Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

Teen Science Cafe | Digital Media and the Teenage Brain
2023-02-17 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Science Stage, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
UNC researchers, Kara Fox and Maria Maza, will share studies that show how digital media is impacting teens’ development as well as how teens are impacting the development of digital media.

For more information about UNC’s Winston National Center on Technology Use, Brain, and Psychological Development work, visit https://www.teensandtech.org/

About our speakers:

Kara A. Fox is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at UNC Chapel Hill, working with Dr. Mitch Prinstein. She graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in psychology and visual media studies. Subsequently, as a research assistant at Alpert Medical School of Brown University, she worked on several studies examining mental health and treatment access among youth in the juvenile justice system. She is interested in the role of digital social norms and processes in development and health among adolescents and young adults. In addition to research, Kara loves teaching, working with children and families, and writing. In her free time, Kara enjoys knitting and crocheting, reading, and playing with her dog Laika.

Maria T Maza is a graduate student in the Developmental Psychology program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her B.S. in Neuroscience and Education from Bates College in 2018. Following graduation, she worked as a research assistant and imaging coordinator with Dr. BJ Casey at Yale University. Her research aims to explore the impact of biosocial factors and technology on the developing brain and subsequent health risk behaviors. In her free time, Maria enjoys dancing, hiking, and baking.

Kara Fox, PhD Student, UNC-Chapel Hill

Maria Maza, PhD Student, UNC-Chapel Hill

Teen Science Cafe | Canaries of the Creek: Bioindicators Water Quality
2023-03-17 17:30 - 19:00 | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Science Stage, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Do you like scavenger hunts? How can you tell if creek water is clean and healthy. Join environmental educators and researchers Heather Holley and Sammy Bauer for a walk through the science of looking for certain kinds of stream bugs (aquatic macroinvertebrates) that need clean, unpolluted water to survive. What will you find as you dig through real-world data in local creeks and streams.

About our speakers:

Sammy Bauer (she/they) is an environmental educator and professional science communicator. She spends the bulk of her time teaching folks how to protect local waterways from pollution. Prior to pivoting into non-formal education, Sammy taught 6th grade Language Arts and Social Studies in Warren County, North Carolina. Sammy has a bachelor’s degree in communications and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. If you ask her about creek critters, rock climbing, or hotdog toppings, she will get very excited.

Heather Holley is an avid outdoors and nature lover with over 25 years in environmental and arboricultural experience in the private and public sectors. She has served as a Trail Crew Leader, Arboricultural Genetic Researcher, City Arborist, and Engineering/Stormwater Professional. Heather currently is the Stormwater Specialist for the Town of Carrboro Stormwater Division and has work for the City of Charleston, SC and the City of Doral, Fl. She studied Environmental Science at NC State University. If you ask her about her family, sewing, camping, horror movies, nature, or Disney, she will get very excited.

Sammy Bauer (she/they)

Heather Holley

Skywatching: Little River Regional Park
2023-03-24 20:00 - 22:00 | Little River Regional Park
Morehead Planetarium and Science Center invites you to a free skywatching event at Little River Regional Park (weather permitting). Come see Venus close to the waxing crescent Moon, plus Mars and other celestial delights!

Morehead educators and CHAOS members (from Chapel Hill Astronomical & Observational Society) will bring telescopes and guide you through fun observations of stars, planets, moons, nebulae and other celestial objects. Be sure to call the park office after 4pm for cloud/cancellation updates: 919-732-5505. Meet at the Play Meadow. All ages welcomed. Due to the fragile viewing equipment, please no dogs.

If you’re interested in finding out more about skywatching sessions with Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, check out this link: https://moreheadplanetarium.org/skywatching-faqs/

UNC Science Expo
2023-04-01 11:00 - 16:00 | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27516, United States
Join us for one of the biggest celebrations of science in the state!

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, in partnership with the students and faculty at UNC, celebrate science with our community.

This annual celebration of science features more than 100 hands-on activities and science demonstrations lead by STEM students, researchers, and practitioners from UNC-Chapel Hill. The UNC Science Expo is your chance to get up close and personal with cutting edge science hands-on activities, demonstrations, games, and performances.

The UNC Science Expo is a signature event of the North Carolina Science Festival.

Follow Facebook event for updates

Spot, an agile mobile robot from Boston Dynamics wows the crowd Morehead Planetarium and Science Center as part of UNC Science Expo, Saturday, April 9, 2022.

