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January 14 - Hollow Earth, Sunken Continents & A World Made of Plankton? A Look At Paranormal Geology


Presented by 
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., Ph.D.
Principal Lecture, Department of Geology, University of Maryland
Research Associate, Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History

The public is familiar with pseudoscientific interpretations of biology (Creationism, cryptozoology, etc.) and astronomy (astrology, UFO abductions, etc.), but all sciences have their pseudo-versions. There have been various pseudo-geologies proposed over the centuries: interpretations of the structure and composition of the Earth radically at odds with our current understanding. Among these are ideas that the Earth is hollow (various configurations, including a notable one where we are on the inside of curve!), sunken continents (Atlantis, Lemuria, and beyond), and a truly bizarre idea that all physical matter on Earth was once alive. Some of these ideas were proposed in a scientific context, but have survived in various circles long after their refutation. Dr. Holtz will examine the origins, beliefs, and fates of these alternate Earth interpretations.

Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. is Principal Lecturer in Vertebrate Paleontology at the University of Maryland and a Research Associate in the Department of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. He is the Faculty Director of the College Park Scholars-Science & Global Change program (a two-year living-learning program). In addition to his research work, he has published several books for the general audience (including the award-winning Dinosaurs; The Most Complete Up-To-Date Guide for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages) and has been an expert for numerous documentaries and consultant for various museum exhibits.
Saturday, January 14, 2017
1:30 pm

National Science Foundation, Room 110
4201 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA
(Ballston-MU Metro stop)
Enter NSF from the corner of 9th St. N & N Stuart Streets.
www.nsf.gov/about/visit

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

December 10 - Nuclear Accidents Lessons Learned from Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima

Presented by Brian W. Sheron, Ph.D.

In this talk, Dr. Sheron will provide a brief description of the three reactors (Three Mile Island,  Chernobyl, and Fukushima), and what caused each accident, along with a brief description of the consequences. He will conclude with a discussion of a recent analytical study done by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that estimates the consequences  of a core melt accident at a U.S. nuclear plant, if one were to occur today.

Brian W. Sheron recently retired, after over 42 years of Federal service, as the Director of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. He was appointed to that position on May 1st, 2006. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Sheron held numerous technical management positions at the NRC in both the research and regulatory areas. He is the author of over 22 papers on various subjects pertaining to commercial nuclear power safety. He recently served as Chairman of the Committee for the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI).

Dr. Sheron received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Duke University in 1969 and Masters and Doctorate degrees in 1971 and 1975 respectively from The Catholic University of America under a full scholarship from the Atomic Energy Commission.

Dr. Sheron was actively involved with the U.S. Government’s response to the accident at the Three Mile Island Unit Two nuclear plant in March of 1979, the accident at Chernobyl in 1986, and most recently the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants in Japan in 2011.

Saturday, December 10, 2016
1:30 pm

National Science Foundation, Room 110
4201 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA
(Ballston-MU Metro stop)
Enter NSF from the corner of 9th St. N & N Stuart Streets.
www.nsf.gov/about/visit

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

Shadow of a Doubt - November 2016

 The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
  • November 12 - "Debunking the Nonobot"by Quinn Spadola
  • December 10 - Nuclear Accidents: Lessons Learned from Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima
  • The Fiction of Memory
  • Recap of the "I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost!" Tour 
  • Torn from today's headlines
  • AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically on hiatus
  • Member renewals
NCAS Public Lecture Series
 
Debunking the Nanobot
Quinn Spadola, PhD, MFA
Program Manager for Education and Outreach
IITRI Inc, Contract Staff
National Nanotechnology Coordination Office

Saturday, November 12, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
National Science Foundation, Room 110
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA [map] [directions]
(Ballston-Marymount University Metro stop)
Enter NSF from the corner of 9th N & N Stuart Streets.

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

Self-replicating, sentient, consuming, or creating, nanobots are a popular tool in science fiction to explain fantastical abilities or threats worse than death. But what is the reality?

