Nerd Nite Plays Rock, Paper, Scissors!
Just in time for heading back to school, we’re going to get reacquainted with rock, paper, scissors, Nerd Nite style! Get your three-ring binders, textbook covers and new kicks ready to roll. Wendy Bohon will be talking rocks from space, Carrie Smith is going to tell us how to save our paper, and Jill Nelson will make sure you know how to cut the right wire when monitoring a solar eclipse! And we’ll also be welcoming back our special guest host Rachel Pendergrass!
Where: DC9 Nightclub at 1940 9th St NW, just south of U St.
When: September 9th, 2017. Doors at 6PM. Show starts at 6:30 and ends around 8:30.
Tickets: Get your tickets here. $10 each.
We’ll also have t-shirts, buttons and stickers for sale. And, yes, we take credit card!
ROCKS FROM SPACE!…or Using ASTER Remote Sensing Data to Make Geologic Maps of Remote Locations in the Ladakh Himalaya
Wendy Bohon started out her academic career in Theatre but after taking a Geology class in college she released her inner science nerd and got a double major in Theatre and Geology from James Madison University. From there she to moved to LA to pursue a career in acting which again got derailed by geology – this time in the form of the Hector Mine earthquake. After that life shaking event she went to work as the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program in Pasadena. Finally succumbing to the siren song of science, Wendy went back to school and earned an MSc in Geology from THE Ohio State University and a PhD in Geology/Tectonics from Arizona State University. She now studies earthquakes and mountain building processes and is passionate about science education and communication. Wendy is currently the Informal Education Specialist and Science Communicator for the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology and serves on the National Leadership Board for 500 Women Scientists.
How Not to Ruin Everything: A Brief History and Practical Guide to Book and Paper Conservation
When a machine breaks down, you take it in to get it fixed. But what about your valuable papers, nostalgic photographs, and favorite books? They can get fixed too! And no, not by slapping a piece of Scotch tape over a tear. Come hear about how an Italian flood kickstarted modern conservation, how important museum items stay spiffy, and learn a bit about how to care for your own paper-based items.
Carrie Smith is a librarian and conservator in Washington, DC. She studied book and paper conservation at Camberwell College in London, and has some fancy credentials under her belt, but these days spends most of her time re-watching Dawson’s Creek.
Begging people in North Dakota to build circuits: Citizen science for the solar eclipse
What do radio waves have to do with a solar eclipse? More than you would think. The EclipseMob citizen science project was created to collect radio signals from across the United States during the much-hyped solar eclipse that took place on August 21. 150 people, all in different locations, agreed to build “simple” receivers and record radio signals during the eclipse. Their recordings will be used to improve our understanding of how the earth’s atmosphere (specifically the ionosphere) is affected by an eclipse. Data analysis is in progress and many insights about designing and crowdsourcing an electronics project have already emerged.
Jill Nelson is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at George Mason University. Her research focuses on statistical signal processing with applications in target tracking, wireless communications, and now, solar eclipses. She is also active in engineering education research and has a passion for convincing people that engineering is sexy. Developing the EclipseMob project to latch onto the nation’s eclipse obsession seemed like a perfect way to do just that.