New location! Nerd Nite is now at one of the coolest places in all of Oakland, The UPTOWN Nightclub!
Join Nerd Nite East Bay in Uptown Oakland with our new hosts The UPTOWN Nightclub on Monday Feb 24 for Your Brain On Fonts, Animal Toxin Evolution, and How Viruses Jump Species!
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Uptown Doors and Drinks at 7PM, Talks Begin at 7:30PM. 21+ Please.
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Fortune Favors the (Britannic) Bold: How Different Fonts Interact With The Human Brain
I just read you, and this is crazy, a weird font choice, better recall maybe? Learn how a change from familiar fonts breaks your brain out of automatic System 1 cognition and activates a brain state that evolved only in humans. Examine the data that demonstrates how everyday reality makes brains a bit flabby, and see how novelty tunes up tired neurons. Finally, consider how the tragedy of Comic Sans may yet turn into a uniquely human triumph.
Connor Diemand-Yauman researches improvements in learning outcomes and lectures at Stanford University Business School. He received Princeton’s Pyne Prize and is the Cofounder of Philanthropy University (philanthropyu.org), which trains and funds local social impact organizations in under-resourced communities. In his spare time, Connor enjoys boxing, cycling, teaching inmates and eating massive salads.
Their Chemical Romance: How Animals Create, Escape and Steal the Most Potent Poisons on Earth
Why don’t poisonous animals poison themselves? Learn how poisonous frogs evolved genetic resistance to their own toxins, and why you should never, ever touch a Phyllobates terribilis. See the clever ways that insects deal with man made poisons, watch how animals co-opt toxins from the environment for their own uses, and see how humans use animal toxins to create otherwise unobtainable pharmaceuticals and beetles defend themselves with exploding butts.
Rebecca Tarvin studies the evolution of animals that acquire chemical defenses as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and and Assistant Curator of Herpetology at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley. As a young girl she was known to collect garbage bags full of frogs, and to fill kiddie pools with frogs so she could learn how to swim like them.
How Viruses Jump Species and then (Literally) Go Viral
Once obscure, zoonotic viruses like Ebola, Zika, and now coronaviruses that jump from animals to humans are under intense study. Learn what unique genetic changes allow viruses to jump species, and discover why bats are often implicated as a key vector. Study the surface protein changes that bind viruses to human cells, and see how this explains the host range, tissue tropism, transmission routes and pathogenicity. See how science from the SARS outbreak is guiding coronavirus research and how it’s providing new strategies for life saving therapeutic intervention.
Oscar Negrete’s work as a virologist and principal member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratory, has kept him focused on emerging viruses and molecular viral-host interaction. His research uses a broad spectrum of cellular, molecular biology, functional genomics, and nanoscience techniques to understand virus replication. He is currently working on a multi-year study to develop antiviral countermeasures that can be tailored to emerging virus strains and rapidly deployed.
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Music from DJ Rubberband Girl, amazing drinks from The UPTOWN, eats available for purchase from Grilled Cheese Guy, and info from the great Oakland Public Library!
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