Nerd Nite No. 10, January 11, 2012
Hey everybody!
It’s 2012 and it’s gonna be nerdier than ever this year. The first Nerd Nite of the year is approaching rapidly. Are you worried about cell phone radiation, do you want to seriously geek out about bikes, are you a closet graffiti writer yearning to paint freely on walls? This is your Nerd Nite. Plus we have music, comedy, and Frankford Hall has delicious beer and pretzels. See you there!
The details:
January 11, 2012, doors at 7, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall at Frankford and Girard
$5 cover
Our line-up:
“The radiowaves are coming for your sperm, and other myths of the cell phone era” by Scicurious
It seems that these days everyone has a cell phone attached to their ear. Every week another website trumpets a study saying that the cell phone waves are causing cancer, lowering your sperm count, even killing the bees. But are they? Sci will take you through the latest on cell phones and radiowaves, and let you know exactly whether or not the cell phones are coming for your sperm.
Scicurious has a BS in Biology, a BA in Philosophy, and a PhD in Physiology. A mild mannered researcher by day, Scicurious is an active science blogger by night, where she writes about the good, the bad, and weird in physiology and neuroscience. She is the recent winner of the Three Quarks Daily Top Quark Prize in Science Writing, has been published several times in The Open Laboratory Science Blog Anthology. Her writing has also been featured in Scientific American, The London Guardian, and the New York Times, and has made numerous appearances on the radio and at conferences to talk about life as a science blogger and the weird and wonderful world of science. She writes at the blogs Neurotic Physiology and Scientific American’s “The Scicurious Brain”, and you can follow her on Twitter at @scicurious. She often writes in the third person.
“A Nerd’s Survival Guide to Biking Cross Country.” by Geoff Cotter
Traveling by bike is an excellent way to better experience one’s surroundings while traveling. At a bicycle’s speed, its easier to take in every hill and river and meet people on a more personal level than you would had you driven by car. Through a series of misadventures, anecdotes, and lessons learned, geoff introduces a basic guide to the how and why of bike touring across the US.
Geoff is a 28 year old mechanical engineering grad student at Drexel University. Geoff has bike toured across the united states, new zealand, central california, kentucky bourbon country, as well as numerous shorter trips through New England, PA, and NJ.
“Why That Kid is Hanging from the Overpass to Paint His Name” by Ryan Derfler
In the 60’s and 70’s, the modern day graffiti movement blew up in Philadelphia. By the 80’s, Philadelphia was “all tagged up” and as an attempt to curb the problem, the City created a program called The Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network, to engage the youth and to rechannel their creative energy. Fast forward almost 30 years and the program has changed the face of the City with over 3,500 outdoor and indoor art works, involving over 40,000 youth, earning Philadelphia international acclaim as the City of Murals. Hear some of the more colorful anecdotes and learn about some of the Program’s “secret weapons” to get so many public works done over the years.
Ryan Derfler, Director of Business Development, joined the Mural Arts Program in 2008 and was tasked to develop a tour program to generate earned income revenue. Since then, he has developed the most talented tour guide pool in the City, tour attendance and revenue have doubled, and tour products and promotions have received acclaim world wide. Ryan now oversees merchandising and is working on a social entrepreneurship model centered around a new learning center and gift shop called Mural Arts at The Gallery, which opened in October 2011.
BE THERE AND BE SQUARE.
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