A February tradition at UNL is the annual Sci-Pop talks. These talks take place at 7:00 pm on Wednesday nights starting on the 7th of February. They last through March, skipping Valentine’s Day, and offer a wide range of information. The talks are a wonderful way to get to know more about the world around you and are the fun science lectures you wish you had. Mixing pop culture and science has never been so entertaining!
Sci-Pop talks last one hour and follow a lecture like structure, though some presenters have more interactive talks. The presenters are professors on campus who give you an insight into the more mainstream and understandable applications of their research. You also get free popcorn! Sci-Pop talks offer students and the community a chance to learn in an enjoyable environment. This year’s topics include the history of chocolate, drugs in movies, physics of the flash, gender bias and personal mindset of a scientist, and Harry Potter x Science. These will be held on February 7th, 21st, 28th, and March 7th and 14th respectively.
Previous years had talks about real-life fantastic beasts, based off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, as well as Comic Book physics, exploring physics concepts that could prove fantastical ideas in comic books to be possible. I greatly enjoyed my time at the Sci Pop talks last year. They allow you to make connections between things you never thought possible and expand your mind. As a student who does research, seeing new ways to apply concepts or learn about how advancements in science have influenced pop culture reignites that fire to explore and discover. I cannot fully express how neat these talks are. If you’re a UNL student, go check them out!
If you aren’t or can’t make it, fear not. Sci-pop talks have their own website with videos similar to their talks and power points of previous talks. Visit https://unl.libguides.com/c.php?g=51789&p=334412 for more information on the talks and access the cool features they have.