NNB XXIII – Feb 12, 2020

Hey Baltimore Nerds! Welcome to our Nerd Nite # 23! Come out February 12th, grab a beer and settle in for the best 2 hours you’ll spend on a Wednesday! Scroll down to see talk descriptions….

Nerd Nite Baltimore (NNB) is part of an international community of Nerd Nites in over 90 cities around the world! This event combines imbibing and learning.

Join us for a night of educational drinking!

Talks at Nerd Nite are 15- 20 minutes with a rollicking Q&A afterward. The barkeeps at De Kleine Duivel will keep your glasses full of delightful Belgian beer and spirits.

Doors open at 6:30…event starts at 7:00pm. We accept cash or card at the door. Tickets are $5 online and $6 at the door.
We have a great line up for this month!
Tickets available here: (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/90874037693)

Talk #1: Speaker: Rebecca A. Adelman on “If her loose lips sink ships, what can her other parts do?: Policing women’s talk in wartime”

Summary: During World War II, the “loose lips” blamed for “sinking ships” frequently belonged to women, and posters reminded amorous GIs not to share sensitive information in attempts to impress the ladies. Today, OPSEC (Operational Security) materials for military families warn wives to scrub their social media and keep their husbands’ deployments secret. While men telling women to be quiet is hardly novel, it is noteworthy that in these cases, talkative women are portrayed as not just irritating but lethally dangerous. These chatterboxes will be our guides through a history of the U.S. military’s approach to the problems of its men liking women, and those women liking to have contact with the outside world.

Bio: Rebecca A. Adelman is herself a talkative woman and an Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies at UMBC, where she teaches and writes about things like visual culture, militarized violence, surveillance, and media theory. Her newest book is Figuring Violence: Affective Investments in Perpetual War.

Talk #2: Speaker Dr. Ernesto Chanona on “Board games make your life awesome”

Summary: When I say “board games” most people think of Monopoly, Sorry or the game of Life, which were popular in decades past. But there’s an exciting new world of board games out there. My talk will reveal new classes of games, what they’re like and the benefits of this experience in the context of our screen-dependent, digital age.

Bio: I’m an avid board game player and board game designer. I founded my design studio, the Ministry of Dice in 2017. I’m currently working on a choose-your-own-adventure style game with a friend of mine. In my day job, I’m an economic developer for the biotech industry in Maryland.

Talk #3: Speaker Dr. Marie van Staveren on “Teaching and learning in higher education: a pedagogy nerd shares some thoughts”

Summary: K-12 teachers are required to take significant coursework in the area of teaching and learning, and there is a robust research literature about how college students learn best. However, most college professors receive little or no training in pedagogy. As a result, college classes can be rather dull and ineffective, and subpar pedagogy tends to reinforce existing societal inequalities. I’m gonna share with y’all several of my favorite teaching techniques and theories, namedrop several Serious People in Pedagogy who I love, and generally try to convince you that learning should be both more fun and more easy than it usually is in college.

Bio: Marie van Staveren is a Lecturer of Chemistry at UMBC, where she teaches advanced lab courses in blowing things up, shooting lasers at stuff, and how to be awesome. She spends her professional energy reading All of the Books About Teaching and endlessly revamping her courses to be better.

NNB XXII – Dec 11, 2019

Amateur Radio, the Philosophy of Brexit, and turtles!

Hey Baltimore Nerds! Welcome to our Nerd Nite # 22! Come out December 11th, grab a beer and settle in for the best 2 hours you’ll spend on a Wednesday! Scroll down to see talk descriptions….

Nerd Nite Baltimore (NNB) is part of an international community of Nerd Nites in over 90 cities around the world! This event combines imbibing and learning.

Join us for a night of educational drinking!

Talks at Nerd Nite are 15- 20 minutes with a rollicking Q&A afterward. The barkeeps at De Kleine Duivel will keep your glasses full of delightful Belgian beer and spirits. (This is a 21 and over venue)

Doors open at 6:30…event starts at 7:00pm. We accept cash or card at the door. Tickets are $5 online and $6 at the door.
We have a great line up for this month!

