Category: Uncategorized

November 21st- line up change

Robin Lamboll has been asked to travel for work and won’t be able to speak at this month’s event.  Instead, we’ll have the wonderful Cerys Bradley talking about LGBTQ etymology.  If it was slam poetry that you were looking for, we will be rescheduling Robin at a later date.  Sorry for the change in plans!

Nerd Nite London

November 21st- tickets on sale now

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: Tuesday November 21st

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

Doors open 6.30pm, event starts 7.30pm

This month we’ll be learning about the Japafication of food, why mobiles have changed everything but the movies, and LGBTQ etymology.  With special guest host Dominique Morneau.

Japafied: Using History and Data to invent new and daricious foods

From sushi to tempura to ramen, Japan has a history of importing foods from other countries and passing them off as their own. By the end of this talk, you too will be able to take any dish and make it Japanese, using a Japafication method based on data, history, and three basic culinary prompts.

Growing up Canadian in a mixed Japanese-German household, Hana Etsuko Dethlefsen is perfectly poised to translate authentic Japanese cooking to an English-speaking audience.  While living in Japan she did just that: her monthly column, Forking with Hana helped fellow ex-pats navigate the grocery aisles and keep them well fed.  Author of Let’s Cooking  and co-host of “One World Kitchen”, Hana now spends her days managing the Hackney museum and developing recipes for her new cookbook.

The invention of lesbianism

The LGBTQ community uses many words to describe itself, but where did these words come from and how did they come to be associated with us? This talk looks at the history of words such as lesbian and queer, tracing them all the way back to their first recorded uses.

Cerys Bradley is a PhD student, stand up comedian and amateur LGBT+ historian who researches Dark Net Markets by day and the history of the community by night, well, early evening and at the weekends

 

Mobile has changed everything but the movies

In a little under 25 years mobile phones and smart phones have transformed the word. Two thirds of the 7.5bn people on Planet Earth have them, with many countries having more phones than people. But you wouldn’t know it by watching the movies. In this talk Peter will show data and case studies of the transformation of the world, and Hollywood’s best efforts to ignore it.

Peter Gasston is an author, speaker and technologist at a digital agency in London. He’s been around long enough to remember life without mobile phones.

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

October 17th- Early nerd tickets on sale now

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: Tuesday October 17th.

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

Doors open 6.30pm, event starts 7.30pm

This month we’ll be learning why we forget, the story behind the ampersand (&)and all about the bad ass feminists of nature. Be there and be square.

#1 Why am I always forgetting where my keys are? How memory in the brain works

Are you typically forgetting where you put your keys? Which events do you remember well? What you had for lunch yesterday? The clothes you were wearing at your wedding? What you did three weeks ago? Clearly some memories stay and some don’t. Why? Let’s see what happens in your brain while you are memorizing…

Dr Claudia Clopath is a Lecturer  in the Bioengineering Department at Imperial College London. Her passion is to understand how the brain works. She loves computers, maths, and models. This is her second nerd nite talk.

#2 &?

Pedants argue over when it should and shouldn’t be used. Typographers wallow around for hours finding exactly the one they’re after. But how have ampersands evolved? What are the strangest ones? Lydia has been on a voyage of nerdery to find out.

On the unreliable evidence of an ad for paintbrushes, Lydia Thornley has been making images since she was in a high chair. Now a communication designer, Lydia’s decider for taking on projects is, “Is it interesting?”.

#3 Bad Ass Feminists* of Nature

Which creatures have the most bad ass females? Find out about sexual dimorphism in a variety of creatures and learn about the lizards that don’t even need a male.

Catherine Webb is writer, teacher, podcast maker and science enthusiast. She is currently studying for a science communication master’s degree at Imperial College London. She is also (of course!) a strident feminist.

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

*we can’t with 100% certainty claim that these animals understand the concepts of feminism, but you never know.

 

 

Next nerd nite- Tues Sept 19th. Early nerd tickets on sale Sept 1.

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.

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

When: Tuesday September 19th.

Tickets: Early nerd tickets £6, general admission £7.50. Tickets will go on sale at the beginning of September.  Available here

Doors open 6.30pm, event starts 7.30pm

This month we’ll be launching at a new venue with one of our favourite speakers (Pete Brown) with one of our favourite topics (beer).  We’ll also be welcoming two new nerds to the stage talking about human history, DNA, and using stats to save lives.  Join us, be there and be square.

Miracle Brew: The Nature and Science of Beer

We’ve been brewing and drinking beer for thousands of years, without understanding how or why the brewing process works. In the Middle Ages, yeast was called ‘godisgoode’ because no one had any idea what fermentation was. From the birth of brewing (and civilization) in the Middle East, through an exploration of water’s unmurky depths and the surreal madness of drink-sodden hop-blessings in the Czech Republic, this talk will explain some of the nature and science of beer.

