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Our second Nerd Nite-A-Thon (Virtual) will be Tuesday April 14, 2020 starting at 7pm EDT / 4pm PDT. Watch/view at http://www.facebook.com/nerdnite
Enjoy seven of our favorite presentations from across North America and one from our pals in Melbourne (it’ll be Wednesday afternoon for them…the International Date Line is weird). Enjoy drinking and learning from the comfort of your PJs. We’ll toast you while online. The in-progress line-up:

7pm-7:30pm EDT (Nerd Nite St. Petersburg, FL): Loose Lips Sink Ships (And Try not to Get Syphilis): When Altruism Meets Artillery by Linsey Grove

Description: We explore the historic role propaganda played in public health communication and ask if the ends justify the means. What happens when public health messaging goes from lithograph to meme?

Bio: Linsey Grove, DrPH, CPH, CHES is a sex education researcher working at the University of South Florida St Petersburg as a visiting instructor and program coordinator for the Health Sciences degree. She is also the president of the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area and co-host of the public health podcast, Viral. Dr. Grove co-chairs the Empowering Pinellas Youth Collaborative, a community-driven initiative that supports comprehensive sex education in Pinellas Schools.

7:30pm-8pm EDT (Nerd Nite Orlando): So…You Want To Get The Gell Off This Planet? by Derek Demeter

Description: Climate change, pandemics, war, a horrible president. All good reasons to blast off into space and find a new home to live on. But is it really that simple? Join the Emil Buehler Planetarium director Derek Demeter as we take a look at the reality of finding a new home in the cosmos.

Bio: Derek Demeter began working at the Emil Buehler Planetarium at Seminole State College of Florida in 2003. In 2007, Mr. Demeter became the Planetarium Director and immediately began the process of writing and producing shows for the Planetarium. Since then, his passion for teaching people about the wonders of the universe has earned him many accolades and world-wide recognition. Derek recently served as president of the Southeastern Planetarium Association. Derek enjoys promoting science beyond the Planetarium with his work as an astrophotographer and has been featured in NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, Astronomy Magazine, and other publications.

8pm-8:30pm EDT / 7pm CDT (Nerd Nite Madison): Magnificent Mangroves: Adaptations, Biodiversity, and Outlook by Tyler Wintermute

Description: From their unique adaptations to their benefits to biodiversity, mangroves are marvels of estuarine ecosystems. With a global distribution, these plants are ubiquitous in the tropics, but unfortunately, they face many threats that should be concerning to the denizens of the 43rd parallel north (and the rest of the world). So bundle (your vascular tissues) up, prop (root) yourself in a chair, and join us as we absorb the waves of mangrove knowledge!

Presenter Bio: A native of Northern Virginia, Tyler is a first-year graduate student in the Department of Botany at UW-Madison, and while his true passion are the trees of the people (Populus species, a.k.a. cottonwoods, aspens, and poplars) and their chemical ecology, he is fascinated and inspired by the life history of mangroves and their benefits to other biota. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring swamps, watching sports, and playing board-games. And taking care of plants. Lots of plants.

8:30pm-9pm EDT / 7:30pm CDT (Nerd Nite Lawrence)

9pm-9:30pm EDT / 8pm CDT (Nerd Nite Austin): Marvel Underground: What Disney Doesn’t Know it Owns by Kevin Garcia

Description: The Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought superheroes into the mainstream, but few (even few at Disney) know how many strange and obscure properties were part of Marvel. Did you know Marvel made stag magazines? Or drug-fueled underground comix? Or that they bought companies that bought companies that bought companies meaning Disney technically owns the Men in Black?

Bio: Kevin Garcia is a certified educator and professional writer whose work has appeared in the Associated Press and Marvel Comics. He gives a variety of workshops, moderates panels, and teaches journalism and graphic design at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin. His work can be found at www.KevinGarcia.com or www.Monomythic.com.

