Nerdnite Feb 21: The lineup and the speakers

[Nerdnite]

Hello nerds and friends of nerds,

Here is the lineup for Nerdnite, this Saturday Feb 21 at the Midway
(address is below). We'll get things started at 8pm.

Talk 1: "Octopus and Propaganda: Evolution of a Villain"
Adam Clem

Nerdnite has a long history of fascination with cephalopods, and
Adam's talk should fit nicely into that tradition. He'll describe for
us how the octopus came to be a useful tool for propagandists looking
to stir up hate. Clearly cephalo-nerds were not the object of said
propaganda -- who among us would hate on an octopus?

Adam is an actor living in Cambridge. He appeared in last fall's
A.R.T. production of "The Communist Dracula Pageant". He once appeared
in an episode of "NYPD Blue," delivering the immortal line, "Would you
gentlemen like some coffee?" He received a bachelor's degree in Art
History from Vassar College, and wrote his undergraduate thesis on
Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer. Adam began studying octopus as
symbols in propaganda in 2003, when he joined the staff of tonmo.com,
the Octopus News Magazine Online, where he remains as a contributor.

Talk 2: "We're Dumber than Elephants: Mathematical Abilities of
Animals"

Ewen Callaway.

Late-nite TV loves a good "gee-whiz aren't animals smart!" story, but
so do some scientists. There are researchers out there who have a
hunch they can learn something fundamental about how the mind works by
studying the cognitive abilities of animals. Ewen will give us an
introduction to this world and explain what science has learned about
the number crunching abilities of certain beasts. Plus I'm told there
will be some embarrassing video involving chimpanzees.

Ewen is a biology reporter for New Scientist's online magazine. He's
also worked for Nature, Science News, and KGNU-FM in Boulder,
Colorado. He earned an M.S. in microbiology at the University of
Washington -- and make sure to slap him a nerdy high-five because his
first academic paper, from his undergraduate thesis project, just came
out.

Stick around followng the talks for music! Featuring Stroamata:
http://www.stroamata.com/

Be there and be square!
Saturday February 21
8pm
Midway Cafe
3496 Washington St
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
www.nerdnite.com
http://groups.google.com/group/nerdnite_boston/