Talk #1: Speaker: Christopher Broholm on “Amateur Radio: Independence and the Forgotten Beauty of Radio”

There are so many things you can do in Amateur Radio and you can spend a lifetime exploring its capabilities. We’ve been misled to believe that Radio communication is not relevant any more. We’ve become so dependent on these vast and complex communications systems that we cannot fathom our lives with out them. We may think that all of this is new technology. But it’s all been done before and tinkered with by ham radio operators. Consider this: The first people that make contact after catastrophic natural disasters are Ham Radio operators. During the communications blackout of Kashmir it was ham radio operators making contact with the outside world!

About the Speaker:
Chris Broholm Is a proud resident of Baltimore city, and originally from Ellicott City. He’s a production sound mixer for film and TV and ham radio enthusiast. He teaches audio at Baltimore school for the Arts and plays music around the city. At the time of writing this, he holds a technician class license for amateur radio, but hopes to soon upgrade his license class to General.

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Talk #2: Kiki Malomo-Paris Speaker: on “Because Brexit: Why Parliamentarism trumps Presidentialism”

With the exception of the United States, all countries that are considered to be stable democracies have adopted, at least partially, parliamentary governance. This alone should be telling. However, when a small country with one of the oldest parliamentary systems decided to have a little referendum, it became a little more apparent. This talk will explain that the reason Brexit is breaking the UK is also kind of why presidential systems are inferior to parliamentary systems.

About the Speaker:
I am Kiki, born in Nigeria, raised in Northern Ireland. I have been in the US for nearly 10 years. I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy, a graduate research assistant at The Hilltop Institute, and for the past 2 years, the chair of the Legislative Concerns Committee for the UMBC Graduate Student Association. When I am not waxing poetic about politics and policy, you can find me ranting about soccer, playing rugby or drinking whiskey.

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Talk #3: Speaker: Rebecca McKee on “Let’s talk turtles- More than you ever wanted to know about testudines”

About the Speaker

Rebecca is a wildlife ecologist and a lecturer of zoology at Towson University!

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Contact with questions or accessibility concerns

NNB XXI – Oct 23, 2019

Hey Baltimore Nerds! Welcome to our Nerd Nite number 21! Come out October 23rd, grab a beer and settle in for the best 2 hours you’ll spend on a Wednesday! Scroll down to see talk descriptions….

Nerd Nite Baltimore (NNB) is part of an international community of Nerd Nites in over 90 cities around the world! This event combines imbibing and learning. Anyone with a passion can be a Nerd Nite speaker! Join us for a night of educational drinking!

Talks at Nerd Nite are 15- 20 minutes with a rollicking Q&A afterward. The barkeeps at De Kleine Duivel will keep your glasses full of delightful Belgian beer and spirits. (This is a 21 and over venue.)

Doors open at 6:30…event starts at 7:00pm. We only accept cash at the door.

Door tix are $5.

We have a great line up for this month! ***Keep scrolling…****

Talk Descriptions in no particular order….

Talk #1: Speaker: Alex Abdoulaev and Caitlin Farthing on “Western Classical Music in Anime”

Western Classical Music in Anime and Japanese Pop Culture: A discussion of the role, interpretation, and significance of Western European classical music in Japanese popular culture and anime. Touching on “Your Lie in April”, “Ouran High School Host Club”, “Yuri on Ice”, “Neon Genesis Evangelion”, and more!

About the Speakers:

Alexandre Abdoulaev is a musicologist, composer, arranger, and a classical and jazz pianist. He is currently a Professor of Music Literature at the University of Delaware, Westchester University, and Boston University.  He has been a featured speaker at several international conferences as well as a number of local anime conventions.

Caitlin Farthing is a bookbinder, artist, art historian, and fine art conservator. She currently holds a position as a private practice Conservator/Restorer. She has been featured as an artist and speaker in a number of and anime conventions shows across the mid-Atlantic region.