What is a nanobot? What might they be able to do? Scientists and engineers can't even agree on a definition for a nanobot–does the entire robot need to fit at the nanoscale or does it just have nanoscale components? Does that make your smart phone a nanobot? Artistic renditions of nanobots feed into ideas of spidery machines patrolling (or, perhaps, controlling) our bodies. Some scientists envision nanobots safeguarding our environment, removing pollutants, and monitoring exposure. Others are trying to harness nature's nanobots and use viruses to do our bidding. The hype around nanobots and the natural inclination to assign them agency can lead to outlandish ideas about what nanotechnology will be capable of delivering, but does it hurt to dream of manufactured nanobots?

Quinn Spadola is a biophysicist who discovered her love of science education and outreach while completing her PhD. After receiving her doctorate, Dr. Spadola entered the Science and Natural History Filmmaking program at Montana State University. She was an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow in the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office from 2014 to 2016 and joined the contract staff in September 2016. There she works to build community around the National Nanotechnology Initiative, create engaging nanotechnology-themed content, and share the awesomeness of nanotechnology.

Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

http://www.ncas.org/2016/10/november-12-debunking-nanobot_13.html


December NCAS Lecture

Dr. Brian Sheron will talk on "Nuclear Accidents: Lessons Learned from Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima".

The Fiction of Memory
 
Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, Distinguished Professor of social ecology and professor of law and cognitive science at University of California Irvine (and Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry) will speak on "The Fiction of Memory."  Monday, December 5 at 6:30 PM at the Carnegie Institution for Science, 1530 P Street NW.  Free, but requires registration:
https://carnegiescience.edu/events/lectures/dr-elizabeth-loftus-fiction-memory


Recap of the "I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost!" Tour
 
Was President Garfield (fatally shot at a train station that stood where the National Gallery of Art is today) a victim of a curse that claimed the lives of Harrison, Lincoln, McKinley, Harding, FDR, and JFK? Speaking of curses, what about the Hope Diamond (at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History)?  Does an actor's ghost haunt the National Theatre?  Are there ghosts in the White House and other historic sites nearby?  The answers to these and other spooky questions were revealed to a group of 13 (perfect!) by guides Grace and Chip Denman, Sharon Hill, and Scott Snell during the fourth annual NCAS SkepTour, held on the strangely balmy evening of Thursday, October 20, 2016.

SkepTours are an ongoing NCAS project, to include locations across the VA-MD-DC area. If you would like to contribute suggestions, please write to SkepTour@ncas.org.


Torn From Today's Headlines
 
By Scott Snell

Professional Polls, and Redskins Box Score, Couldn't Predict Outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election
 
It's just a coincidence, and no one is claiming otherwise, but the "Redskins Rule" held true for 17 (or 18) of the first 18 US presidential elections since the NFL's Redskins moved to DC from Boston in 1937.

The "rule," as originally developed, states that "if the Washington Redskins win their last home game before the election, the political party that won the previous presidential election wins the next election and that if the Redskins lose, the challenging party's candidate wins."

Steve Hirdt, the executive vice-president of Elias Sports Bureau, noticed this pattern in 2000 while preparing for the October 30 broadcast of a Redskins home game on ABC-TV's Monday Night Football.  Searching for an election-related fact that commentator Dennis Miller could use, Hirdt made "a list of the last home game before the election because that was the game we were covering. I tried to align it with the Democrats or the Republicans and then looked at the incumbents.  I was shocked to see it lined up exactly right, that whenever the Redskins won their last home game prior to the presidential election, the incumbent party retained the White House, and whenever the Redskins lost their last home game prior to the election, the out-of-power party won the White House."

Producer Don Ohlmeyer decided to use the information on-air that night as a two-page, full-screen graphic, and the rule has been roaming the memetic wilderness ever since.

Four years later, popular interest in the Redskins Rule was revived prior to the final home game before the election.  The Redskins lost, but the incumbent party won the election, breaking the pattern of 16 consecutive correlations.  Hirdt then devised "Redskins Rule 2.0," noting the unusual outcome of the 2000 election, for which Al Gore won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College: "If the Washington Redskins win their last home game before the election, the political party that won the popular vote in the previous presidential election wins the next election and that if the Redskins lose, the challenging party's candidate wins."

