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Nerd Nite #7: GPS, Air Traffic Control, and Human Health

It’s the final Nerd Nite of 2014! NN Oct 2014 Poster - Final

We don’t know about you, but our November and December calendars are already jam packed with plans to consume a regrettable amount of food and alcohol. So we’re wrapping up 2014 a smidge early with a health dose of random knowledge.
November 18, kick off a happy holiday season with true facts about the science of GPS; Air Traffic Control (apparently Pushing Tin is *not* an accurate representation); and the wonders of health and human evolution.
  • When: Tuesday, November 18, 2014 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm
  • Where: The Oriental Theater
  • Tickets: $5 online, $8 at the door – 18+

Eventbrite - Nerd Nite #7: GPS, Air Traffic Control, and Human Health

Don’t worry! Nerd Nite returns January 22 at The Oriental Theater! 
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How GPS Works: Just Ask Flavor Flav

by Andrew Novick

Many people, know what the Global Positioning System (GPS) does, but many people do not know how it does it. With the help of Flavor Flav and Public Enemy, I’ll venture to explain it. I’ll also explain hacking jamming, GPS toasters and why “GPS on TV” is usually flawed.

“Don’t believe the hype? Then you don’t know what TIME it is.” – Flav

Speaker Bio: Andrew Novick is a Denver native and a prolific provocateur of wackiness in town. Whether as a performer of music and/or PowerPoint presentations (Warlock Pinchers, GetYourGoing, respectively) or running themed events (PeepsBQ, Andrew Novick’s X-Treme Pancake Breakfast, Japanese Medical Punk Dance Party and Surgery Dinner, etc.), he tries to keep himself (and others!) busy. He is also an electrical engineer (measuring atomic clocks!) and an avid collector (www.isaveeverything.com). Andrew has been called the “world’s most recreational photographer” – snapping photos to fit into the countless themes of his visual vernacular.

Past art shows include: Candy, Cuts and Bruises (~2000), The Astounding Problem of Andrew Novick (2009), International Food Phenomena (2010); Objectophelia (group show, 2010), Window Dressing (2010), Super-Relative (with Samuel Schimek, 2010). Pieces in Andrew Novick’s latest collection, FOOD FACE have titles such as: “Meatballs!”, “Pizza Face” and “Eyeballs!”, which sound perhaps more horrifying than delicious. Recent art shows include Japan Popsplosion! (2104) And Unstill Life (2014), both of which showed digital prints on canvas of quickly curated shots of brightly-colored subjects. Andrew strives to show thinks all around us that are fun and interesting and usually provoke conversation and new ideas. He is also co-teaching a College class about FUN!

 

Pushing Tin is a Lie: The Truth About Air Traffic Control

by Dena McClung

Synopsis and speaker bio coming soon!

 

Don’t sweat the small stuff! Stress, health and human evolution

by Zane Thayer

The purpose of the talk will be to discuss the evolution of the human stress response and how living in our overly crazed and stressed out world can contribute to developing poor health. We will also discuss some evolution-informed strategies for keeping ourselves happy and healthy.

Speaker Bio: Zane is an assistant professor of anthropology at UC Denver. She is a world expert on human chins (that’s a thing) and studies the effects of stress on health in beautiful Aotearoa/New Zealand. She enjoys all the beer and outdoorsy things that Colorado has to offer.

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Before you go, be sure to take a minute to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).
See you soon!
p.s. Want to be a Nerd Nite speaker? Or know someone who should be? Let us know!

Nerd Nite #6: Octopuses, Coffee, & Quantum Weirdness

UPDATE: An enormous thanks to everyone who came out for yet another evening of nerdery. And a special thanks to all you costume-clad wonders. Check out pictures from the night on Facebook!

(Images courtesy of volunteer photographer Jen Small. Want to volunteer for Nerd Nite? Let us know!)

More than just another evening ofNerd Night October, image M. Schultz high-level thinking and lowbrow drinking, this month’s Nerd Nite takes the turpitude to another level with a costume contest, dry t-shirt competition, and probably something to do with your candy-eating abilities.

On October 30th, we’ll find out if octopuses are trying to take over the world (*shivers*); how to make a statement with your coffee consumption; and a madman with degrees will talk about the endless weirdness of quantum physics.

What other pre-Halloween party will be so enlightening?

