Nerd Nite 001

Date: Wednesday October 19, 2011
Time: 8pm
Location: Genna’s Lounge (map)

The Virology of Werewolfism (Lycanosis): What Werewolves Have in Common with Cold Sores

Summary: This highly publicized and dramatized disease has plagued humanity for centuries, yet little is known about what it is or what we’re supposed to do about it. In this talk you’ll learn the exact modus operandi and strategic plan of the virus that causes werewolfism, and how best to thwart it and save your life and the lives of countless other drifters and people with poor nighttime transportation habits.

Presenter bio: Sarah Koske is a student studying both the rare and more common animal diseases and zoonoses. She has an interest in non-traditional species (including, but not limited to, werewolves), as well as pathology, and the ecology of disease. Unfortunately, Sarah also has an imagination that cannot be controlled with corticosteroids. Sarah has been the winner of the NIH’s coveted “Most Original, Well-written, Yet Inordinately Ludicrous Grant Proposal” award since 2005.

 

Nerd Nite of the Living Dead: How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse

Summary: Do you have a strategy in place to survive zombie attacks? Do you want to be devoured by or converted into one of the living dead?  If the answer to both of these questions is no, then you’re in luck. This Nerd Nite presentation will introduce you to the the origins of zombie lore and give you the essential do’s and don’t’s for short-term strategies against individual attacks as well as long-term success in a post-apocalyptic environment.

Presenter bio: Danielle started her zombie-preparedness training through taking courses in the English department at her undergraduate institution, the geographically-confusing Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She is now a PhD candidate in the philosophy department at UW-Madison, working on a dissertation in philosophy of braaaaaaaaaaaains

 

Sasquatch, Science, and Pseudoscience

Summary: Is Bigfoot real or bullshit?  By applying basic scientific principles and some biological anthropology, we’ll explore the legend of North America’s famous hirsute bipedal ape.  We’ll find out how real scientists out fraudsters and see how fact is more intriguing than fiction.

Presenter bio: Zach Throckmorton is a dissertator at UW-Madison’s Department of Anthropology.  He is Madison’s leading (i.e. only) authority on the evolution of the human foot.