Unlike some of my esteemed peers on Grinding, I am not a scientist. At best, I am a shy-entist, eager to learn and listen, but untrained and slightly scared of speaking with science-types lest I show my soft, pink humanities belly.

But I think I might have found an antidote for it in a random find: Cafe Scientifique

Cafe Scientifique is a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Meetings have taken place in cafes, bars, restaurants and even theatres, but always outside a traditional academic context.

The first Cafes Scientifiques in the UK were held in Leeds in 1998. From there, cafes gradually spread across the country. Currently, some forty or so cafes meetregularly to hear scientists or writers on science talk about their work and discuss it with diverse audiences.

Cafe Scientifique is a forum for debating science issues, not a shop window for science. We are committed to promoting public engagement with science and to making science accountable.

I know for a fact there’s one near myself and m1k3y, so I might drag him along to see if we can scope out the action. There’s a handy map here if you want to find your own and debate the living shit out of people.

And here is an old Guardian article about the Dana Cafe in London, which gives a very media-sparkle version of what goes on in one of these cafes.