Wednesday, 7/20/16
Doors at 7pm, show at 8
Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St @ Van Ness
$8, all ages
Tickets here
On the 20th day of Quintilis, the Stop of the Rickshaw will unbar its gates and receive throngs of imbibing smarty pants come to worship at its PowerPoint altar. Will you be among the faithful? If so, remove your health-tracking wristband (a doctor will tell us how our “Fitbits” come factory-installed), pipe down (while we’re schooled on our favorite edge-blown aerophone), and “hodor” for your fellow Game of Thrones aficionados (as we traverse fantasy landscapes with a geologist). In other words: Be there and be square!
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“The Geology of Game of Thrones: Real Science in Fantasy” by Miles Traer
From towering peaks to candlelit crypts, vast seas to vertiginous canyons, the worlds of fantasy stories entice and entrance. But just how realistic is that mountain range? Or that river crossing? Or that wall? Yes, THAT Wall? Using what we know from Earth, we can reconstruct the geological history of mythical places, like Game of Thrones’ Westeros. And when we do, we see that the geological forces that shape our world are just as awesome and terrifying as anything beyond The Wall.
Miles is a geologist and educator at Stanford University and creator of the award-winning Generation Anthropocene podcast. He studies landscape evolution on Earth, Mars, and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Explore Miles’s research and pop-sci articles at www.milestraer.com.
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“Piping Up: The Secret World of Flute-Making” by Linda Watkins
Ever wonder how flutes are made? Which is correct: flutist or flautist? (Or fluter? Or flutenist?) And how did these metal tubes end up flouting the “wood” part of “woodwind”? Come learn about the history, science, and art of flute-making in America, including the man who started it all and why all the great American flute makers are in Boston. Not to toot our own flute or anything, but the stories will surprise you! This presentation includes a live performance.
Linda is a flute nerd: She’s played it for over 30 years, has a Masters in Music Performance from Arizona State University, and worked for four years at a flute manufacturing company. Though now in marketing at a startup, she performs regularly with community orchestras and chamber groups.
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“Epigenetic Fitbits: How Genes Can Keep Track of Your Body Weight” by Dr. Lucia Aronica
Our genes are smarter than wearables when it comes to tracking health data. Biological “Fitbits” within our DNA — epigenetic modifications — store information about our lifestyle habits, such as diet, exercise, and stress. But how do these modifications work? How do they track our weight? And how might they help us know which diet works best for us?
Lucia is a research associate at Stanford University and an award-winning science communicator (Ed: Including winner of the 2009 FameLab Germany competition, and third in the final FameLab International competition. Shout-out to the Rickshaw Stop for hosting FameLab heats the past two years in SF, too!).
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With: Alpha Bravo, who’ll be spinning tunes specially selected to match the presenters’ themes. Follow the setlist on Twitter @djalphabravo.
Food: Delicious pork belly-bao and other bun goodness from Cross Hatch Eatery.
Plus: The San Francisco Public Library will be on hand to dole out library cards, reading lists, and the hottest branch gossip.
This month’s amusing and occasionally immodest show promises mud, machines, and mites. So put on your tallest boots to walk along the Thames, accompanied by walking PVC construct companions, and perhaps arachnids walking on your skin! Fortify yourself with drinks while our presenters take us on this journey, along with our bartenders, deejay, librarians, and food-slingers. Be there and be square!
Wednesday, 6/15/2016
Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm
Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St @Van Ness
$8, all ages
Tickets here
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“Mudlarking and Material Culture” by Laura Rubin
The River Thames has a long memory. The river and its tributaries have shaped and informed the daily life of Londoners from lithic times all the way to the present, and preserve the material culture of their daily lives. In this lecture Laura Rubin will give a brief overview of the Thames, a short methodology, and talk about her personal finds from the summer of 2015.
Laura is a costumer, writer, and interdisciplinary scholar. When not writing software manuals for money, she researches and interprets Western clothing, foodways, and culture from the 16th through the 20th centuries.
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“The Blind Watchmaker: Theo Jansen and the Art of Creating Life” by Paul Dancstep
“Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen” is a new exhibit at the Exploratorium. It features the work of a Dutch artist who creates elaborate walking structures out of PVC tube. These “strandbeests” are made up of many interesting organs. They have legs that take elegant strides. They have stomachs to store energy, allowing them to walk even when there’s no wind. They can even detect water and count their steps. Explore strandbeest anatomy and what it reveals about living creatures and the process of natural selection.