9:30pm-10pm EDT / 7:30pm MDT (Nerd Nite Calgary)

10pm-10:30pm EDT / 7pm PDT (Nerd Nite North Vancouver): Teaching Science Virtually (Taught Virtually) by Kurtis Baute

Description: Kurtis will talk about some of the his bigger projects, including the time he spent 24 hours not touching plastic. This talk is intended to be a full-on crash course in making fun and engaging science videos!

Bio: Kurtis is an Inventor, Scientist and YouTuber, who makes videos about science and the environment and he thinks that in order to take on big issues like climate change, the world needs to be more science literate, so he does things like seal himself in a DIY bio-dome to talk about how we interact with the atmosphere, measure the earth with just his bike and two sticks, or goes zero waste in just 90 days!  Kurtis recently decided to move from Youtube videos to making documentary films.

10:30pm-11pm EDT / 1:30pm-2pm AEDT on April 15 (Nerd Nite Melbourne, AUS): Holy Forking Shirtballs: The Philosophy of the Good Place by Aaron Grinter @PhilosophyGrin

Description: Around 14 billion years ago, the universe began. Sometime later, the television show ‘The Good Place’ came into being. The premise is simple: Eleanor Shellstrop wakes up in non-denominational heaven after a tragic accident involving margarita mix and a truck full of Viagra. The problem is, there was a mixup, she doesn’t belong in heaven and she is actually a horrible person, who lived a life of alcoholism and scamming the elderly. In order to not get kicked out of heaven, she vows to become a good person. How does she plan to do it? With the power of philosophy. We explore some of the key philosophical ideas that The Good Place taught you without you realising it. I can’t promise that I can get you into heaven, but I can promise you that you will understand more about deontology than you did before.

Bio: Aaron is (mercifully) about to complete his PhD and teaches at Swinburne University. His field is philosophy and the aim of his research is prove to his parents that getting a degree in philosophy wasn’t a complete waste of time. His thesis synthesises ecology, economics, and social theory to construct an epistemology of sustainability. In his spare time, he enjoys growing houseplants and worrying about his PhD. I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is yes, his dog features prominently throughout his thesis.

Nerd Nite-A-Thon (Virtual): March 31, 2020. Watch/view at http://www.facebook.com/nerdnite
We’re putting on our first North American Nerd Nite-A-Thon so you can enjoy eight of our favorite presentations from across North America. Enjoy drinking and learning from the comfort of your PJs. We’ll toast you while online. The line-up:

7pm-7:30pm EDT (Nerd Nite Baltimore): The Power of Breakfast Sandwiches by Dr. Neil Bardhan

Need more be said? Neil is a returning Nerd Nite speaker from the very first Nerd Nite Baltimore in January 2016 (on the effect of your nasal cavity on vowel pronunciation)! We’re happy to have him return every 3 years. Neil is a native of Corning, NY (of glass fame), has a Ph.D in cognitive science and psycholinguistics, and is currently Executive Director at Broad Street Review and Manager for Applied Storytelling at First Person Arts in Philadelphia.

7:30pm-8pm EDT (Nerd Nite Philly): The Greatest Sci-Fi Songs You’ve Never Heard by Chris Cummins

Description: Join Chris Cummins as he takes you on a cosmic journey deep into the world of weirdo science fiction spin-off songs. From disco versions of the Star Wars theme to cash-in records from actors from Star Trek and Doctor Who to creepy tunes about E.T. and Max Headroom and beyond, this will be an A/V exploration of how science fiction has not only impacted our lives but our music as well. And yeah, Chris will be playing some favorites from his personal collection. VIRTUAL DANCE PARTY YO!

Bio: Chris Cummins is the boss of Nerd Nite Philadelphia and the host of Sci-Fi Explosion, a cosmic cabaret of craziness that celebrates the strangest aspects of science fiction. You can follow him on social media at @scifiexplosion!

