“Why can’t we do this every weekend?” asked Leighann Lord, comedian and sometime cohost of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s StarTalk Radio podcast, as she opened the first day of lectures at the ninth annual Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS). It was Lord’s first emcee gig for NECSS and the meeting’s first time at midtown Manhattan’s Hotel Pennsylvania thanks to a fire that scorched the usual rooms at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) just days before the conference was to begin. But not even an “act of God” could keep a full day of science-based medicine talks from kicking things off on Friday, June 30.
Skeptics came out in full force for NECSS 2017. Left: Leighann Lord lent her comic talent to emcee the event. Middle: Steven Novella and Britt Marie Hermes sat on the “Is Science-Based Medicine Successful?” panel. Right: James Randi amazed yet another skeptical audience.
NECSS is produced by the New York City Skeptics and the New Eng land Skeptical Society. The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe and The Society for Science-Based Medicine are also major sponsors.