Talk #2: Speaker: Emma Richardson on “What the Futtock?: what archaeologists do when they find surprise ships”

What happens when four historic ships are found underneath some of the most valuable real estate in northern Virginia? First, a polite face-off between archaeologists and developers. Second, science! Also, a whole lot of trying to scrub historic tar out of every pair of pants you own and a bit about parasites.

 

About the Speaker:

Emma Richardson was raised above an old-timey post office and general store on the eastern shore. She got her degree in finding old things in the ground at Warren Wilson and her masters in taking care of those old things at Morgan State. When she’s not working for the City of Alexandria’s archaeology division finding even more old things in the ground, she plays old-time fiddle.

Talk #3: Speaker: Amar Vamsi Krishna on “Incredibly Exciting Field of Rehabilitation Robotics”

Prepare yourself to learn about medical robots—rehabilitation robots in particular, the need for robots in rehabilitation, the clinical requirements, and (of course) challenges. We will look briefly at the history and evolution of this relatively new field in robotics. The fundamental physics behind this technology will be presented (jargon-free!). Robots currently in use in the market, newer robots under development, current trends, shortcomings, and future of this field will be discussed. It will be a presentation filled with examples, pictures, and videos. 

About the Speaker:

Hi, I am Amar Vamsi Krishna – a robotics systems engineer at NextStep Robotics – a Baltimore based rehabilitation robotics startup. Currently working on developing a wearable ankle robot to reverse the effects of foot-drop, a very common condition post-stroke. I have a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering and a masters degree in Systems Engineering specializing in robotics. I have been working on technologies for stroke rehabilitation for the last 2.5 years now. 

Find out more about Nerd Nite at http://nerdnite.com/

Contact with questions or accessibility concerns

NNB XX – June 12, 2019

Hey Baltimore Nerds! Welcome to Nerd Nite number 20! Come out June 12th, grab a beer, and settle-in for the best 2 hours you’ll spend on a Wednesday!

Talk #1: Why the Avengers Aren’t the True Heroes of the Marvel Universe by Jaye Ferrone

Jaye Ferrone, resident vintage-wearing-cat-lady of Nerd Nite Baltimore, full time barber, part time student, all the time wino. Jaye is leaving beautiful Baltimore this summer to attend Univeristy of Arizona to pursue a grad and PhD program in sociolinguistics under her idol, Noam Chomsky. While an Uber-Nerd, Jaye hasn’t seen any of the Star Wars movies, no Star Trek, and until last month hadn’t picked up a comic book or knew anything about superheroes in or outside the Marvel Universe. So…. this could go badly.

Talk #2: Photo Manipulation and Misconduct in Biomedical Research by Tagide deCarvalho

Talk #3: A 360° View of History by Debbie Farthing

This presentation discusses the use of imaging technology to add both hi-def and 360° photographs to add elements to a presentation to aid in user interactivity. For my master’s thesis, I am creating an online exhibit that explores the various influences on 19th century women’s clothing. In conjunction with the Imaging Research Center at UMBC, in part, this thesis project aims to provide unprecedented access to the garments in the exhibit normally not available to the average person.
Bio: Debbie Farthing is a long-time collector of antique and vintage and owns a collection that spans from the 1750s to the 1950s. She is a graduate student at UMBC earning her master’s degree in Public History. She works as a collection manager for Gibson Island Historical Society and Hancock’s Resolution and volunteers at the Baltimore Museum of Industry creating historical clothing installations.

 

Tickets available online and at the door for $5! Profits go to charity of the audience’s choosing 🙂

NNB XIX – April 10, 2019

Hey Baltimore Nerds! Welcome to Nerd Nite number 19! Come out April 10th, grab a beer, and settle-in for the best 2 hours you’ll spend on a Wednesday! (Talks may not be in the order listed below.)

Talk #1: ‘The History and Significance of Memes’ by Mary Parrish

What are memes? Where do they come from? Why do they matter? All of these questions and more will be answered during this in depth and riveting presentation!

