Nerd Night #45 – Season Finale!
Nerd Nite #45 is happening at WURST on June 20:
When: Thursday, June 20, 2019 (Doors open at 6:00pm, talks start at 7:00pm)
Where: WURST (2437 4 St SW)
Tickets: $10 plus fees – join waitlist (SOLD OUT)
This is an 18+ event.
Presentations
Presentation # 1:
Is gluten causing a celiac disease epidemic?
‘Gluten’ is perhaps the dietary buzzword of this decade, as there have been many advocates in the media claiming its modern properties are toxic to humans. Congruently, the rate at which celiac disease is being diagnosed has been dramatically increasing over the last several decades. With a gluten-free diet as the sole treatment for celiac disease, is there justification for the hype around ‘toxic’ gluten?
James King is a master’s student specializing in epidemiology at the University of Calgary. During his undergraduate degree, James was diagnosed with celiac disease – since then, he’s dedicated his educational training to studying the condition from a public health perspective. His research aims are to better understand global trends in celiac disease epidemiology, identify factors causing the condition to occur, and develop ways to improve disease treatment.
Presentation # 2:
Reconstructing Ancient Forests and Climate using Data Buried Underground
Andria Dawson, Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics, Department of General Education, Mount Royal University
Andria Dawson is an Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics at Mount Royal University whose research is in the field broadly described as mathematical ecology. More specifically, she uses quantitative methods, and ecological data, to address questions about how the Earth’s forests and climate change through time and across space. She enjoys teaching both mathematics and science, and challenging students to think critically.
Presentation # 3:
When Software Goes Wrong
The unofficial motto of Silicon Valley is “move fast and break things”; they should have moved a bit slower, because a lot of things are broken, and not in a good way. Learn about some of the surprising ways that software can turn on you.
Clarissa Peterson is a user experience strategist and writer who focuses on creating purposeful online content and designing websites and software with empathy. She is the author of Learning Responsive Web Design (O’Reilly Media). Clarissa also creates online courses for LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com) and speaks at design and tech conferences around the world.
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Game of Thrones viewing with special guest David J. Peterson
If you are a Game of Thrones fan, you have probably heard the phrase ‘valar morghulis’ or ‘dracarys’. These are invented words that did not exist before Game of Thrones. Have you ever wondered how those languages came to be, how ‘real’ they are or who is behind them? Well wait no longer, Nerd Nite Calgary is very excited to be bringing in David J. Peterson, the inventor of all of the languages used on Game of Thrones. David will be giving a presentation on language creation with a focus on Game of Thrones. David has also created languages for Emerald City, Defiance, Into The Badlands, The 100, Doctor Strange, Bright, Thor: The Dark World, The Christmas Chronicles and will be working on the upcoming Dune movie to just name a few.
Join us Sunday before the Game of Thrones viewing party at Wurst for David’s presentation with a Q&A afterwards. Then stay to watch Game of Thrones afterwards.
When: Sunday, May 12, 2019 (Presentation at 5:15, Arrive at 5pm)
Where: Wurst
Tickets: FREE (SOLD OUT – Waitlist)
This is an 18+ event.
Nerd Night #44
Nerd Nite #44 is happening at WURST on May 16:
When: Thursday, May 16, 2019 (Doors open at 6:00pm, talks start at 7:00pm)
Where: WURST (2437 4 St SW)
Tickets: $10 plus fees – available on Eventbrite (on sale Tues. April 23, 6 PM)
This is an 18+ event.
Presentations
Presentation # 1:
The War on the War on Sitting
There has been considerable criticism of sitting – sitting has been compared to smoking, described as lazy, weak and unhealthy, and most recently, an aggressive militant media campaign titled “The War on Sitting” was launched against the posture; let’s explore this sitty situation: is it time to take a stand on taking a seat?
Naomi Dolgoy is an occupational therapist and clinical researcher based in Calgary.
Presentation # 2:
Inside the caves formed of fire and ice
Active volcanoes, glaciers, and caves. Extremophile bacteria. Breathing apparatus made for military special forces. An ice climbing robot with a big red kill switch. Find out how these things all tied together during the exploration of caves carved through glacial ice by volcanic gas & steam. Learn about this unique frontier of exploration that is contributing to the knowledge of the inner workings of a “decade volcano” that could impact millions of lives and at the same time is helping guide the search for life on other planets.
Christian Stenner has been a caver for fifteen years, partaking in expeditions to explore and survey cave systems in Canada, the USA, and Mexico. During that time he has contributed to the Bisaro Caves project – the deepest cave in Canada, and the exploration of the world’s largest network of volcanic steam caves. He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Explorers Club, the society dedicated to human exploration of land, sea, air, and space. He also runs ultramarathons slowly.
