Science Cafe – From Fallen Stars to Media Stars

Flandrau: The UA Science Center is holding its next “Science Café” at Cushing Street Bar & Restaurant in downtown Tucson on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 6:00 pm. A science café is a casual forum for people to meet and discuss a particular science topic with a scientist in the relaxed atmosphere of a local restaurant.

For millions of years meteorites have slammed into the earth’s surface, each one carrying an invaluable record of the very beginnings of the solar system. But finding meteorites, some buried over centuries by thick layers of dirt and sediment, is no easy task. That was until Geoffrey Notkin and his partner, Steve Arnold, got together. Last May, in a pilot episode of METEORITE MEN that aired on Science Channel, they found a number of very large pallasite specimens at the Brenham strewnfield in Kiowa County, Kansas that looked interesting. Pallasites are stony-iron meteorites that are rich in beautiful olivine crystals (the gemstone peridot). Steve and Geoffrey were not very surprised to learn that they had found real meteorites!

On Tuesday, January 12th, Geoffrey Notkin, meteorite hunter and co-host of METEORITE MEN on the Science Channel will give a short talk entitled, “From Fallen Stars to Media Stars: Meteorite Hunters Investigate the Science of Rocks from Space.” With his unique blend of adventure, science, and humor, Geoffrey’s presentation will focus on his use of inventive, cutting-edge technologies to detect these treasures from space. He’ll also give us an inside look at what to expect in the upcoming season of METEORITE MEN.

For the new season of METEORITE MEN, viewers will join Notkin and Arnold on a quest to find answers to The Tucson Ring mystery – one of the most intriguing anomalies in the meteorite world. The METEORITE MEN will also search outside of Odessa, Texas for a massive, 65,000 year-old meteorite buried deep in the ground, and scour West Texas for tiny pieces of the Ash
Creek meteorite, that caught the public’s attention when it streaked across the sky on February 15, 2009. The new season premieres January 20 on Science Channel and Science Channel HD.

About Geoffrey Notkin
Geoffrey Notkin is a professional meteorite hunter, science writer and photographer. He has traveled to more than 40 countries and some of the world’s most remote locations including Chile’s Atacama Desert, Iceland, England, Mexico and the Middle East in search of elusive and valuable space rocks. He has authored more than 100 published articles on meteoritics, paleontology, adventure travel, history and the arts and is currently at work on a memoir about his life as a meteorite hunter. He writes a daily science column for TucsonCitizen.com and is the author of Meteorwritings on Geology.com. Geoffrey’s company, Aerolite Meteorites, is a featured vendor at the annual Tucson gem and mineral shows and exhibits at the Tucson Hotel City Center (InnSuites) from January 30 through February 13.

Seating is limited so please arrive early. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.

For more information about Geoffrey Notkin and Meteorite Men, go to:
http://www.meteoritemen.com

Follow Meteorite Men on Twitter at: @meteoritemen

See us on facebook: www.facebook.com/uasciencecenter or you’re welcome to
join the conversation on Twitter – username: @FlandrauAZ

Cushing Street Bar & Restaurant is located on the corner of Cushing Street & Meyer Avenue in Downtown Tucson, across the street from the Convention Center. Complimentary, lighted, on-site parking is available on the east side of the restaurant.

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CONTACT:
Jennifer Fields, Associate Director for Education
Flandrau: The UA Science Center, 1601 E University Blvd
Tucson, AZ 85721-0091
520-626-1032
fieldsj@email.arizona.edu