Rethink Science.

Astronomy's New Messengers: The Exhibit
Listening to the Universe with Gravitational Waves

Wednesday, June 2, 2010, 10:00 AM - Sunday, June 6, 2010, 8:00 PM Broad Street Ballroom

Open daily June 2 -6, from 10:00am to 8:00pm.

Experience the power and beauty of LIGO, a new kind of telescope—one that observes not light but gravitational waves from millions of light years away.

2010 Kavli Prizes

Thursday, June 3, 2010, 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM Kimmel Center, Rosenthal Pavilion, NYU

Winners of the prestigious 2010 Kavli Prizes—biennial international awards that recognize seminal advances in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience, and include a cash prize of $1 million in each field— were announced via live satellite from the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, in Oslo. Nobel Laureate Harold Varmus, Co-Chair of President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, delivered the keynote address to open the event.

BioArt

Thursday, June 3, 2010, 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM Museum of Arts and Design

Science is transformed into art in this program that uses pigmented E. coli as a “living paint,” to create printed designs on paper. Under the guidance of Growing Impressions team Amy Chase Gulden and Kristin Baldwin, select New York City students were able to learn about microbiology as they spent the afternoon cultivating living designs of their own imagination. Throughout the program, the public is invited to visit the Museum's Open Studio (sixth floor), to watch the designs, quite literally, emerge.
Participation by invitation only; public welcome to observe.

Eye Candy: Science, Sight, Art

Thursday, June 3, 2010, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Kimmel Center, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium

Are you drawn to Impressionism? Or more toward 3D computer art? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Or is it? Contrary to the old adage, there may be universal biological principles that drive art’s appeal, and its capacity to engage our brains and our interest. Through artworks ranging from post-modernism to political caricature to 3D film, Margaret S. Livingstone and Patrick Cavanagh join cartoonist Jules Feiffer and others in an examination of newly understood principles of visual perception.

The Search for Life in the Universe

Thursday, June 3, 2010, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Galapagos Art Space

Are we alone? It’s a question that has obsessed us for centuries, and now we have the technology to do more than wonder. Scientists on the hunt for distant planets and extraterrestrial intelligence will take us on their expeditions into faraway galaxies and barely visible realms. Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse journeys to the brink of discovery with Jill Tarter, David Charbonneau, and Steven Squyres to contemplate what it would mean to have company in the cosmos.

Good Vibrations: The Science of Sound

Thursday, June 3, 2010, 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College

We look around us—constantly. But how often do we listen around us? Sound is critically important to our bodies and brains, and to the wider natural world. In the womb, we hear before we see. Join John Schaefer, Jamshed Bharucha, Christopher Shera, the Danish sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard and multi-instrumentalists Polygraph Lounge for a fascinating journey through the nature of sound.

Black Holes and Holographic Worlds

Thursday, June 3, 2010, 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM NYU Skirball Center

Black holes are gravitational behemoths that dramatically twist space and time. Recently, they’ve also pointed researchers to a remarkable proposal—that everything we see may be akin to a hologram. Alan Alda joins Kip Thorne, Robbert Dijkgraaf and other renowned researchers on an odyssey through one of nature’s most spectacular creations, and learn how they are leading scientists to rewrite the rules of reality.

Astronomy's New Messengers
Listening to the Universe with Gravitational Waves

Friday, June 4, 2010, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Kimmel Center, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium

Marcia Bartusiak joins Kip Thorne, Laura Danly and Rainer Weiss to demonstrate how two observatories on opposite sides of the country, called LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory), may open a new window on observing the cosmos—one based not in light but in gravity. Scientists have embarked on this joint experiment, seeking whispers of far-away violence—like the collision between distant black holes—rippling through the cosmos.

Food 2.0: Feeding a Hungry World

Friday, June 4, 2010, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Baruch Performing Arts Center (Engelman)

Pamela Ronald, Louise Fresco and Monty Jones—influential voices from a wide variety of perspectives—engage in a spirited discussion and debate on issues vital to our future. By 2050, one of every four people on Earth will go hungry unless food production more than doubles. Science-based agriculture has proposed unconventional new tools -- earthworms, bacteria, and even genes from sunny daffodils -- to meet this towering challenge. But will such innovative ideas be enough?