Paul grew up in San Diego but has never been on a surfboard. He studied physics in college but is still baffled by things like zippers. He’s been at the Exploratorium for over a decade, building boxes, changing lightbulbs and occasionally speaking to the public.
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“Mite-y Sexy: The Scandalous Sex Lives of Mites” by Jane Ishka
There are more species of mites than anything else on earth, and almost as many weird ways that they have sex. Some male mites carry immature females until they grown up and are ready to mate, while certain females mate once and carry the sperm for their whole lives, impregnating themselves at any time. Hear these and more Barely Safe For Nerd Nite sex stories about the mighty mite!
Jane is the author of The Year of the Mite and a biotechnology professional living in Berkeley. Her technical writing supports approval of new medical products. Her first book, The Year of the Mite, chronicles a year-long infestation of her home and skin by the parasite Dermanyssus gallinae. Visit Jane at www.yearofthemite.com
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With: Alpha Bravo, who’ll be spinning tunes specially selected to match the presenters’ themes. Follow the setlist on Twitter @djalphabravo.
Plus: The San Francisco Public Library will be on hand to dole out library cards, reading lists, and the hottest branch gossip.
Wednesday, 5/18/2016
Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm
Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St @Van Ness
$8, all ages
Tickets here
This month we’re dealing in the UNBELIEVABLE: wonderful weirdos of the ocean, nano-building blocks of DNA, and–the farthest of the fetched–affordable housing in San Francisco. So, take a deep breath and a big sip of your drink as our expert presenters, bartenders, deejay, librarians, and the Grilled Cheese Guy help us come to terms with it all. But only if you do this in the first place: Be there and be square!
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“Submarine in the Abyss: Exploring the Ocean from a Tiny Metal Tube” by Erika Bergman
We hope you are wearing clean socks, because you are about to kick off your boat shoes and climb into a deep-sea submersible! Explore an underwater world dominated by giant tube worms, heat-tolerant shrimpies, vast bioluminescent networks, shipwrecks, and…beer bottles? The ocean makes up 90% of the living space on the planet, and we’re not the only weirdos down there.
Erika is a mechanic, tech enthusiast, and explorer for National Geographic. She founded theGEECs.com, whose first program is Girls Underwater Robot Camps, and hopes to hire all the little girls who don’t yet realize they are destined to be engineers and explorers.
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“Tiny Tools: A 40-year Quest to Build with DNA” by Shawn Douglas
Nearly four decades ago, a young scientist named Ned Seeman had a Eureka moment. He realized that DNA molecules might be repurposed as nano-sized “Lego” blocks in order to build tools to solve one of the most fundamental challenges in molecular biology: determining atomic structures of proteins. Ned went on to pioneer an entirely new area of research: DNA nanotechnology. I’ll share an update from the field, including how we may be tantalizingly close to realizing Ned’s vision, albeit with a new spin on his original approach.
Shawn Douglas earned a B.S. in Computer Science at Yale in 2003, and then a Ph.D. in Biophysics at Harvard in 2009, working in the laboratories of William Shih and George Church. He continued at Harvard as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and recently started his own lab as an Assistant Professor at UCSF. He was named as one of Popular Science magazine’s “Brilliant 10” in 2012, and has presented for Google Solve for X and Bloomberg BusinessWeek Design conferences.
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“Hidden Histories of Affordability in San Francisco” by Michael Epstein
Remember when a housing upgrade was as simple as physically moving your house from one part of San Francisco to another? Or when you could just plop a house on a barge and pay a modest slip fee? Or when foraging tribes would spend their winters in the hills and summers by the Bay creating huge shell mounds from the remainders of seafood feasts? Affordable living has a rich history in San Francisco, and, if you know where to look, some vestiges still remain. This presentation will reveal several hidden landmarks of SF affordable housing and speculate on how they may inform current efforts to keep the city economically diverse.
Michael teaches location-based media courses at the California College of Art and produces apps for urban exploration with Walking Cinema.
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With: Alpha Bravo, who’ll be spinning tunes specially selected to match the presenters’ themes. Follow the setlist on Twitter @djalphabravo.
Food: Delicious hot goop between crispy slices of bread, brought to you by the scientist of the sammie, Grilled Cheese Guy.
Plus: The San Francisco Public Library will be on hand to dole out library cards, reading lists, and the hottest branch gossip.