8pm-8:30pm EDT (Nerd Nite Miami): Oh Hell No: The Cultural Impact of SharkNado by David Shiffman, Ph.D.

Description: Sharks: so hot right now! Sharks are in, and one of the best examples of this is a whole genre of bad shark movies. In this genre, the SharkNado franchise stands head and pectoral fins above competitors like Sharktopus, avalanche sharks (“snow is just frozen water,”) and six-headed shark attack. In this talk, Dr. David Shiffman will discuss the history of bad shark movies, with a focus on SharkNado and the incredible impact it had on pop culture and even public discourse.

Bio: Dr. David Shiffman is a marine conservation biologist who studies sharks. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Scientific American, Slate, Gizmodo, and a monthly column in SCUBA diving magazine. David is an award-winning public science communicator who invites you to follow him on twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @ WhysharksMatter, where he’s always happy to answer any questions anyone has about sharks. In the interest of full disclosure, David has asked us to inform you that SharkNado 2 is thanked in his Ph.D. dissertation because it funded some of his research. He has presented at Nerd Nite Miami, Nerd Nite Vancouver, and Nerd Nite DC.

8:30pm-9pm EDT (Nerd Nite Pittsburgh): Bullshit in Space! An Astronomical Adventure Through Cosmic Misinformation by Ralph Crewe

Description: The night sky and the cosmos beyond have been a source of wonder, awe, and curiosity for people across the centuries. Today, we are in a golden age of astronomy and one of the best places to explore the cutting edge of our understanding of the universe is your local planetarium. Unfortunately, along with the sea of celestial knowledge comes an ocean of bullshit and misconception. Join planetarium program coordinator Ralph Crewe as he plumbs the depths of Bullshit in Space!

Bio: Ralph Crewe: Ralph is a professional science nerd, and until the COVID-19 shutdown, he was working as program development coordinator for the Buhl Planetarium and Observatory at Carnegie Science Center. He has coordinated astronomical programming like SkyWatch, hosted the Café Scientifique science lecture series, created and hosted the SNaQ podcast, and more. In his spare time, he plays music (bass and piano), rides his bicycle, and competes in birdwatching competitions.

9pm-9:30pm EDT (Nerd Nite NYC): The Law of Star Wars Strikes Back by Major Thomas Harper

Description: Star Wars may be full of lightsabers, space battles, and one very awkward brother/sister crush, but it’s also brimming with legal issues. Are Ewoks a bunch of furry war criminals? Can Kylo Ren claim the insanity defense? Join Army JAG attorney Major Thomas Harper as he returns to Nerd Nite NYC to break down these issues and more from the galaxy far far away.

Bio: Major Tom Harper served on active duty as an Army JAG officer for over seven years before switching to the Army Reserves and private practice.  As a JAG attorney, Tom has served in a variety of positions, including as a prosecutor, a defense counsel, and as an operational law attorney advising on combat operations in Afghanistan.  He is also obsessed with Star Wars and still proudly carries a Darth Vader lunchbox.  Tom blogs and podcasts for The Legal Geeks, using Star Wars to teach about a wide variety of legal topics.  He regularly shares his love of Star Wars on the national stage, and has presented at San Diego Comic Con, Star Wars Celebration, WonderCon, and DragonCon. You can follow his Star Wars ramblings on Twitter at @thomasLharper.

9:30pm-10pm EDT / 7:30pm-8pm MDT (Nerd Nite Denver): Debunk in the Trunk: Setting Some Historical Myths Straight by Dr. Francesca Tronchin

Description: Dr. Francesca Tronchin will examine some old myths and assumptions about the history of the ancient Mediterranean in this talk. Was Cleopatra really Egyptian and also really beautiful? Were the Spartans truly the greatest fighting force of the ancient world? What did Greek and Roman temples and statues really look like? If you behave, she might bust some bonus myths about Hitler and Napoleon!