Pete Brown is a beer and ale lover and nerd nite favourite. He writes for newspapers and magazines around the world and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Food Programme. He was named British Beer Writer of the Year in 2009, 2012 and 2016, and Fortnum & Mason Drink Book Winner in 2017.

Inferring Human History using DNA

We’ve all wondered at some point who are we, where did we come from and how did we get here? Whilst these questions have traditionally been addressed through oral traditions, written records, history and archaeology, DNA also contains a record of our past interactions and events. Using a method that compares the DNA of different people to make ancestry inference, this presentation will show how genetics can be used to uncover the stories of not only people alive today but also those who died thousands of years ago.

Lucy van Dorp is a population geneticist working at University College London Genetics Institute. She’s fascinated by what DNA can tell us about our own evolution and loves getting to tell people all about the science she does

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Probably certain decision-making

Life is all about decisions- what to study, who to marry, what colour socks to wear- but how can we possibly make the ‘best’ decision? If we’re lucky we may even have some information, but it’s usually impossible take account of everything. In the context of health care, where scarce resources and people’s lives are at stake, the pressure to make the right decision is cranked up to 11. This talk will delve in to current decision-analytics to try and find the answers to a few life and death questions.

Nathan Green is a statistician and mathematical modeller. He has modelled mathematically and statistic’ed things like hospital-acquired infections, TB, chlamydia and pandemic flu. He works at Imperial College London

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

Would you like to speak at nerd nite this autumn?

talk nerdy to me

Do you have some nerdery that London needs to know about?  We are currently recruiting speakers for our autumn/winter line up.  Would you like to speak at one of our events?

If so, here’s what you need to do

1) Concoct a fun, yet descriptive, title of your presentation.

2) Write a 3-5 sentence fun, yet intelligent, description of your presentation.

3) Write a 1-3 sentence fun, yet informative, bio.

4) Check your diary to see which date(s) you are available.

5) Email us () with points 1-4, and we’ll be in touch to schedule you in.

Here are the dates we’re recruiting for:

Tues Sept 19th 2017
Tues Oct 17th 2017
Tues Nov 21st 2017
Wed Jan 17th 2018
Wed Feb 21st 2018
Wed March 21st 2018
Wed April 18th 2018
Wed May 16th 2018
Wed June 20th 2018
Wed Sep 19th 2018
Wed Oct 17th 2018
Wed Nov 21st 2018

If you haven’t been to a nerd nite before, we suggest you come to one or two to get a feel for the style of the event before you volunteer*.  If you have been to an event, but still have more questions before you volunteer, feel free to drop us a line.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Louise and the nerd nite london team.

*Please note, we do not pay our speakers. Sorry about that.

June 3rd- Nerd Nite London at Stoke Newington Literary Festival

NNatSNLF

Nerd Nite London- June 3rd

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: Library Gallery, 184 Stoke Newington Church Street, N160JS

Details: Saturday June 3rd.

Tickets: General admission £6, Tickets available here

Doors open 7.30pm, event starts 8pm

Nerd Nite London returns to Stoke Newington Literary Festival with myths, legends, spiders, corpses, and an explanation of the origins of the dollar sign.  Be there and be square.

The Corpse on the Tube and other Urban Legends
Just as fairy tales warn of the dangers of going into the woods alone and explain strange things in the rural landscape, London’s urban legends are often horror stories about going alone down into the London underground, and the folklore of strange things in the cityscape. Plague pits seethe beneath your feet, corpses ride on the tube and secret tunnels lead to…..? Some of these urban legends are older than they appear; others are new stories posing as history. Scott will tell these contemporary folktales, map them across London and then show how they may have come to be.

Scott Wood is the author of London Urban Legends: The Corpse on the Tube and the (occasional) Fortean London column for Londonist, co-host of the Forteana Podcast and host of the London Fortean Society.

Gossamer Days: Spiders, humans and their threads
What happens when one making animal meets another? This presentation will look at the human uses of spider silk, from gun sights to sticky tunics via acoustic lures, royal underwear and the mystery of the disappearing spider goats, examining the strange, centuries long entanglement between humans and spiders.

Eleanor Morgan is an artist living in London. She uses printmaking, sculpture, video and drawing to explore materials and processes of making. This has included serenading a spider, making a diamond from the dead creatures of the River Thames and embracing a giant green sea anemone. Eleanor is the author of the illustrated book ‘Gossamer Days: Spiders, Humans and Their Threads’ (Strange Attractor Press)

Why Australia is called Australia
From Nike trainers to Trident Gum, Dan Walker Smith traces the contemporary world around us back to ancient myths. And in the sometimes tradition of nerd nite presenters keeping to topic, he will explain why Australia is called Australia.

Dan Walker Smith has tried his hand at stand up & radio presenting, break dancing and improv.  He is a regular speaker at Nerd Nite London. He likes myths and folklore, travel and snowboarding.

