Nerd Nite No. 11, February 8, 2012
Hey Gang!
The next Nerd Nite is drawing near! This is also our first Nerd Nite to feature a talk by a chemist! And as far as we know, our first skydiver *and* our first hypocrisy expert . . .
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
doors at 7:00, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall at Frankford and Girard
$5 cover
For your listening and learning pleasure:
“Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind” by Rob Kurzban
Do you wonder why people are so inconsistent? Why people often seem to contradict themselves? Why they believe things they know aren’t true? Why they say “don’t do X” and then do that very thing? In this presentation, I’ll show how the fact that the human mind is made up of many different parts answers all these questions…
Robert Kurzban is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. His research focuses on evolutionary approaches to social phenomena such as cooperation, trust, mating, friendship, and social networks. His favorite color is blue and his favorite breed of dog is husky.
“Jumping out of planes: the art and sport of skydiving” by Alex Mandel
Skydiving is on the top of most people’s bucket list. It is one of the most exciting and exhilarating extreme sports around but there’s much more to it than strapping on a parachute and diving out of a plane. In this presentation, I’ll explore the techniques and finer points of skydiving.
Alex Mandel is a licensed skydiver who has been frequently jumping out of airplanes for the past 4 years. He made his first tandem jump in January 2008 and than worked his way to earn a free fall license. On the weekdays he works on his start up and develops real estate.
“Chemistry and energy. From alternative fuel to blowing sh*t up” by Mike Zdilla
Chemistry was once about mixing substances and changing them into other things, but this is not the case today. Perhaps with the exception of drug discovery, most every facet of chemistry today is concerned with energy. From food to fuel to batteries to bombs, chemists are concerned with storing and using energy. A talk highlighting usage and transformations of chemical energy will be presented, with a focus on the oft overlooked role of the inorganic elements. The talk will include chemical demonstrations, and a live musical performance.
Mike Zdilla is a professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Temple University. His focus is inorganic chemistry, which means the study of the chemical elements that usually get ignored by the more popular yuppie elements (I’m talkin’ to you, carbon oxygen and hydrogen). He teaches courses on inorganic chemistry, metals in biology, and crystallography. He has a wife who is an English and literacy educator, and who indulges his love of all things nerdular, and a 2 year old son who loves letters like his Mom, but whom Mike hopes to convert to his own camp in time.
And as if that weren’t enough, we have comedic storytelling by Zach Webber and tunes by song knitter Rob Gallo.
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