This will be the last Science Cafe` before summer break. The event will return again in the fall.
Topic: Calcium use by bones in microgravity
Speaker: BSU’s Microgravity Research Team: Reilly Clark, Marie Tharp, Matthew Dolan, Lindsey Catlin, Landon Nye, Jason Archer, David Connolly and Travis Baker
Overview: Boise State University’s Microgravity Research Team is an interdisciplinary team of students that are developing an experiment to fly on NASA’s “Weightless Wonder” airplane. Bringing together the fields of Biology and Engineering, we want to figure out how to help astronauts in space. Did you know that if they are in space too long their bones get weak? We want to stop that! By comparing what bone cells do in hyper- and microgravity, we will learn more about how cells use calcium during periods of stress. This research will be used to help prevent bone loss in astronauts and in patients with osteoporosis.
Speaker’s Website: BSU Microgravity 2012
Location: Boiler Room of Bardenay, 610 Grove Street, Boise.
Cost: Free