Poster by Rebecca Cohen.
Join Nerd Nite East Bay at Club 21 in Oakland on Monday April 24th for
Life Lessons From Bugs
Science’s Best Ways to Die
Art of Political TV Spots
Mingle as the doors open at 7PM, have tasty food from Grilled Cheese Guy, good tunes from Citizen Zain, and catch up with the Oakland Public Library. Then grab a drink and a seat as the talks begin at 8PM.
Early bird tickets just $8, tickets $10 at the door.
Insights From Insects
Be Better By Anthropomorphizing Arthropods
Follow the blinking bug butt-lights into a better understanding of being human. Insects display some of the very best traits humans hope for in our own species, and offer value lessons on self-improvement. See from the perspective of rain beetles, learn how cockroaches teach us the consequences of stereotypes, discover what dung beetles display about the importance of persistence, admire the adorable optimism of baby spiders, and catch caterpillars getting comfortable with uncertainty.
Ralph Washington Jr. is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and two-time National Champion of insect natural history trivia. He is President of the UC Student Association (UCSA) and has studied insects since he was eight years old. Ralph believes many problems can benefit from an entomological solution, even if that solution is a prey-subduing toxic fart.
Carpe Die-em
The World’s Most Interesting Ways To Die
You love science and will die eventually anyway, so get a serious answer to the ultimate question: what’s the most interesting way to die, scientifically-speaking? Are you totally boned if you get eaten by the bone eating snot flower, or should you be Jonah-sing to get swallowed by a whale? Should you stick your head into a nuclear particle accelerator, jump into an interstellar black hole, or take a dip outside a deep-sea submarine in Speedos? Learn how science can make the most boring life turn into one hell of an obituary.
Paul Doherty is the author And Then You’re Dead: The World’s Most Interesting Ways to Die. He received his PhD in physics from MIT and develops workshops with the Exploratorium Teacher Institute and publishes them on his webpage. Paul was given the Faraday Science Communicator award by the NSTA and is the author of many books, including The Exploratorium Science Snackbook, The Klutz Book of Magnetic Magic and Traces of Time. He plays music on the whirly and has climbed the face of El Capitan.
It’s Morning in America Again and Again and Again
Using Cinematic Art to Sell Presidential Candidates
Television and the modern Presidency have evolved together, with great art and dirty tricks a part of the most sophisticated, cynical and successful campaigns. See the most cinematically superior campaign spots drawn from the history of presidential campaign ads, and learn how the segments reflect the changes in televisual styles and election ecology. Go back to a more HOPEful time, when It’s The Economy, Stupid stimulated the American electorate.
Kathleen Maguire is a film programmer at the Exploratorium and an expert in the visual ad campaigns of previous presidential elections. She draws from her background as a moving image archivist to celebrate underappreciated genres and underseen works from archives and obscure collections.