Wednesday, 4/20/2016
Doors at 7, show at 8
Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell Street @Van Ness
$8, all ages
Tickets here
Toast to the double helix with the most at this month’s Nerd Nite SF! But that’s not all – we’ll learn what baseball analytics has to teach us about data science, and how vaping is changing the tobacco control game. Plus there’ll be science rhymes, bao, librarians, libations, and a whole lotta smart people in the audience. Get your start codon together, because it’s on!
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National DNA Day
DNA Day commemorates the completion of the Human Genome Project and the publication of DNA’s double helix structure in Aprils 2003 and 1953, respectively. We’re doing our part in a very Nerd Nite way with Tom McFadden kicking the night off with a science history rap battle of Rosalind Franklin vs Watson & Crick, and serving up DNAquiries – a strawberry + rum shot where the strawberry DNA precipitates out and forms a nice viscous layer in the drink. Yum!
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Guest MC: Tom McFadden
Tom is the host of “Science with Tom”, and he’ll be your MC for the evening. Tom works with middle school students to research, write, and perform their own science raps, and he has been known to spit hot lyrical fire of his own. Tom started science rapping in 7th grade, then at Stanford, then with kids around the world. He got a Masters in Science Rapping on a Fulbright Scholarship in New Zealand. He’s now teaching 8th-grade science at The Nueva School in Hillsborough.
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“The Science, Joy, and Heartache of Baseball Analytics” by Tracy Altman, PhD.
A beautiful thing about data science is that so-called outsiders can contribute meaningfully. Baseball analytics is a perfect example: An early version of citizen scientists recorded MLB play-by-plays for geeks everywhere – triggering lawsuits and fueling tech companies. Tracy will show how sports analytics parallel most applications of data science. ‘Inside baseball’ is a great place for anyone who wants to understand how data helps people make better decisions.
Tracy Altman, PhD, is the founder of Ugly Research in Oakland. She has wrangled data and created analytical content for decision makers in oil and gas investing, science publishing, pharmaceutical R&D, and baseball statistics.
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“Hot Aerosol: E-Cigs, Tobacco Control, and the Nicotine Endgame” by C.A.B. Fredericks
Cigarettes are SPECTACULARLY bad for you. There are few things you can do to reduce your chances of dying awfully more than quitting. E-cigarettes are Not Cigarettes, and this has generated lots of enthusiasm, confusion, and very decisive statements in the face of vast voids of knowledge. This presentation explores three big debates about e-cigs/vapes: do they help you quit, are they harm reduction, and what does nicotine addiction really mean?
C.A.B. Fredericks is a former smoker who now works for the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. His interests include addiction research, behavioral health in vulnerable populations, and fantasy baseball, which he probably should’ve lectured on instead.
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With: Alpha Bravo, who’ll be spinning tunes specially selected to match the presenters’ themes. Follow the setlist on Twitter @djalphabravo.
Food: Delicious pork belly bao and other bun-goodness from CrossHatch Eatery.
Plus: The San Francisco Public Library will be on hand to dole out library cards, reading lists, and the hottest branch gossip.
Wednesday, 3/16/2016
Doors at 7, show at 8
Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell Street @Van Ness
$8, all ages
Tickets here
Is all the rain making you feel like a prisoner in your own historically notable home? Well, March 16th is the first day of the bacchanalia, so why dontcha make like Bacchus and get all ecstatic and inebriated at our celebration of smarts, obsession, and the surprising complexity of our world. The librarius and grilled-cheeseus cults will initiate you into their ways, wine and music will flow, and a scientist, an attorney, and an architectural historian will spark off the intellectual revelry. Be there and be square!
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“A Walk Through the Stem Cellar: Sampling the Many Different Flavors and Vintages of Stem Cells” by Dr. Julie Mangada
Take a tour of the Stem Cellar with the Buck Institute for Research on Aging as your guide! Stem cell breakthroughs lead to a better understanding of cancer and to the development of therapies for Parkinson’s disease. Julie will take you through an exploration of the different types of stem cells, along with the myths and misconceptions of stem cell research.
Dr. Julie Mangada is the Education Outreach Coordinator for the Buck Institute and a local girl originally from Petaluma. Also roller derby addict, Julie is passionate about bringing research out of the lab and into the communities where she grew up, usually while wearing skates and elbow pads.
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“Tantalizing Stories and Technical Stuff in Architectural History” by Christina Dikas
The Parthenon, the Cliff Palace of Mesa Verde, the Paramount Theatre of Oakland–there’s no question these are important structures, design-wise. But architectural historians aren’t just interested in how they were built, they care about who lived in and used them, too. Find out how architectural history factors into California’s city planning, the basics of evaluating buildings for historic significance, and how fame, murder, and particle accelerators figure into all of this.
Christina is an architectural historian in San Francisco. During her free time, she is a photographer and inadvertent tour guide, spouting historical trivia to anyone who happens to accompany her around the city.
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“Bodies and Bondage: History of California’s Prisons” by Jared Rudolph
California’s prison system started as a privately-run barge anchored in the Bay, and was embroiled in corruption, political scandal, and violence. Since then, our system has grown to incarcerate more people than the population of Berkeley. Prisons represent the power of the state in its most raw and basic form, and 165 years later Californians are still confronting the same fundamental questions: Why do we incarcerate people, what happens when they leave, and can we do better?
Jared Rudolph is a criminal defense attorney and the founder of Prisoner Reentry Network (
prisonerreentrynetwork.org), a non-profit that supports successful transitions from incarceration to the community. If you’re arrested, he suggests you shut up so you don’t talk yourself into prison.
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With: Alpha Bravo, who’ll be spinning tunes specially selected to match the presenters’ themes. Follow the setlist on Twitter @djalphabravo.
Food: Delicious hot goop between crispy slices of bread, brought to you by the scientist of the sammie, Grilled Cheese Guy.
Plus: The San Francisco Public Library will be on hand to dole out library cards, reading lists, and the hottest branch gossip.
SOLD OUT! There is usually some number of no-shows so we will release limited tickets at the door shortly before showtime.
Wednesday, 2/17/2016
Doors at 7 pm, show at 8
Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell Street @Van Ness
$8, all ages
Tickets here
Remember the legendary PSA with the egg and the frying pan? We’ll find out what our brains REALLY look like when they’re on drugs, and we’ll also swim back in time to the saltwater pools of the Sutro Baths and thrill to some Texan bridge demolition porn. This is your brain on Nerd Nite. Any questions? Well, that’s what the Q&A section is for, silly! With grilled cheese, librarians, and the Rickshaw bar staff to help you wet your whistle: Be there and be square!
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“Sutro’s Glass Palace” by John A. Martini
Like a majestic ocean liner or a grand hotel, the Victorian-era Sutro Baths dazzled visitors with over-the-top opulence. Today, only broken concrete ruins remain at Land’s End, but still draw hundreds of visitors daily. Marvel at many never-before-seen photographs of Adolph Sutro’s legendary glass palace.
John is a native San Franciscan and lifelong researcher into the history of California and the American West. He worked as a ranger for more than 25 years at national parks around the country, including the Marin Headlands and the Presidio. Now an independent consultant specializing in historical research, he appears regularly on PBS, History Channel, A&E Network, and National Geographic Channel.
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“Psychedelic Data Science: Mapping the Drug Experience” by Jessica Nielson
Can you imagine what psychedelic experiences look like? Ever wondered if illegal drugs are actually better for you than legal ones? (Some of you may have even performed copious independent studies!) With the increase in data about the harmful effects of prescription drugs and the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics, big-data machine learning technologies are helping us answer those questions. Come trip balls—ahem!—observe a psychedelic data visualization journey through various drug experiences.
Jessica is a UCSF neuroscientist focused on finding better treatments for complex neurological disorders. In her free time, she is an advocate of cognitive liberty and studying the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for mental health.
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“The State of Texas Paid Me to Break a Bridge” by Bryce Neuman
Keen on saving money on inspections, TXDoT funded a research project to determine how “fracture-critical” their 10,000+ highway bridges really were. So a team from UT Austin’s structures lab rebuilt a 120’-long, decommissioned bridge and set out to break it. Yep, they used explosives—but it still took three tries! Come hear about this four-year effort, the engineering basics of the bridge, how they pushed it to its limits, and the results that surprised even the state’s (well, it’s Texas, after all) experts.
Just coming out of his third fractional-life crisis (in the form of a 14-month trip to Asia), Bryce loves planning and building, earth and life sciences, the great outdoors, and plain-old riding his bike.
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With: Alpha Bravo, who’ll be spinning tunes specially selected to match the presenters’ themes. Follow the setlist on Twitter @djalphabravo.
Food: Delicious hot goop between crispy slices of bread, brought to you by the scientist of the sammie, Grilled Cheese Guy.
Plus: The San Francisco Public Library will be on hand to dole out library cards, reading lists, and the hottest branch gossip.