HEY, DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE ECLIPSE? Oh, you did? But what do you REALLY know about the eclipse that passed through the US in 2017, causing waves of eclipse fever (not an actual disease, more a case of lunacy). Luckily, Nerd Nite brought in Jennifer German, our friendly NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador, to tell us all about how the eclipse works and how everyone can make sure their eyes work after viewing one. Get enlightened on the darkness with this entertaining talk!

About Jennifer German: She is currently a mother of 2, a lead software engineer at a SAAS startup, and a hopeless space geek. She first became interested in 2nd grade while her class learned about the Challenger mission (before the explosion). She remembers being out in a corn field in the wee hours of the night looking for Hailey's comet. She's followed Hubble since it launched when she was 11, despite not having the internet, and followed the construction of the International Space Station since she did her Physics term paper on enclosed eco-systems in High School. She interned at Biosphere 2 for the best Summer of her life during college. She builds every space exploration inspired Lego set she gets. She tells everyone who'll listen about the newest planetary news. She points out constellations and passes on tips for identifying stars, and not stars, to any who ask. She has set up a library telescope on her street a number of times and asked neighbors if they want to see the planets with her. Now she's working on sharing her space hobby with larger, pre-organized, groups.

Though the term ‘schizophrenia’ is only around a hundred years old, the illness goes back thousands of years. Despite a wealth of research on the subject, there is still much about it that we don’t know. In this talk, I will discuss some of the contributions brain imaging research has made to attempts to understand the disorder.

There was a time in Ann Arbor’s history when the Fourth Avenue area of downtown was known as the red light district. Lined with prostitutes, adult bookstores and massage parlors, Ann Arbor’s red light district was presided over by the Pied Piper of Porn, Terry Whitman Shoultes. Take a trip into the seedy underbelly of Ann Arbor’s dirty past.

Learn more about this topic in the AADL Old News Archives.

About Rich Retyi and Brian Peters: These gents produce Ann Arbor Stories, a podcast featuring stories from Ann Arbor’s distant and not so distant past. Rich runs digital and social media strategy for the University of Michigan hospitals and enjoys writing, playing with his kids, and Friday beers. Brian is the Operating Officer for Ghostly International, a multi-platform cultural curator and record label, as well as co-owner of local indie label, Quite Scientific; he enjoys fishing, camping, mustard, and surprise surprise – Friday beers.

Within the romance genre there are dozens of subgenres, some well known, some very unknown. Most people can name a few – contemporary, historical, or paranormal for example. Some people have even heard of Amish romance, westerns, or Highlanders. This talk isn’t about any of those. It’s about the subgenres that almost no one’s heard of, the time-traveling Viking romances that we never knew we were missing.

About Celia Mulder: She is a first-year Masters student at the University of Michigan's School of Information. She happens to be a huge romance fan but she honestly can’t tell you what her favorite book is, there are just too many. In addition to reading the smutty stuff, she writes it too.

The light sources of the future will be LED bulbs. They are efficient, last a long time, and some can even change colors on the fly. But why are they so expensive? Come learn about what LEDs are, why they are so important, and some of the ways we’re trying to make LED lighting affordable for everyone.

About Andrew: Andrew is a first-year in the Applied Physics program at the University of Michigan. He studies the many materials that we use to interact with light, and is interested in ways these materials become inefficient when we push them to extremes. He does all of his research using supercomputers, so instead of wearing a lab coat and glasses, he sit in front of a big computer monitor all day. When he’s not doing that, you’ll most likely find him wearing spandex (on a bike), playing board games, or ogling books at Literati.

Puns abound in society, whether we realize it or not. In this pun-apologetic analysis of wordplay, discover the linguistic and social history of puns. Learn how to identify different types of puns, their place in the linguistic structure, and why they are true language anarchists.

About Reema: Reema is a master’s student at Michigan studying Natural Resources and Environment. She is an avid punster and knows the names of all the US presidents in order because history is important. In her spare time, she researches adorable baby animals online. Find her on twitter at @ReemaAbiAkar

Mike White from Zingerman’s slices us off a hunk of some pungent, delectable cheese knowledge.

Frontier life in the 1870s was hard and the massive prairie held endless dangers – aside from the harsh elements, the grueling work, and the salt pork-heavy diet. This is the sinister side of Little House on the Prairie – the true story of a family of serial killers targeting pioneers on their way out West.

About Sara: Sara Wedell is a production librarian at the Ann Arbor District Library and a Nerd Nite Ann Arbor Co-Boss. She knows it’s not cool to love Laura Ingalls Wilder, BUT SHE DOES IT ANYWAY. #sunbonnetsquad

As we learn motor skills we use two memory systems. These systems are separate and can compete with each other. My talk will go over some evidence of this interaction within the brain.

About Lorraine: Lorraine is a PhD candidate in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Genetics from the University of Western Brittany (Universit de Bretagne Occidentale. She now works on understanding how learning new motor skills affects brain networks.

From the telegraph to mobile apps, from Poltergeist‘s televisual ghouls to Unfriended‘s possessed Skype sessions, from EVPs to spirit photography, this talk explores the history of attempts to communicate with the dead using electric and electronic technologies. You’ll see and hear terrifying and not-so-terrifying evidence of spectral messages, and examine what exactly constitutes evidence for investigators of the paranormal. GHOSTLY CAT VIDEOS ARE INCLUDED!

About Jen: Proctor is a filmmaker, media artist, and Associate Professor of Journalism and Screen Studies at UM-Dearborn. She is currently working on a documentary about the relationship between technology, the paranormal, and spiritual belief. In her spare time, she studies abnormal feline behavior.