Café Scientifique

Café Scientifique: Feathered Ghosts: The Fish-Eating Owls of Northeast Asia

Café Scientifique: Feathered Ghosts: The Fish-Eating Owls of Northeast Asia

When winning the signature Café Scientifique trivia questions consists of wild guesses, you know it’s going to be a good topic.  Fish-eating owls of Northeast Asia is a subject most know nothing about.  You know who does?  Dr. Jonathan C. Slaght.  Dr. Slaght is a conservation biologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Russia Program as well as one of the leading experts on a rare raptor, the Blakiston’s fish-eating owl.

Café Scientifique: Earth 2.0: Habitable Exoplanets?

Café Scientifique: Earth 2.0: Habitable Exoplanets?

 “What do you call a gas giant orbiting a star closer than the earth orbits our sun?”  I raise my hand in a perfect imitation of Hermione.  “A hot jupiter!”  My correct answer is rewarded with a specimen from the curator’s drawer and a print out of old-school light readings from a distant star.  Swoon.  Café Scientifique gets me.