And for those of you with a competitive spirit, nerds dressed in costumes based on one of these three presentations will win all sorts of prizes, including free tickets to the Colorado Symphony’s Tribute to Comicon v2.0! 

  • When: Thursday, October 30, 2014 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm
  • Where: The Oriental Theater
  • Tickets: $5 online, $8 at the door – 18+
Eventbrite - Nerd Nite #6: Octopuses, Coffee, & Quantum Weirdness
Drinks, food, and mingles start at 6:30pm, show starts at 7pm — so come early to hang out with us! Don’t miss the amazing presentations (and the accompanying drinks). Tickets are limited at the door so grab yours now!Share this event on FACEBOOK or TWITTER! Social media!
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Will octopuses take over the world?

By Katherine Harmon Courage
Will octopuses take over the world? Yes. But how will they do it?Octopus! jacket_final (1) That’s the real question. Will it be through their amazing camouflaging abilities? Their impressive intelligence? Their eight super-flexible—and suckery—regenerating arms? Will it be because they can lay tens of thousands of little baby octopus eggs? Maybe just through seemingly innocuous—but ubiquitous—octopus prints on throw pillows and t-shirts? Or will it be a robot octopus uprising? Come learn how we’re most likely to meet our octopus overlords—and lots of other really cool stuff about octopus biology, behavior and how they’re influencing cutting-edge technology. Cephalopods, unite! (ßThey may or may not have made us write that.)

 

Speaker Bio: Katherine Harmon Courage is an award-winning journalist who writes for The New York Times, Wired, Popular Science, Prevention, and others. Her work was recently featured in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2013 collection. Harmon Courage grew up in the decidedly landlocked state of Oklahoma knowing absolutely nothing about the octopus. She was an English major but honed her nerdiness as a reporter and editor at Scientific American magazine in New York City before moving, last year—and once again very far from the ocean—to Longmont, Colorado. She is now a freelance journalist and a contributing editor for Scientific American. Her first book is Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature In the Sea. Follow her on Twitter: @KHCourage

The Science of Coffee

By Matt Simpson
In the United States, approximately 54% of adults drink coffee with an average consumption of 3.1 cups per day. As coffee undertakes its journey from seed to cup, each step significantly impacts the inherent potential of the bean and its ability to produce a wonderful gustatory experience. With proper attention and care at each step along the process, coffee can be transformed from a mundane beverage into a complex adventure that relates the stories of everyone involved in its lifetime. Particular focus will be given to aspects that Denver coffee consumers can control, from the procurement of quality beans to the technical aspects of various home brewing methods with brief forays into ethics and economics.
Speaker Bio: When Matt was 21 years old, he faced a crucial decision in his life: should he pursue a career in coffee or in medicine? He ultimately decided on medicine, which led him to his current role as chief resident with the Rose family medicine residency. However, his passion for coffee never faltered over those years, and during his internal medicine rotation in medical school, his senior resident once remarked that if he knew as much about medicine as he did coffee, he would get honors on all of his rotations. Matt drinks an average of 2.5 cups of coffee per day, prefers a manual pour over (preferably with a flannel filter) or a straight espresso with an occasional indulgence of a cappuccino paired with a croissant or donut.

Quantum Weirdness: Entanglement, Schrodinger Cats, and Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling

By Lincoln Carr
Quantum mechanics is amazing!  Everybody has that feeling of interconnectedness. QM is the first theory to put that into its foundations — we call it entanglement. Schrodinger cats express possibility. Do you ever feel that anything can happen? Ever feel like you’re at the fork in the road, like your whole life can change if you go right or left? So that’s a Schrodinger cat. Except it’s not just a feeling, it’s a fundamental part of physical reality at the foundational level. I am personally in awe at the number of our intuitions that appear in the universe in physics. As far as technology, a Schrodinger cat is related to a qubit, the building block of quantum computers. You know how your computer has say 2 gigabytes of memory? Ok, a byte is a 8 bits and a bit is a switch, say zero is off and one is on. So a qubit (quantum bit) is both zero and one, just like the cat is both alive and dead. 1000 qubits breaks every code in the world and we find out who shot Kennedy. As for macroscopic quantum tunneling, the speaker will demonstrate it with his own body during the talk.
Speaker Bio: Lincoln Carr is a theoretical physicist, professor at the Colorado School of Mines, and recovering professional dishwasher. He has published over 100 research papers, collaborated with 70 scientists in 12 countries, and mentored 80 students in research from the undergraduate to graduate levels. He is an Honors Faculty Fellow, a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow, an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, and a Distinguished International Fellow of the National Science Foundation. His research interests include quantum many body physics, condensed matter physics, atomic, molecular, and optical physics, nonlinear dynamics, and complexity theory.
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Before you go, be sure to take a minute to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).
See you soon!
p.s. Want to be a Nerd Nite speaker? Or know someone who should be? Let us know!