Carolina Science Cafe | Let's Chat about ChatGPT
2023-04-04 18:00 - 20:00 | Gizmo Brew Works, 157 E Franklin St #100, Chapel Hill, 27514
Finally returning after a 3-year hiatus, the Carolina Science Café returns to Franklin Street on a new day and a new location as Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s free, current science awareness program.

ChatGPT is an advanced language model from OpenAI, which has been making headlines as one of the most powerful AI models to date. Such AI models are being seen by some (including the) challenging human conceits about language and creativity on the one hand, and criticized as being glorified talking parrots on the other. In this talk, we will briefly delve into what ChatGPT and other language models are, how they work, and their potential impacts on public life, science, and the future of work and the creative arts. We will also discuss the ethical and societal implications of data-driven AI, such as issues of privacy and bias.

We will be joined by Shashank Srivastava, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at UNC Chapel Hill who studies natural language processing, with special interests in grounding language in perception, neuro-symbolic methods, and interactive machine learning. Earlier this year he sat on a panel for ChatGPT in Context, a discussion of this new technology and its real and imagined impacts on the campus community — and beyond.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Café will be hosted at Gizmo Brew Works on Tuesday, April 4, starting at 6:00 p.m.

You do not need to register…just show up!

Teen Science Cafe | Decoding the Structure of Birdsong
2023-04-21 17:30 - 19:00 | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Science Stage, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Teen Science Cafe is for you! This program is just for young adults, ages 13-18, and it’s free!

Birdsong is a unique form of animal communication, as it faces evolutionary pressures from mate selection and social learning, and it possesses a vast amount of diversity. There is still much left to understand about how this variation arises and its relevance in interactions between individuals of the same species.

This talk will examine an element of birdsong that has remained relatively enigmatic to researchers: syntax, or the sequence of notes within a song. By exposing wild male songbirds to songs with familiar and scrambled syntax, we can continue to decipher how information is conveyed in animal communication systems.

About The Speaker:

Emma Reinhardt is a graduate student in the Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She joined Dr. Keith Sockman’s lab after graduating with a BS in biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2020. Emma has worked with a variety of organisms, ranging from yeast to lizards to crabs, before landing on songbirds. She is interested in understanding which elements of birdsong are most relevant in reproductive interactions. In pursuit of this, Emma spends her summers in the mountains of southwest Colorado to collect data on a population of Lincoln’s sparrows, a small, brown bird with a wildly complex song.

Schedule

5:30 pm – Arrive and check in. We will gather inside the west, main entrance of Morehead.

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Pizza social. Pizza social will take place in our classrooms, located on the 2nd floor.

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Discussion & activities. Presentations will take place at the Science LIVE! Stage.

*Please Note: Depending on scheduled activities, the program may end between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Carolina Science Cafe | Rethinking How We Use Our Landscapes
2023-05-02 18:00 - 19:00 | Gizmo Brew Works, 157 E Franklin St #100, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
How do we rethink our landscape usage? Let’s start with three positive outcomes: benefits to mental health, alleviation of food insecurity, and conservation for pollinators by planting habitats. Using data from mental health research and case studies on food insecurity on campus, we will explore the benefits of reconnecting with the natural world through gardening. Edible Campus UNC is currently partnering with the Chicago Botanical Garden on the community science project Budburst, a collection of researchers, educators, gardeners, and community scientists working together to illustrate the human impacts on the natural world around us.

This month we will be joined by Kyle Parker, a former UNC philosophy graduate who has spent the last decade working directly with UNC students growing organic produce for the UNC community. Now in his third year as coordinator at Edible Campus UNC, Kyle is at his best leading groups of students during volunteer workdays or engaging with visitors and foragers out in the gardens.

In recent years, he has consulted with students and staff from dozens of universities within the US and internationally regarding Edible Campus’ unique model for utilizing landscapes within urban environments to not only grow food but to also serve as pollinator habitats. Edible Campus is at the forefront of rethinking urban landscape usage to provide maximum utility to both humans and the environment.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Café will be hosted at Gizmo Brew Works on Tuesday, May 2nd, starting at 6:00 p.m.

You do not need to register…just show up!

Teen Science Cafe | Robotics, our FIRST priority
2023-05-19 17:30 - 19:00 | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Science Stage, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Join us for our May Teen Science Cafe where we will talk about FIRST Robotics as an organization, our guest’s most recent robot, and how they function as a team and meet their goals each year.

The Titanium Tigers is a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team hosted at Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill, NC, and run by its students. The group is made up of many bright students including Eera S., Kira M., Logan F., Avani H., Jasper E., Andrew C., Jack E., and Matthew M.