Bio: Mary Parrish is a jack-of-all-trades creative who lives and works in Baltimore. She enjoys long walks in Druid Hill Park, memes, and trying to find the best happy hour deals in the city.

Talk #2: Extreme environments in space and time by Dr. Hannah Wakeford

Earth has nothing on the universe when it comes to wild weather. Within our own solar system, there are storms so large that our entire planet would be engulfed three times over. The thousands of exoplanets we have uncovered feature not only alien worlds with alien sunsets, but also extreme weather and climates. Join Dr. Wakeford for an adventure into the most extreme weather known to science.

Bio: Hannah is the Giacconi Fellow at Space Telescope Science Institute where she uses the Hubble Space Telescope to try and understand the atmospheres of alien worlds orbiting other stars. Hannah also runs a podcast called Exocast, talking about extrasolar planets and what we are learning about them if you want to hear more.

Talk #3: SysAdmin Spotting: The journey of a math nerd to SysAdmin, Part 1 by Randy Philipp

What is a SysAdmin? What is Unix? How does one become a SysAdmin? Hopefully these will be answered in Randy’s talk about his personal journey from Math Nerd to Unix System Administrator. Along the way, we will meet celebrities of Computer Field (you might have heard of some of them), learn about a ISP house band, learn what TLAs are.

Bio: Randy is a SysAdmin, of the Unix variety (he doesn’t do Windows). He has turned his obsession with computers into an actual career. He started as a Mathematics major, so he actually knows some stuff. Beyond computers, he is also a Film Nerd, so do not be surprised if he drops some reference to a movie that nobody else has seen.

NNB XVIII – February 27, 2019

Hey Baltimore Nerds! Welcome to our Nerd Nite number 18! Come out February 27th, grab a beer and settle in for the best 2 hours you’ll spend on a Wednesday! Scroll down to see talk descriptions….

Nerd Nite Baltimore (NNB) is part of an international community of Nerd Nites in over 90 cities around the world! This event combines imbibing and learning. Anyone with a passion can be a Nerd Nite speaker! Join us for a night of educational drinking!

Talks at Nerd Nite are 15- 20 minutes with a rollicking Q&A afterward. The barkeeps at De Kleine Duivel will keep your glasses full of delightful Belgian beer and spirits. (This is a 21 and over venue.)

Doors open at 6:30…event starts at 7:00pm. We only accept cash at the door. Door tix are $5.

We have a great line up for this month! ***Keep scrolling…****

Talk Descriptions in no particular order….

Talk #1: Speaker: Dr. Trisha Ashley. Title: Tiny Stellar Islands in a Big Old Universe

Space! Science! Galaxies are islands of stars, gas, and dark matter, the smallest of which are called dwarf galaxies. Astronomers are still trying to understand dwarf galaxies and what we can learn from them. Trisha likes to study what makes some swarf galaxies really good at making large amounts of stars. Trisha will tell you all about dwarf galaxies, how they compare in size to our very own Milky Way galaxy, and what makes them special!

Trisha Ashley is an astrophysicist who researches all types of galaxies including dwarf galaxies, early-type galaxies, and the Milky Way. She currently works at Space Telescope Science Institute as a postdoctoral fellow. she also co-hosts Astronomy on Tap Baltimore, which is coming to De Kleine Duivel on March 27th!

Talk #2: Speaker: Dr. Joel Green. Title: Virtual Reality: Not Just a Dystopian Nightmare!

The continuous hype since the early 1990s about virtual reality (VR) has generally been met with resigned eye-rolling (that gimmick will never go anywhere) or moral terror (humans will never move or interact with each other in real life again!). There is actually a nice middle ground: things have actually changed since the 90s, and real reality can still be cool (and integrated with the experience). I’ll talk about what’s changed, and the changes VR will bring to the way we learn in the near future.

Joel Green is project sicentist in the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Insitute, which brings the Hubble Telescope’s wonders direct to Baltimore. Joel has written for and appeared in numerous public outreach, communications, and educational materials, most recently the National Geographic special on Hubble’s Amazing Universe, and PBS Nova’s special on Treasures of the Earth: Metals. He leads the content development for WebbVR, an immersive virtual universe for the science of the James Webb Space Telescope.