Nerd Nite #5: Cartoon Voices, Pot & Platypus, & ‘What’s up with the metric system?’

Sept 2014 NN Poster - M. Schultz

AHHHH! Thanks to all of you, our resident nerds, September’s Nerd Nite was one of the absolute best yet. We’ll have *full* videos of the evening in the coming weeks, but for now check out the Girls of Geek 12 clips and highlights from the evening.

Thank you everyone!!!

p.s. Did you take pictures of the night? Want to share your favorite part of the evening? Share with us on Facebook!


 

We are SO damn excited about this month’s Nerd Nite that we can practically guarantee this post is fraught with typos….excitement typos.

September 25, your favorite cartoons will come to life with voice-actor Rob Paulsen (just read his IMDB, you will die); we’ll hear all about the many things to be learned from cannabis and platypus (it’s science, we promise); and we will finally have an answer to that pesky question asked around the world: why the hell don’t we use the metric system in the United States?

So prepare to have those minds blown and get your tickets now!

  • When: Thursday, September 25, 2014 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm
  • Where: The Oriental Theater
  • Tickets: $5 online, $8 at the door – 18+

Eventbrite - Nerd Nite: Cartoon Voices, Pot and Platypus, & ‘What’s up with the metric system?’

Drinks, food, and mingles start at 6:30pm, show starts at 7pm — so come early to hang out with us!

Don’t miss the amazing presentations (and the accompanying drinks). Tickets are limited at the door so grab yours now!

Share this event on FACEBOOK or TWITTER! Social media!

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Voice Acting in a Cartoon UniverseAnimaniacs LIVE - small

By Rob Paulsen
Synopsis: Legendary voice actor Rob Paulsen will talk about the process, the joys, and the changing landscape of voice acting. Prepare to meet your childhood on Thursday and then see Rob perform the following evening at Animaniacs LIVE! presented by the Colorado Symphony and Arrow Electronics as a part of the season’s Geek Concert Series.
Bio: Rob Paulsen (Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jimmy Neutron, the list goes on) is one of the most experienced and talented voice actors in the business. Check out his Talkin’ Toons podcast or follow him on Twitter at @yakkopinky.

Platelets, the Platypus, and Pot: How engineered blood vessels are changing the way we think about blood clotting

By Keith Neeves
Synopsis: Technology has been developed that mimics human blood vessels on a microchip. The microchips help diagnose rare bleeding disorders and test new drugs at the Children’s Hospital Colorado. We will learn how this technology can be used to minimize animal testing and predict a person’s response to cardiovascular drugs. We’ll hear specifically about a few interesting discoveries on the effect of cannabis on blood clotting and the evolution of our favorite blood cell the platelet from our Australian friend the platypus.
Bio: Keith Neeves is an Associate Professor in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department at the Colorado School of Mines. He is a Colorado native who received a BS from CU-Boulder and PhD from Cornell University and did postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include cardiovascular engineering, drug delivery, and biomedical microdevices.

The History and Downfall of the Metric System in the United States

By Randy Bancroft
Synopsis: From the invention of the metric system and the many ways it simplified life to its battle for dominance in the United States, we’ll learn all about the metric system and why we don’t, but should, use it.
Bio: Randy Bancroft, writer of The Metric Maven, is a practicing Professional Engineer in the State of Colorado, published author (check out his book Schrodinger’s Cat & The Golden Bough) and nerd extraordinaire. He did graduate work at California State University at Northridge, and received his Master’s at The University of Colorado at Boulder.

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Before you go, be sure to take a minute to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

See you soon!

p.s. Want to be a Nerd Nite speaker? Or know someone who should be? Let us know!

Nerd Nite #4: Cosplay, Gaming, and Satellite Imagery

We’re going full nerd this month with anNerd Nite: Cosplay, Gaming, and Satellite Imagery in-depth look at cosplay, the evolution of video game controllers, and how satellite imagery can save lives.

Wave that nerd flag high and get your tickets now!

