Poster designed by Cindy Wang.
September’s Nerd Nite gives you the opportunity to drink and learn about drugs, sex, and arachnids; how paper and cloth are marbled, and the basics of female ejaculation. Be there and be square!
Doors will open promptly at 7. The bar opens then and you can grab some grub from The Pie Shop and Shades of Sugar.
Rick, Rebecca, DJ Ion the Prize, and the Oakland Public Library will be chillin’ the Coronas.
Be there and be square.
This event is 21+. Any door tickets will be $10.
Monday 9/28/2015 Doors (+food,drink) at 7 pm, show starts at 8 pm and ends at 10:30 pm Club 21, 2111 Franklin St, Oakland (two blocks from the 19th St BART) $8 in advance/$10 at the door 21+ tickets fb g+
Drugs, Sex, and Arachnids by Lauren Esposito
Arachnids (scorpions, spiders, and their kin) are an enigmatic group of animals: though recognized and feared by all, there are many aspects of their basic biology that remain a mystery. These unique creatures are found worldwide from the highest massifs to deserts to deep cenote caves 600 meters below sea level. Arachnids exhibit complex courtship rituals, and their bizarre reproductive strategies include traumatic insemination and autotomy (self-amputation) of reproductive organs. They produce materials stronger than steel and more tensile than Kevlar, and some species may even hold they key to curing some forms of cancer. Nonetheless, there are still dozens of new species discovered each year and the natural history of these secretive animals is still in many ways unknown to us. We will enter the fascinating world of arachnids, the discoveries that have been made, and some of the mysteries that remain to be explored.
Dr. Lauren Esposito is the Curator(ess) of Arachnology at the California Academy of Sciences, and the co-founder of the science and education non-profit, Islands & Seas. Lauren has travelled extensively in the Caribbean region as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral research fellow (University of California at Berkeley), studying biogeography of arachnids in one of the greatest biodiversity hotspots in the world. Her doctoral dissertation was completed at the American Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the City University of New York, and focused on the medically important North American scorpion genus Centruroides. Lauren’s current research focuses on trying to understand the patterns and processes of evolution in spiders, scorpions, and their venoms. When she’s not sailing around the Caribbean islands or trekking through forests of the Darien Gap, she can be found basking in the fog at Ocean Beach.
Ancient Marbling Secrets Revealed and Exploited by Alex Preston
Marbling is an ancient technique that was once only passed down within specialized guilds who closely guarded their trade secrets. Marbling had a wide variety of uses in ancient times from counterfeit prevention to being used inside the covers of fine books. The mass manufacture of books led to a greatly reduced role for marblers in the bookbinding industry. In the late 1800’s some master marblers who feared the extinction of their craft began revealing their methods to the world and now we have a record of what was once only oral history. Today, marbling is used for decorative papers, fine artwork, and wearable art. Some of the materials have changed, but the overall method is the same as it was hundreds of years ago. In this talk we will explore marbling with an emphasis on the materials, techniques, and modern uses. We explain the science behind marbling and show how to make both traditional and more modern designs in a live demonstration.
Alex Preston is an artist living in Somoma county who has been making custom T-shirts since 1992. Alex has a Master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin and has a unique view of art and science and how the two relate. Alex gives talks and performs demonstrations to artists all over the country in guilds, universities and art supply stores. Alex works for Jacquard, maker of fabric paints and dyes, as a product developer and teacher.
Gushing with Information: The Basics of Female Ejaculation by Dani Behonick, Ph.D
Yes, it’s a real thing.
No, not just on the internet.
In this informational romp, Professor Dani Behonick shines the light of research on the process of female ejaculation. Raingear not required.
After earning her Ph.D from UCSF, Dani Behonick ran like hell from basic research and began her teaching career. She currently spends half of her time teaching pre-health students how the human body works and how to talk to their future health care patients, and the other half teaching non-science majors how the human body works and how to talk to their health care providers. When she’s not teaching she’s reading educational code or lifting heavy things on purpose.