Presentation # 3:
Design considerations for maximizing the quality of life in a large space settlement
Bryan Versteeg, Conceptual Design Artist for Space Exploration and Settlement. Gallery of work at Spacehabs.com
Living away from Earth will be difficult and dangerous. But, could it be fun? Understanding the similarities between diverse societies and their ideas about the quality of life can give us a blueprint for the design of large communities living in space. What would we bring with us to ensure our happiness?
Bryan Versteeg has spent decades working with architects, engineers, scientists, and researchers to design and visualize our potential in the building, infrastructure, residential, and exploration fields. His work is used internationally in documentaries, scientific publications and by exploration advocates in the space industry and settlement community
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).
Nerd Nite #42* – SOLD OUT
Our next event, Nerd Nite #42 is happening at WURST on March 21:
When: Thursday, March 21, 2019 (Doors open at 6:00pm, talks start at 7:00pm)
Where: WURST (2437 4 St SW)
Tickets: $10 plus fees – SOLD OUT (waitlist available on Eventbrite)
This is an 18+ event.
The re-purposing of an oilfield technology called Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) allows us to visualized all natural and anthropomorphic motion at street level. Designed monitor the sound of gasses leaking from pipelines, DAS is simply a high-stability laser plus photo-detector attached to one end of a fibre optic line wrapped around pipe. Leaks hiss, and the hiss stresses the fibre and reveals the position of leak. In 2017, we connected a DAS unit to a City of Calgary telecom fibre that follows the LRT, and voila! we can see the position, heading, speed and acceleration of all of the LRT trains as well as all the cars on the road nearby. We even tracked ELA during the recent autonomous vehicle trial in Calgary. In that moment, our we founded City Fibre as a Sensor (CFaaS) on the idea that we adapt earth-science practices like geophysics to solve urban problems on a scale that is city wide. One of these problems is how to manage traffic and transit. GPS and microwave triangulation are much less accurate and reliable than we might think – have someone view your Map app as you drive and watch it jump around and we see DAS as a high accuracy alternative that never drops out. Right now, we are developing an app that gives the position, heading, speed and acceleration for all LRT trains in Calgary no GPS dropouts! Our DAS app will soon give LRT operators train arrival times to the nearest second! For cars, DAS will inform variable speed limits that minimize traveltime, maximize fuel efficiency and help to prevent accidents. For the environment, can we see a pothole form? Is global warming wakening our bridges? Also, we know how fast you are driving – should we mail a ticket you your house every time you exceed the speed limit?
Alternative and Augmentative Communication Systems
Margaux Keith, Registered Speech-Language Pathologist
Margaux is a Registered Speech-Language Pathologist who works primarily in the area of Alternative/Augmentative Communication Systems with children with complex needs. She work with children between the ages of 2 1/2 all the way up to 18. The majority of the children that she works with have significant disabilities related to a variety of developmental or acquired diagnoses (e.g. Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Brain Injury), and are not able to communicate using verbal speech. Solutions range from paper books, to touch-access ipads, to use of head switches, eye gaze, and more. Her role is to support matching the child’s language needs to the right system, and to provide intervention that will help them to become autonomous communicators.
Fitting in and Standing out at Work
Dr Derek Chapman, Associate Professor, Industrial & Organizational Psychology, University of Calgary
We all want to belong. Figuring out how we accomplish that has been the subject of my research at the U of C over the past 15 years. I will present some highlights and insights into person-organization fit and the antecedents and effects of fitting in at work.
Nerd Nite #41 Neon! – SOLD OUT
Our February event, Nerd Nite #41 – Neon, is happening at WURST:
When: Thursday, February 21, 2019 (Doors open at 6:00pm, talks start at 7:00pm)
Where: WURST (2437 4 St SW)
Tickets: $10 plus fees, SOLD OUT
This is an 18+ event.
Canada Research Chair in Food Marketing, Policy, and Children’s Heath
Dr. Charlene Elliot
Charlene Elliott has spent the last 15 years studying the marketing of processed foods to children, analyzing their (generally poor) nutritional quality, symbolic appeals and impact on children’s preferences and dietary habits. We know that marketing unhealthy foods to children is bad: indeed, protecting children from the negative impact of such marketing is the premise of Bill S-228 (The Child Health Protection Act), which is currently under consideration in the Senate. But what about marketing healthy food to children? Marketing produce to children has become increasingly popular over the past decade, largely due to childhood obesity and the public health community’s push to “fight back” against the promotion of poorly nutritious foods. Part of this strategy is to apply Big Food marketing tactics to unprocessed foods, using character licensing and also ‘junk food’ appeals to make fruits and vegetables more desirable. While promoting healthy eating to children is a good thing, intriguing questions arise from the marketing strategies. Is it, in fact, ok to “Sell out” for fruits and vegetables as the FNV initiative commands? Do we really need Disney’s Belle to make kids eat bananas? What kind of child does this marketing imagine, and what kind of food literacy does this approach sell? In this talk, I map the marketing produce to children according to three dominant techniques, and critically assess the implications of these ‘fun’ promotional strategies when it comes to children’s health, identity, and taste.
