In Search of Awe through Science, Technology and Nature [] Rotary Club Presentation

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YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/2NQ5–6dcVU

By Chris McCaskill

Every Tuesday morning, a group of people dedicated to the pursuit of awe join together to observe  the cosmos on an observational, empirical level.  What draws them back week after week?  The “I didn’t know that” phenomenon.

Many of us have sought out new forms of entertainment and intellectual stimulation since the pandemic and many of SMA’s intellectually curious have discovered the weekly SciTechNature group.  If scheduling conflicts prevent me from tuning into the Tuesday morning ZOOM meeting, I delight in perusing the various YOU TUBE and other media links that this group sends me along with the meeting announcement. And this group also hosts an SMA SciTechNature page on Facebook. The diversity in topics can be attributed to the active participation of its members, many of whom share their research with their fellow members.

As an example of the diverse topics one can explore, by checking out a couple recent e-mail notices, I I found You Tube or other media links for:

 “Why Billions of Cicadas Are About to Emerge After 17 Years;”

“The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks”

“Experimenter Uses CRISPR to Edit Genes While They are Still Inside a Person’s Body: Shots”

“Remains of Nine Neanderthals Discovered Near Rome”; and

“What Doomed A Sprawling City Near St. Louis 1,000 Years Ago”

In this program, our speaker, Stephen Goodfellow, gave our audience a sampling of the information shared in his weekly groups. Goodfellow was born in Southhampton, England and, in addition to living in East End London, has lived in Nigeria, Denmark, Michigan and Mexico.  He’s definitely putting the right and left-brain functions to excellent use as he’s a full-time fine artist, a music composer and a peruser of science, nature and technology.  “I have a decades long interest in physics plasma and its interaction in the cosmos,” Goodfellow says.   Goodfellow uses his savvy use of technology to pull together high-quality programming.  He turns what many might consider “nerdy” material if presented in a textbook into highly visual and entertaining showmanship.

Rotary is where neighbors, friends and problem-solvers share ideas, join leaders and take action to create lasting change. For more information, contact President Skip Essick at skipessickmedia@gmail.com.