Nerd Nite Philly

Posts Tagged ‘bugs’

Nerd Nite No. 39: Taphophobia! Drunk Science! Entomogaphy!

Hey-Yo Nerds!

Ready for Nerd Nite Number 39 on Wednesday, July 9? Here’s what’s in store:

“The Dead Alive: The Victorian Fear of Premature Burial” by Megan Rosenbloom

Librarian Megan Rosenbloom, director of Death Salon, takes you on an exploration of the Victorian obsession with premature burial based on books from the era, and how those hilariously lurid books inspired the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Megan will delve into some of the purported tales of live burial, the entrepreneurs who made safety coffins, the societies formed to protect against this primal fear, and how this fear trickles down into our modern culture.

Bio: Megan Rosenbloom is a medical librarian at the University of Southern California, where she manages the medical rare book collection. Megan is the director of Death Salon, an event that brings together intellectuals, artists, and death professionals to share their work in the culture of mortality and mourning. Death Salon New York will be held at Morbid Anatomy Museum in October 2015. Megan is currently traveling and doing research for her first book in medical library special collections.

“Alcohol Induced Science” by Cole Smith

Alcoholic beverages aren’t only good for drinking, in fact they’ve lead to some interesting science. I’ll be discussing three discoveries during this talk: the use of beer foam to model atomic motion, making diamonds out of tequila, and which wine makes the best superconductor. I’m hoping this talk will not only entertain but inform people on the benefits of these experiments, and maybe make some home-brewed atomic modelers in the crowd. Please clean up your beer if you decide to do so.

Bio: Cole received his B.S. at Boise State University in Materials Science and moved to Philadelphia to work on my Ph.D. in the same field at Drexel. He’s planning on graduating in January. His recent work focuses on the creation of new materials by stacking atoms one layer at a time. He also gets to characterize these new materials using a decent arsenal of equipment. Before his work on new materials, he was studying corrosion of aerospace alloys and had the opportunity to work on the F-22 project.

“Eat Bugs, What?” By Isa Betancourt

A year ago the United Nations stated that we ought to be munching and crunching on more 6 legged critters. Say what? For many people, the FDA limit of 4 insect larvae per 1lb of frozen berries adds more than enough bugs to their diet. We’ll explore why we should increase the number of bugs in our diet. Let’s flip that around… Why aren’t we eating bugs? About 2 billion people on the planet eat bugs normally and our primate relatives chow down bugs. So what happened to us?

Bio: Isa Betancourt has been a Curatorial Assistant of Entomology at the Academy of Natural Sciences since receiving her Entomology degree from Cornell University. When she is not in the depths of the Academy’s collection, caring and organizing the 4 million dead insect specimens, you can find her wading around in Swann Fountain collecting insects with her fish net.

Plus! Local singer-songwriter Kerry Justine will provide the musical interludes.

Wednesday, July 9
Show starts at 7:30pm
**Seats are first come first serve. Standing room available after the tables fill up!**
Frankford Hall, 1210 Frankford Avenue
$5 cover gets you admission and happy hour specials all evening

Be there and be square!

Posted in Uncategorized |

Tags: ANSP, beer, bugs, burial, entomagophy, fears, weird science |

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Nerd Nite No. 17, August 8, 2012

Dear Nerds,

Join us for the August edition of Nerd Nite. It will be creepy, crawly, delicious and magical!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012
doors at 7:00, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall at Frankford & Girard
$5 cover

On tap for you:

“Bed bugs and a novel detection tool” by Dina Richman
Worrying about bed bugs? Not sure how to find them or what damage they cause? Have them and need to get rid of them? Come to Dina’s talk to get informed. Get all the bed bug basics that can fit into a 20 minute talk, plus learn about a new bed bug detection tool.Bio: Dina Richman has been with FMC Professional Solutions R&D in Philadelphia for almost 10 years where she is the pest segment product development manager. Dina has been involved with a variety of research projects, ranging from ant control to wasp control to bed bug detection. Before FMC, Dina completed a Masters degree in entomology focusing on flea control and a Ph.D. focusing on using building construction to control subterranean termite infestations. Both degrees were earned from the University of Florida. While at FMC, Dina also completed an MBA program, earning that degree from Drexel University. Oh, and she loves bugs. She presently lives in Kensington with her three big dogs.

“Grow. Cook. Teach.” by Danny Gerber
Danny has been teaching nutrition in Philadelphia for the past 18 years and he’ll be sharing some of some of the hands-on, interactive food systems lessons developed at the Urban Nutrition Initiative over this time. Along with some stories from the field, this workshop will provide an overall picture of what’s wrong with our food system and how you can get involved in the movement to transform it. Time permitting there will be an awesome hands-on food prep demonstration with opportunities for audience participation!

Danny Gerber is the founding director of the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (UNI), a program of Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships. UNI engages, educates and empowers youth, university students and community residents to promote healthy lifestyles and build a just and sustainable food systems. UNI’s programs include youth-run urban farms, healthy cooking programs and school nutrition education partnerships.

“How the $%@# Did You Do That? (Why Magic Tricks Work Best on Smart People)” by Francis Menotti
We always ask how magic tricks work. Perhaps a more pertinent question is why they do. Grab a drink, watch some magic, then learn a bit about psychology of misdirection and deception that magicians use to fool your senses. Maybe even learn a trick or two in the process!

Francis Menotti does the impossible. OK… he creates the illusion thereof. A full-time magician based out of Philadelphia, Menotti also writes, creates and directs magic for other magicians, theatre, film and television. Steve Martin calls his work “very clever,” and Teller has referred to him as “the future of magic,” but what do they know?

And featuring: magic by Francis Menotti and music by Carol Cleveland Sings

Posted in Uncategorized |

Tags: bugs, illusions, magic tricks, Penn, psychology, sustainability, urban farming |

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