The Earth is equalizing. We all know March marks the Equinox, this year it is March 20th, but perhaps you were one of those geeks that loved staring at sunrise and sunset tables, and realized that the equinox doesn’t correlate with a day of equal day and equal night. Do you remember the day that you figured this out, that it was your latitude on Earth that determined which day brought equal day and night, which we now call Equilux (for Vancouverites it’s March 17th)? If you do remember, or perhaps you remember when someone shared that information with you, or maybe you just learned it now. Do you remember that feeling when you did? That excitement, and giddy shake you get when you learn something cool? There is a place where you can go and nerd out with weird, wonderful, nerdy tidbits to share, learn and help you feel that feeling which we call “The Nerdering”. That place is called Nerd Nite.
Where: The Fox Cabaret
When: Wednesday, March 29th; Doors @ 7
Tickets: online
Photos by: lindsaysdiet.com
Music by: DJ Bürger
This month’s speakers:
Jared Stang -“Modern Physics and Past Regrets: Practical Time Travel Tips
The seasons change, years pass by, and time pushes us inexorably forward. Wouldn’t it be nice to slow it all down and take a break from the constant march toward the future—or even go back? Take a minute to find out how Einstein showed that the reality of time may be more personal than you think.
Bio: Jared Stang is a researcher and instructor at UBC and an instructor at Langara College. He spent years solving equations on his computer as a student at UBC, and eventually received his PhD in theoretical physics. Now, Jared spends his time teaching, studying how people learn physics, and wondering how we can help people overcome their acute fear of what he believes is a friendly and interesting subject. Also, he likes learning new things, and can sort of pretty much juggle.
Paige Frewer – “Gender Peformance”
Paige “Ponyboy” Frewer is a gender fluid glam king and the producer-host of Man Up, a drag show and queer dance party that is celebrating its 9th anniversary this month. Paige studied Environmental Science and Dialogue at SFU.
Scott Pownall – “CRISPR Bacon and Fun Things with Genome Editing”
Hailed as the biggest biotech breakthrough of the century, scientists have co-opted the CRISPR microbial immunity system for use in genome editing. Sixty four years after the discovery of the structure of DNA, CRISPR gene editing is causing a major upheaval in biomedical research and it’s discovery has lead to a gargantuan patent war at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Let’s explore CRISPR, what it is and where are we going with it.
Bio: Scott Pownall is a scientist, biohacker and entrepreneur who is passionate about breaking down the barriers people face when trying to engage with DNA technologies. In June of 2015, with the help of an awesome bunch of citizen scientists, he co-founded Open Science Network; a BC incorporated non-profit society, and established Vancouver’s first community biolab. He has a lifelong passion and curiosity for the world around him particularly in the areas of biology. In the early 1980s he switched focus from electronics engineering to studying biotechnology after reading an article in the Melbourne Age on the then new Gene Machines. This lead him to complete his doctoral research in Genetics from the University of British Columbia. His academic research focus was on (old-school) genome editing in mice. Scott received numerous awards and scholarships including from the Australian Society of Microbiologists, the Canadian Arthritis Society, the Medical Research Council of Canada and the National Cancer Institute of Canada. He participated in the first human genome jamboree at Celera – the company that sequenced the human genome.