The rule, in both forms, held true in 2008, but failed in 2012 and 2016.

For skeptics, the rule can serve as a somewhat well-known and uncontroversial example of coincidences to share with the lay public.  To date, apparently none of the mystical "everything happens for a reason, there are no coincidences" crowd is embracing this as a portent of the nation's destiny.

References:


Also in the News...
 
Be sure to check out Sharon Hill's skeptically-themed news site, Doubtful News (http://DoubtfulNews.com/), as well as the blog (http://SharonAHill.com/) for her book reviews and other writings.


AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
 
When shopping at smile.amazon.com, you'll find the same low prices, vast selection, and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that a portion of the purchase price (0.5%) goes to NCAS! It's simple and automatic, and it doesn't cost you anything!

AmazonSmile's disbursements to NCAS in the third quarter of 2016 came to $10.94, meaning that over $2000 of purchases were designated in support of NCAS.  (As an example of how NCAS can put that money to good use, it's more than enough to cover a half hour of a Montgomery County library lecture room rental.)

Thanks again to our members who have chosen to support NCAS!

For more information:
http://smile.amazon.com/about
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1870185

Shadow Light
 
Some members and contacts of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new monthly Shadow of a Doubt.  The Shadow Light postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available online at ncas.org/shadow.  NCAS thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.  To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow of a Doubt via e-mail.  To opt out, send us an e-mail at ncas@ncas.org.


Drinking Skeptically
 
NCAS Drinking Skeptically is on indefinite hiatus at our Maryland and Virginia locations.


Time to Renew?
 
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org.  Use the online membership form to renew.
http://ncas.org/shadow

November 12 - Debunking the Nanobot

Presented by Quinn Spadola, PhD, MFA
Program Manager for Education and Outreach
IITRI Inc, Contract Staff
National Nanotechnology Coordination Office

Self-replicating, sentient, consuming, or creating, nanobots are a popular tool in science fiction to explain fantastical abilities or threats worse than death. But what is the reality?
What is a nanobot? What might they be able to do? Scientists and engineers can’t even agree on a definition for a nanobot–does the entire robot need to fit at the nanoscale or does it just have nanoscale components? Does that make your smart phone a nanobot? Artistic renditions of nanobots feed into ideas of spidery machines patrolling (or, perhaps, controlling) our bodies. Some scientists envision nanobots safeguarding our environment, removing pollutants, and monitoring exposure. Others are trying to harness nature’s nanobots and use viruses to do our bidding. The hype around nanobots and the natural inclination to assign them agency can lead to outlandish ideas about what nanotechnology will be capable of delivering, but does it hurt to dream of manufactured nanobots?


Quinn Spadola is a biophysicist who discovered her love of science education and outreach while completing her PhD. After receiving her doctorate, Dr.
Spadola entered the Science and Natural History Filmmaking program at Montana State University. She was an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow in the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office from 2014 to 2016 and joined the contract staff in September 2016. There she works to build community around the National Nanotechnology Initiative, create engaging nanotechnology-themed content, and share the awesomeness of nanotechnology.

Saturday, November 12, 2016, 1:30 pm


Location: National Science Foundation, Room 110 4201 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA (Ballston-MU Metro stop). Enter NSF from the corner of 9th St. N & N Stuart Streets. www.nsf.gov/about/visit

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

October 20 - I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost Tour!

Our next SkepTour is 7pm on Thursday, October 20, 2016 (rain date Friday, October 21, 2016 7pm). The tour will start close to Constitution and Pennsylvania at the Andrew W. Mellon Memorial Fountain. Over the next 90 minutes we will follow a spooky path and end at Old Ebbitt Grill, where we will stop for refreshments before heading home. Further information is at Skeptours.com. Size is limited to 30 and space is filling up. Please RSVP to SkepTour@ncas.org if you would like to join us for a fun-filled, educational and historical evening.

Shadow of a Doubt - October 2016

 The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
  • October 8 - "1177BC: The year civilization collapsed", presented by Prof. Eric Cline
  • October 20 - I Aint Afraid of No Ghost Tour!
  • November 12 Lecture
  • Robert Todd Carroll
  • Torn from today's headlines
  • AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically on hiatus
  • Member renewals
NCAS Public Lecture Series
 
1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed
Eric Cline, Ph.D.
Professor of Classics and Anthropology
The George Washington University
 
Saturday, October 8, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Bethesda Regional Library
7400 Arlington Road
Bethesda, MD
(Bethesda Metro station)

FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members




From about 1500 BC to 1200 BC, the Mediterranean region played host to a complex cosmopolitan and globalized world-system. It may have been this very internationalism that contributed to the apocalyptic disaster that ended the Bronze Age. When the end came, the civilized and international world of the Mediterranean regions came to a dramatic halt in a vast area stretching from Greece and Italy in the west to Egypt, Canaan, and Mesopotamia in the east. Large empires and small kingdoms collapsed rapidly. With their end came the world's first recorded Dark Ages. It was not until centuries later that a new cultural renaissance emerged in Greece and the other affected areas, setting the stage for the evolution of Western society as we know it today.  Professor Eric H. Cline of The George Washington University will explore why the Bronze Age came to an end and whether the collapse of those ancient civilizations might hold some warnings for our current society.

October 8 - 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed

Eric Cline, Ph.D.
Professor of Classics and Anthropology
The George Washington University


From about 1500 BC to 1200 BC, the Mediterranean region played host to a complex cosmopolitan and globalized world-system. It may have been this very internationalism that contributed to the apocalyptic disaster that ended the Bronze Age. When the end came, the civilized and international world of the Mediterranean regions came to a dramatic halt in a vast area stretching from Greece and Italy in the west to Egypt, Canaan, and Mesopotamia in the east. Large empires and small kingdoms collapsed rapidly. With their end came the world’s first recorded Dark Ages. It was not until centuries later that a new cultural renaissance emerged in Greece and the other affected areas, setting the stage for the evolution of Western society as we know it today.  Professor Eric H. Cline of The George Washington University will explore why the Bronze Age came to an end and whether the collapse of those ancient civilizations might hold some warnings for our current society.

Shadow of a Doubt - September 2016

 The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
  • September 10 - "They Called Me Mad: Genius, Madness, and the Scientists Who Pushed the Outer Limits of Knowledge" Presented by John Monahan, Science Writer/Teacher/Author
  • October NCAS Lecture
  • October 20: I’m Not Afraid of No Ghost Tour!
  • NCAS Board Elections 
  • Torn from today's headlines
  • AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically on hiatus
NCAS Public Lecture Series

They Called Me Mad:
Genius, Madness, and the Scientists Who Pushed the Outer Limits of Knowledge
John Monahan
Science Writer/Teacher/Author

Saturday, September 10, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Bethesda Regional Library
7400 Arlington Road
Bethesda, MD
(Bethesda Metro station)
FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members
From Dr. Frankenstein to Dr. Horrible, the mad scientist has become an icon in books, movies, comics and games. We love them, loathe them. We tremble and laugh at them, but why? Is it the fiendish devices, the willful disregard for the scientific orthodoxy, or is it all the maniacal laughter? Believe it or not, many of them are based on real scientists who pushed the boundaries of science, only to earn the scorn of their peers. Join us for a conversation of mad scientists fictional and real from the past, present and future, if you dare. "Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

John Monahan is a science writer and long-time science teacher in Baltimore City. He has taught biology, chemistry and physics, at both the middle school and high school level, and has had the opportunity to integrate science fiction into his science curriculum. In addition he has taught classes on writing science fiction. He is also the author of the book They Called Me Mad: Genius, Madness and the Scientists Who Pushed the Outer Limits of Knowledge. John is a long-term resident of Baltimore and is a graduate of Towson University, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in science and a Master’s degree in professional writing. Currently, he blogs on his Mad4Science blog at mad4science.wordpress.com.

Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

September 10 - They Called Me Mad: Genius, Madness, and the Scientists Who Pushed the Outer Limits of Knowledge

Presented by John Monahan
Science writer and long-time science teacher
Baltimore, Maryland 

From Dr. Frankenstein to Dr. Horrible, the mad scientist has become an icon in books, movies, comics and games. We love them, loathe them. We tremble and laugh at them, but why? Is it the fiendish devices, the willful disregard for the scientific orthodoxy, or is it all the maniacal laughter? Believe it or not, many of them are based on real scientists who pushed the boundaries of science, only to earn the scorn of their peers. Join us for a conversation of mad scientists fictional and real from the past, present and future, if you dare.

John Monahan is a science writer and long-time science teacher in Baltimore City. He has taught biology, chemistry and physics, at both the middle school and high school level, and has had the opportunity to integrate science fiction into his science curriculum. In addition he has taught classes on writing science fiction. He is also the author of the book "They Called Me Mad: Genius, Madness and the Scientists Who Pushed the Outer Limits of Knowledge." John is a long-term resident of Baltimore and is a graduate of Towson University, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in science and a Master’s degree in professional writing. Currently, he blogs on his Mad4Science blog at mad4science.wordpress.com.

Saturday, September 10, 2016, 1:30pm
Bethesda Library
7400 Arlington Road
Bethesda, Maryland

July 7 - Doubt and Denial as Challenges to, and in, Teaching Climate Change 

Presented by Glenn Branch, M.A.
Deputy Director:
National Center for Science Education

Scientists overwhelmingly agree about the occurrence, causes, and consequences of climate change. But the public is not so sure. And science education is suffering as a result. Reviewing recent
controversies over the place of climate science in state science
standards and summarizing the results of a recent rigorous national survey of science teachers, Glenn Branch from the National Center for Science Education will explain how doubt and denial about climate change are affecting science education.

Glenn Branch is Deputy Director of NCSE. Formerly a graduate student in philosophy at UCLA, where he won prizes both for scholarship and teaching, he is conversant with the philosophical debates surrounding creationism and "intelligent design"; he is also a long-time student of pseudo-science. Branch is co-editor, with Eugenie Scott, of Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools, and the author or coauthor of numerous articles on creationism and evolution in such publications as Scientific American, The American Biology Teacher, and Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics

Thursday, July 7, 2016
7:30 pm (Please note special date and time)

Chevy Chase Library
Downstairs Meeting Room
8005 Connecticut Ave
Chevy Chase, MD
Parking in back.

Shadow of a Doubt - May 2016

 The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
  • May 14 - "The Man who Stalked Einstein"  - Presented by Bruce J. Hillman, MD
  • July NCAS Lecture
  • 2016 NCAS Philip J. Klass Awardd Presentation Dinner
  • Happy Friday the 13th!
  • Torn from Today's Headlines
  • NCAS Board Elections 
  • AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
  • Shadow Light
  • Drinking Skeptically on hiatus
NCAS Public Lecture Series

The Man Who Stalked Einstein:
A Tale of Scientific Differences, Envy, and Ethnic Prejudice
Presented by Bruce J. Hillman, MD


The Man Who Stalked Einstein details the antagonistic relationship between Philipp Lenard – the 1905 Nobel Prize winner for physics – and Time Magazine’s ‘Man of the 20th Century,’ Albert Einstein. The two men were antipodes in nearly every regard. Lenard was an experimentalist, who believed the theoretical physics of Einstein was calculated charlatanry. He was a strident German nationalist, whose personal financial reversals and the death of his son led him to believe the popular Nazi shibboleth that the Jews were at fault for Germany’s problems. Lenard personalized Einstein as ‘the Jew.’ Over time, his writings and speeches attacking Einstein reversed the public’s perception of the once popular Einstein and had much to do with Einstein’s fleeing Europe in 1933. Following Hitler’s consolidation of authority, Lenard and his protégé, Johannes Stark - empowered by newly enacted anti-Semitic laws – led the dismissal of all Jewish scientists from German universities.

 

Bruce J. Hillman, MD, is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of Virginia.  He has published more than 300 articles in the medical literature, as well as the 2010 book, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – How Medical Imaging is Changing Health Care, explaining medical imaging for a lay audience. He has edited three medical journals, including his current role as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. The Man Who Stalked Einstein: How Nazi Scientist Phillip Lenard Changed the Course of History is his first work of creative non-fiction.

