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The Natural History Musuem and Spaceland Productions have once again teamed up to produce a season of First Fridays for the first half of 2010. Although the full line-up of bands has not announced, January and February has been booked: Atlas Sound and the Tune-Yards on January 8th and Yeasayer and Warpaint on February 5th. DJ Them Jeans (aka Jason Stewart) will spin throughout the season.
What's especially exciting for 2010's First Fridays is the scientific local focus. “After a season of looking closely at Darwin and the long lasting influence of his work, we are delving into the dynamic and fascinating research happening in our own backyard, Southern California,” explained Su Oh, Director of Programs, Education and Exhibits Division.
The event always begins with differently focused guided tours of the museum followed by forums with invited local scientists, which will be moderated by neuroscientist and Executive Vice Dean of USC, Dr. Michael Quick, who helped organize the series.
“First Fridays has become the stage where the public can count on topics of current relevance for our future as Californians with the opportunity to ask critical questions," Oh continued. "The sell-out discussions have made us aware that the public is hungry for knowledge and welcomes our work in presenting topics that help redefine our lives in the context of science.”
January's tour and discussion will focus on Spiders with an arachnid tour led by Brent “The Buy Guy” Karner and a discussion with UC Riverside biologist and professor Dr. Cheryl Y. Hayashi about spider's silk.
February's forum will focus on where we'll get our energy from with Dr. Nathan S. Lewis from Caltech; March will be host to "Emotion Circuits in Model Organisms, or Do Flies Have Feelings?" with Caltech's Dr. David J. Anderson; earthquakes will dominate the discussion in April with Dr. Tanya Atwater from UCSB; "Toxic Algal Blooms along the Southern Californian Coast: Causes, Challenges and Solutions" with USC's Dr. David A. Caron in May; and in June, the black hole with Dr. Andrea Ghez of UCLA.
You can see the full schedule on NHM's website.