Pseudoislets: An Engineering Approach to Type 1 Diabetes
Yang Yu, Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, University of Calgary
Derek Toms, Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary
Dr Yang Yu and Derek Toms
Have you ever wondered what sort of person actually wants to go to Mars? Stop wondering, and come find out!
Zac Trolley, Calgarian
Mr. Zac Trolley
Nerd Nite Calgary #40 – SOLD OUT
Come start the new year with a beer! And of course a side cup of knowledge…
When: Thursday, January 17, 2019 (Doors open at 6:00pm, talks start at 7:00pm)
Where: WURST (2437 4 St SW)
Tickets: $10 plus fees, SOLD OUT – Waitlist is online here
This is an 18+ event.
Lori Montgomery
Most people have a strong feeling about cannabis one way or the other — but what does the science tell us about its use as a pain medication? We’ll take a quick tour of the literature and try to find our way through the haze of claims for cannabis as a cure-all or the source of all evil.
Malled: Deciphering Shopping in Canada
Kit Dobson, Associate Professor Department of English, Languages, and Cultures, Mount Royal University
Kit Dobson
Generally Kit Dobson hates malls. But he is fascinated by them, by their place in our society, by how we interact with them and how they end up in our books, movies and art. Over the last five-plus years, Kit has traveled across Canada’s malls and shopping spaces in order to try and understand them and the cultures that they help to create. From Chinook Centre in Calgary to the underground malls of Montreal and even up to the famous Walmart in Whitehorse, he looks at our culture of consumerism, and how malls are both shaped by their location and shape the cultures around them.
Extreme pregnancy: A case report of a pregnant native highlander trekking to Everest Base Camp (5300m)
Trevor Day, Associate Professor of Physiology, Mount Royal University
Photo Credit: Ken Imrie of Glass Beach Studios
Over 40,000 people per year trek to Everest base camp (EBC), located at 5300m above sea level in the Nepal Himalaya range, home to some of the biggest mountain in the world. Ascending to high altitude is a profound stressor for native lowlanders due to reductions in available oxygen, leading to risk of acute mountain sickness. Native highlanders have evolved many physiological mechanisms to allow them to live, work and reproduce at altitudes that would be dangerous for lowlanders. In 2016, Dr. Day organized an expedition to EBC, where one of their Sherpa Guides was seven months pregnant. This pregnant guide ascended from 3400m, higher than most mountains around Canmore/Banff, to 5300m, where there is half the oxygen of sea level. On average during ascent, she performed ~5 hours of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day, while the recommendations of pregnant lowlanders is half of that per week! This remarkable demonstration of the superimposition of native highlander physiology, high altitude physiology, pregnancy physiology and exercise pushes the boundaries of what we know is humanly possible!
Nerd Nite Calgary #39 – Carbon – SOLD OUT
Come join us for the last Nerd Nite of 2018!
When: Thursday, November 15, 2018 (Doors open at 6:00pm, talks start at 7:00pm)
Where: WURST (2437 4 St SW)
Tickets: SOLD OUT, waitlist here
This is an 18+ event.
SPEAKERS
Why Us?! Backlash against Public Health Advertising Targeting Minorities
Leah Hamilton, Associate Professor of Management and Human Resources, Mount Royal University
Mohammed El Hazzouri, Associate Professor of Marketing, Mount Royal University
Public Health agencies often feature minority models in their advertising in an effort to persuade the featured minority groups to take on the health behaviors promoted by the advertisements. For many years, health communications experts assumed that these targeted methods were always effective. In our research, we show that this practice can create a backlash effect where minorities feel negatively stereotyped by such advertising. In our talk, we will present the results of four studies documenting this backlash effect. We will also discuss the directions of our future research on the topic.
“Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?”
Examining COPPA Compliance at Scale
Joel Reardon, University of Calgary
What’s happening behind the scenes when we run an app. It turns out a great number of ads and analytics companies are given access to sensitive data and frequently the only restraint is the technical limitations of the device itself. We build an automated system to run android apps and observe how they process and exfiltrate user data. We focus on a subset of children’s games in particular and find many potential violations of the U.S.’s COPPA law.
Nerd Nite Calgary #38 – Helium – SOLD OUT
If you aren’t napping or stuck staring at your own hands, come join us for some education and beers! It’s the day after cannabis legalization and we have the munchies for knowledge.
Also! If you are so inclined and in the Halloween spirit, come dressed in your niftiest costume. There will be at least one other nerd dressed up with you, I promise.
