Breyton Hill attends Brain Night at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. As she explores, she talks to researchers, volunteers, and community members all attending or tabling for Brain Night. Chris Smith, the museum's Coordinator of Current Science Programs explains more about what Brain Night is. The 2026 keynote speaker was Dr. Christa Baker and her postdoc, Dr. Alexandra Venuto, talks about their research in fruit flies. Attendee Zachary Henderson visited their table and shares what he learned. NC State University researcher Dr. Kurt Marsden shares about his work studying zebrafish and how they are surprisingly genetically similar to humans. Dr. John Meitzen's table always has real human brain specimens for visitors to hold. Julia Janosko shares how humbling it is to hold what was someone's consciousness in the palm of your hand. Emily Philips and Ranganath Gopalraj talk about the Neuroscience Club at NC State and how Brain Night is "their Super Bowl." Once again, Chris Smith leaves us with his favorite part of Brain Night: holding a real human brain and nerding out with experts.
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