Nerd Nite London is a monthly event where three speakers give 18-21 minute fun-yet-informative talks across all disciplines, while the audience drinks along.

Address: the Backyard Comedy Club, 231 Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 0EL

Details: Wednesday May 16th

Tickets: Early nerd tickets £6, general admission £7.50. Tickets available here.

Doors open 6.30pm, event starts 7.30pm

Nerd Nite London aims to teach you details about subjects which you didn’t even know you were curious about, while you drink beer and learn things you didn’t know you didn’t know. Join us for our 5th birthday celebrations, while we learn about fatbergs, fake food, and why swearing is good for us. F*&%ing brilliant line up, right?

Fatbergs, Floods and Day Zero – fending off The Waterpocalypse

The end is nigh! Or is it? In an age of rapid global change and clickbait prophecies of doom, I’ll be taking a dive into the world of water scarcity to ask: What’s the situation with our water and what can science do about it?

Charlotte Ivison is a strategy analyst for Thames Water, nerding out on data every day to make sure everyone (well, everyone in the South East) will still have water when we’ve all got electric self-flying cars and her job has been taken over by a robot.

Swearing is Good for You

You’ve been told it’s the sign of a stunted intellect and a poor vocabulary, you’ve been warned that it just makes things worse, but everything we generally believe about swearing is wrong.

With copious f-bombs and footnotes, Dr Emma Byrne will arm you with the science of swearing, so you’ll know how to use it to kill pain, create stronger teams, and build your emotional literacy. Some strong language will be used.

Dr Emma Byrne is an AI researcher and computational neuroscientist. Her work includes building a robot to do genomics research, and an agent to play video games, making hundreds of doctoral students redundant at a stroke. She’s the author of ‘Swearing is Good for You’ and regularly appears on national and international radio on the subjects of swearing and robotics.

There’s No Such Thing as Natural

In a world filled with superfoods, GMOs, and botox, it can be hard to tell fad from fiction. But worshipping ‘natural’ and demonising our own innovations isn’t the answer. I’ll take you on a journey through the wonders and perils of nature and bioengineering, demystify the media jargon, and try to convince you that there really is no such thing as ‘natural’.

Claire Asher is a science writer and performer with a PhD in giant ant behaviour. She’s fascinated by ecology, sustainability and the diversity of the natural world. Her love of food and the environment have led her to wonder what a good diet really looks like.

All proceeds from Nerd Nite London go to charity. This year we are partnering with the Shine Trust to help foster a new generation of nerds. More information about Nerd Nite London can be found by following us on Twitter @nerdnitelondon, liking us on Facebook www.facebook.com/NerdNiteLondon or visiting www.london.nerdnite.com. For more information about the Shine Trust visit www.shinetrust.org.uk