When: Thursday, October 18, 2018 (Doors open at 6:00pm, talks start at 7:00pm)
Where: WURST (2437 4 St SW)
Tickets: Sold out, waitlist here
This is an 18+ event.
SPEAKERS
Into the Weeds of Cannabis Regulation: 10 Things You Need to Know
Lorian Hardcastle, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law and Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary
Lorian Hardcastle
This presentation will take you on a whirlwind tour of the new rules on cannabis, including who can purchase it, how much can be grown at home, where it can be purchased, where it can be consumed, and what products can be purchased. It will also provide key information for different stakeholder groups, including tenants, employees, drivers, and medical users.
Fake it till you make it? Understanding Faking Behavior and Perceptions in Job Interviews
Josh Bourdage, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary
Tim Wingate, PhD Student, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary
Josh Bourdage
Tim Wingate
Job interviews are used nearly universally as a way to hire people for jobs. Ideally, companies want to be able to pick the best people who will be the best fit for the job and the company. From the applicant side, the interviewee is looking for an edge and typically trying to do their best to land the job. One prominent aspect of the interview is applicant faking during the interview, with many applicants faking to try and get the job, and interviewers using their perceptions of faking to guide their evaluations of the applicant. In this talk, we discuss the ways that applicants fake, how prevalent this behavior is, who and when people are most likely to fake, and the factors that impact whether an interviewer detects or perceives faking.
What really annoys me about dinosaurs in the movies
Donald Henderson, Curator of Dinosaurs, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
Donald Henderson
Dinosaurs have featured in animated films and motion pictures almost from the beginning of the art forms, and have proven to be consistent box office winners. However, despite our exponential increase in our knowledge of dinosaurs over the past 50 years, film makers and animators regularly go far outside biological and physical reality when presenting these animals (and other extinct beasts). I will highlight the top five of my many gripes about how dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures are presented in movies, and give the reasons why the portrayals are just not plausible (and make me cringe).
SOLD OUT – Nerd Nite Calgary #37 – Hydrogen!
Road Closures and Parking Constraints... all for a good nerdy cause!
We were given a heads-up that there may be some road closures around Wurst for Nerd Nite due to… Beakerhead! Four to Six will be happening on 4 St from 23 Ave down to 26 Ave (Wurst is right in the middle of that zone). There will be a bunch of nerdy, sciencey, goodness happening around Wurst so feel free to come early to check it out. Also keep in mind parking issues, etc. in the area. Four to Six will be happening Wed, Thur, and Friday (Sept 19-21) from, you guessed it, 4pm to 6pm.
The first Nerd Nite of the season is coming up quick! What better way to start the new school year than with a bit of learning and drinking?
When: Thursday, September 20, 2018 (Doors open at 6:00pm, talks start at 7:00pm)
Where: WURST (2437 4 St SW)
Tickets: Sold out, waitlist here
This is an 18+ event.
SPEAKERS
Octopuses are the real chameleons
Jennifer Mather, Ph.D., University of Lethbridge
Octopuses are the real chameleons. They can look like anything they want to, and they have a whole skin chromatophore system to do this. Mostly they want not to be seen, blending into the background with colours, textures and postures to match. Sometimes they want to be seen, they can startle you away by changing how they look really fast. Some of them can put blue warning circles on their skin; good thing, as they are deadly poisonous. Once in a while they can use the skin patterns to signal their sex to each other, mostly it’s probably chemical cues. Best of all, they are colour blind, so they can’t see what they produce. How do they do that, and why? I’ll speculate.
Exploration of Canada’s Deepest Cave
Katie Graham, Cave Explorer and Expedition Leader
An overview of the discovery of Bisaro Anima cave and the exploration that has proven it to be Canada’s deepest cave.
Transport Planning / ELA
Andrew Sedor, Business Development Coordinator in Transportation at the City of Calgary
Dan Fox, Leader of The City’s Electric Vehicle Strategy
Andrew Sedor
New transportation technology helps shape cities. For over 100 years, Calgary and cities across the globe have been shaped by the automobile. Planning transportation around the automobile has allowed people to live further away from their work and gave rise to most of the urban form in the modern world. New transportation technologies are expected to continue to change cities.
Over the past decade, increased computing power, smart phones and technological discoveries have enabled the development of technologies that were once in the realm of science fiction. While cities cannot predict the future, there are major technological and social trends occurring in transportation. Autonomy, electrification, connectivity and shared mobility are predicted to impact transportation over the upcoming decades.
Andrew Sedor, from The City of Calgary Transportation Department, will be talking about how these future technologies may impact cities, and what the City of Calgary is doing to prepare. Andrew is currently leading one of Canada’s first autonomous vehicle pilots, and is leading the City’s living labs initiative.