All proceeds from Nerd Nite London go to charity. For Stoke Newington Literary Festival, proceeds go to support literacy projects in Hackney. 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 Stoke Newington Literary Festival, visit: http://stokenewingtonliteraryfestival.com/the-programme/

 

 

Nerd Nite London turns 4! May 17th

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: V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA

Details: Wednesday 17th May.

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

Doors open 6.30pm, event starts 7.30pm

This month we’ll be celebrating our 4th birthday with our favourite things: facts and beer. We’ll be learning if maths can help you fall in love? Why do they teach maths in school, and how did they decide to teach it as they do? And is Asgard bacteria the ‘missing link’ between microbes and our ancestors? Be there and be square.

1+1 always equals 2. So why does maths education keep changing?

School maths, love it or hate, you had to do it! Maths is a core subject in UK schools that every student has to study until they are 16 years old. But who decided this and why? How did maths become such an important subject? Was it always this important? This talk will look at the history of maths education and the many changes that have led to its high standing in the English education system. The talk will also discuss what the future looks like for maths education in England

Susan-Louise Okereke has been teaching maths for over 11 years. In that time she had taught a wide variety of people, from primary children to NEET (Not in employment, education or training) young people to pensioners. She currently teaches maths in a south London inner city secondary academy, while also working with organisation like the Museum of London to design contextual maths resources that aim to bring maths to life.

The mathematics of love: a combination of the sensual and the statistical

Want to save yourself from the pain of one-sided love? Maybe a mathematical model can help? Worried that your love isn’t going to last? There’s another mathematical model with a 90% success rate for predicting divorces, based simply on a 15 minute video of the couple. This talk combines the sensual and the statistical, the arousing and the analytical, the titillating and the trigonometric, the X-rated and the exact. Learn to look at love from a mathematician’s point of view.

Tim Bush became interested in the mathematical modelling of romantic love while studying for his PhD in Physics at the University of Edinburgh. He has also worked on mathematical models of bacteria, honeybees, geology and astrobiology, and now works as a Data Scientist in London. Previously, he worked on mathematical models of lakes at the University of Amsterdam. In his free time he enjoys board games, video games and boxing

Asgard bacteria of Loki’s castle

The origin of advanced life such as plants and animals has long been as mysterious as the origin of life itself: how could invisibly small microbes evolve to become as complex as trees, humans, cats, or dogs? Recent discoveries in “Loki’s Castle”, a network of hydrothermal vents a mile deep in the North Atlantic have revealed a startling clue: the vents were inhabited by a family of unusual microbes that suggest a “missing link” between microbes and complex life. In this talk I’ll describe the fascinating story behind our developing understanding of where we came from, and how

Dr. Morgan Beeby leads a research lab at Imperial College, London, focusing on the evolution of the wide diversity found in the biology of bacteria. Prior to Imperial College he studied at Caltech, UCLA, and the University of Birmingham.

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

 

 

April 19th- early nerd tickets on sale now

Nerd Nite London- April 19th

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: V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA

Details: Wednesday 19th April.

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

Doors open 6.30pm, event starts 7.30pm

What makes us so different from monkeys? Why should pandas get all the praise? Is the Tour de France getting easier?  Join us to answer these, and other not really so important questions as we present another excellent night of learning and drinking.  Be there and be square.

Why should pandas get all the praise?

Why should the panda get all the praise? The Ugly Animal Preservation Society is dedicated to raising the profile of the world’s most aesthetically challenged endangered species.   Join biologist and presenter Simon Watt as we explore the incredible biology of the animal kingdom’s most monstrous.

Simon Watt is Head of The Ugly Animal Preservation Society, host of the podcast LevelUpHuman and co-presenter of Inside Nature’s Giants

 Monkeys to Man –  How Human is Human?

Whilst the classic line up of chimp to man is widely used to illustrate evolutionary theory, at what point along that queue of primates did we become people? How are we really any different to other large primates in our family tree? What is it exactly that makes us human, and is it necessarily something we should be happy about?

Els Merry Price has degrees in archaeology, anthropology and human evolution & behaviour. Having spent almost a decade at university she’s slightly concerned that she now finds people more bewildering than ever, and can only hope that people remain distracted enough by her hair and tattoos not to notice this fact

Sport: what the eye can’t see

It’s easy to be fooled in sport by prevailing wisdom and predictable punditry. But what happens when we use data to test out a few theories? Here are three sporting questions with surprising answers. Do basketball teams lose on purpose? Is the Tour de France getting easier? And what happens in tennis when the loser wins more points than the winner?

Rob Minto is a journalist and the author of Sports Geek: a visual tour of sporting myths, debate and data. He was most recently at the Financial Times for 12 years, editing and writing about markets, technology and other stuff. This is his second Nerd Nite talk.

