Coles Science Center Blog

The Coles Science Center at Bobst Library Presents the
Coles Science Salon

"CityTech: Urban Science and New York’s Trans Fat"

David Schleifer, PhD candidate in NYU's Department of Sociology, will speak on how cities “do” science to inform urban policy. Using New York City as a case study, he will be discussing the scientific testing conducted prior to the authorization of the city’s recent trans fat ban, as well as how and why the ban was successfully implemented. He will also address the limited success of similar regulation in cities such as Philadelphia, which did not conduct similarly comprehensive research.

DATE: Wednesday, March 26, 2008
TIME: 3pm
PLACE: Coles Science Reference Center, 9th Floor, Bobst Library

Please join us for the talk, followed by a discussion.

Refreshments will be served.

The Spring 2008 Coles Science Salon was a great success, thanks to our speaker David Schleifer!

David, a PhD candidate in NYU's Department of Sociology, spoke on how cities “do” science to inform urban policy, using New York City's trans fat ban as his case study.

To read David's talking notes from his presentation entitled, CityTech: Urban Science and New York’s Trans Fat, scroll through them here:

Download file


Below are some photos from the event:

Thanks to all who attended! We look forward to seeing you at our next Science Salon in the fall.

In the meantime, please stop by the Coles Science Center on the 9th floor of Bobst to check out our display on the science, technology, and health of trans fat.

The Coles Science Center at Bobst Library Presents the
Coles Science Salon

"Neurocinematics: The Neuroscience of Films"

Uri Hasson, PhD, from NYU's Center for Neural Science will speak about a new method for assessing the effect of a film on viewers' brain activity. This method, developed in collaboration with Professor David Heeger and Professor Nava Rubin at the Center for Neural Science, uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and inter-subject correlation analysis (ISC) to perform a quantitative neuroscientific assessment of the impact of different styles of filmmaking upon viewers' brains. He will present research findings that demonstrate a film's level of control over viewers' brain activity differed as a function of movie content, editing, and directing style. He will discuss this research method's potential to open the way for a new interdisciplinary field of "neurocinematic" studies by bringing together two separate, largely unrelated disciplines: cognitive neuroscience and film studies.

DATE: Wednesday, October 1, 2008
TIME: 5pm
PLACE: Avery Room, 2nd Floor, Bobst Library

Please join us for the talk, followed by a discussion.

Refreshments will be served.

For more information on the research being presented, read NYU Today's coverage.

The Coles Science Center at Bobst Library Presents the
Coles Science Salon Series

"Tonnage and Toxicity: Visible and Invisible Solid Waste Problems in the Contemporary United States"

by Samantha MacBride,
PhD candidate, Department of Sociology, NYU

According to the last nationwide study on the subject, completed in the late 1980's by the EPA, manufacturing industries generate around 7.6 billion tons of solid waste per year, with mining and other extractive industries adding another 5 billion tons. In contrast, individual households generate roughly 150 million tons of waste per year, with nonindustrial businesses adding another 100 million. Only a fraction of the 7.6 billion is regulated as hazardous industrial waste by the EPA. The rest of this tonnage remains clouded in mystery. Where is it? What's in it? How much could be recycled and why isn't it being recycled? What are the implications of current disposal methods? Most important, why is there such intense focus in the environmental community on the 250 million annual tons of "municipal solid waste" generated by residents and business, while billions of industrial waste remain at best an afterthought?

DATE: Monday, November 3, 2008
TIME: 5-6pm
PLACE: Avery Room, 2nd Floor, Bobst Library

Please join us for the talk, followed by a discussion. Refreshments will be served.

**RSVP required**
Go here: http://tinyurl.com/salon-rsvp

The Coles Science Center at Bobst Library Presents a
Special Coles Science Salon in Honor of World AIDS Day

"HIV Prevention Reconsidered for a New Generation of Young Gay and Bisexual Men: Preliminary Findings from Project Desire"

by Perry Halkitis, Ph.D., M.S., Robert Moeller, Ed.M., and Daniel Siconolfi, M.P.H.
Center for Health, Identity, Behavior & Prevention Studies (CHIBPS), NYU

Project Desire, in collaboration with the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, is a mixed-methods investigation to better understand the recent increase in HIV incidence in young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in New York City. We also seek to develop and test HIV prevention messages tailored to this population. Project Desire will 1) document the patterns of sexual risk-taking behavior in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of YMSM in NYC, 2) develop a qualitative understanding of sexual-risk-taking in this population, and 3) determine the effectiveness of HIV prevention messages as well as the needs of YMSM with regard to prevention messaging.

DATE: Monday, December 1, 2008
TIME: 5-6pm
PLACE: Avery Room, 2nd Floor, Bobst Library*

Please join us for the talk, followed by a discussion. Refreshments will be served.

For more info on Project Desire, please read the NYU Today article.

*Entrance to the library requires a valid NYU or affiliated institution ID.
More info on access to Bobst here.

***RSVP Required***
Go here: http://tinyurl.com/salon-rsvp

The Coles Science Center at Bobst Library Presents the
Coles Science Salon

"The General Circulation of the Atmosphere, from Colombus to Meteosat"

by Olivier Pauluis , PhD
Center for Atmosphere Ocean Science,
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, NYU

Our day-to-day experience with the weather could lead us to believe that wind is unpredictable and chaotic. However, when looked upon on a larger scale, the atmosphere exhibits a well-defined global circulation. This circulation plays a key role in the climate system by transporting energy and water around the Earth, preventing the Poles from becoming too cold and the equatorial regions too warm. In this talk, Professor Pauluis will discuss the key features of the atmospheric circulation, how they have been discovered and explained, and how they are related to different weather patterns around the globe.

For more on Professor Pauluis's research, read his latest article in Science on how temperature and humidity affect global atmospheric circulation, here. [Citation: Pauluis O, Czaja A, Korty R. The global atmospheric circulation on moist isentropes. Science. 2008;321(5892):1075-1078.]

DATE: Monday, March 9, 2009
TIME: 5:30-6:30pm
PLACE: East Room, 2nd Floor, Bobst Library

Refreshments will be served.

***RSVP Required***
Go here: http://tinyurl.com/salon-rsvp

The Coles Science Center and the Business and Government Documents Center at Bobst Library Present a
Special Coles Science Salon in Conjunction with NanoDays™ 2009

"Nanotech Products, Policy, and Perceptions: Or, Why Your Gym Socks Might Be A Pesticide"

by Evan Michelson, Ph.D. candidate
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, NYU

From sporting goods to cosmetics, clothing to dietary supplements, there are over 800 manufacturer-identified nanotechnology consumer products available on the market. Based upon analysis conducted at the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, Evan Michelson will address how these products are being commercialized, their impacts on the oversight system, and related trends in nanotechnology public awareness and perception. He will also discuss critical issues associated with the future of nanotechnology, including potential regulatory approaches, possibilities for public engagement, and ways to improve consumer confidence.

DATE: Thursday, April 2, 2009
TIME: 6:30-8:00pm
PLACE: Avery Room, 2nd Floor, Bobst Library

Refreshments will be served.

***RSVP Required***
Go here: http://tinyurl.com/salon-rsvp