May 14 - The Man Who Stalked Einstein

The Man Who Stalked Einstein:
A Tale of Scientific Differences, Envy, and Ethnic Prejudice
Presented by Bruce J. Hillman, MD


The Man Who Stalked Einstein details the antagonistic relationship between Philipp Lenard – the 1905 Nobel Prize winner for physics – and Time Magazine’s ‘Man of the 20th Century,’ Albert Einstein. The two men were antipodes in nearly every regard. Lenard was an experimentalist, who believed the theoretical physics of Einstein was calculated charlatanry. He was a strident German nationalist, whose personal financial reversals and the death of his son led him to believe the popular Nazi shibboleth that the Jews were at fault for Germany’s problems. Lenard personalized Einstein as ‘the Jew.’ Over time, his writings and speeches attacking Einstein reversed the public’s perception of the once popular Einstein and had much to do with Einstein’s fleeing Europe in 1933. Following Hitler’s consolidation of authority, Lenard and his protégé, Johannes Stark - empowered by newly enacted anti-Semitic laws – led the dismissal of all Jewish scientists from German universities.

 
Bruce J. Hillman, MD, is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of Virginia.  He has published more than 300 articles in the medical literature, as well as the 2010 book, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – How Medical Imaging is Changing Health Care, explaining medical imaging for a lay audience. He has edited three medical journals, including his current role as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. The Man Who Stalked Einstein: How Nazi Scientist Phillip Lenard Changed the Course of History is his first work of creative non-fiction.




Saturday, May 14, 2016
1:30 pm

 Twinbrook Library (Note New Location)
202 Meadow Hall Dr, Rockville, MD

Shadow of a Doubt - April 2016

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
    • April 9 Lecture: Technical Studies of Cultural Heritage: The Artist as Alchemist presented by Lynn Brostoff, PhD
    • May 3 - Philip J. Klass Award dinner 
    • May 2016 lecture
    • Torn from today's headlines
    • NCAS Elections
    • Amazon Smile: Contribute to NCAS at no cost to you
    • Shadow Light
    • Drinking Skeptically on hiatus
      NCAS Public Lecture Series

      Technical Studies of Cultural Heritage: 
      The Artist as Alchemist

      Lynn Brostoff, PhD
      Preservation Directorate
      Library of Congress

      Saturday, April 9, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
      SPECIAL TIME
      Bethesda Regional Library
      7400 Arlington Road
      Bethesda, MD [map] [directions]
      (Bethesda Metro station)
      FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

      Lynn Brostoff, PhD, a conservation scientist in the Preservation Directorate at the Library of Congress, will discuss the analysis of museum collections and the alchemical origin of many artists' materials.

      Lynn Brostoff received a master's degree in polymer materials science from the University of Cincinnati and master's in art history (and certificate in conservation) from New York University. She also holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She has worked at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Conservation Institute and the National Gallery of Art.

      Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

      http://www.ncas.org/2016/03/april-9-technical-studies-of-cultural.html

      April 9 - Technical Studies of Cultural Heritage: The Artist as Alchemist

      Presented by
      Lynn Brostoff, PhD
      Preservation Directorate
      Library of Congress

      Lynn Brostoff, PhD, a conservation scientist in the Preservation Directorate at the Library of Congress, will discuss the analysis of museum collections and the alchemical origin of many
      artists’ materials.

      Lynn Brostoff received a master’s degree in polymer materials science from the University of Cincinnati and master’s in art history (and certificate in conservation) from New York University. She also holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She has worked at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Conservation Institute and the National Gallery of Art.





      Saturday, April 9, 2016
      2:00 pm (Note special start time)
      Bethesda Regional Library
      7400 Arlington Rd
      Bethesda, MD

      FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

       Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

       For more information, call the 24-hour Skeptic Line at 240-670-NCAS (6227).