The team participates in the annual robotics competitions hosted by an organization called FIRST. They must build a new robot each year to meet the unique challenges of the annual game. Last year they won their first district event, were state finalists in the state championship, and attended the FIRST (world) Championship–all firsts in the team’s 10-year history.

Their mission is to enrich STEM education in their school and greater community. When they aren’t participating in competitions, they make a point of reaching out into the community and hope to inspire others to find their place in STEM.

Schedule

5:30 pm – Arrive and check in. We will gather inside the west, main entrance of Morehead.

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Pizza social. Pizza social will take place in our classrooms, located on the 2nd floor.

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Discussion & activities. Presentations will take place at the Science LIVE! Stage.

*Please Note: Depending on scheduled activities, the program may end between 7 p.m and 7:30 p.m.

[CANCELED] Skywatching: Dix Park
2023-05-20 21:00 - 23:00 | Dix Park, 1010 Blair Drive, Raleigh, NC, 27603, United States
This event has been canceled due to weather.

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center invites you to a free skywatching event at Dix Park in downtown Raleigh (weather permitting). Come see Venus, Mars, and other celestial delights!

Morehead educators and Raleigh Astronomy Club will bring telescopes and guide you through fun observations of stars, planets, moons, nebulae, and other celestial objects.

If you’re interested in finding out more about skywatching sessions with Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, check out this link: https://moreheadplanetarium.org/skywatching-faqs/

Skywatching: Views from The Durham
2023-05-22 20:00 - 23:00, 2023-07-10 20:00 - 23:00, 2023-07-24 20:00 - 23:00, 2023-09-25 20:00 - 23:00 | The Durham Hotel, 315 E. Chapel Hill St, Durham, North Carolina, 27701, United States
Join us on the roof of The Durham Hotel for a series of telescopic stargazing nights. Stop by for guided constellation tours and educational activities, all while enjoying music from DJ Mic Check. Music begins at 8:00 pm and stargazing begins at 9:00 pm. This skywatching event is free and open to the public. All ages are welcome.

Carolina Science Cafe | Bacteria Get Hangry Too
2023-06-06 18:00 - 19:00 | Gizmo Brew Works, 157 E Franklin St #100, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Individual bacterial cells are miniscule, yet bacterial communities are responsible for activities that have major consequences for our planets, including causing infectious disease and carrying out major geochemical cycles. When considering the mechanisms by which such small cells carry out globally important functions it becomes clear that bacterial cells must work collectively to coordinate their activities and respond to their environment.

But how are such activities coordinated? Are there rules that determine how the community organizes and which activities different bacteria take? We will explore how bacterial communities are organized and what might be the benefits of having communities that are composed of many members that carry out unique roles.

This month we will be joined by Adam Rosenthal, an Assistant Professor in the UNC Medical School department of Microbiology and Immunology. Adam has been studying bacterial communities from backgrounds as diverse as the termite-gut and industrial fermenters. His newly established lab is trying to understand the extent and role of bacterial cell-to-cell differences during bacterial infection.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Café will be hosted at Gizmo Brew Works on Tuesday, June 6th, starting at 6:00 p.m.

You do not need to register…just show up!

Carolina Science Cafe | Artemis II: There and Back Again
2023-07-11 18:00 - 19:00 | Gizmo Brew Works, 157 E Franklin St #100, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Join Nick Eakes, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador and Astronomy Educator from Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, to discuss Artemis– NASA’s new lunar exploration program. For the first time in over 50 years, humanity is going to set foot on the Moon – sending the first woman and first person of color to the lunar surface.

Through the Artemis missions, NASA will implement new technology to study our closest neighbor in new and better ways, with the ultimate goal of preparing for future human missions to Mars. Nick will provide the history and context of the Artemis program as well as updates on where we are in the mission timeline.

Nick Eakes has been an informal science educator at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center (MPSC) since 2008. Nick is a proud product of Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools and went on to receive his BA in Psychology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2012. Along with actively presenting astronomy programs in the planetarium, Nick designs curriculum, travels the state with the NC Science Festival, and is currently the coordinator of Morehead’s astronomy outreach programs – including the Mobile Planetarium and Skywatching.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Café will be hosted at Gizmo Brew Works on Tuesday, July 11th, starting at 6:00 p.m.

You do not need to register…just show up!

Carolina Science Cafe | The Dark Side of the Universe
2023-08-01 18:00 - 19:00 | Gizmo Brew Works, 157 E Franklin St #100, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Join us on the first Tuesday of every month for Carolina Science Cafe, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s free, current science awareness program. For this month, we will be joined by Adrienne Erickcek to learn about dark energy and what that means for how our universe operates.

