Why Don’t Flies Get Fat?
JDs and Jedi: Star Wars and the Law
Social and Biological Responses to Trauma
Doors at 7, Talks at 8. Online Tix $8, $10 at door: bit.ly/NNEB-61
The Thirst Is Real(ly an Interesting Question in Fruit Flies)
Why don’t flies get fat, how do they know when to stop drinking, and what can humans learn from the BMI and brains of Drosophila melanogaster? Learn how new transgenic techniques allow us to see the real time activity of neurons in a living brain and manipulate the neural response to hunger and thirst. Discover how specific neurons balance the need for calories vs. the need for water by controlling behavior, and how the control system used by fruit flies functionally overlaps with the same system in humans.
Nick Jourjine uses fruit flies to study neural circuits regulating hunger and thirst in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley. He also crafted genes from scratch at the Max Planck Institute to study how cellular identity is determined. Nick thinks Drosophila melanogaster is super fly.
JDs and Jedi: How the Law Works in the Star Wars Universe
Interpreting the law on our own planet is already complicated, but what happens when it expands to a Galaxy Far, Far Away? Is it okay that Han shot first? Does Rey really own Luke’s lightsaber? Was Jedha’s destruction a war crime? And are C-3PO and R2-D2 now a common law couple? Follow along as the Legal Geeks activate the fully operational battle station of the law to bring (legal) order to the Star Wars Galaxy.
Josh Gilliland is the co-creator of the award-winning Legal Geeks blog and a former presenter at Nerd Nite LA and Nerd Nite San Diego. His work focuses on eDiscovery, and he has spoken at legal conferences and Comic-Con. Josh also ties a mean bow tie.
Social and Biological Responses to Trauma
Much of the science of chronic trauma is based on animal studies, but the human emotional and physiological response to difficult conditions is much more complicated. Hear how brain development, epigenetics and the endocrine system can be altered by trauma, how psychological health and late onset physical problems can be tied to early changes in development, and how these biological changes should not be thought of as defects, but as the human body’s resilient way to adapt to a traumatic world. Also learn how a fuller understand of mental well-being as a product of both biology and social context will improve outcomes.
Gabby Falzone is a Doctoral Candidate in Social & Cultural Studies in the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education. She aspires to work as a bridge between academia and marginalized communities by translating academic research into accessible community formats and by prioritizing community knowledge into research.
Plus decorate Wookie Cookies from 7-8PM with Ann-Marie Benz, hear beats from Citizen Zain, get eats from Grilled Cheese Guy, drink delicious craft beer from Club 21 and fill your brain with info from the Oakland Public Library.
Doors at 7, Talks at 8. Online Tix $8, $10 at door: bit.ly/NNEB-61
Tickets: bit.ly/NNEB-61