Tuesday, March 22, 2016

April 9 - Technical Studies of Cultural Heritage: The Artist as Alchemist

Presented by
Lynn Brostoff, PhD
Preservation Directorate
Library of Congress


Lynn Brostoff, PhD, a conservation scientist in the Preservation Directorate at the Library of Congress, will discuss the analysis of museum collections and the alchemical origin of many
artists’ materials.

Lynn Brostoff received a master’s degree in polymer materials science from the University of Cincinnati and master’s in art history (and certificate in conservation) from New York University. She also holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She has worked at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Conservation Institute and the National Gallery of Art.





Saturday, April 9, 2016
2:00 pm (Note special start time)
Bethesda Regional Library
7400 Arlington Rd
Bethesda, MD


FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

For more information, call the 24-hour Skeptic Line at 240-670-NCAS (6227).

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Shadow of a Doubt - March 2016

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics
    • March 19 Lecture: Reproducibility of Scientific Findings: Barriers and Solutions presented by April Clyburne-Sherin, MSc
    • NCAS Lecture
    • Save the date: May 3 - Philip J. Klass Award dinner
    • Concept Presented in NCAS Lecture Wins Awards at High-Level US Government Briefing
    • NCAS Elections
    • Amazon Smile: Contribute to NCAS at no cost to you
    • Shadow Light
    • Drinking Skeptically on hiatus
      NCAS Public Lecture Series

      March 19, 2016 - 1:30pm - 4:00pm

      Reproducibility of Scientific Findings:
      Barriers and Solutions
      April Clyburne-Sherin, MSc
      Reproducible Research Evangelist
      Center for Open Science

      NEW LOCATION
      Chevy Chase Library
      Downstairs Meeting Room
      8005 Connecticut Ave
      Chevy Chase, MD
      FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members



      Science is a systematic method for accumulating knowledge with the reproducibility of a scientific finding as the highest standard of evaluating scientific evidence. Scientists do not work in isolation but build upon the research of others to incrementally advance human knowledge. However, attempts to reproduce published scientific findings are failing at high rates across many scientific disciplines. Individual scientists now must face two questions: (1) are my findings reproducible?; and (2) do I really know what I thought I knew based on the published findings in my field? The scientific community has to face two larger questions: (1) what is going on?;  (2) how do we fix it?