Designed for adults, this program explores the science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines.

Observations of the oldest light in the Universe and other astronomical measurements indicate that only 5% of the current energy content of the Universe is made of elements found on the periodic table. The other 95% is composed of dark matter and dark energy: dark matter is responsible for the growth of galaxies, while dark energy shoves galaxies apart at an accelerating rate. I will discuss how we infer the existence of dark matter and dark energy and how we hope to learn more about these key drivers of cosmic evolution.

A simulated image of the first dark matter structures to form in the universe.

About the Speaker:

Adrienne Erickcek joined the UNC physics and astronomy department in 2013 after completing a joint postdoctoral fellowship at the Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. She developed an interest in cosmology while an undergraduate student at Princeton University, and she went on to receive her Ph.D. in cosmology from Caltech. For the past several years, her research has focused on the first dark matter structures, and in 2018 she was awarded an NSF CAREER grant to investigate how to use dark matter to probe the evolution of the Universe during its first second.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Café will be hosted at Gizmo Brew Works on Tuesday, August 1st, starting at 6:00 p.m.

You do not need to register…just show up!

[CANCELED] Skywatching: Views from The Durham
2023-08-28 20:00 - 23:00 | The Durham Hotel, 315 E. Chapel Hill St, Durham, North Carolina, 27701, United States
This event has been canceled due to weather.

Join us on the roof of The Durham Hotel for a series of telescopic stargazing nights. Stop by for guided constellation tours and educational activities, all while enjoying music from DJ Mic Check. Music begins at 8:00 pm and stargazing begins at 9:00 pm. This skywatching event is free and open to the public. All ages are welcome.

Carolina Science Cafe | Malaria in Africa: Ecology, Mitigation, and Challenges
2023-09-05 18:00 - 19:00 | Gizmo Brew Works, 157 E Franklin St #100, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Join us on the first Tuesday of every month for Carolina Science Cafe, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s free, current science awareness program. For this month, we will be joined by Dr. Michael Emch to explore spatial and timing patterns of malaria in the developing world.

Designed for adults, this program explores the science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines.

You might have noticed the recent news that there have been several locally acquired cases of malaria in the United States in both Texas and Florida for the first time in 20 years. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 2,000 cases of mostly travel-related malaria were diagnosed in the United States each year. What does that mean for us here in North Carolina and the rest of the country more broadly? What is malaria and how is it transmitted? Learn more at our September Carolina Science Cafe to find out!

Half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria and there are almost 250 million cases globally and more than half a million deaths annually. More than 90% of the cases and deaths are in Africa, mostly in children. Malaria elimination is a goal with most countries attempting to become malaria-free within the next two decades. While there has been great progress in this fight, there have been recent setbacks. This discussion will describe malaria ecology, mitigation tools, and some of the challenges such as climate change.

Michael E. Emch, PhD, a health geographer, is a W.R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Geography and Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also a Fellow of the Carolina Population Center. He has published widely in the subfield of disease ecology, mostly of infectious diseases of the developing world. He directs the Spatial Health Research Group. He is also a member of the UNC Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology, and Ecology Lab. Many of the courses he teaches are about spatial components of health and disease.

His present research includes an NIH-funded study to evaluate the effectiveness a malaria vaccine in Malawi, Ghana, and Gabon, an NSF-funded study on the landscape genetics of swine influenza, and an NSF-funded study on the relationships between household energy use for cooking and heating and respiratory infections in Southern Africa.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Café will be hosted at Gizmo Brew Works on Tuesday, September 5th, starting at 6:00 p.m.

You do not need to register…just show up!

Teen Science Cafe | Science Trivia Night
2023-09-15 17:30 - 19:00 | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27516, United States
Join us for our September Teen Science Cafe! 📚

Please join us at Morehead Planetarium on Friday, September 15th for a very exciting Teen Science Cafe! We will be joined by our 2023 – 2024 Teen Advisory Board for a fun-filled evening of science trivia jeopardy. The right doors up the big stairs will open at 5:30 for pizza and conversation. The cafe will start at 6:00 and wrap up around 7:00ish.As a preview of the topics we will cover this year, each category of the trivia will be an area of science that we will be discussing during this school year. From astronomy to zoology and everything in between, there is something for everyone!

About our presenters:Morehead’s Teen Advisory Board is a group of local high school students who set the agenda, tone, and structure of the Teen Science Cafe program. As a way to get to know everyone, they are excited to put together an exciting evening of team-building fun to kick off the school year.

