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Profs & Pints: Lessons from Dead Sheep

Profs and Pints presents: "Lessons from Dead Sheep," a discussion of public perceptions of science with Dr. Adam Ruben, molecular biologist, comedian, and host of the Science Channel's Outrageous Acts of Science.

In February 1997, Scottish scientists announced the birth of the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, a sheep named Dolly. As with any scientific breakthrough, some members of the public celebrated her birth, while others felt we had crossed a line into a brave new world, with military-grade human clones just around the corner.

While many valid objections to human cloning exist, much of the public's fear of Dolly was based on a fundamental, science-fictional misunderstanding of cloning. This perception gap thwarts many branches of science, since a correct understanding of technology is not a prerequisite for forming an opinion about it.

Come hear the hilarious Dr. Adam Ruben discuss what controversies over experiments and research findings tell us about how the public views science and scientists. Using Dolly as a lens, he'll describe failures and successes of science perception. He'll discuss the archetype of the "mad scientist" and how we can use open communication to teach children that scientists do not all fit the stereotype of the insane, white-haired chemist holding an Erlenmeyer flask of bubbling green fluid.

You might leave thinking that a lot of experimentation you had feared really isn't all that baaaaaaaaad.