Nerd Nite #29: Everyone Can Teach a Robot

Ever felt too busy to do the laundry or too tired to cook? What if a robot could help you with all of this someday in the future? Developments in robotics are bringing this dream closer to reality by making robots that can imitate people and learn new actions. One day, you may be teaching your own robot how to make your favorite cocktail!

About Zhen Zeng: Zhen is a PHD student at the University of Michigan in Electrical Engineering, with a focus on robot object manipulation. When she’s not teaching Baxter the Robot to see, move, and think, she enjoys volleyball and card games.

Nerd Nite #29: Back to the Future of Back to the Future

It’s the Future today! October 21, 2015 is the day Marty McFly visits in Back to the Future 2. Let’s take a detailed look at what they thought today would be like 30 years ago, and see what they missed, and what they nailed. READ MY FAX!

About Eli Neiburger: Eli is Deputy Director at the Ann Arbor District Library and has given lots of talks across the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, but this is his very first talk that’s not about libraries! You may have seen him leading the Nintendoland Family Band at the Water Hill Music Festival. You can follow him on Twitter at @ulotrichous.

Nerd Nite #29: Where's My Hoverboard?

Ready to assume vivid astro focus? Nick Tobier's talk follows the evolution of space-age design from the euphoria and optimism of the 1950s to the more cynical ‘70s, and shows how artists’ conceptions of the future have influenced history and in turn, our society.

About Nick: Nick is an Associate Professor at the Stamps School of Art and Design and the Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. With a background in sculpture and landscape architecture, Nick has long been interested in the social lives of public places and his work has been seen at the everywhere from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood.

Nerd Nite #28: The Sound Heard ‘Round the World’

In our daily lives, we’re used to sound traveling as short as a fraction of an inch (like music from headphones) to as far as several hundred yards (like a football game heard several blocks away). But, over even larger distances, like tens, hundreds, or even thousands of miles, sound can do some very weird and unexpected things. We’ll talk about what sound does, why it does it, and how those surprising behaviors may have influenced the course of history.

About Brian Worthmann: Brian is a PhD student at U of M in Applied Physics studying underwater acoustics and signal processing and was a participant in the RELATE 2015 workshop. When not doing underwater acoustics research, he can be found learning, teaching, or binge-watching Netflix.

Nerd Nite #28: Underground Alliances

PhD student Alex Taylor explains that nearly all plants form intimate symbiotic partnerships with fungi called Mychorrhizae. These fungi grow in elaborate webs through the soil, and then into the plan roots, growing even inside the plant cells, where the plant and fungus have struck a fabulously successful deal. The terms of this deal are straightforward: a trade of sugar for mineral nutrients that plays to the strengths and weaknesses of each partner. Mycorrhizae helped early plants get a toehold on land, and to this day, the vast majority of plants across the globe thrive thanks to their fungal partners. The world would be a barren place without this ancient and strange symbiosis.

About Alex Taylor: Alex is a PhD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, studying how plants evolved the ability to recognize and partner with bacteria and fungi in the soil. Most days, this involves sitting at a computer and running algorithms on the genome sequences of different plants. He also loves talking and writing about the spine-tingling majesty of science, and co-founded the blog “Thought and Awe” to do just that. In his spare time, Alex is into camping, gardening, and talking about the big stuff over a beer. Find him on Twitter at @ATayters.

Nerd Nite #25: A Short History of Nearly Everything Roller Derby Related

Learn the history of roller derby from the 1920s to today, how the game is played and what’s been happening for the sport locally. Local players Susan B. Slamthony and Queen McLightning talk up the story of derby and why they love it.

Find ’em elsewhere, too: @a2derbydimes or Facebook:
AnnArborBrawlStars, A2D2YV, A2D2ABC

Nerd Nite #26: Detroit - Planning a City After Abandonment

Urban planning as a field focuses on managing development to shape the effects of growth on cities. But what can planners do in cities like Detroit where developing, redeveloping, rebuilding, and revitalizing are not possibilities? University of Michigan professor of urban and regional planning Margi Dewar lays out directions with a few examples for a different kind of urban planning.

Nerd Nite #26: Calculating 10^18 Results per Second

The world of high performance computing is changing. Dave Strenski's talk will run through a short history of computing highlighting the different types of computations used in computing’s past, including vectorization, parallelization, accelerators, and reconfigurable computing. Starting from a historical perspective, this presentation builds to what is needed for the future to reach exa-scale (10^18 floating point operation per second) computing. It also covers the types of applications that need exa-scale computing and the merging of high performance computing and data analytics.

Nerd Nite #26: Runs with Lasers

Local laser artist Mike Gould discusses his recent experiences with the Illuminatus Lasers Troupe, including:
– The Quest for Mystic Fire – Lasers at Saline Celtic Festival (because, of course)
– Talks with Lasers lecture/demo to educate kids and families to the wonders of coherency
– Tetraptych: 4 Panels, 12 Lasers, One Wall art piece for DLECTRICITY 2014
– L is for Laser, his science museum piece

Mike has also done lasers for the UM Stadium half-time show during a night game (Notre Dame, we won). He’s part of the Ann Arbor Art Center’s tech+art exhibit, and has made appearances at various Maker Faires, Art Prize, Ignite, FoolMoon, etc.

For more about Mike, wander over to his website, of that of his crew — Illuminatus!

Nerd Nite #25: Ypsilanti History

Local historian James Mann returns for his fourth Nerd Night talk, and will be speaking on his new book, Ypsilanti, part of the Images of Modern America series from Arcadia Publishing. This is a picture history of the city of Ypsilanti from the 1960’s to the present. James will speak on how Ypsilanti got the most easily misspelled name in the state, the Michigan Murders, and tell the true story of Rosie the Riveter. There is more to Ypsilanti than the Water Tower! Copies of Ypsilanti will be available for purchase.