“Bedtime Stories for Fido: Life in a Biodiversity Laboratory”
Scott McRobert, Professor of Biology, Saint Joseph’s University
Oct. 11, 2010
“A Toast to Fixing the Sky”
James Fleming, Professor of Science, Technology and Society, Colby College
September 13, 2010
“The Association for Creative Zoology”
Beauvais Lyons, Director of the Hokes Archive
July 12, 2010
“The Burke and Hare Murders: Sixteen Good Reasons Not To Drink Whiskey With Strangers”
Lisa Rosner, Professor of History at Stockton College, NJ
June 14, 2010
“The Slippery Facts About Oil Spills”
David Velinsky, Vice President for Environmental Research and Senior Scientist, Geochemistry Section, The Academy of Natural Sciences
May 10, 2010 -
“The Search for the Other Earth”
Derrick Pitts, Chief Astronomer, Franklin Institute
April 12, 2010
“What’s in Your Air? Low Tech Tools for Finding Out”
Gwen Ottinger, Research Fellow, Environmental History and Policy, Chemical Heritage Foundation
March 8, 2010
“The Impact of Meteors on the Origin and Early Evolution of Life”
Alexandra Krull Davatzes, Assistant Professor of Geology, Temple University
February 8, 2010
“Imperialism and the Family Business: Population Structure and Political Change on the Central Coast of Peru”
Lori Jahnke, S. Gordon Castigliano CLIR Fellow at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
January 11, 2010
“The Natural History of Beer”
Ernie Schyuler, Curator Emeritus of Botany, The Academy of Natural Sciences
2009
Dec. 14, 2009
“Dinosaur Studies in China”
Peter Dodson, University of Pennsylvania
November 9, 2009
“Embracing Darwin”
Colin Purrington, Professor of Biology at Swarthmore College
October 12, 2009
“No Family History: Investigating What’s Behind the Breast Cancer Epidemic”
Sabrina McCormick, Fellow at the American Academy for the Advancement of the Sciences
September 14, 2009
“Bringing Physics to Physicians”
Robert Hicks, Director, Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
July 13, 2009
“Cold Hard Science: Fossil Discoveries in the Canadian Arctic and the Origin of Limbed Animals”
Ted Daeschler, Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at The Academy of Natural Sciences
June 8, 2009
“The Unknown Skeleton: Forensic Anthropology and the Unsolvable Case”
Janet Monge, Keeper of Physical Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania Museum and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania
May 11, 2009
“How the Tortoises Got Their Shells and the Finches Got Their Beaks: The Role of Evo-Devo in Solving Darwin’s Dilemmas”
Scott Gilbert, Professor of Biology, Swarthmore College
April 13, 2009
“Take Some Fruit and Pass the Seeds”
Brenda Casper, Plant Ecologist and Professor of Biology, University of Pennsylvania