Talk #3: Speaker: Lee Campbell. Either “Grey’s Anatomy- a Scientists Perspective” or “Hate-watching Grey’s Anatomy- a Scientist Perspective”

Why are they shooting lazerbeams into a lump of tissue? What is inactivated HIV? A scientist breaks down a few scenes from the television series Grey’s Anatomy to set the record straight. Learn about the evolution of molecular and biological techniques, from basic science to clinical applications.

Lee is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute on Drug Abuse IRP in Baltimore. He likes playing piano, eating at fancy restaurants, and a good old fashioned.

NNB XVII – January 16, 2019

Hey Baltimore Nerds! Welcome to our 17th installment of Nerd Nite! Come out January 16th, grab a beer and settle in for the best 2 hours you’ll spend on a Wednesday!

Nerd Nite Baltimore (NNB) is part of an international community of Nerd Nites in over 90 cities around the world! This event combines imbibing and learning.

Anyone with a passion can be a Nerd Nite speaker! Join us for a night of educational drinking! Nerd Nite Baltimore is a monthly event held at a local bar where information combines with fun. Talks at Nerd Nite are typically 20 minutes with a rollicking Q&A afterward. The barkeeps at De Kleine Duivel will keep your glasses full of delightful Belgian beer and spirits. (This is a 21 and over venue.) Doors open at 6:30…event starts at 7:00pm. We have a great line up for this month!

Talk descriptions below (in no particular order)

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‘Evidence’ by Renee F. Wilson

What is evidence? Is it something we know or something we just believe? This presentation aims to show people what proof and facts are, and just because you believe something doesn’t really mean it’s true. Does the release of a new Nick Cage movie cause people to drown by falling into a pool? Does eating more cheese lead to more death by entanglement in bed sheets? Maybe we’ll find out tonight, maybe not.

Renee is a Midwestern girl who has always loved science and has spent most of her professional career in the pursuit of evidence. She has been with the Evidence-based Practice Center for almost 15 years. Prior to this she worked as the managing editor of a medical journal, an environmental consultant, and was a graduate student.

‘Rhetoric’ by Cat Aboudara

Cat was going to be a tiger trainer and was pursuing Natural Resources & Conservation Studies at UC Berkeley as an undergraduate when she signed up for a Rhetoric class on a lark. She was hooked at mapping out her first syllogism (which will be explained!). Rhetoric which is considered a dead art, began 2500 years ago as the study of the forms of communication and argument essential to public, political and legal life in Ancient Greece. No one really knows what it is anymore but learning it gives a person some impressive communication superpowers as well as taking them down some totally interesting rabbit holes which Cat will attest to in this ode to Rhetoric.

Cat Aboudara has overseen adult programs that posit learning through play for over a decade in science centers across the country and has had such fun working with the likes of scientists, astronauts, inventors, jungles cats, comedians, and robots. She also moonlighted as the Nerd Nite DC Boss even though she had to trek down from Philly for over a year to do it! She has retired from bossing in DC (and the commute) and is now the mentor boss of Nerd Nite Global.

‘The Power of Breakfast Sandwiches’ by Dr. Neil Bardhan

Need more be said?

Neil is a returning Nerd Nite speaker from the very first Nerd Nite Baltimore in January 2016 (on the effect of your nasal cavity on vowel pronunciation)! We’re happy to have him return every 3 years. Neil is a native of Corning, NY (of glass fame), has a Ph.D in cognitive science and psycholinguistics, and is currently Executive Director at Broad Street Review and Manager for Applied Storytelling at First Person Arts in Philadelphia.

NNB XVI – November 7, 2018

Hey Baltimore Nerds! Welcome to our 16th installment of Nerd Nite! Come out November 7th, grab a beer and settle in for the best 2 hours you’ll spend on a Wednesday!