Program Schedule

5:30 pm – Arrive and check in. We will gather inside the west, main entrance of Morehead.

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Pizza social. Pizza social will take place in our classrooms, located on the 2nd floor.

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Discussion & activities. Presentations will take place at the Science LIVE! Stage.

*Please Note: Depending on scheduled activities, the program may end between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Preparing for Tomorrow’s Pandemics Today | Carolina Science Cafe
2023-10-03 18:00 - 19:00 | Haw River Tap & Table, 300 E Main St C, Carrboro, NC, 27510, United States
About the Program:

Join us on the first Tuesday of every month for Carolina Science Cafe, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s free, current science awareness program. For this month, we will be joined by Dr. Timothy Sheahan to explore preparing for tomorrow’s pandemics today with broad-spectrum antivirals.

Designed for adults, this program explores the science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. Please note the Carolina Science Cafe will be moving to a new location at Haw River Tap & Table in Carrboro for the foreseeable future.

Being a virologist is a lot like being a detective. Constantly problem solving and trying to stay one step ahead of the next villain. Viruses are found all over the world and they affect everyone everywhere they go. We never know when or what virus will emerge next, but Dr. Tim and his team will be ready for the challenge.

During this cafe we will discuss questions like:

What is a virus and how do we get sick?

How and why antiviral drugs are made?

How long is the drug development process?

How do we learn about viruses that we have not even found yet?

What can we do to prepare for tomorrow’s pandemics today? Broad-spectrum medical countermeasures that are effective against all the Coronaviruses known today will likely work against future emerging Coronaviruses. Thus, the development of broadly acting medical counter measures is key to our future pandemic preparedness.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Sheahan is an NIH funded virologist working at the host pathogen interface to develop new methods of viral control. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from the University of New Hampshire in 1999, he moved to Boston to try to make a career in punk rock music but soon realized that he enjoyed pipetting more than playing guitar. In 2003, he began his graduate training at UNC Chapel Hill with Dr. Ralph Baric focusing coronavirus (CoV) spillover and the design broadly acting vaccines and therapies. After postdoctoral studies on hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the laboratory of 2020 Nobel Laureate Dr. Charles M. Rice at the Rockefeller University, he became an Investigator at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) working to develop host targeting antivirals to treat acute respiratory infections. Tim became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2015.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheahan and colleagues generated preclinical proof-of-principle data that remdesivir and molnupiravir were broadly active against the CoV family suggesting these antivirals could be employed to treat future emerging CoV. This work helped accelerate the clinical testing of these antivirals in early 2020. Sheahan is currently working to develop broad-spectrum inhibitors of emerging CoV and is also developing mouse models of chronic hepacivirus infection within which to study the effect of antiviral therapy on the development of liver disease and cancer.

Sheahan has been active in communicating the importance of antivirals during the pandemic on television and print media including a feature in GQ Magazine. Three new human CoV have emerged in the past 20 years. Thus, the development of broadly acting therapies for CoV will remain of focus of Dr. Sheahan’s research to be better prepared for tomorrow’s pandemics, today.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Café will be hosted at Haw River Tab & Table in Carrboro on Tuesday, October 3rd, starting at 6:00 p.m. with light appetizers available for all attendees.

Carolina Science Cafe is produced by Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and sponsored by the UNC Chapter of Sigma Xi.

You do not need to register…just show up!

Skywatching: Views from The Durham
2023-10-16 18:30 - 21:30 | The Durham Hotel, 315 E. Chapel Hill St, Durham, North Carolina, 27701, United States
Join us on the roof of The Durham Hotel for a series of telescopic stargazing nights. Stop by for guided constellation tours and educational activities, all while enjoying music from DJ Mic Check. Music begins at 6:30 pm and stargazing begins at 7:30 pm. This skywatching event is free and open to the public. All ages are welcome.

October Teen Science Cafe | Exploring the Future of Moon Travel
2023-10-20 17:30 - 19:00 | Morehead Planetarium Fulldome Theater, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Join us for our October Teen Science Cafe!

Please join us at Morehead Planetarium on Friday, October 20th for a very exciting Teen Science Cafe! We will be exploring astronomy and future of future of space travel to and from the moon with Morehead Planetarium’s Full Dome Show “Forward! To the Moon.” The right doors up the big stairs will open at 5:30 for pizza and conversation. The cafe will start at 6:00 and wrap up around 7:00.

Learn about NASA’s Artemis program and plans for the next trip to the Moon.

