Nerd Nite Seattle [70]: Sense-ational Cyborgs
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Just in time for Thanksgiving, learn about the science behind Diabetes and your somatosensory system with Margaret Urfer and Kali Esancy!
Kali Esancy: Super Skin Senses! A Tour of Your Somatosensory System
If asked to name your five senses, you’d probably list sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. But your skin—the body’s largest sensory organ—senses so much more than just “touch”. In this talk, we’ll go on a tour of your somatosensory neurons, the super awesome (and kind of strange) cells that allow you to experience sensations like pressure, temperature, itch, and pain. What are they like? How do they work? Who do they talk to? What makes them different from neurons in your brain? Come join us as we explore these and other questions about your super somatosensory system!
Kali Esancy is a graduate student in the Neuroscience Program at the University of Washington whose thesis project entails trying to figure out the specific differences between certain types of itch-coding and pain-coding neurons in zebrafish and mice. When she isn’t experimenting in dark microscope rooms, analyzing mountains of data, or wrangling fish larvae, she enjoys crafting, baking, board games, neuroscience outreach, contra dancing, music, frolicking outdoors, and attending Nerd Nite talks.
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Margaret Urfer: Life as a Cyborg: Getting By with Diabetes”
Everyone eats food, drinks water, and performs other necessary tasks as part of their daily maintenance. Some people also have to manually inject/pump a vital hormone, carefully balancing the dosage against food intake, exercise level, and other factors just to maintain operating order. Diabetes is a topic at the edge of public consciousness, but is often misunderstood. (Spoiler: There are 2 “types”, and they’re very different) Come learn what, exactly, Type 1 Diabetes is, how it affects 1.25 million Americans, and what you can learn from it.
Margaret S. Urfer has been a Type 1 Diabetic for 17 years, codes, dances, knits, games, runs, but ironically does not ride the waves.
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**FAQs**
High Dive
Tuesday, November 21
Doors open at 6:30, talks start at 7:30
$5 / 21+ / No one turned away for lack of funds
BYO food or order Red Star Taco Bar through the bar
Accessibility: There are no stairs to the venue’s entryways or bathrooms. Tables are at standing level, but there is open seating at the front of the stage. Please refrain from wearing scented products in consideration of attendees with allergies and sensitivities. Please message us if you have further questions, suggestions or concerns.
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