Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

Carolina Science Cafe: Balancing Act
2025-11-04 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York)
Balancing Act: The Science of Pain, Fatigue, and Falls in Aging

Now is the time for innovation in our efforts to engineer solutions to help people age gracefully – from preserving independence and enhancing community accessibility to preventing falls. In this talk, Dr. Jason Franz, a professor of biomedical engineering, will summarize the latest in the UNC Applied Biomechanics Laboratory’s use of principles from neural control, biomechanics, wearable sensing, and rehabilitation robotics to solve one of our society’s grand challenges.

Designed for adults, Carolina Science Cafe is a free program that explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the work. This special program is hosted at Haw River Tap & Table in Carrboro on the first Tuesday of every month. Light appetizers are available for all attendees.

About the Speaker

Dr. Jason Franz (he/him) received his B.S. (2004) and M.S. (2006) degrees in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech and, after serving as a staff scientist in PM&R at the University of Virginia, received his Ph.D. (2012) in Integrative Physiology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He then completed an NIH Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2015, Dr. Franz joined the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University and is now a Full Professor and Director of the UNC Applied Biomechanics Laboratory.

Dr. Franz’s research takes a mechanisms-based approach in rehabilitation engineering to develop solutions to help people age gracefully. He is the author of over 150 publications and currently serves as Principal Investigator on multiple NIH-funded research projects, all predominantly focused on rehabilitation engineering strategies to mitigate age- and disease-related mobility impairment and falls risk. He also serves as Faculty Director for Postdoctoral Success, where he supports the success, recruitment, and workforce development of postdoctoral trainees across the UNC School of Medicine.

View Dr. Franz’s Work

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!

From Earth to the Universe
2025-11-07 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-11-14 15:00 - 16:00

Carolina Skies
2025-11-07 16:30 - 17:30, 2025-11-08 16:30 - 17:30, 2025-11-14 16:30 - 17:30, 2025-11-15 16:30 - 17:30

Astronomy Workshop - Basic Training
2025-11-07 18:00 - 21:00

Magic Tree House Space Mission
2025-11-08 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-11-15 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-11-22 10:30 - 11:30

Astronaut
2025-11-08 12:00 - 13:00

Mars: The Ultimate Voyage
2025-11-08 13:30 - 14:30, 2025-11-15 13:30 - 14:30, 2025-11-22 13:30 - 14:30

Messengers of Time & Space
2025-11-08 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-11-15 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-11-22 15:00 - 16:00

We Are Stars
2025-11-09 13:30 - 14:30, 2025-11-16 13:30 - 14:30

Supermassive Black Holes
2025-11-09 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-11-16 15:00 - 16:00

One Sky, Many Eyes
2025-11-09 16:30 - 17:30, 2025-11-16 16:30 - 17:30

Storytelling Under The Stars
2025-11-09 18:00 - 19:00

Cielos del Sur: Historias de América Latina | Southern Skies: Stories from Latin America
2025-11-15 12:00 - 13:00

Meteor Mixer
2025-11-15 20:00 - 23:00 | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27516, United States
Dance under the stars!

On Saturday, November 15, join us for an out-of-this-world night of dancing in our fulldome theater. With a DJ spinning a stellar lineup of music, hors d’oeuvres, and a selection of beer and wine, the Meteor Mixer is the perfect time to experience Morehead like never before.

Leave the kids at home. This event is for adults 21+!

Purchase tickets

What’s Included

Access to Morehead’s exhibits, Launch Lab, and fulldome theater dance party

Hors d’oeuvres and non-alcoholic beverages

Two drink tickets (selection of beer and wine)

Pricing/Discounts

Early Bird discount: $25 (available until October 20, 2025)

The discount will appear once tickets are added to your cart.

Regular ticket price: $30 (after October 20, 2025)

Member price: $25

Food and drinks are available from 8 pm – 10 pm. Dancing in the dome is from 9 pm – 11 pm.

This is a 21+ event. No one under the age of 21 will be allowed into the event. IDs will be verified.

Purchase tickets

Teen Science Cafe: Exoplanet Watch
2025-11-21 18:00 - 19:30 | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, 250 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27516, United States
Exoplanet Watch with Yashasree Gadipalli

Please join us at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center for November’s Teen Science Cafe! This month, we welcome Yashasree Gadipalli, who will be sharing her work as a citizen scientist with NASA’s Exoplanet Watch project, which uses telescope data to scan for planets outside our solar system.

Open to teens ages 13-18, our monthly cafes include exciting activities, engaging talks from expert speakers, and even free food! Plus, we cover a variety of different topics, ranging from cell biology to deep space galaxies, making it a one-of-a-kind spot for high school students to explore new ideas, interact with each other, and have fun!

Doors will open at 6:00 pm for pizza and conversation. The cafe will start at 6:30 pm and wrap up around 7:30 pm.

Learn more about Teen Science Cafe

About Yashasree

Yashasree Gadipalli is a first-year student at UNC-Chapel Hill studying Astronomy and Data Science. As a participant in Exoplanet Watch, she uses NASA’s EXOTIC software to research the exoplanet TrES-3b and is developing a citizen science program to help students explore and contribute to ongoing astronomy research. As an intern for Cisco, she explored the intersection of AI and data science, which she now applies to her astronomy work. As an affiliate of the World Children’s Parliament, Yashasree is dedicated to making science more accessible to young minds.

Program Schedule

6:00 pm: Arrive and check in. We will gather inside the west, main entrance of Morehead.

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

6:30 pm – 7:30 pm: Discussion & activities. Trivia will take place in the Science Stage.

Please Note: Depending on scheduled activities, the program may end between 7:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.

Skywatching at Little River Regional Park
2025-11-21 18:00 - 20:00 | Little River Regional Park, 301 Little River Park Way, Rougemont, North Carolina, 27572, United States
Join Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and Chapel Hill Astronomical and Observational Society (CHAOS) for skywatching at Little River Regional Park! On this night, we’ll be focusing on Saturn’s nearly edge-on rings.

This is an informal session, so you can arrive and leave at any time during the program. However, if you plan to attend, we suggest bringing a blanket or chairs and some snacks so you can relax under the stars.

We ask that you leave all pets at home, even those on a leash. Darkness, lots of people, expensive telescopes, and pets are a bad combination. Pets will not be permitted near the telescopes.

Please note that this event is weather-dependent. In the event of a cancellation, we will provide updates on our website and social media.

Have more questions about skywatching? Visit our FAQs page!

Skywatching FAQs

Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis
2025-11-22 12:00 - 13:00