  • When: Thursday, August 28, 2014 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm
  • Where: The Oriental Theater
  • Tickets: $5 online, $7 at the door – 18+

Eventbrite - Nerd Nite: Cosplay, Gaming, and Satellite Imagery

Drinks, food, and mingles start at 6:30pm, show starts at 7pm — so come early to hang out with us!

Don’t miss the amazing presentations (and the accompanying drinks). Tickets are limited at the door so grab yours now!

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August’s Nerd Nite will feature the following, nerdtastic presentations:

Cosplay Corner

by Shae and Mattie of Girls of Geek 12

DESCRIPTION: As more nerdy conventions start popping up around the United States, the demand for Cosplay is in. In a way, the Cosplay community has become a society with rules and behaviors. We are here to show why Cosplay is such a big thing in the nerd/geek world, the easy and hard ways to make your Cosplay and Cosplay etiquette.

SPEAKER BIOS (in their own words!):

“I am Mattie and I have been a nerd/geek for a majority of the 26 years that I have lived. I love conventions, video games, comic books and so much more. Even though I am a functioning member of society working 40 hours a week, I enjoy my geeky life and try to live it to the fullest. I have been with Girls of Geek 12 since October 2012 and have enjoyed every minute of it especially since I pulled my best friend into it. My passions are reading, writing and sewing/creating costumes. ”

“Hi! I’m Shae, and I’m a geek/nerd! I started out in the wonderful world of anime and moved onto sci-fi and all the gloriousness that comes along with being a geek. I love comics, video games, naps, and anything nerdy related. I’ve been cosplaying on and off since I was 15, and am not an expert at all. I’m just someone who loves to be a geek and proud of it. Mattie got me interested in Girls of Geek, and as of July 2013, I have been an official Girl of Geek. There’s nothing better than spreading the awesomeness of the nerd-verse and bringing geeks together.”

How the Nintendo Controller Changed Gaming Forever

by Jeff Fal

DESCRIPTION: The NES controller changed gaming forever. In 1983, a glut of consoles and crappy games nearly killed the gaming industry. When Nintendo released the NES in America a few years later, it initiated a more mature phase for gaming. The best evidence for this is the classic NES controller, which became a standard all other console makers followed. Companies like Atari, Coleco, and Magnavox had bounced around different controller concepts for years, but Nintendo finally cracked the code. Every great idea that was in the NES controller is still with us in every game controller of today.

SPEAKER BIOS: Jeff Fal is an interaction designer whose current job with Denver’s Ping Identity was preceded by a year-and-a-half spent designing, developing, and launching the game Dungeonism for iOS. You can find Jeff on Twitter as @jefffal, tweeting very little about video games, some bit about politics, and mostly dumb jokes that someone else on Twitter has already thought of.

What *is* Humanitarian Satellite Imagery?

by Adam Brinckerhoff of Space United

DESCRIPTION: Space technology is cool. Helping people is cool. But can you help people using space technology? The ImageGryphon mission proves that you can and should by donating space imagery to international nonprofits. Very cool.

SPEAKER BIOS: SpaceUnited Development Engineer Adam Brinckerhoff was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, not exactly the hub of the international space industry. He followed his passion for space to Michigan, Virginia, Alabama, California, Georgia, and Washington, DC. He now lives in Broomfield with his wife, dog, cat, fish, snail, and very first acoustic piano.

Poster credit: Melanie Schultz, cleverviolet.com

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Before you go, be sure to take a minute to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

See you soon!

p.s. Want to be a Nerd Nite speaker? Or know someone who should be? Let us know!

Nerd Nite #3: Sex, Stealing, and Natural Selection

Huge thanks to everyone who joined us at July’s Nerd Nite! For a recap of the evening, the amazing Girls of Geek 12 have written up a review. Check it out!

And for those who want to watch the first talk in its entirety, a video of Sexy Science can be found by clicking on the image below.

Sexy Science - Screen Shot

Watch now! Sexy Science: The Evolution of Sexual Norms

 


 

Humans. We’re fragile, flawed, and wonderful.

Nerd Nite - July 24, 2014

Nerd Nite – July 24, 2014

And we’re biologically designed to survive — whether through reproduction, stealing resources, or just not dying from disease. This month, we talk about all the wonderful (and sometimes controversial) ways that we humans interact with the world around us. Ooooh it’s going to be a saucy one!

