Happy Birthday To...

...gem225! And many happy returns of the day!

Cool, cultural, educational event

Last night, MAB and I went to the Red Line Bar in Harvard Square for the second New Scientist Cafe Scientifique event. The topic of last night's forum was the Columbia disaster (aside to MAB - I just now almost typed "Challenger"). MAB and I figured that they got a much better turn-out than anticipated, as the space reserved was much too small for the number of people who showed up (the first such event, held a couple of weeks ago, was written up in the Boston Globe, which might have led to the increased participation). The mood was convivial and the speakers were well informed, elloquent, and not overly long-winded. I was happy that I was able to ask cogent questions and make cogent comments during the question-and-answer portion of the evening.

Oh - and we saw a bunch of people there that we knew and one (dalek) who knew who we were though we'd never met him before that we could remember (though we have a number of friends in common).

A fun and informative evening. We're planning to attend the next one, also at the Red Line Bar, on 3 March. The topic is "How to Win an Ig-Nobel Prize."