10pm-10:30pm EDT / 7pm-7:30pm PDT (Nerd Nite Vancouver): Spider Butts and Spit Glands: Adventures in Working with Galleria Mellonella Silk by Mary Glasper

Description: Remember those plastic-eating worms in the news last year? I work with those! One summer, while working in an entomology lab, my supervisor asked, “Have you ever looked at Galleria silk? It’s really strong and they produce a TON of it.” Suddenly, a master’s thesis was born, where I investigated the properties of Galleria silk for its use in textiles. Galleria mellonella, a.k.a. the greater wax moth, is a pest of beehives and is also a popular model organism for the study of medically significant mammalian pathogens. In this presentation, I’ll show you how to collect, process, and characterize this silk as a textile fibre. Could it be a viable alternative to spider silk? Come and find out! Spoiler: I don’t feed them plastic.

Bio: Mary Glasper has been a fan of our many-legged friends and of fibres for as long as she can remember, and has professional experience in both Entomology and Textile Science. It’s only natural that she would combine both of her interests by studying how insects create fibres! She has a BSc in Biological Sciences & Human Ecology from the University of Alberta, and finished her MSc in Textile Science. Mary is now a Materials Developer at Arc’teryx Equipment.

10:30pm-11pm EDT / 7:30pm-8pm PDT (Nerd Nite LA): “That’s not a @&$#ing dinosaur!”: Misconceptions about Paleontology by Trevor Valle

Description: Ross Gellar. Jurassic Park. Dinobots. Barney. Pop culture has this on again/off again love affair with the reality of paleontology, but refuses to take it out to dinner and really listen. Let’s get them talking (and drinking)!

Bio: Trevor Valle has looked for old, dead things in some really screwed up places… from artichoke fields in northern California, to the permafrost and tundra of north-eastern Siberia. Formerly the Lab Supervisor of the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, he can now be found making sure construction crews don’t accidentally dig up mammoths, or occasionally on TV talking about dead stuff.

Nerd Nite NYC is on-hold like all other live events, but we’ll hold another live virtual Nite on Tuesday April 7, 2020 at 8pm EDT / 5pm PDT with Adrienne Raphel discussing the history and strategy of crossword puzzles and Dawson Smith sharing his thoughts on Commedia Del’Arte & Michael Schur. Holy forking shirt! To login live, click here

Brooklyn history and speed dating, together again! Join Nerd Nite for a special evening at the venerable Brooklyn Historical Society. 20 smart, single fellas and 20 smart, single lasses get a shot at finding their fall love during speed dating while also learning about our rich and sometimes dubious local history.  With drinks, of course.

www.mangowebdesign.com

September 24, 2015
Doors and check-in for speed dating open at 7pm / speed dating starts at 7:30pm
Presentations-only:  Doors at 9pm
Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Buy tickets here

Back to the Lectures At-Hand:
*Presentation #1
When Brooklyn Lost its Swagger: The Consolidation of 1898
by Michael Miscione

Description: Brooklyn was a large, proud, and independent city until 1898, when it was consolidated into the newly conceived five-borough NYC that exists today. Ever since, generations of bitter Brooklynites have grumbled about living in Manhattan’s shadow, but Brooklyn’s downgrade from city to borough was welcomed by many 19th century Brooklynites who saw is as a way to save their hometown from bankruptcy and irrelevance. Manhattan Borough Historian Michael Miscione will reveal all the dirty details behind what some Brooklynites still call “the mistake of ’98

After making you drive to Austin the last four years, Houston, you no longer have to trek north to go to Nerd Nite.  We’re proud to announce that Nerd Nite Houston premieres on January 30, 2014 at Notsuoh downtown.  Enjoy two funny-yet-smart presentations while the audience drinks along!