    • When: Thursday, July 24, 2014 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm (come early to mingle and drink with us)
    • Where: The Oriental Theater
    • $5 online, $7 at the door – 18+
    • Tickets:

Eventbrite - Nerd Nite #3: Sex, Stealing, and Natural Selection

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* Sexy Science: The Evolution of Sexual Norms…and How You Can Ditch Them

by Kayla Knopp, Rachel Miller, and Lane Nesbitt

DESCRIPTION: Have you ever wondered why our culture’s sexual attitudes and practices are the way they are? In this Sexy Science presentation, we will present research on the biological and social influences on the evolution of sex throughout human history, focusing on how we ended up with modern American sexual norms. We will open your eyes to the broad range of desires that encompass human sexuality, and highlight how narrow the range of sexuality that is considered “normal” actually is. In this talk on sex outside the bounds of cultural norms, you will get a taste of the sexual possibilities that await you, with a promise of more to come. Prepare to open your mind, your heart, and possibly your bedroom, to sex as you’ve never thought of it before.

SPEAKER BIOS: Kayla, Rachel, and Lane are clinical psychology Ph.D. students at the University of Denver. They conduct research on romantic and sexual relationships. They are interested in working with populations that are not traditionally studied, and seek to explore uncommon perspectives on topics for which a single perspective presently dominates the field. They also engage in clinical work with couples and individuals, and particularly enjoy working with clients on issues related to romantic and sexual involvement.

* Red Team Testing: Lying, picking, and stealing

by Ryan Jones

DESCRIPTION: “Red Team” is a term originated within the military to describe a team whose purpose is to penetrate the security of “friendly” installations, and thus test the effectiveness of their security measures. Over the last several years, this practice has become increasingly common in the private sector. This talk will show the reasons companies use these tests, the techniques and tools used by the teams to conduct the tests, and hopefully get you thinking in a way that makes you slightly more aware of your surroundings when it comes to the everyday security of the world around you.

SPEAKER BIO: Ryan has been working in the information security arena for 20 years, with a focus on penetration testing and red team testing. He is currently a Senior Consultant at Lares, an information security company out of Denver. In his free time, Ryan enjoys piña coladas, and getting caught in the rain. His rarely posted to twitter is @lizborden and you can yell at him after the presentation via email at

* Natural Selection and Your Health: Can I have a different evolutionary history, please?

by Dr. James DeGregori

DESCRIPTION: Most medical schools do not significantly cover evolutionary biology, and yet we cannot understand human health and illnesses without appreciating how evolution has shaped disease susceptibility and the potential nastiness of pathogens. We will discuss really depressing subjects like why we get old and sick, and why modern living (despite niceties like a longer healthier life) has come with a few side effects. Finally, we will learn about our crazy new theory on why we get cancer (and more importantly, why we don’t).

SPEAKER BIO: James DeGregori received a B.A. in Microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1987, where he learned to piss people off, and a Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge in 1993, where he learned enough to piss people off intelligently. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Duke from 1993-97, where he learned that pissing people off can get you in trouble. In 1997 he managed to get a real job in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he is currently (and hopefully futuristically) a Professor. He is also currently the Associate Director for Basic Science at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

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Don’t miss these amazing presentations (and the accompanying drinks). Tickets are $5 online and $7 at the door. So grab your tix now!

Before you go, be sure to take a minute to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

See you soon!

 

 

Nerd Nite #2: The Wonders of Space, Language, and the Internet

Couldn’t make it to June’s Nerd Nite? Don’t worry! The Girls of Geek 12 have you covered! Check out their review here! Thanks geeks!


 

Prepare to NERD! Get your tickets for Nerd Nite now!

  • When: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 – doors at 7pm, show at 8pm (come early to mingle and drink with us)
  • Where: The Oriental Theater
  • $5 online, $7 at the door – 18+
  • Tickets available on Eventbrite or from The Oriental Theater
  • Ticket alternative: Tweet or Facebook us a nerdy poem and score two FREE tickets to the June 24th event!

When Doctor Who himself explains the wonders of the universe, ye nerds should listen. To help improve those listening — and speaking — skills, we’re going to learn all about cued speech. And to top it all off, let’s all Tweet at our toasters. For science. Be there and be square!

