Nerd Nite #43 – SOLD OUT
Nerd Nite #43 is happening at WURST on April 18:
When: Thursday, April 18, 2019 (Doors open at 6:00 pm, talks start at 7:00 pm)
Where: WURST (2437 4 St SW)
Tickets: $10 plus fees – SOLD OUT (waitlist available on Eventbrite)
This is an 18+ event.
***TO ALL ATTENDEES: One of the presenters would like you to fill out this survey (https://bit.ly/2UiK640) before his presentation. Please fill it out when you can to test your perceptions of current world issues!***
Presentations
Presentation # 1:
Booze, Broads & Brothels
Notorious as the booze, brothel, and gambling capital of the Canadian West, early Calgary was home to dozens of entrepreneurial sex workers. This talk will introduce you to a few of these dynamic women, whose clients were the miners, ranchers, NWMP officers, and CPR railmen commonly known as the “mavericks” of Alberta’s pioneering past.
Presentation # 2:
Feelings versus Facts – a Homo sapiens conundrum
Raphael Wust, PhD, PGeo; Senior Technical Advisor AGAT Laboratories; Adjunct Assistant Prof at U of C and James Cook University
In our western society, we have easy access to large data and information; what people call AI and Big Data. However, the majority of us – educated or not – are following feelings rather than numbers when it comes to understanding life on our planet. In this presentation, we will go through a series of perceived “facts” and identify how well they are understood and accepted. We will dwell into well-known data of human health and evolution as well as paleoclimate records to inspire nerdy thinking and encourage people to take numbers and data more seriously. Reasons for relying on feelings rather than facts are also discussed looking into our ancestors’ fears and position within the food chain.
Raphael Wust (PhD, PGeo) is a Technical Advisor at AGAT Laboratories in Calgary. In his previous career as geologists, he performed research in Oman, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, and investigated past and current climate events resulting in over 55 scientific papers. He is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Marine Geology/Sedimentology at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Geoscience Department of the University of Calgary. His personal interests are embracing nature and enjoy life looking through the glasses of our ancestors and not make the same mistake!
Presentation # 3:
Extreme Space Weather: The good, the bad, and the ugly…
What is space weather and how could it affect me? From the majestic northern lights to electric power grid damage, and United Nations efforts to mitigate future impacts of severe space storms.
Dr. Mann does research in space physics and space weather in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency. He’s both the PI of the CARISMA magnetometer network and the founding Principal Co-Director of the University of Alberta Institute for Space Science, Exploration and Technology (ISSET). He’s a Co-Investigator on the NASA THEMIS and NASA Van Allen Probes missions, was the lead for the Ex-Alta-1 cube satellite (the first ever made-in-Alberta satellite launched from the International Space Station in May 2017), and is active in space outreach as PI of the Aurora Watch program. He was named as one of Canada’s Top-40-under-40 in 2009 and currently serves as the Chairman and Rapporteur of the expert group on space weather at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
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