Science always on the menu

An informal Annapolis group is upholding an age-old tradition - sitting around a coffeehouse and talking about science.

The group, the Annapolis Cafe Scientifique, began meeting two years ago, in September 2007, and follows in the footsteps of similar science and philosophical discussion groups that sprang up in England and France in the 1990s.

Just about any science topic is up for discussion at the Annapolis group's gatherings, with recent conversations ranging from astrophysics to the effect of trash dumps on the environment. Earlier conversations focused on tick-borne diseases and why sea ice is disappearing.

One...