Saskatoon Nerdnite #2

We all know learning is more fun when you’re drinking with friends. Thus, Nerd Nite is a monthly event held in 100+ cities across the globe during which folks give 20ish-minute fun-yet-informative presentations across all disciplines – while the audience drinks along! There are often bands, trivia, speed-friending, and other shenanigans as well. Imagine learning about math feuds, the emu war of Australia, the genealogy of Godzilla, or zombie insects, while having a few.

Nerd Nite Saskatoon

Join us for the second edition of Saskatoon Nerdnite - It's like the Discovery Channel,, with beer!

The Thirsty Scholar

Saskatoon NerdNites

All the amazing talks and presenters in one collection! Its like the Discovery Channel with beer!

Saskatoon Nerdnite #2Welcome to the Second Saskatoon Nerd Nite Event! Join us Tue Oct 1, 2024 (doors open) at 6:00PM at The Thirsty Scholar We all know learning is more fun when you’re drinking with friends. Thus, Nerd Nite is a regular event held in 100+ cities across the globe during which folks give 20-minute fun-yet-informative presentations across all disciplines – while the audience drinks along! Imagine learning about math feuds, the emu war of Australia, the genealogy of Godzilla, the physics of guitars, or zombie insects, while having a few!

Agenda

Have you ever asked yourself which physics properties are absolute, and which are relative? How about time, length, mass or speed of light? 

In 1999, Time magazine selected physicist Albert Einstein as the person of the millennium. His powerful theory of special relativity touches on these questions and are based on a very simple yet surprising basic assumption – the speed of light is a constant.

In my talk I will touch on these parameters and explain some of the surprising implications from this theory.

Alexander Moewes was educated in Hamburg, Germany. After furthering his experimental skills at various synchrotrons in the US, he joined the physics department of U of S in 2000 where he is a physics professor and Canada Research Chair. For his research, he uses the Canadian Light Source to study new materials. Alex has a knack for fundamental physics questions – especially when at first glance they seem to contradict common sense.

About time and space – is everything relative? – Alexander Moewes

Did you ever wonder why/how Saskatchewan became the psychedelic hotspot of the 1950s? Our trapezoidal province was anything but square when it became the hub of hallucinogenic research and Indigenous ceremonial rights.

Saskatchewan was the only province in Canada to legally recognize Indigenous peyote ceremonies in 1954, and in 1956, the superintendent of the Saskatchewan Provincial Mental Hospital at Weyburn, Humphry Osmond, urged Aldous Huxley to “soar angelic” by taking a “pinch of psychedelic”. These visionary characters put the province on the map, and the legacy of their out-of-the-box-thinking continues to shape our thinking on the place of psychedelics in the modern world. 

In this talk I will revisit some of this colourful history and consider how Canada might rethink its laws on psychedelics in the future.

Psychedelics, their use and history in Saskatchewan

Remember student life—racing across campus, pulling all-nighters, and submitting assignments with 0.1 seconds to spare? Now, throw in some actual rocket science, and you've got either an absolute blast... or a very impressive explosion. The USask Space Design Team (USST) is no stranger to both! They’ve got a long history of turning caffeine and panic into aerospace marvels, like rockets, satellites, and other "please don’t blow up" projects. Most recently, the USST Rocketry team returned from the Launch Canada Challenge in Timmins, ON, with their 10-foot-tall baby, Zenith—still in one piece, thankfully. Oh, and they’re also partnered with SkCubeSat on some satellite shenanigans. You might've heard of RADSAT-SK1, Saskatchewan's very first homegrown satellite which launched in 2023 (yup, it made it to space!), and now the team is brewing up its sequel, RADSAT-SK2, which promises to be just as out of this world!


Saskatoon Nerdnite #2

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Saskatoon Nerdnite #2

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