Nerd Nite Omega – SOLD OUT

Nerd Nite Omega happens on Thursday, March 16!

When: Thursday, March 16th, 2017 (Doors open at 6:30pm)
Where: Wild Rose Brewery
Tickets: $10 online + fees SOLD OUT
Wait list at: http://nerdniteomega.eventbrite.ca
This is an 18+ event.

SPEAKERS

Adventures in science – What you learn when you leave behind what you know
Dr. Sarah Hewitt, Mount Royal University

I remember the moment sitting in my neuroscience lab in front of my microscope and computer when I thought to myself, “I love this – but I will die if I do this for the rest of my life.” And in that moment, I came up with the idea of being an adventure travel scientist instead. I didn’t know what that meant but I’ve since tried to sort it out. This is the story of my adventures and misadventures in learning how to communicate science in fields that aren’t my own. I’ve learned how to get up to speed quickly whether I’m tracking spider monkeys in Belize, measuring permafrost temperatures in Alaska, taking leaf samples in the rainforest canopy in Costa Rica, or measuring de-forestation in Ethiopia. And most importantly, I’ve realized that science is science and there are surprising commonalities everywhere.

The human-component in Artificial Intelligence: Answering the age-old question “can my child learn to swear like an angry chatbot?”
Lindsay Hracs, PhD student, University of Calgary

There are many parallels between humans and AI in terms of language learning. For example, both humans and machines require language input to solve a language learning problem, and linguistic knowledge in both humans and machines can be evaluated by the accuracy of the output (speech or text). So, what are the implications as computer programs start to display more human-like linguistic behaviour and increased intelligence?

Green beer and other myths attributed to St Patrick’s Day
Joseph W. Windsor, PhD Candidate, University of Calgary

St. Patrick wore blue, he purposefully disrupted Easter traditions causing a military response, and he wasn’t even Irish. So how did the poor slave, Patrick become the patron saint of Ireland and have everything from beer to rivers dyed green in his honour?