“Sci Pop Talks! Where Science Intersects Pop Culture” Talk Series Begins Feb. 26

Starting February 26, 2014, Zombie, vampires, and scifi geeks need to go on the alert -- the UNL Libraries start a new talk series, “Sci Pop Talks! Where Science Intersects Pop Culture. Held every Wednesday night at 7:00 pm in Love Library’s Mezzanine Study Room (201), the talks will explore the science within some of our favorite icons of popular culture. Each talk will be given by science faculty from UNL and Doane College. All talks in the series are free and open to the public. Popcorn will be included!
Some of the talks examine how to survive a zombie apocalypse by using chemistry, how to apply game theory to the decisions made by Walter White from the show, “Breaking Bad” and decoding the interview with a vampire from Anne Rice’s famous series of novels. An online guide has been set up with reading lists to go with each talk along with the full-schedule at: http://unl.libguides.com/scipoptalks
Popular TV shows like, “The Walking Dead,” have increased the interest in zombies while the last Harry Potter book sold 8.3 million copies during the first twenty-four hours in America alone. The finale of Breaking Bad was viewed by 10.3 million people.
Follow the Libraries announcements about this talk series on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag: #SciPopTalks.
The complete schedule of “Sci Pop Talks! Where Science Intersect Pop Culture” is as follows:

Feb 26 The Story of Chocolate: Nutrition & Sensory Qualities - Prof. Marilynn Schnepf, UNL

Mar 5 Chemistry to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse- Dr. Raychelle Burks, Doane College

Mar 12 Alien Biochemistry in the Movies - Prof. Mark Griep, UNL

Mar 19 Making 'Inception' Real - Prof. Ramesh Laungani, Doane College

April 2 Discovering the Hidden Truth: Forensics - Prof. Ashley Hall, UNL

April 9 Book 8: Harry Potter and the Magic of Science - Prof. Rebecca Y Lai, UNL

April 16 Game Theory and Breaking Bad - Prof. Kristopher Williams, Doane College

April 23 Interview with the Vampire - Decoded by Scientists - Prof. Rebecca Y Lai, UNL

Where: Love Library, Mezzanine Study Room (201 LS), 13 & R Streets, UNL City Campus
When: 7:00 pm, Wednesday nights
Sponsored by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries, UNL Chemistry Department and Doane College