Tag Archives: Cny Skeptics

“Planet 9 From Outer Space” – Thursday, April 19 At Liverpool Public Library

Greetings, fellow astrophiles!

And apologies for the short-ish notice. This is not a showing of the movie “Plan 9,” but risks being just as cheesy. CNYO makes its yearly (if not more often) return to LPL this Thursday with a lecture that actually overlaps nicely with a lecture topic from a few years back that was presented at a CNY Skeptics meetings – We step out from our discussion of Ceres and Pluto into a discussion of Pluto and the theorized Planet IX (not to be confused with Planet X). As always, we check on the state of the binocular loaner program as well, with hopes that all have been reserved and none are available.

Link details can be found at calendar.lpl.org


Caption: The 6 most distant objects known in the Solar System, then the predicted orbit of the unknown 7th. Image courtesy of Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

Planet 9(,) From Outer Space

Event Type: Adult Programs
Date: 4/19/2018
Start Time: 7:00 PM
End Time: 8:30 PM
Description: History, Politics and Physics Out Beyond Neptune

google map directions to LPL.

Pluto had a remarkably good and lucky run as the 9th planet in our Solar System. Its demotion to dwarf planet status in late 2006 was due to a number of factors, driven largely by the discovery that Pluto is not alone either in size or in location out beyond Neptune’s orbit. Modern telescopes have discovered numerous dwarf planets out in the Kuiper Belt – a region of the Solar System for which Pluto is now the most famous member. By determining the orbits of these distant objects, astrophysicists have even made the prediction that something much larger in size must be lurking in the distance – large enough to qualify as a true planet if and when it is officially observed.

Dr. Damian Allis is a NASA Solar System Ambassador, director of CNY Observers and writes the monthly “Upstate New York Stargazing” column for syracuse.com and newyorkupstate.com.

Location: Carman Community Room
Presenter: Cindy Hibbert

CNY Skeptics & TACNY Joint Lecture – Fixing Our Medicine: Why All Clinical Trials Need To Be Published

Wednesday, 16 March 2016, 6:00 p.m.
Event is Free and Open to the Public

Onondaga Community College, 101 Whitney Applied Technology Center



View Larger Map

*** PARKING AVAILABLE IN LOT 13 NEXT TO SRC ARENA, A SHORT WALK FROM THE WHITNEY APPLIED TECHNOLOGY CENTER, CLICK HERE FOR A MAP OF SUNY-OCC’S CAMPUS ***

* Please contact 1-315-636-6533 or email info@cnyskeptics.org for more information.

Presentation by Lauren Quattrochi, Ph.D

Director of AllTrials USA at Sense About Science
www.senseaboutscienceusa.org, www.alltrials.net, Twitter hashtag #AllTrials

Presentation Summary

SASUSALogonew_102615-1024x439Only half of all clinical trials globally have reported results. Dr. Quattrochi will describe the current landscape for publication bias and how this lack of clinical trial transparency has shaped our medicine. She will dive into why withheld clinical trial data may hold valuable insight into progressing our medical system by touching on cases where unpublished or poorly published clinical trial data has negatively impacted patients, the medical community and/or fellow pharmaceutical researchers. Thereafter, she will detail how the AllTrials campaign aims to address and rejuvenate scientific data sharing on a global level.

Presenter Bio

LaurenMRCT1000-1080x675Dr. Lauren Quattrochi is a neuroscientist who guides the campaign for AllTrials USA at Sense About Science USA, a non-profit focused on equipping the public with tools and knowhow to navigate evidence-based research. She specializes in educating the public on breakthrough science, correcting popularized pseudoscience and bringing about awareness on clinical trial transparency in the USA. She earned her doctorate from Brown University in Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, where she discovered a novel third subtype of photoreceptor.

CNY Skeptics

Central New York Skeptics (CNY Skeptics, meetup.com page) is a community organization dedicated to the promotion of science and reason, the investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims, and the improvement of standards for science education and critical-thinking skills.

Technology Alliance of Central New York

Founded in 1903 as the Technology Club of Syracuse, the nonprofit Technology Alliance of Central New York’s mission is to facilitate community awareness, appreciation, and education of technology; and to collaborate with like-minded organizations across Central New York.

For more information about TACNY, visit www.tacny.org.

CNYO Observing Log: Attempted Observing, Successful Lecture, And Maker Hall Session For January, 2016

Greetings fellow astrophiles,

A brief summary of events already had in January. For the most part, this is the time of year when most activities slow to a crawl (unless you’ve got a good few pairs of thermals to wear, in which case you’re observing is limited by conditions and the build-up of water vapor as you breath too close to an eyepiece).

Solar @ Green Lakes, Nighttime @ Baltimore Woods, January 9th

With the Friday night session a complete wash at Baltimore Woods, Bob Piekiel and I ran a double on Saturday, January 9th. The first event was a solar observing run at Green Lakes State Park (amid current construction around the main building). Sadly, this was the best-attended failed session yet, with considerable cloud cover only providing the most fleeting glimpse of the Sun before taking it away again. Attendance peaked near 25, though, which is great news otherwise. Bob will be running (and I wing-man’ing) a few more solar sessions, for which we hope the skies agree at least once.

2016feb2_greenlakessolar

Observers observing, but not as planned @ Green Lakes. Click for a larger view.