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*The Wild and Wonderful Universe

by Sorin

Description: You don’t need a Tardis to be able to look through space and time. Come along for an exploration of some of the wonders of our universe and our never-ending quest for knowledge, as presented by an in-costume and in-character 4th Doctor Who! We’ll look back some 13 billion years to the formation of the first galaxies, then leap forward to talk about some of the greatest minds of the last 500 years that took our view of the universe from our lowly earth centered cocoon to the unimaginably vast cosmos we know today. No complicated mathematics or physics – all you need is a sense of wonder.

Speaker Bio: Sorin a software product director for Pearson by day, and an amateur astronomer by night. He is a current board member of the Denver Astronomical Society, and a former board member of the Seattle Astronomical Society. You can find him on Twitter @SoggyAstro or read him at http://soggyastronomer.com

*Cued Speech: Improving Your Communication Skillz, One Consonant at a Time

by Aaron Rose

Description: Phonemes, speech articulation, language acquisition, the inner voice construct. Still unclear? Don’t worry, Aaron Rose will delight you with all the ways that Noam Chomsky was right…or kind of right. It took a brilliant physicist to figure out how to effectively convey spoken language in a consonant-vowel construct that uses “cues,” or handshapes, in conjunction with verbal speech. The concept is so ridiculously simple that it fits on a wallet-sized card that you can carry around to remind yourself of a hand shape or a hand placement. Nerd Nite attendees will go home knowing how to cue (almost…)  

*Your toaster needs a Facebook page: How our increasingly connected culture is changing the Internet

by Chris Crocco

Description: Web connected devices have become integral in day-to-day life across the globe. As we use devices for everything from video conferencing to checking the status of our toothbrush from our smartphones, the Internet as it exists today has been pushed to adapt. This talk looks to explore the challenges that come from the transition to a web based culture, and how the Internet is changing to allow everyone on the planet to tweet at their toaster. Speaker Bio:

Speaker bio: Chris Crocco is a member of the network operations team for ViaSat, which provides satellite based networking. He currently supports the company’s residential and mobile satellite Internet service running off of the highest capacity satellite ever launched, meaning he literally makes the internet everyday. Chris is a graduate of the University of Wyoming, and has received multiple professional certifications in being a networking nerd.

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Don’t miss these amazing presentations (and the accompanying drinks). Tickets are $5 online and $7 at the door. So grab your tix now!

Before you go, be sure to take a minute to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

See you soon!

NN#2 Poster - Horizontal

 

Nerd Nite Launches May 14: Zombies and Supercomputers!

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for: the official launch of Nerd Nite Denver! Mark your calendars!

Wednesday, 5/14/2014
Doors at 8:00 pm, show at 8:30
Forest Room 5, 2532 15th Street in Lower Highlands
$5 online, $7 at the door – 18+
Tickets available here – SOLD OUT

Is it okay to kill a zombie? What if we had a zombie cure? And once we’ve neutralized the zombie threat, how worried should we be about Skynet? Join us for answers to these questions and more! Be there and be square!

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“Ethics of the Undead” by Kyle MunKittrick

Zombies, we love to hate them. But is it actually ethically acceptable to kill zombies? “Ethics of the Undead” explores the rights of dead people, the ethical conundrums brought up by different types of zombies, and what we would do if we could “cure” zombification. We know you’ll love this gloriously gory combination of philosophy and horror.

NYU educated bioethicist Kyle Munkittrick works by day to revolutionize health care, by night he a can be found oversharing his opinions and over analyzing science, philosophy, and culture on twitter @popbioethics. His longer writing can be found on Discover Magazine, Slate, and io9.

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“When will supercomputers take over the world?” by Paul Constantine

The world’s biggest computers keep getting bigger, faster, and more powerful. The astonishing progress has inspired many futurists to posit the day when some beefy calculator with glowing red eye-like LEDs will become self-aware and take control of the world. In reality, scientists in our nation’s top research laboratories and universities harness this computing power daily to make scientific progress with sophisticated simulations—and no legitimate threat of Skynet. Hear about the trends in supercomputers and the science being done with them.

Paul Constantine is an assistant professor in applied math and statistics at Colorado School of Mines. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford’s Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering in 2009 and was awarded the John von Neumann Fellowship in Computational Science at Sandia National Laboratories. His research interests in computational science include  uncertainty quantification, where the goal is to devise and compute measures of confidence for big computer simulations. He’s also seen Terminator, like, twice.

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Don’t miss these amazing presentations (and the accompanying drinks). Tickets are $5 online and $7 at the door. So grab your tix now!

And be sure to take a minute to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts!