Orlando science cafes serve sips of learning

First there were philosophy cafes and now there are science cafes. They have sprouted in almost every US state including a tapas restaurant near downtown Orlando, in Florida, where Sean Walsh, 27, a graphic designer, describes himself and his friends as some of the laymen in the crowd.

"We just want to learn and whatever we take in, we take in. But we're also socialising and having a nice time," said Walsh, who a drank beer, ate Tater Tots and learned about asteroids and radiation at two recent events.

Others in the crowd come with scientific credentials to hear particular scientists lecture on a narrowly focused field of interest.

But the typical participant brought at least some college-level education or at least a lively curiosity, said Edward Haddad, executive director of the Florida Academy of Sciences, which helped start up Orlando's original cafe and organises the events. "You're going to engage the [National Public Radio] crowd very easily here," said Linda Walters, a marine conservation biologist from the University of Central Florida who has lectured twice at the Orlando science cafes.

Haddad said the national push to increase the number of US graduates in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fields, is driving up the number of science cafes.

In Orlando, an Orange County STEM Council consisting of business, government and educational leaders recently asked Haddad to help two parties launch new science cafes in the library and in a large new town development.

The US science cafe movement grew out of Cafe Scientifique in Britain. The first Cafe Scientifique popped up in Leeds in 1998 as a regular event where interested parties could participate in informal forums on the latest in science and technology. Held in pubs and restaurants, the Cafe Scientifique would start as a short lecture, followed by a brief break to refill glasses, and then an open discussion.