Nerd Nite Houston
Thursday January 30, 2014 at 8pm (doors at 7:30pm)
Notsuoh
314 Main St,
Houston, TX 77002
$0

Back to the Lectures At-Hand:
*Presentation #1
Presenting Science to the Public:  “It’s late; we’re all tired; why should any of us care about anything you’re saying?”
by Douglas Natelson, Professor of Physics, Astronomy, and Electrical and Computer Engineering and Quantum Institute Fellow at Rice University

*Presentation #2
Why Voting Mechanisms Can’t Work
by Andy Boyd, Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Houston and Host of Engines of Our Ingenuity on NPR

*Presentation #3
Why I Hate Ellipsoids and How Superspace Saved Me
by Amado Guloy, Co-Boss of Nerd Nite Houston

There’s nothing like western Massachusetts and the Berkshires in the fall.  The leaves will be stunning and you’ll want to see them in all their changing glory.  And this fall, you can visit Nerd Nite too!  Yes, the good folks at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) invited Nerd Nite to be their special guest.  So come enjoy funny-yet-smart presentations about mumblecore movies, sex robots, and the sordid-yet-tasty history of cheese, while, of course, you drink along with your friends.  MASS MoCA + autumn + learning + drinking = a perfect night!

Tickets available soon!
October 13, 2012
MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA

Back to the Lectures At-Hand:
*Presentation #1
Mumblecore: The Film Movement that Didn’t Roar
by Maria San Filippo

Description: Whether you’ve got a Netflix queue full of mumblecore or this is the first you’ve heard of the “m” word, there’s much to muse about in these homegrown indie movies that forged the first film movement of the 21st century.

Bio: Maria saw Blue Velvet at the impressionable age of 14, so naturally she now teaches cinema and media studies. She has a PhD from UCLA, is a visiting lecturer at Harvard and MIT, and is a research associate in feminist new media at the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center. Her book The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television is forthcoming next year from Indiana University Press. Her friends, family, and therapist often admonish her that real life isn’t like the movies…but mumblecore just may prove them wrong.

*Presentation #2
Nerds & Whey: how the controlled spoilage of milk begets the world’s tastiest cheeses
by Aaron Foster

Little Miss Muffett sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey… what a poor cheesemaker she was. In her defense though, making cheese is hard work. It’s remarkable how only four ingredients can yield so much variation! Maybe Miss Muffett didn’t use the right proportion of rennet. Or perhaps the milk wasn’t allowed to properly acidify before coagulation. In this talk, we’ll explore the science, history, and culture of cheesemaking, and how those four ingredients give us Asiago and Zimbro, and the thousands of cheeses in between.

*Presentation #3
Hey, Where’s My Robot Girlfriend? The Singularity, Sperm Bots and the Future of Sexual Technology
by Laura G. Duncan

Description: Technology and sexuality have long been intimately connected. The robotic bride. The orgasm ray. The sex machine. These classic tropes of science fiction – how fictitious are they really? Hybrids of sex and technology are flourishing in contemporary culture, from basement workshops where power tools are lovingly repurposed into bedroom aids to media empires with genres devoted solely to robot-human couplings. So just how close are we to having a real life Data, the beloved android from Star Trek as fawning partner to our eminently human Tasha Yar? Will we be able to disable our foes with weaponized orgasms? Can you learn to love a robot? Can a robot learn to love you? Using examples from science fiction, the medical sciences and actual sex/tech projects, this talk will explore the past, present and future of sexual technology and its implications for the changing nature of sexuality, technology and the body.

Bio: Laura is a sexual health researcher currently studying social inequity in sexual healthcare and the influence of medicine on social understandings of sexuality and the body. She has taught sexual health education in a variety of academic, non-profit and community venues and currently serves as a full-spectrum doula. She is, disappointingly, not a robot.

There’s nothing like western Massachusetts and the Berkshires in the fall.  The leaves will be stunning and you’ll want to see them in all their changing glory.  And also this fall, you can visit Nerd Nite too!  Yes, the good folks at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) invited Nerd Nite to be their special guest.  So come enjoy funny-yet-smart presentations about mumblecore movies, sex robots, and the sordid-yet-tasty history of cheese, while, of course, you drink along with your friends.  MASS MoCA + autumn + learning + drinking = a perfect night!