Nerd Nite Baltimore (NNB) is part of an international community of Nerd Nites in over 90 cities around the world! This event combines imbibing and learning. Anyone with a passion can be a Nerd Nite speaker! Join us for a night of educational drinking! Nerd Nite Baltimore is a bi-monthly event held at a local bar where information combines with fun.

Talks at Nerd Nite are typically 20 minutes with a rollicking Q&A afterward. The barkeeps at De Kleine Duivel will keep your glasses full of delightful Belgian beer and spirits. (This is a 21 and over venue.) Doors open at 6:30…event starts at 7:00pm. We have a great line up for this month!

Talk descrptions below (in no particular order) ………………………………………………………………………………………..

Talk: Why are Rivers So damn Hard to Monitor?

By: Alex Rittle

Alex is a PhD student in geography, but gets lost frequently. He doesn’t care about your Meyers-Briggs score, but his personality falls somewehere between LMAO and WTF.

About talk: We can send rockets to Mars and back and we can receive pizza by sending a text to Dominoes, but we cannot successfully map the river bottom in a useful way. Rivers are everywhere yet we can’t continually measure what’s in them. We’ll explore why.

Talk: PTSD and Fear: Getting past the Demons

By: Jaye Ferrone

Jaye is a Nerd Nite Co-Boss, Veteran, Barber, Translator, vintage lover and cat lady.

Know a Veteran or someone with PTSD but aren’t quite sure what to say to them? What IS PTSD and how does it manifest? Jaye will explore the world of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the ways it affects the body and braine, and how different people cope. Expect some funny stories about her time n the military and how she got past the demons.

Talk: Living in a Multilingual Society

By: Eleanor Brasfield

I lived in a somewhat small, little-known country for over three years. The languages there taught me almost as much as the people.

Eleanor Brasfield is mildly obsessive when it comes to learning of all kinds. She can often be overheard babbling (or singing) about history, culture, language, politics, and music.

NNB XV – September 18, 2018

Baltimore Nerds Asssemmmbleee! School is back in sesh and so are we. Come out to De Kleine Duivel, we’re 15 again!! Siiike, but seriously, come out Tuesday September 18th for our 15th installment of Nerd Nite Baltimore! We’re going to journey to the Milky Way and learn about why everyone should be drawing! We have a third speaker, we think, it’s a secret…even to us! Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7ish. Be there and be square.

Talks listed below, Disclaimer: Order of talks may change. As always, we appreciate your flexibility and ongoing support! Nerd Nite Baltimore (NNB) is part of an international community of Nerd Nites in over 90 cities around the world! This event combines imbibing and learning. Anyone with a passion can be a Nerd Nite speaker! Join us for a night of educational drinking! Nerd Nite Baltimore is a bi-monthly event held at a local bar where information combines with fun.

Talks at Nerd Nite are typically 20 minutes with a rollicking Q&A afterward. The barkeeps at De Kleine Duivel will keep your glasses full of delightful Belgian beer and spirits. (This is a 21 and over venue.) Doors open at 6:30ish…event starts at 7:00pm. See below for information about the talks!

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Talk #1: “Gazing Long Into the Abyss: A journey to the center of the Milky Way” By: Dr. Chris Britt

Summary: We’ll adventure through our Galaxy, exploring the Milky Way through different kinds of light. At the center of our Galaxy, we’ll find a supermassive black hole and find out how we can find and examine something that is, by definition, invisible.

Bio: Chris Britt was born in Louisville, KY, got his PhD from Louisiana State University, now works in Baltimore at the Space Telescope Science Institute, and will crush all challengers in Super MarioKart for the SNES.

Talk #2: Draw it out! by Ann Feild — It being whatever thought, observation, plan, recollection, or pent-up emotion you might have.

I believe everyone can draw. Whether or not the drawing is deemed “good” or “bad” is academic. Most of us draw with gusto as toddlers and a bit beyond but get stymied by others’ judgments. It feels great just to take pen — or brush, or spraycan — in hand and let loose! Who’s judging? And who cares?! You may learn a lot about yourself if you draw for just a few minutes every day.

Bio: Ann Feild is a veteran artist and graphic designer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, and an afficionado of the Universe.