      Shadow of a Doubt - March 2016

      The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
        • March 19 Lecture: Reproducibility of Scientific Findings: Barriers and Solutions presented by April Clyburne-Sherin, MSc
        • NCAS Lecture
        • Save the date: May 3 - Philip J. Klass Award dinner
        • Concept Presented in NCAS Lecture Wins Awards at High-Level US Government Briefing
        • NCAS Elections
        • Amazon Smile: Contribute to NCAS at no cost to you
        • Shadow Light
        • Drinking Skeptically on hiatus
          NCAS Public Lecture Series

          March 19, 2016 - 1:30pm - 4:00pm

          Reproducibility of Scientific Findings:
          Barriers and Solutions
          April Clyburne-Sherin, MSc
          Reproducible Research Evangelist
          Center for Open Science

          NEW LOCATION
          Chevy Chase Library
          Downstairs Meeting Room
          8005 Connecticut Ave
          Chevy Chase, MD
          FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members


          Science is a systematic method for accumulating knowledge with the reproducibility of a scientific finding as the highest standard of evaluating scientific evidence. Scientists do not work in isolation but build upon the research of others to incrementally advance human knowledge. However, attempts to reproduce published scientific findings are failing at high rates across many scientific disciplines. Individual scientists now must face two questions: (1) are my findings reproducible?; and (2) do I really know what I thought I knew based on the published findings in my field? The scientific community has to face two larger questions: (1) what is going on?;  (2) how do we fix it?

          Mar 19 - Reproducibility of Scientific Findings: Barriers and Solutions

          April Clyburne-Sherin, MSc
          Reproducible Research Evangelist
          Center for Open Science

          Feb 13 - Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart, and Mind

          The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
          • Feb 13 Lecture - Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart, and Mind by David. J. Linden 
          • Amazon Smile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
          • March NCAS Lecture
          • Shadow Light
          • Drinking Skeptically on hiatus
          • Time to renew?

          February 2016

          NCAS Public Lecture Series

          David J. Linden, PhD
          Professor, Department of Neuroscience
          The Johns Hopkins University

          Saturday, February 13, 1:30pm - 4:00pm

          National Science Foundation, Room 110
          4201 Wilson Boulevard
          Arlington VA
            [map]
          (Ballston-Marymount University Metro stop)
          Enter NSF from the corner of 9th N & N Stuart Streets.
          FREE admission –– Everyone welcome, members and non-members

          Shadow of a Doubt - December 2016

          The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
          • Jan 9 Lecture - A Brief History of Creation by Bill Mesler
          • Torn From Today's Headlines by Scott Snell
            The National Geographic Society Publishes Strange But True Collectors Edition
          • AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
          • Shadow Light
          • Drinking Skeptically in MD and  VA!
          • Time to Renew?

          Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart, and Mind

          Presented by David J. Linden, PhD
          Department of Neuroscience
          The Johns Hopkins University

          From skin to nerves to brain, our body’s touch circuits are a complex and often odd system that powerfully influences our lives, affecting everything from consumer choice and sexual behavior to tool use and the deep origins of language. Millions of years of evolution have endowed us with areas of the brain that are dedicated to processing touch signals; with a series of dedicated sensors and nerve fibers that predispose us to respond to a stimulus like a caress, but only if it’s administered at the proper velocity; with receptors in our skin that make mint feel cool and chili peppers hot. When we lift the hood of the brain, though, we discover there are actually two different systems for processing touch: one to extract basic sensory information, and another to register its particular emotional context. Without the latter, an orgasm would feel more like a sneeze—convulsive, but not especially compelling. Because of the latter, a gentle caress from a lover administered during an argument might feel unwelcome as a spider crawling across your arm.

          Dr. Linden’s book Touch (Viking Press, 2015) is an engaging and fascinating examination of this critical interface between our bodies and the outside world, exploring every aspect of this remarkable sense.

          David J. Linden is a professor of neuroscience at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The author of The Accidental Mind (2007) and The Compass of Pleasure (2011), he served for many years as the Chief Editor of The Journal of Neurophysiology. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his two children.

          Saturday, February 13, 2016, 1:30 pm
          National Science Foundation, Room 110
          4201 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA (Ballston-MU Metro stop)
          Enter NSF from the corner of 9th St. N & N. Stuart Streets. 
          www.nsf.gov/about/visit
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          FREE admission – 
          Everyone welcome, members and non-members. 
          Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

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