Nerd Nite London – Be there and be square
Find out about the science behind Sci-fi f, discover who got inked in the 19th century and why everyone really should be reading JG Ballard at Nerd Nite London on 22nd January.
Nerd Nite London is a bi-monthly event where three speakers give 18-21-minute fun-yet-informative talks across all disciplines – while the audience drinks along.
Address: Nerd Nite, Paper Dress Vintage, 114-116 Curtain Rd, London, EC2A 3AH
Details : Wednesday 22 Jan 2014 Doors at 8pm, early nerd tickets £5 and £6 afterwards www.wegottickets.com/NerdNiteLondon
The Science of Hollywood
Science fiction has a lot to answer for, Bruce Willis for starters. Not all of the science that comes out of Hollywood is bad, some of it is good while other bits can be just downright ugly. This talk will look at the science behind the fiction and will explain how the fiction can in turn influence the science.
Hugh is a research scientist working at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory where he develops new technologies for planetary exploration, which essentially means that he plays around with cool stuff for a living. However in his spare time he acts as a scientific adviser for Hollywood and has worked on big budget movies such as Prometheus, and is always surprized when they actually listen to him.
Tattoo Collecting in the 19th Century
Tattoos have been a source of fascination for criminologists and doctors since the late 19th century. Interpreting the hidden meaning of tattoos led some medical men to collect and preserve the tattooed skin of their subjects in prisons, hospitals, barracks and asylums. I’ll show you some examples of these unusual skin fragments, and explore some of the more interesting 19th century interpretations of tattoos.
Dr. Gemma Angel is a tattoo historian at UCL, specialising in tattoo preservation and collecting. She has spent the past 4 years researching a collection of 300 tattoos at the Science Museum in London. Before that she was a tattooist, a secondary school art teacher and a massage therapist.
Why everyone should be reading JG Ballard
An exploration into the life and work of the seer of Shepperton, JG Ballard.
Seb Collett discovered JG Ballard when his brother gave him Super-Cannes for Christmas, innocently adding, “He is the kind of writer I thought you’d be into”. This was followed by an obsession that ate up years of Seb’s life, and an eventual career change to teaching, which he was disappointed to find did not involve sharing these transgressive stories with children. After an evening spent at Nerd Nite, Seb decided that he had finally found the right platform to preach to the unconverted.