 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 or liking us on Facebook or visiting www.london.nerdnite.com. For more information about the Shine Trust visit www.shinetrust.org.uk

March 15th- early nerd tickets on sale now

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: V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA
Details: Wednesday 15th march.
Tickets: Early nerd tickets £6, general admission £7.50.   Tickets available here

Doors open 6.30pm, event starts 7.30pm

Join us for a line up to fulfil every nerd’s dreams: engineering, artificial intelligence, and zombies. What engineering secrets are hidden inside our houses? What can chess teach us about AI? Why are zombies so hangry? Be there and be square- Wednesday March 15th.

Revenge of The Mechanical Turk: How computers simultaneously killed and saved Chess – and what it means for the rest of us

Chess at the highest level has almost become a memory competition – who can better recall the moves their computer recommended tends to win. However, accurately computing positions dozens of moves deep has revealed hidden beauty, and more possibilities lying in the 64 squares than we thought possible. So, how do humans still take on our silicon counterparts?

This talk will explore the links between human and artificial intelligence through the wonder of Chess. Exploring whether education needs to be reshaped in the face of AI and deep machine learning, if intuition and idea generation are more valuable than being able to recall facts in the online age.

Henry C. Blanchard is an undefeated ChessBoxer, philosophy/physics grad, start up mentor and all round amateur geek.

Brain Food: dishing on zombie neuroscience

Mary applies neuroscience to help explain some classic zombie behaviours such as undying hunger, out of control rage, and their less than graceful movements. After this talk you will definitely be in the mood for more… dare we say it… brains.

During her ten years as a San Jose State University biology lecturer, Mary Poffenroth has made innovation in science education and communication a priority. Whether through video, popular writing, or live science events, her goals are always the same: make science accessible for all. She has created videos with TEDed and Wiley & Sons, hosted live shows with Nerd Nite Silicon Valley, written for Science Magazine, and Cognella published her first solo title, “Write, Present, Create: Science Communication for Undergraduates” in 2015. Leveraging her specialty in large lectures, she created an outdoor environmental student volunteer program, which has donated over 15,000 work hours to local non-profit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and is still going strong, now in its ninth year.

Don’t Judge a Building by Its Facade: Why infrastructure is cool

Infrastructure is all around you! (But not in a creepy way.) It works 24/7, 365 days a year to keep people around the world moving, toilets flushing and light switches turned on. Let’s explore some of the amazing ways engineers achieve this and how they are planning for the future.

Kate Ward is a Senior Transport Planner at WSP. This means she works on all the aspects of infrastructure projects before they go to construction: planning, building traffic models, design review and project management. In her own time she is obsessed with transportation and has been known to take time out on vacations to go look at train stations. Nevertheless she can’t explain why your tube was delayed this morning or when Southern will get their act together.

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  or visiting our website. For more information about the Shine Trust visit www.shinetrust.org.uk

Nerd Nite London- February 15th

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: V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA
Details: Wednesday 15th February.
Tickets: Early nerd tickets £6, general admission £7.50.

Doors open 6.30pm, event starts 7.30pm.  Tickets available here

Screw February 14th- it’s February 15th that’s got our hearts fluttering. We’ll be talking about how our brains learn, why voting systems matter, and hair. Be there and be square.

You must remember this…

How do we remember things? Our brain learns by changing the connections between the neurons,  the “atoms” of the brain. This presentation will describe how the brain develops early during childhood, how it learns when we are adult, and how mathematical models can help us to understand the brain and the basic principles of learning.

Dr Claudia Clopath is a Lecturer  in the Bioengineering Department at Imperial College London. Her passion is to understand how the brain works. She loves computers, maths, and models.

A hairy situation

Have you ever wondered why hair is curly, or straight, or blond, or black? Why do we lose 70 hairs a day from our heads, and can anything be done about that receding hairline? In this talk you will learn about the evolution of hair, and the science behind hair loss.

Claire Higgins is a lecturer in tissue engineering at Imperial College London. She is obsessed with hair……perhaps a little too much. In her spare time she is an avid ceramicist.

Why voting systems matter

How on earth did Donald Trump become US President? How did the UK end up voting to leave the EU? Why did Austria avoid electing a far right candidate as its president? Could Marine Le Pen become President of France and can we assume Angela Merkel will remain German chancellor?

These are just some of the questions triggered by recent political events around the world that have highlighted the need to understand voting systems and the impact they have. This talk will look at the main types of voting systems and the general pros and cons of each. This will include examples of some bizarre election results in the UK, Canada, the US and New Zealand.

George Court studied International Relations at the University of Birmingham, getting involved with Model United Nations as well as the Comedy society where he had a go at doing some political impressions. These may or may not be re-performed during the presentation.

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  or visiting our website. For more information about the Shine Trust visit www.shinetrust.org.uk