Kari Byron from Crash Test World and MythBusters launches us on a journey beyond the Earth towards a sustainable future in space. NASA’s 21st century Artemis program, named after the Greek moon Goddess and twin of Apollo, is the next step in our mission to explore the universe and land the first woman and person of color on the surface of the Moon.

Produced by Fiske Planetarium in collaboration with TEND Studio with funding from NASA SSERVI and Lockheed Martin.

Program Schedule

5:30 pm – Arrive and check in. We will gather inside the west, main entrance of Morehead.

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Pizza social. Pizza social will take place in our classrooms, located on the 2nd floor.

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Discussion & activities. Presentations will take place at the Full Dome Theater.

*Please Note: Depending on scheduled activities, the program may end between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Carolina Science Cafe | Why do men die 10 years before women?
2023-11-07 18:00 - 19:00 | Haw River Tap & Table, 300 E Main St C, Carrboro, NC, 27510, United States
Join us on the first Tuesday of every month for Carolina Science Cafe, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s free, current science awareness program. For this month, we will be joined by Dr. Marc Rogers to explore the stigma of men’s health during Movember to raise awareness for men’s health – specifically prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.

Designed for adults, this program explores the science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. Please note the Carolina Science Cafe has moved to a new location at Haw River Tap & Table in Carrboro.

Men on average die around 10 years younger compared to their female counterparts. In an effort to close this gap, we will discuss maintaining a man’s health as they age starting from their early 20s into late into their retirement years. Routine screenings for prostate cancer, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, elevated blood pressure, colon cancer and testicular cancer will be discussed along with more in depth information about erectile function, low testosterone, penile curvature (Peyronie’s disease), and male fertility concerns to help maintain quality of life.

About the Speaker:

Marc J. Rogers, M.D. is an associate professor in the Department of Urology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Healthcare in Chapel Hill, NC. He graduated with his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed his urology residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received his fellowship training in male infertility and sexual medicine at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Rogers is a member of the American Urological Association, Sexual Medicine Society of North America, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the Society for the Study of Male Reproduction.

Dr Rogers’ clinical interests include male infertility, vasectomy reversals, treatment of erectile dysfunction, Peyronie’s disease, including complex reconstruction techniques, hypogonadism, and male urinary incontinence. He is the author of multiple peer-reviewed articles and review articles and has presented research at national and international meetings. He is interested in promoting resident education and promoting an improved awareness of men’s health in the community.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Café will be hosted at Haw River Tab & Table in Carrboro on Tuesday, November 7th, starting at 6:00 p.m. with light appetizers available for all attendees.

Carolina Science Cafe is produced by Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and sponsored by the UNC Chapter of Sigma Xi.

You do not need to register…just show up!

Teen Science Cafe | Does warmer mean hungrier?
2023-11-17 17:30 - 19:00 | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Science Stage, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Join us for our November Teen Science Cafe!

Please join us at Morehead Planetarium on Friday, November 17th for a very exciting Teen Science Cafe! We will be joined by Esteban Agudo, a marine ecologist interested in how environmental characteristics (i.e. temperature, structural complexity) affect marine communities in a time of global change. Our guiding question will be “How is climate change affecting predation in marine communities?”

The western doors up the big stairs will open at 5:30 for pizza and conversation. The cafe will start at 6:00 and wrap up around 7:00.

Temperature affects every aspect of the biology of ectotherms (cold blooded animals). Through my research I study the effects of temperature changes on predation rates (e.g., how much an organism eats) of marine organisms including whelks, starfish, and reef fishes in the Galapagos Archipelago. As climate change is causing the ocean to get warmer, we need to know how temperature affects the interactions between species to better predict the future of marine communities.

About Esteban:

I was born in Caracas, Venezuela. While I was an undergrad majoring in Biology, I learned to scuba dive and found I could combine my passion for science and my passion for the ocean into a career. After finishing my undergrad, I went into graduate school and did my master also in my home country, studying the importance of corals as provider of shelter for reef fishes. Afterward I worked as lab manager in the same lab for a couple of years, where I spend most of my time traveling across the Venezuelan coast and islands studying the health status of coral reefs and helping students to develop their own projects. In 2019 I moved to North Carolina to start my PhD at UNC in the Bruno Lab where I had been studying the effect of temperature on interactions between species on reefs in the Galapagos.

Program Schedule

5:30 pm – Arrive and check in. We will gather inside the west, main entrance of Morehead.

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Pizza social. Pizza social will take place in our classrooms, located on the 2nd floor.

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Discussion & activities. Presentations will take place at the Full Dome Theater.

