Café Inquiry Grand Rapids – Top Science Stories/Advances of 2023 – IN PERSON

1005 Giddings Ave S.E.- Grand Rapids

It’s 2024! In case you hadn’t noticed. Which means a lot of things, good and bad, but mainly means it’s time once again to look back at 2023 and some of the most important stories/advances in the world of science, curated for you by us here at Café Inquiry! And we’d love to have you share your favorite science stories of 2023! When we’ve done this topic in the past we’ve had a lot of great discussion and usually run out of time before we run out of things to talk about. Even more so than usual. Here are a few background articles for items we’ll be discussing: This article from Yale Medicine looks at two new gene therapies for sickle cell disease. Steven Novella posts this article on the Science Based Medicine website about new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. There was a lot of news about artificial intelligence this past year. Here’s an article about using Chat GPT to answer medical questions. Finally, this piece about using AI to communicate with a patient with “locked-in” syndrome. Join us for a fun and informative discussion! The even bigger news is that we’re meeting IN PERSON again, after a month’s hiatus, in our NEW VENUE – the new Institute for Global Education offices inside East Church at 1005 Giddings Ave S.E. in Grand Rapids! There should be parking available either in the church lot or on the street. You can enter either through the parking lot door or the door to the church office. We’ll have signs and people posted to help you find your way. There might be a bit of a learning curve, but please bear with us as we make this transition.

Café Inquiry starts with a short introduction of the day’s topic, followed by casual discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations appreciated, but not expected.

Attendees are able to future propose topics which would align with Michigan Humanist’s purpose: from atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, and freethinking to broader subjects in science and humanities, such as religion, philosophy, social issues, politics, evolution, morality, ethics, and psychology.

Café Inquiry (Grand Rapids) meets in person each month on the second Sunday and online on the fourth Sunday.

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Michigan Humanists values the participation of all guests — requests for reasonable accommodation may be made by contacting the event host at least three days prior to the event.

Michigan Humanists expects all guests to engage in respectful discussion. Critiques on views and claims based on merit are allowed, but not attacks on individuals who hold other perspectives.

Any person engaging in disruptive behavior or harassment will be asked to leave, and may be banned from future events pending the severity of the action. Please speak to the event host or contact info@michiganhumanists.org if you feel these expectations are being violated.