Buy tickets ($10 students / $14 adults)
October 13, 2012
MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA

Back to the Lectures At-Hand:
*Presentation #1
Mumblecore: The Film Movement that Didn’t Roar
by Maria San Filippo

Description: Whether you’ve got a Netflix queue full of mumblecore or this is the first you’ve heard of the “m” word, there’s much to muse about in these homegrown indie movies that forged the first film movement of the 21st century.

Bio: Maria saw Blue Velvet at the impressionable age of 14, so naturally she now teaches cinema and media studies. She has a PhD from UCLA, is a visiting lecturer at Harvard and MIT, and is a research associate in feminist new media at the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center. Her book The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television is forthcoming next year from Indiana University Press. Her friends, family, and therapist often admonish her that real life isn’t like the movies…but mumblecore just may prove them wrong. Learn all about her here.

*Presentation #2
Nerds & Whey: how the controlled spoilage of milk begets the world’s tastiest cheeses
by Aaron Foster

Little Miss Muffett sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey… what a poor cheesemaker she was. In her defense though, making cheese is hard work. It’s remarkable how only four ingredients can yield so much variation! Maybe Miss Muffett didn’t use the right proportion of rennet. Or perhaps the milk wasn’t allowed to properly acidify before coagulation. In this talk, we’ll explore the science, history, and culture of cheesemaking, and how those four ingredients give us Asiago and Zimbro, and the thousands of cheeses in between.

Bio: Aaron Foster is the head cheese buyer for Murray’s Cheese, New York City’s oldest cheese shop, located in Greenwich Village. Before narrowing his focus to the cheese trade, Aaron studied the classics at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. This grounding in philosophy and literature proved surprisingly relevant to a career in comestibles, with food sitting squarely at the intersection of art, science, and culture. Aaron went on to pursue a course in gastronomy at the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche, the school established by Slow Food near Torino, Italy. Upon his return to the US, Aaron served as buyer and importer for a number of cheese retailers and distributors, notwithstanding a dalliance with a small bean-to-bar chocolate company in Somerville. He has worked for Murray’s Cheese since February 2011.

*Presentation #3
Hey, Where’s My Robot Girlfriend? The Singularity, Sperm Bots and the Future of Sexual Technology
by Laura G. Duncan

Description: Technology and sexuality have long been intimately connected. The robotic bride. The orgasm ray. The sex machine. These classic tropes of science fiction – how fictitious are they really? Hybrids of sex and technology are flourishing in contemporary culture, from basement workshops where power tools are lovingly repurposed into bedroom aids to media empires with genres devoted solely to robot-human couplings. So just how close are we to having a real life Data, the beloved android from Star Trek as fawning partner to our eminently human Tasha Yar? Will we be able to disable our foes with weaponized orgasms? Can you learn to love a robot? Can a robot learn to love you? Using examples from science fiction, the medical sciences and actual sex/tech projects, this talk will explore the past, present and future of sexual technology and its implications for the changing nature of sexuality, technology and the body.

Bio: Laura is a sexual health researcher currently studying social inequity in sexual healthcare and the influence of medicine on social understandings of sexuality and the body. She has taught sexual health education in a variety of academic, non-profit and community venues and currently serves as a full-spectrum doula. She is, disappointingly, not a robot.

Finally…Nerd Nite in regularly recurring audio form.  Nerd Nite Chicago Co-Boss (and former Nerd Nite Austin Co-Boss), Dan Rumney, is the host of our new Nerd Nite Podcast series.  Our premiere episode features Nerd Nite Founder/Godfather, Dr. Chris Balakrishnan, talking about the origins of our Nite and why drinking and silly taunting are so important.  Fun!

