Its not too often you find 180 scientists gathered in one place, outside of a conference that is. But tonight, scientists from the New York area joined in celebration of the Nature Network New York hub. Aside from scientists, the crowd consisted of various members of the nature staff, local recruiters, and science bloggers from around the city.

The keynote speaker at the event was none other than Nobel laureate Richard Axel, a New York born and educated scientist. Axel spoke on life as a scientist in New York City. He began his speech by citing the tale of Prometheus, which ultimately lead to the opening of Pandora’s jar (often incorrectly translated as box). The legend goes that Pandora opened the jar (despite warnings not to) because of her intense curiosity. Even though this unleashed evils and diseases on mankind, it also gave them hope (which lay at the bottom of the jar). Axel attributed Pandora’s curiosity for knowledge and the hope revealed by opening the jar to the driving force behind scientific research. Particularly in New York science community, this hunger for knowledge is not feared; rather, it is embraced. This is what makes New York such as special place to be a scientist.

Richard Axel speaks about being a scientist in New York.

After a short Q&A session with Axel, party-goers spent the rest of the evening enjoying dinner and drinks, while connecting with other area scientists. All in all, the party was a great success, which we hope will continue at other hub meetups in the future (coordinated with the help of the happy hour guru, Noah). So, if you enjoyed you time tonight, keep your eyes peeled for future New York hub events. They are sure to be a blast.

Local scientists enjoy the party.

Many thanks to Corie (in the center, pictured with Barry and myself) for organizing the event!