Some people want to get noticed, and others want to avoid any kind of notice at all. And still others are thrust into the spotlight because it’s their destiny. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in hearing more about, then you don’t want to miss the first Nerd Nite Edmonton event of 2016! It combines all of those ideas and more. Think sex and ageing, magic and cloaking devices. NOW we’re getting somewhere!
Be there AND be square.
When: Thursday, January 14, 2016 (doors @ 7:30pm, show @ 8pm)
Where: The Club (Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Avenue Edmonton)
$20 in advance, includes fees & GST (Tickets available December 14 at 9:30am)
$25 at the door, includes fees & GST
$15 for balcony tickets (Only available on Monday, January 11 at 9:30am phone or in-person only)
[Children 17 & Under Will Not Be Admitted]
Here’s our line-up of speakers:
Harry Potter and the Prisoners of Narrative: On Reading and the Virtues of Constant Vigilance
Hannah McGregor & Marcelle Kosman
Writers are taught to kill their darlings, but literary critics have to do the same thing — take something you really like, and rip it open to see how it ticks. But what happens when a couple of feminist literary scholars turn their gimlet gazes on the beloved Harry Potter series?
Marcelle Kosman and Hannah McGregor are the hosts of Witch, Please, a fortnightly podcast about the Harry Potter world. Both lady-scholars in the U of A’s Department of English and Film Studies (Marcelle is a doctoral candidate and Hannah is a full-time Instructor), they’re big fans of talking about Harry Potter to anyone who will listen.
Going nuts over girls: how chasing tail influences ageing
Jessica Haines
Animals (humans included) do crazy things when they’re trying to get the attention of a prospective partner. They sprout bones from their heads, grow impractical teeth, go into battle with each other, have elaborate penises, and even dance. And all that prancing around and growing odd bits has attracted the attention of lots of scientists. This is great, because it means we can dive into the weird and wonderful world of animal sex and their attempts to get it. Besides becoming the focus of a bunch of nosy scientists (and a Nerd Nite audience), this showing off can have other side effects. Showing off can be risky: at the very least you can end up as someone’s meal, but it can have other long-term effects such as changing how fast you age. I study red squirrels in the Yukon, and I’m going to use them and other species as examples of what happens when you spend a lot of time chasing prospective mates.
Jess was born in New Brunswick and spent her childhood swimming after fish, kayaking with seals and porpoises, skating by starlight, and hiking coastal forests with her Dad. This sparked a lifelong passion for wildlife and wild places, which came in handy when she started her PhD at the University of Alberta and she lived in the Yukon for months at a time to study red squirrels. She fell in love with their northern world and their spunky personalities. Her time in the north might have made her a bit crazy: when she’s back in Edmonton she gets excited when the temperatures drop, the snow falls, and she can head out cross-country skiing in the cold.
Smoke and Mirrors: Unveiling Invisibility
Brad Hauer
As demonstrated by numerous references in mythology and modern literature, humans have long sought after the power of invisibility. But at what point do we crossover from fantasy to reality? How close are we really to being able to develop a Harry Potteresque invisibility cloak? Closer than some may think. In my presentation, I will discuss present technologies, ranging from simple lenses to advanced metamaterials, that are being used to cloak objects, as well as look at what the future holds as far as real life invisibility goes.
Brad developed a passion for physics while attending high school in his hometown of Leduc, Alberta (it’s by the airport). He received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Alberta, spending his summers searching for dark matter with PICASSO, a particle physics experiment located 2 km underground in Sudbury’s nickel mine. Brad is currently pursuing his PhD at the U of A in Prof. John Davis’s lab where he makes his living playing with nanotechnology and lasers in liquid helium. He also enjoys playing basketball and eating pizza.
Nerd Nite is like a good cocktail. A few simple ingredients make it spectacular. So for this next Nerd Nite, our 23rd, we’re mixing together rhetorical analysis with some anti-coagulants and a healthy splash of particle physics in Antarctica. And there’s only one way for you to know for sure if this new concoction is a success: come to Nerd Nite 23. Because if you don’t, there’s no amount of rhetoric you can dream up that will keep your blood flowing, and your, um… particle physics icy cold. And that, my friends, is what it looks like when a metaphor totally gets away from you.
Be there AND be square.
When: Thursday, November 26, 2015 (doors @ 7:30pm, show @ 8pm)
Where: The Club (Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Avenue Edmonton)
$20 in advance, includes fees & GST (Tickets available November 3 at 9:30am)
$25 at the door, includes fees & GST
$15 for balcony tickets (Only available on Monday, November 23th at 9:30am phone or in-person only)
[Children 17 & Under Will Not Be Admitted]
Here’s our line-up of speakers:
How to Dupe Friends and Manipulate People: The Fine Art of Bamboozlement
Lauren Sergy
Words can be slippery things, especially when used on the political campaign trail. How is it that time and again we listen to both promises and mud-slinging in speeches and debates, swearing that we will remain objective and rational, only to become frothing partisans ourselves? Why, when we know that speeches are spun to push out buttons and manipulate facts, do we still unwillingly and unwittingly buy into them? Get ready to dive into the fascinating, frustrating, sometimes frivolous, and often infuriating world of rhetoric through the lens of political campaigning. We’ll look at tactics that befuddle and bewitch us into taking sides even against our own better judgement.