Download and/or subscribe now at http://podcast.nerdnite.com/feed or subscribe directly via iTunes at itpc://podcast.nerdnite.com/feed

Dearest Nerds & Friends of Nerds in Washington DC,

Please pass this along to your friends in and around our nation’s capital…
I’m proud to announce Nerd Nite’s first ever visit to our nation’s capital!  Yes, after years of requests, we’re finally getting off our lazy gluteus maximuses (maximi?) to bring together DC nerds who like to learn and drink, as we’re heading to the Wonderland Ballroom in Mount Pleasant / Columbia Heights on Saturday September 26 at 7pm. We’ll feature a presentation by our Nerd Nite Boston host about real-life zombies, as well as presentations by two local guests talking about the gross ways vaccines are created, and, well, I’m not willing to disclose the other talk just yet.  We’re even featuring the music of Brooklyn indie-rock supergroup Overlord (not a metal band and featuring current and ex-members of Palomar) so you can rock out while simultaneously viewing some of the best mental hygiene and Cold War film footage around.  It’s going to be, like, totally tubular.  Nerd Nite; it’s like the Discovery Channel with beer.

Facebook invite link too: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=144574809622

Saturday September 26, 2009 at 7pm (sorry about the early start time) – $10

Nerd Nite Washington DC
The Wonderland Ballroom
1101 Kenyon St NW
Washington, DC 20010
(Green Line to Columbia Heights Metro station)
Saturday September 26, 2009 at 7pm (doors at 6:30pm)
$10 cover charge
http://www.nerdnite.com

Back To The Lecture(s) At-Hand:

*Presentation #1:
The Neurobiology of Zombies
by Jeremy Kay

Description:  Zombie mind control is real!  Some types of parasites have the ability to turn their hosts into zombies that serve the needs and whims of the parasitic invader.  I’ll give some more examples of real-life zombies and delve into the neurobiology of how a parasite can control the behavior of its host.

Bio: Jeremy is a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience at Harvard. His professional work concerns vision, but he thinks parasite mind-control is far more interesting. His interest in zombies is purely academic. Really. Like, your brain will totally not get eaten if you show up. We promise.

*Presentation #2:
by Seth Cain
I’m not telling you, but involves the elimination of human waste in space.  Yep, I said it.

*Presentation #3:
Vaccines Are Helpful, But Making Them Is Gross
by Rebecca Blank
Description: Vaccines.  We’ve all had them (well, ideally all of us).  They keep us healthy even though they may make our arms and/or buttocks sore.  But since they’re in the news, there are also a lot of misrepresentations of them.  Rebecca will dive into the history of vaccines because you probably want to know that some methods involved taking pus from cow’s lesions and injecting it into humans.  Or that there once was an actual Cooties vaccine which we should all have been immunized against in childhood if our friends were nice enough to provide us with. Oh, and she’ll talk about the real science behind them, besides just recounting the icky details.

Bio: Rebecca is a scientific program manager at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health working on a global health project that involves malnutrition and diarrhea. Always one to have the gross out story at a party, she chose to get her Ph.D. studying parasitic worms that live off your blood and penetrate your liver with their eggs. Having recently recovered from an episode of the world’s newest pandemic, Swine Flu, she really really wishes that the vaccine had been made available BEFORE she got sick.

Music and mental hygiene and Cold War film footage by indie rock supergroup Overlord which features former Nerd Nite presenter George Pasles on vocals and lead guitar, current Palomar (http://www.myspace.com/palomar) bassist and former Nerd Nite presenter Sarah ‘Brockett’ Brockett, part-time Palo keyboardist Tris McCall, and past drummer Matt Houser.