*Please Note: Depending on scheduled activities, the program may end between 7:00 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

Carolina Science Cafe | New Frontiers in Hydrology
2023-12-05 18:00 - 19:00 | Haw River Tap & Table, 300 E Main St C, Carrboro, NC, 27510, United States
NASA’s Surface Water and Ocean Topography Mission: A New Eye in the Sky for Earth’s Water

Join us on the first Tuesday of every month for Carolina Science Cafe, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s free, current science awareness program. For this month, we will be joined by Dr. Tamlin Pavelsky to discuss how his team is verifying data from a new NASA’s SWOT mission that is recording the first global survey of Earth’s water cycle with unprecedented accuracy.

Please note the Carolina Science Cafe will be moving to a new location at Haw River Tap & Table in Carrboro for the foreseeable future.

In December 2022, NASA and its international partners launched the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, a new satellite that uses radar to measure Earth’s rivers, lakes, and oceans. SWOT’s groundbreaking technology allows us to measure ocean currents, observe floods, and monitor water resources in ways that were previously impossible. In this talk, we will explore some of the first results from SWOT and what they might mean for our understanding of water on our planet.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Café will be hosted at Haw River Tab & Table in Carrboro on Tuesday, December 5th, starting at 6:00 p.m. with light appetizers available for all attendees.

About Tamlin:

Tamlin Pavelsky is a professor of global hydrology in the Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences Department at the University of North Carolina. He is also NASA’s Hydrology Science Lead for the recently launched SWOT satellite mission. Tamlin earned his BA in Geography from Middlebury College and a master’s and PhD, also in Geography, from UCLA. He uses satellite imagery, field measurements, and other tools to study the world’s rivers and lakes. Tamlin grew up outside of Fairbanks, Alaska in wood-heated cabins with no electricity or running water.

Carolina Science Cafe is produced by Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and sponsored by the UNC Chapter of Sigma Xi.

You do not need to register…just show up!

Noche de Estrellas | Stargazing Night at Peach Road
2023-12-08 18:00 - 20:00 | Peach Road Cultural Center, 911 Ileagnes Rd, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27603, United States
El viernes 8 de diciembre te invitamos a explorar el cielo nocturno con Noche de Estrellas, en colaboración con el Consulado de México en Raleigh, Morehead Planetarium Science Center, Red Global MX, Sigma XI, el Ayuntamiento de Raleigh, el Club de Astronomía de Raleigh y el Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Carolina del Norte.

Esta noche contará con recorridos estelares con expertos bilingües en astronomía, además de chocolate caliente y actividades científicas en el interior para niños. Tenga en cuenta que este evento gratuito depende del clima y podría estar sujeto a cancelación.

Friday, December 8, we invite you to explore the night sky with Noche de Estrellas, in collaboration with the Mexican Consulate in Raleigh, Morehead Planetarium Science Center, Red Global MX, Sigma XI, Raleigh City Hall, Raleigh Astronomy Club, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

This night will feature Star Tours with bilingual astronomy experts, as well as hot cocoa and indoor science activities for kids. Please note that this free event is weather-dependent and could be subject to cancellation.

Skywatching at Little River Regional Park
2023-12-13 20:00 - 22:00 | Little River Regional Park, 301 Little River Park Way, Rougemont, North Carolina, 27572, United States
Join us from 8 to 10 p.m. at Little River Regional Park on December 13! With the guidance of a Morehead educator and members of Chapel Hill Astronomy and Observing Society (CHAOS), you’ll have the chance to view the sky via telescope, engage in hands-on astronomy activities, and take a laser-guided “star tour” of the night sky. There may also be an opportunity to see meteors from the Geminid meteor shower.

When joining us at this free event, we ask that you leave pets at home and, if you plan to hang out, bring chairs or blankets. Please note that weather can affect this event. Stay up-to-date via social media.

Find additional resources and FAQs on our Stargazing page.

Genetics & Microbiology | December Teen Science Cafe
2023-12-15 17:30 - 19:00 | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Science Stage, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Please join us at Morehead Planetarium on Friday, December 15th for a very exciting Teen Science Cafe! We will be joined by Dr. Jack Keene, who has a long-term interest in the structure and function of viral and mammalian genomes. Having determined the first genomic sequences for rabies, Ebola, Marburg and vesicular stomatitis virus, and discerned the origins of defective interfering viruses, interests shifted to the cloning of six human genes involved in autoimmune reactivity. During this event we will be exploring studies with viruses, autoimmunity, and regulation of mRNAs.

The western doors up the big stairs will open at 5:30 for pizza and conversation. The cafe will start at 6:00 and wrap up around 7:00.

