Friday, August 2, 2013

Upcoming Events: FamiLAB, Nerd Nite, Nanotechnology, and more!

Sunday, August 4, 2013
11:30am-1:30pm SparkTruck: Science-based workshops and programs for children of all ages

UCF Teaching Academy (on campus)

SparkTruck is coming to Orlando and the UCF College of Education and Human Performance.

SparkTruck offers a variety of science-based workshop and programs, including sketching and building robots, making rubber stamps with the use of a laser cutter, a boat making competition, and a chocolate bar making workshop that employs the use of laser and vinyl cutters. Children will be able to learn about science in an interactive, hands-on way that also allows them to be introduced to 21st-century science tools and principles.

4:00pm Synthetic Biology Meeting - Everyone interested is welcome!

FamiLAB
1355 Bennett Dr #129
Longwood, FL 32750

Please RSVP via Meetup. http://www.meetup.com/DiyBio-in-Central-Florida/events/131760742/

Let's meet to discuss our current work and future plans for collective experiments in DIY Biology, including, but not limited to: Growing bioluminescent plants, algae, fungi, bacteria, and what-have-you. (Growing non-glowing varieties of those things is also okay, but potentially less exciting.) What we need to do in order to participate in iGEM. DNA origami. Self quantification, including monitoring EEG, ECG, EMG, ETC. Building open hardware/wetware that makes all of the above feasible/more accessible. Let's also discuss other things that we might want to add to this list!

Gordon Hollingworth, Director of Engineering for the Raspberry Pi Foundation, will be in town for a meet-and-greet, show-and-tell Open Make at FamiLAB, and will be present at our meeting!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

7:00-8:30 pm Cafe Scientifique presents More on Nanotechnology

Taste Restaurant
717 W. Smith Street
Orlando, FL 32804

This is a continuation of the April talk, which served as an introduction to nanotechnology. This extra time will let Prof Rahman talk about her favorite parts of the subject. Only a few years ago, the science and engineering of manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular level seemed to be a promise of enormous changes to come in a few decades. Instead, the results of nanoscience quietly sneaked into our everyday lives yesterday. Prof Rahman will talk about nanoscience, its brief history, and its current state.

Dr. Talat Rahman is the UCF= Physics Chair and a UCF Provost Distinguished Research Professor. Her research interests are first principles calculations of nanoscale phenomena (chemical reactions, molecular diffusion, vibrational dynamics and thermodynamics of nanomaterials); multiscale-modeling offunctional material; structural stability and characteristics of nanoalloys; atomistic studies of diffusion at solid surfaces; thin film growth processes and surface morphological evolution of nanostructures.

Website: http://cafesciorl.com/2013-08-nanotech
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/611574745520241/


Thursday, August 8, 2013

5:30-7:00pm General meeting

7:00-9:00pm Nerd Nite #6 - Our very own President Max Jackson is presenting!

Stardust Video and Coffee
1842 E. Winter Park Rd.
Winter Park, FL 32803

Nerd Nite Orlando #6 is our Back To School Special! We will learn how two monks changed the world, be enlightened about the ethics of brain experimentation, and answer the infamous Yahoo! Answers question, “How is Babby Formed?” !

Nerd Nite Orlando is an evening of entertaining yet thought-provoking talks across many disciplines – all while the audience drinks along in a casual bar atmosphere. 3 speakers will present for 20-25 minutes each on a fascinating subject of their choice, often in an uncanny and unconventional way.

It's like the Discovery Channel - with beer! Come meet up, drink, and learn something new!

PRESENTATIONS:

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“Cryptic Cyrillic: How Two Monks Changed the World” by Edward Petersen

Have you ever wondered what all those familiar-yet-strange letters were in “The Hunt for Red October” or other films set in Russia? They’re Cyrillic, a unique alphabet developed centuries ago for Slavic people who had no written language. While this writing system has helped Eastern Europe grow by leaps and bounds, it has not been without controversy. In modern times, it has more often served to divide than to unite. Come learn the history of this fascinating system now used by a quarter-billion people throughout the world.

Ed Petersen currently works for the Planning Division in the City of Orlando. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Central Florida. He is an avid traveler, having visited 49 US states and 20 countries, including Russia in 1999. Ed has had a lifelong interest in patterns, language, and alphabets, and can speak a smattering of Spanish, French, Latin, and Russian (though he’ll likely need plenty of help).

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“Brain on a Chip: The Ethics of Brain Experimentation” by Max Jackson

Is it possible to study the brain without incurring the wrath of PETA or hoping for willing human subjects? It is now! Max Jackson is a researcher who grows brain networks in the lab, on demand. The ethical and economic advantages of these techniques are vast. Join us for a discussion about the ethics of brain experimentation as well as the exciting developments in this field.

Max Jackson is a masters student in BioTechnology at the University of Central Florida where he focuses his research on neural-machine interfacing. He is President of the UCF Synthetic Biology Club, and the Graduate President of the Central Florida Society for Neuroscience. Prior to graduate school, Max worked for a mobile-learning application development company. He enjoys reading the classics and philosophy literature in his free time.

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“Fornication Education: All These F**king Questions!” by Daniel Pellito

Young people are exploratory about sex due to their intrinsic curiosity. As a science teacher and sex educator at a lower income public school, Dan Pellito has been asked a myriad of questions by his students, from the naively adorable to the outright strange. Dan asserts that if students don’t learn the basics from trusted adults, they’ll find other means, such as MTV’s “Teen Mom.” Let’s demystify the notion of sex and encourage open conversations with the younger generation.

Daniel Pellito is a science teacher for a low-income school in Orange County, Florida. He studied music and biology at the University of Central Florida. He’s been in the classroom since 2006 and currently teaches biology as well as engineering to 6th - 8th graders. Daniel is an advocate of the "flipped classroom" model and is developing an agriculture/aquaculture program through a school/community garden.It's like the Discovery Channel - with beer! Come meet up, drink, and learn something new!

Website: http://orlando.nerdnite.com/
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/280043155470557/?ref=3

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