Dearest Nerds & Friends of Nerds in Washington DC,

Please pass this along to your friends in and around our nation’s capital…
And here’s a Facebook invite too: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=144574809622&ref=nf

I’m proud to announce Nerd Nite’s first ever visit to our nation’s capital!  Yes, after years of requests, we’re finally getting off our lazy gluteus maximuses (maximi?) to bring together DC nerds who like to learn and drink, as we’re heading to the Wonderland Ballroom in Mount Pleasant / Columbia Heights on Saturday September 26 at 7pm. We’ll feature a presentation by our Nerd Nite Boston host about real-life zombies, as well as presentations by two local guests talking about the gross ways vaccines are created, and, well, I’m not willing to disclose the other talk just yet.  We’re even featuring the music of Brooklyn indie-rock supergroup Overlord (not a metal band and featuring current and ex-members of Palomar) so you can rock out while simultaneously viewing some of the best mental hygiene and Cold War film footage around.  It’s going to be, like, totally tubular.  Nerd Nite; it’s like the Discovery Channel with beer.

Saturday September 26, 2009 at 7pm (sorry about the early start time) – $10

Nerd Nite Washington DC
The Wonderland Ballroom
1101 Kenyon St NW
Washington, DC 20010
(Green Line to Columbia Heights Metro station)
Saturday September 26, 2009 at 7pm (doors at 6:30pm)
$10 cover charge
http://www.nerdnite.com

Back To The Lecture(s) At-Hand:

*Presentation #1:
The Neurobiology of Zombies
by Jeremy Kay

Description:  Zombie mind control is real!  Some types of parasites have the ability to turn their hosts into zombies that serve the needs and whims of the parasitic invader. I’ll give some more examples of real-life zombies and delve into the neurobiology of how a parasite can control the behavior of its host.

Bio: Jeremy is a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience at Harvard. His professional work concerns vision, but he thinks parasite mind-control is far more interesting. His interest in zombies is purely academic. Really. Like, your brain will totally not get eaten if you show up. We promise.

*Presentation #2:
by Seth Cain
Not telling you yet…

*Presentation #3:
Vaccines Are Helpful, But Making Them Is Gross
by Rebecca Blank
Description: Vaccines.  We’ve all had them (well, ideally all of us).  They keep us healthy even though they may make our arms and/or buttocks sore.  But since they’re in the news, there are also a lot of misrepresentations of them.  Rebecca will dive into the history of vaccines because you probably want to know that some methods involved taking pus from cow’s lesions and injecting it into humans.  Or that there once was an actual Cooties vaccine which we should all have been immunized against in childhood if our friends were nice enough to provide us with. Oh, and she’ll talk about the real science behind them, besides just recounting the icky details.

Bio: Coming soon (Rebecca currently has the swine flu – seriously – so she’s currently focused on fever reduction instead of bio writing)

Music and mental hygiene and Cold War film footage by indie rock supergroup Overlord (http://www.myspace.com/overlordisnotmetal) which features former Nerd Nite presenter George Pasles on vocals and lead guitar, current Palomar (http://www.myspace.com/palomar) bassist and former Nerd Nite presenter Sarah ‘Brockett’ Brockett, part-time Palo keyboardist Tris McCall, and past drummer Matt Houser. And Kerry too.

In case you missed it, we had a lot of great press recently and we even had a documentary shot by Japan’s elite NHK TV.  View it here:  http://dailynewsonline.magnify.net/video/New-York-Wave-Nerd-Nite

Video!: http://www.truveo.com/Nerd-Night-Comes-To-Hollywood/id/887647248
Video!: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/station/features/Are_You_Nerd_Enough__San_Diego.html
http://nycgo.com/?event=view.article&id=136616
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/nyregion/thecity/01nerd.html
http://www.facebook.com
http://www.inklingmagazine.com/articles/nerds-just-wanna-have-fun/
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN1146949520070612
Video!: http://blogs.discovery.com/nerdabout_new_york/2009/02/nerd-nite-revisted.html
Video!: http://www.popsci.com/entertainment-gaming/article/2008-04/driving-intellects-and-quenching-thirst