About Dr. Keene

Jack D. Keene is a James B. Duke Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University where he studies the regulation of RNA and the mechanisms of RNA-protein interactions. His work includes many accolades isolating the first human autoimmune antigen.

Jack’s father was a schoolteacher in mathematics who was one of the first to use computers for the military. His family moved to 10 different locations where he worked for the Air Force to set up computers. Thus, Jack became a scientist at 9 years old because he got to see so many interesting things with his father. Biology became his love at the University of California and University of Washington and trained at the NIH for 4 years and then became a faculty member of Duke University in 1979.

Program Schedule

5:30 pm – Arrive and check in. We will gather inside the west, main entrance of Morehead.

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Pizza social. Pizza social will take place in our classrooms, located on the 2nd floor.

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Discussion & activities. Presentations will take place at the Science Stage located on the 1st floor.

*Please Note: Depending on scheduled activities, the program may end between 7:00 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

Quantum Computing in Your Future | Carolina Science Cafe
2024-01-16 18:00 - 19:00 | Haw River Tap & Table, 300 E Main St C, Carrboro, NC, 27510, United States
Join us for our next instalment of the Carolina Science Cafe, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s free, current science awareness program. For this month, we will be joined by Dr. Dan Stancil from NC State to discuss the future of quantum computing. This event has been rescheduled due to previous inclement weather and will now take place on Tuesday, January 16th.

Please note the Carolina Science Cafe has moved to Haw River Tap & Table in Carrboro next to Cat’s Cradle.

Refrigeration coils keep the quantum computer at sub zero temperatures. IBM Q Dilution Refrigerator (Credit: Graham Carlow)

Quantum Computing is an approach that uses the unusual quantum mechanical properties of the microscopic world to potentially solve computational problems that have never before been feasible, and to significantly accelerate others.

The talk will include an introduction to quantum computing, global trends and an anticipated technology timeline, and an overview of some promising application areas. An overview will also be given of the IBM Quantum Innovation Center at NC State and its activities.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Café will be hosted at Haw River Tab & Table in Carrboro on Tuesday, January 16th, starting at 6:00 p.m. with light appetizers available for all attendees.

About Dan:

Daniel D. Stancil is the Alcoa Distinguished Professor and Executive Director of the IBM Quantum Innovation Center at NC State. His early interest in radios and electronics launched an engineering career that has been–and continues to be–fun and rewarding. Along the way he picked up engineering degrees from Tennessee Tech (B.S.E.E.) and MIT (M.S., E.E. and Ph.D.). He has spent many years as a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at both Carnegie Mellon University and NC State. He was Head of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at North Carolina State University from 2009-2023.

Carolina Science Cafe is produced by Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and sponsored by the UNC Chapter of Sigma Xi.

You do not need to register…just show up!

Teen Science Cafe | Water Quality
2024-01-19 17:30 - 19:00 | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Science Stage, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
Protecting underserved populations from lead and toxic metals in drinking-water.

Please join us at Morehead Planetarium on Friday, January 19th for a very exciting Teen Science Cafe! For this month we will be joined by Dr. Michael Fisher from the UNC Water Institute to dive into the topic of water quality and community science.

The western doors up the big stairs will open at 5:30 for pizza and conversation. The cafe will start at 6:00 and wrap up around 7:00.

Lead is a potent neurotoxin that harms human health with disproportionate impacts on infants, developing fetuses, and vulnerable populations. As lead in gasoline, paint, and food has been progressively brought under greater control in recent decades, water remains an increasingly important exposure route.

This route is particularly important in private wells in the US, as well as in a variety of water system types in many low- and middle-income country settings worldwide. Recent work by researchers at UNC and their collaborators seeks to generate evidence to inform progress on lead-free drinking water in the US and worldwide, in alignment with 2030 sustainable development goals.

Meet Our Speaker

Dr. Fisher develops, evaluates, and applies technologies and methods for addressing under-recognized health concerns in water and sanitation, both in the US and internationally. This work focuses on three areas: 1) monitoring and evaluation of water and sanitation processes, infrastructure, and service delivery; 2) improving water and wastewater treatment; and 3) applications of implementation science and quality improvement methods to improving the performance of water and sanitation systems.

Program Schedule

5:30 pm – Arrive and check in. We will gather inside the west, main entrance of Morehead.

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Pizza social. Pizza social will take place in our classrooms, located on the 2nd floor.

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Discussion & activities. Presentations will take place at the Science Stage located on the 1st floor.

*Please Note: Depending on scheduled activities, the program may end between 7:00 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.