From the City to the Stars: Star-gazing
with the Webb Telescope

Friday, June 4, 2010, 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM Battery Park

Join professional and amateur astronomers at the base of the full-scale, tennis court-sized James Webb Space Telescope model for a free evening of star-gazing in Battery Park. John Mather, Nobel laureate and the Webb telescope’s senior project scientist; John Grunsfeld, astronaut, physicist and “chief repairman” of the Hubble Telescope and planetary astronomer Heidi Hammel, with journalist Miles O’Brien moderating, will be with us to talk about the discoveries anticipated when the world’s most powerful space telescope, the successor to the Hubble, launches in 2014. Hayden Planetarium Director, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, will host the stargazing party to follow. It will be a festive evening of appreciating the vast wonders of the cosmos. Bring your telescope if you have one or plan to use one of the dozens we’ll have set up.

Mind And Machine: The Future of Thinking

Friday, June 4, 2010, 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM NYU Skirball Center

Creative thought is surely among our most precious and mysterious capabilities. But can powerful computers rival the human brain? As thinking, remembering and innovating become increasingly interwoven with technological advances, what are we capable of? What do we lose? Join Luciano Floridi, John Donoghue, Gary Small and Rosalind Picard for a thought-provoking program about thinking.

Mathemagician and the Mathemagician's Apprentice

Saturday, June 5, 2010, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Tishman Auditorium, The New School

Mix math with magic and the result is thrilling. Mathemagician Arthur Benjamin returns in an encore presentation, with mesmerizing feats of mental mathematical gymnastics. Followed by Mathemagician's Apprentice, at Wollman Hall, where Benjamin will divulge his secrets of doing lightning-fast mental math.

Tickets to Mathemagician's Apprentice available for an additional fee. Apprentice limited to 50 people, ages ten and older, and is an hour long.

Back To The Big Bang: Inside the Large Hadron Collider

Saturday, June 5, 2010, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Tishman Auditorium, The New School

Come venture deep inside the world’s biggest physics machine, the Large Hadron Collider. This extraordinary feat of human engineering took 16 years and $10 billion to build, and just weeks ago began colliding particles at energies unseen since a fraction of a second after the big bang. We'll explore this amazing apparatus that could soon reveal clues about nature’s fundamental laws and even the origin of the universe itself. John Hockenberry moderates a discussion among physicists including Marcela Carena, Monica Dunford, Jennifer Klay and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek.

Faith and Science

Saturday, June 5, 2010, 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM Kimmel Center, Rosenthal Pavilion, NYU

For all their historical tensions, scientists and religious scholars from a wide variety of faiths ponder many similar questions—how did the universe begin? How might it end? What is the origin of matter, energy, and life? The modes of inquiry and standards for judging progress are, to be sure, very different. But is there a common ground to be found?

Illuminating the Abyss: The Unknown Ocean

Saturday, June 5, 2010, 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM The Paley Center for Media

The oceans remain a realm of mystery, with an astonishing 95% still unmapped, but their secrets are starting to be revealed. Journey into the deep to explore exciting discoveries like sea sponges with cancer-fighting potential and underwater mountain ranges that may hold the clue to life’s origin. ABC News’ Bill Weir moderates a discussion with marine biologist Sylvia Earle, oceanographer David Gallo and Fabien Cousteau.

Spotlight

Saturday, June 5, 2010, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM Rubin Museum of Art (Cabaret)

Strip away the trimmings of a traditional science presentation, add cocktails, and you have the WSF Spotlight. An intimate, cabaret-style setting provides an unobstructed glimpse into the minds of some of the world's most inspired thinkers. It's a science happy hour featuring cutting edge science and one-of-a-kind talks that promise to entertain, engage and enlighten. Participants include astrophysicist Mario Livio and cognitive neuroscientist Jamshed Bharucha, with Faith Salie moderating.

Hidden Dimensions: Exploring Hyperspace

Saturday, June 5, 2010, 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM NYU Skirball Center

Extra dimensions of space–the idea that we are immersed in hyperspace -- may be key to explaining the fundamental nature of the universe. Relativity introduced time as the fourth dimension, and Einstein’s subsequent work envisioned more dimensions still--but ultimately hit a dead end. Modern research has advanced the subject in ways he couldn’t have imagined. John Hockenberry joins Brian Greene, Lawrence Krauss and other leading thinkers on a visual tour through wondrous spatial realms that may lie beyond the ones we experience.

World Science Festival Street Fair

Sunday, June 6, 2010, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Washington Square Park

The New York University/Washington Square Park area will become a science wonderland when the World Science Festival Youth and Family Street Fair returns to New York City on Sunday, June 6. This free, day-long extravaganza showcases the intrigue and pure fun of science with a non-stop program of interactive exhibits, experiments, games, and shows, all meant to entertain and inspire. Join us for a day of family fun. Click here for a detailed map and schedule. Some highlights of this year's Fair include: