Tag: munkittrick

UPDATE! Nerd Nite #9: The Science of Superheroes & Theremins

SNOW BE DAMNED! TONIGHT WE LEARN!

How do the Avengers represent our hopes and fears around science and technology? And how do you play a nearly century-old instrument that you never touch?

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

Embrace that inner early-bird and grab your tickets now!

Eventbrite - Nerd Nite #9: The Science of Fitness, Matchmaking, & Theremins

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Why You’re Afraid of Science and Technology, as Explained by the Avengers

by Kyle MunKittrick

How are our collective hopes and fears about science and technology demonstrated in the characteristics of each Avenger? You might be surprised to find out!

Speaker creds: 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.

A Century of Electronic Music

by Victoria Lundy

The theremin was invented by a young Russian physicist named Lev Sergevich Termen (known in the West as Léon Theremin) in October 1920. It’s a electronically straightforward but musically difficult instrument, and it influenced everything that came after it. We’ll take a look at these early electronic instruments and see how we’ve come back to the theremin after it almost disappeared in the 20th century, only to experience a renaissance in the 21st. Victoria will demonstrate the basic principles of playing the instrument, give a short lesson, and play a few pieces demonstrating its versatility.

Speaker creds: Victoria Lundy has been playing theremin in the Denver experimental/underground/punk scene since the 90s. She was a member of the avant garde Carbon Dioxide Orchestra, who opened for the legendary Silver Apples in 1997; is a founding member of Denver’s acclaimed nerd rock band The Inactivists and has appeared all of their 6 CDs and EP, and as a guest player live and in recordings with other local artists. She also was a member of Jackson Induced Mutant Laboratory and performed with them at the 2011 Denver Noise Festival and at the 2013 Denver Post Underground Music Showcase with ambient project Pythian Whispers. Victoria has appeared at many venues in Denver as well as Boulder’s Dairy Center for the Performing Arts, and demonstrated the theremin at the World Science Fiction Convention. In the last year she’s participated in a series of musique concréte performances at the Walnut Room and DU Lamont School of Music, and concentrating on solo ambient work that explores the expressive qualities of the theremin.

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As always, a huge thanks to our primary sponsor Sexpot Comedy and to our photographer partners in crime From the Hip Photo!

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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!

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