Nerd Nite March [50]: Out of this Worm!
High Dive Seattle
Tuesday, March 15th
Doors open at 6:30 (get there early for seats!), talks start at 7:30
$5
21+
Laura Taylor: Worms with Dementia!
Laura’s talk will give a brief overview of neurodegenerative diseases and the molecular mechanisms that lead to their progression, followed by an explanation of how her lab uses a transgenic worm model of dementia to better understand how neurodegenerative diseases occur and discover therapies to prevent them.
Laura Taylor is currently a third year PhD candidate in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Washington. Laura works at the VA hospital of Puget Sound in the Kraemer laboratory, which studies dementia. Her specific focus is on understanding what early molecular changes drive neurodegeneration during aging. When she’s not studying disease progression, Laura enjoys volunteering with the Pacific Science Center as a Science Communication fellow and speaking at informal science talks around King County. She is interested in promoting scientific education and wants to pursue a career in science policy. Aside from science, Laura enjoys dancing ballet, taking short walks on the beach with her dog Lucky, and trying to play Harry Potter theme music on her piano.
David Gould: Rovers were on Luna, Landers were on Venus — Unique Achievements of Soviet-era Robotic Planetary Exploration
Many of the Soviet Union’s greatest accomplishments and most interesting failed attempts in robotic planetary exploration have been sadly shrouded in obscurity. Their scientists pioneered planetary landers, rovers, & sample return missions, and accomplished groundbreaking explorations of the moon, Mars, and Venus, setting records and using unique technology. This talk will range over little-known “firsts” of the past and a little into the present, looking at where things stand today (both figuratively and literally). We’ll explore shooting lasers at the Moon to find misplaced rovers, a crowd-sourced search of images for crashed landers on of the surface of Mars, floating balloons in the clouds of Venus, the cleanup of radioactive debris, and a very unfortunately placed lens cap.
David is a serial Nerd Nite attendee and computer geek by trade. He’s a fervent aviation nerd and casual space exploration enthusiast by dint of having grown up in NASA’s back yard.
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