Lauren is a public speaking coach and trainer, which makes her obsession with rhetoric and nuanced language slightly more forgivable. She has taught a wide variety of people, from professors to accountants to marketers, how to become more skilled and persuasive speakers. When not deconstructing politicians’ speeches, she enjoys other nerdly pursuits such as teaching her kids lightsabre fighting and frantically live-Tweeting facts during Nerd Nite talks.
Ice-cold neutrinos and you!
Tania Wood
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is the first detector of its kind, observing the cosmos from deep within the South Pole ice. It uses a particle called a ‘neutrino’ instead of photons (light), like other observatories. The Neutrino’s unique properties allow them to carry information out from the most violent astrophysical sources such as exploding stars, gamma-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei (which is a fancy way of saying supermassive black holes, nbd). Interacting essentially only via the weak force, neutrinos allow this particle detector to see space with a whole set of new eyes. IceCube collaborators address several big questions in physics, like the nature of dark matter, the properties of the neutrino itself, why the detectors need to be in such extreme places and what to do if a penguin breaks into your lab.
Tania Wood is a PhD Candidate in Experimental Particle Physics at the University of Alberta. She is interested in excitement, adventure and really wild things; in particular extreme environments, discovery projects, the ‘big questions’ and directions to a good party. In the past she worked the Mars Phoenix Polar lander and on small scale helicopters all following the general theme of whimsy and exploration.
Heart Attacks, Chinese Hamster Ovaries, and Obduracy
Darren Knapp
What? How does the reproductive system of the Chinese Hamster help hundreds of heart attack patients annually in Wildrose Country? And what does the automaticity of the cardiac cycle have to do with a nightclub? Can I actually die of stubbornness? And why is there a bunny with a pancake on it’s head? You’ll see, stay tuned.
Darren began life as an embryo; fast forward to the 90’s where as a paramedic he patrolled the fast paced streets of Edmonton treating heart attack patients with little more than diesel and hope. Then in 2006 came the Vital Heart Response program which radically transformed the Northern Alberta landscape of coronary care. A Clinical Educator, Instructor and Quality and patient safety strategist writing the 1st draft of the provincial EMS protocols for Cardiovascular care, he is now the manager of this most successful dual reperfusion program for STEMI. Based out of the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, he’s the lead singer of Grave New World, rides his Harley whenever the sun allows it, and if you see him wandering around appearing lost, just point him in the direction of the nearest pub.
Fine meats and cheese, journalism, and Zumba®. These are just some of the things you’re going to learn about at Nerd Nite 22. Other things you will learn include: audience participation, trivia that may or may not be useful to you beyond Nerd Nite, and the difference between an ale and a lager*. Regardless of your interests, we guarantee you’ll have an evening with a bunch of a other nerds in a really welcoming environment.
Be there AND be square.
When: Thursday, October 15, 2015 (doors @ 7:30pm, show @ 8pm)
Where: The Club (Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Avenue Edmonton)
$20 in advance, includes fees & GST (Tickets available October 1 at 9:30am)
$25 at the door, includes fees & GST
$15 for balcony tickets (on sale the week prior to the event)
[Children 17 & Under Will Not Be Admitted]
*depends upon availability of ales and lagers.
Our line-up includes…
On modern journalism
Samantha Power
Bio and abstract coming!
The Science of Zumba®
Andrea Beça
If you haven’t been to a Zumba Fitness class, chances are you’ve at least heard about it. The latin-based dance fitness classes have taken the whole world by storm over the last five years. But what goes into the 60 minutes of fun you experience as a participant? Andrea Beça explores the science of countless rhythms, heart rate intervals, and choreography by and for non-dancers (yes, you read that correctly).
Andrea Beça has a BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Alberta and an MLitt in Playwriting and Dramaturgy from the University of Glasgow. She ran an indie theatre company for six years before moving into the world of film, where she works as a writer, director, producer, editor, and sometimes actor. She fell into the world of Zumba® by accident in 2012, got hooked, and hasn’t looked back since. If you get to know her even moderately well, you will see her krump.
Mould on my sausage: the what, why and how of the microbiology behind charcuterie
John Billiau
Charcuterie – so hot right now. Served on mahogany platters in Edmonton’s finest resto-pubs, it often reminds of European castles and small shops with legs of pork hanging from the window. But it is not impossible to craft your own snob style duck prosciutto that’ll leave your Instagram friends gawking. In this talk we look at the history of cured meats and cheese, and the microbiology that occurs in the curing process. pH-meters aside, we also leave the keeners amongst us with some tips to get started on your very own aged gruyere or Bresaola.
John is a man of many – very useless – talents and a hard time settling down. After graduating with two different masters he decided to move countries to chase a girl across the world, who was thankfully still happy to see him. Missing his favorite foods and spoiled for time in small town rural Alberta, he thought nothing better than to start making cheese and curing meat. What followed was a deep dive into microbiology, obscure purchases from China and a lot of awkward conversations. John now shares his passion for cooking and curing teaching classes, and keeps close to cheese during hours working HR for the Italian Centre Shops.