I am pleased to mention that, near the end of the session, a few mountain bikers came by the scopes to ask what we were looking at. When I said it was a failed solar observing session, one of the bikers (in an SOS shirt) mentioned that he had learned some observing with “A guy named Stu.” Taking a few minutes to remember local amateur astronomer extraordinare Stu Forster was a treat that made my otherwise overcast day.

Later that night, during what was maybe-sort-of predicted to be an opening in the sky from 7 to 8, Bob and I waited patiently at Baltimore Woods for his monthly New Moon weekend session. We went with hope, then left with 90 minutes remaining in the session as the cloud cover only got worse-and-worse. Our loss was other’s gain, of course – as we’ve had a few previous January sessions that were painfully cold but clear. 2016 has started warm but painfully cloudy.

Ceres & Pluto @ DPL 4 CNY Skeptics, January 21st

The lecture given at DeWitt Community Library for our fellow science-minded friends in CNY Skeptics was a repeat (mostly) of the Ceres & Pluto lecture given at Liverpool Public Library late last year. With a few new pics and the benefit of one full pass of the lecture, this session went fairly well (minus at least one softball-stump-the-speaker question). Plans are already in the works for a few more lectures, including one at DPL for the non-affiliated library audience.

TACNY Maker Hall @ The Dr. King Community Celebration, January 30th

2016feb2_makerhall

A view from the CNYO table (and a Meteor Game). Click for a larger view.

This past Saturday, CNYO hosted a strategically-placed table to talk astro-shop for a third MLK Community Day Celebration in a row (with continued thanks to STEM Superstar Mary Eileen Wood for the invitation to the event at Nottingham High School). With brochures, Prof. John McMahon’s graciously donated table-top scope (and a 38mm eyepiece to be able to get *anything* into focus in the background), Mars and Ceres pebbles, and a gyroscope in tow, we had about 50 kids and adults stop by over the course of the 2 hour 30 min event. Directly behind us, Dr. David Wormuth made a guest appearance and put his surgical skills to the test (well, not really) in a live demo for the attending audience.

CNY Skeptics Lecture: Additive Manufacturing Techniques, 3D Printing

CNYO is pleased to be posting an event announcement from another CNY educational organization (CNY Skeptics) featuring a lecture from yet another CNY educational organization (SALT Makerspace). Details from the meetup.com event announcement are below.

Wednesday, 18 March 2015, 7:00 p.m.

Google map of ShoppingTown Mall and DeWitt Community Library

Michael Giannattasio will be covering what additive manufacturing techniques mean to the new inventor/entrepreneur. We now are becoming aware of what 3D printing is and how to make something from our own desk but, what are we really making? How can we turn these new tools into something productive and meaningful?

About The Speaker

2015mar12_600_435082501Michael Giannattasio is the founder and director of SALT Makerspace. He grew up in California just south of San Francisco. where he experienced a very diverse population which influenced his outlook and goals in life.

Michael received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from California State College Chico. While there he worked with glass, bronze, aluminum, wood, and ceramics refining his process and knowledge of various mediums. Once his degree was completed he worked as a studio assistant, independent fabricator, and professional artist.

In 2009 Michael moved to Syracuse, NY, to go to Syracuse University and began working in the Sculpture Masters in Fine Arts program in VPA. During this time he focused on experiences relating to location specifically developed through digital installations.

In 2012 he began working with 40 Below specifically with the Public Arts Task-force creating collaborative permanent public art works in the City of Syracuse. During this time SALT Makerspace started to develop. During the last two years he has worked with a group of artists, engineers, fabricators, and business experts to develop a business plan that outlined how the Makerspace would sustain itself and what it would offer the community.

CNY Skeptics Lecture On January 21st – The End of Snow: Will Climate Change Melt Our Winters?

Greetings fellow astrophiles,

A chance to be skeptical with other CNY’ers is coming up this Wednesday, January 21st. Details below. Those of you of the meetup persuasion can register for the event HERE.

Presentation by Dr. Susan Millar of Syracuse University’s Department of Geography

Sponsored by CNY Skeptics

When: Wednesday, January 21, 2015, 7:00 PM

Where: Manlius Library, 1 Arkie Albanese Ave, Manlius, NY 13104 USA

Event is Free and Open to the Public

Light refreshments will be served

Please contact 1-315-636-6533 or email info@cnyskeptics.org for more information

Presentation Summary:

Temperature records indicate that Earth has warmed an average of 0.85°C during the period 1880 to 2012. That increase, however, has been experienced most significantly at middle and high latitudes, regions that have witnessed as much as 2 degrees Celsius of warming. As New York still reels at the memory of last month’s mammoth snow storm in Buffalo, dumping unprecedented totals in excess of two meters in places, one has to question exactly how anthropogenic warming could possibly be connected. In this presentation, I will explore the atmospheric processes responsible for “snow events”, how snow fall has changed globally, and here in New York, why these changes may well be related to climate change, and what it means for the future of the Golden Snowball Award.

Presenter Bio:

Susan-Millar_6176-704x1024Susan Millar is an Associate Professor of Geography at Syracuse University. Professor Millar is originally from Scotland, and hiking the Munros and Corbetts fueled her research interest in periglacial slope processes in both Quaternary and modern contexts. She has conducted NSF-sponsored research in Alaska, Colorado and New York State, examining connections between microclimate, freezing depth, and soil sedimentological characteristics. An on-going project explores relations between changing snow patterns in Central New York and how these affect soil thermal conditions.

Central New York Skeptics (CNY Skeptics) is a community organization dedicated to the promotion of science and reason, the investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims, and the improvement of standards for science education and critical-thinking skills.