Talk #3: Roy Prouty Mystery Talk

Bio: Roy Prouty joins the Nerd Nite Baltimore bosses team with an inaugural surprise talk! Roy directs the UMBC Observatory and mostly just likes hearing himself talk. He’s working toward his PhD in Computer Science in projects concerning machine learning applications to geoscience and astronomy tasks in collaboration with GSFC and APL.

NNB XIV – May 15, 2018

Heyy, it’s us again. Get ready for Nerd Nite Baltimore 14 next Tuesday, March 15th! NNB brings you another month of diverse talks! From learning how not to get sued posting videos you found on the internet to your social media account to finding out just how many numbers there are and finally some other sciencey topic that will be revealed soon! Come out, grab a beer and settle in for the best 2 hours you’ll spend on a Tuesday!

Talks listed below, Disclaimer: Order of talks may change. As always, we appreciate your flexibility and ongoing support! Nerd Nite Baltimore (NNB) is part of an international community of Nerd Nites in over 90 cities around the world! This event combines imbibing and learning. Anyone with a passion can be a Nerd Nite speaker! Join us for a night of educational drinking! Nerd Nite Baltimore is a bi-monthly event held at a local bar where information combines with fun.

Talks at Nerd Nite are typically 20 minutes with a rollicking Q&A afterward. The barkeeps at De Kleine Duivel will keep your glasses full of delightful Belgian beer and spirits. (This is a 21 and over venue.) Doors open at 6:30ish…event starts at 7:00pm. We have a great line up for this month!

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Talk: Where is Everybody?

By: Jesse Lorentson and Roy Prouty

Jesse Lorentson likes mathematics, planateria and pizza, but he’s no longer involved with any of them. Jesse has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics.

Roy Prouty directs the UMBC Observatory and mostly just likes hearing himself talk. He’s working toward his PhD in Computer Science in projects concerning machine learning applicatins to geoscience and astronomy tasks in collaboration with GSFC and APL.

About: When you look up at the night sky, for every star you see, there are one million additional stars in our galaxy. Astronomers believe that there is at least one planet per star. With all these planets, surely there must be life out there in our galaxy, right?

So then where is everybody?

Join us for a discussion of the Fermi Paradox, the Drake Equation, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and we’ll try to figure it out.

Talk: Copyright and You: A Primer So You (and Your Pet Monkey) Don’t Get Sued

By: Emma Raviv

Emma Raviv is a DC native and, until very recently, an Attorney-Advisor in the Ringer Honors Program at the United States Copyright Office. Before that, she worked at a big law firm in New York fighting some good intellectual property fights in court on behalf of clients in the fitness, advertising, gaming, and cruise industries. She went to Harvard Law (though is not blonde, legally), and spends her free time running, eating, and making her cats chase a laser pointer.

About: SIck of living under a cloud of impending lawsuit just because you’re tryna do you on the internet? Ugh, aren’t we all? Copyright is hard, and technology has made it harder. Luckily, Emma knows some things and is here to blow up some myths and tell some hard truths about the way the law works. Monkeys, Facebook disclaimers, and basketball video games will be covered, among other things. Please note that this talk doesn’t mean you and she have any kind of attorney-client relationship, which is a thing she has to say per other legal rules which she will not be covering in this talk (thank god — unlike copyright, those rules are boring).

Talk: A brief history of diagnosing high blood pressure: from the Yellow Emperor of China to snake oil smartphone apps.

By: Dr. Romsai “Tony” Boonyasai, MD, MPH

Dr. Romsai Tony Boonyasai is a general internal medicine physician and an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is an expert on implementing and evaluating chronic disease improvement programs. He has particular expertise in building programs for improving hypertension control in low-resource settings and for ensuring safe transitions between hospitals and community-based settings.

About: Hypertension is the most common cause of preventable heart attacks and strokes worldwide. Yet people with this condition often do not recognize they have it because they don’t have symptoms. This talk will describe the evolution of technologies that let a person know when their blood pressure is too high.