Quantum Mechanics, 1950s video projectors and giving cash away in rural Nepal
Nerd Nite London is a monthly event where three speakers deliver a 21 minute talk about, well, pretty much anything, while the audience drinks along. It’s evidence-based entertainment in a bar.
At April’s Nerd Nite there’s Quantum Mechanics; find out how particles can be two places at once, totally nerd out learning about 1950s video projection technology and discover why giving money away led to intrigue and deception in rural Nepal.
Address: Nerd Nite, Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA
Date: Wednesday April 20th 2016
Tickets: Early nerd tickets £6, general admission £7.50. Tickets available here
Doors (and bar) open 6.30pm Event starts 7.30pm
Quantum Superpositions: Parallel universes and Revolutionary Computing
The world is quantum mechanical but the world as described by quantum mechanics is very different from the world we’re familiar with. You’ll have your mind bent all out of shape with this talk finding out about ‘Superpositions’. Find out what Superpositions are and how these lead to particles that seem to be in two places at once and cats that are neither dead or alive. You’ll also learn how superpositions could revolutionise computing.
Ben, Zoe and Chris are postgraduate students at Imperial College London. Like all budding scientists, they are addicted to coffee, free food and arguing about the nature of reality.
1950’s video projection technology : hot oil, high voltages and vacuum pumps
Mike Harrison is fascinated with how things work and has an entertainingly ranty YouTube channel where he takes apart things (e.g. airport X-ray machines) or explains why it’s a really bad idea to explore a hydrogen cell.
Mike will explain about the Eidophor. From the 1950s-90s, a single company dominated the large-screen video projection market with a barely practical device called the Eidophor. This used highly complex optics, involving high voltages, hot oil and vacuum pumps to project bright, high quality images for live music, sports and news events. It monopolised the market until the 1990s when it was made completely obsolete by modern projection technologies.
Mike Harrison likes vintage technology, dangerous high voltage experiments and other random electronics.
The challenges of implementing cash transfer schemes to pregnant women in rural Nepal
More than 10,000 pregnant women in rural Nepal were given cash and researchers wanted to evaluate if this improved mother and child health. In order to understand whether women could actually keep control of money at home, Lu interviewed wives, husbands, sisters-in-law and mothers-in-law. The results paint a fascinating picture of intrigue, deception and power struggles in poor Nepali households.
Lu is a PhD student at the Institute of Global Health, University College London. He is currently writing up his thesis in his final year in Nepal and desperately hoping someone will give him a job when he finishes.
About Us
Nerd Nite London is a monthly event where three speakers deliver a 21 minute talk about, well, pretty much anything, while the audience drinks along. It’s evidence-based entertainment in a bar.
Previous talks have included ‘The technology of terminator’ delivered by Leila Johnston, ‘What it’s like to be a freedom fighter’ presented by woman of the year Diana Nammi, and ‘How to avoid a hangover’ explained by Wellcome science book prize winner Dr Richard Stephens (unfortunately the answer was to drink less).