Happy Wednesday, Nerds! We’ve come to the very last FNN of 2022, as our usual schedule takes us too close to Xmas and we have a non-compete with Santa, so this is your last chance to get your think and drink on before we all devolve into an infuriating loop of Mariah Carey and trying not to argue with our relatives about politics over a dried out turkey. Better that you enjoy a beverage, maybe win a door prize, discover yet another place from which you’ve been unwittingly ingesting bug juice, get a dose of real viral history, and wage a war with graph paper and dice. It’s Nerd Nite, baby, and it’s all you want for Christmas. (#callback)
You’ve Got Red on You: A Tale of the Humble Cochineal
From lipsticks to food dyes, one small sessile parasite (that’s a barely moving beastie to you and me) was been responsible for much of the red color in our daily lives. Learn about the chemistry and the history of Carmine, the dye extracted from the cochineal bug.
-Dr. Graeme R. A. Wyllie came to the US from Scotland several decades ago earning his PhD at the University of Notre Dame before joining the faculty at Concordia College. He also heads up Concordia Science Academy, a science outreach organization that provides hands-on science experiences to thousands of kids a year in the FM area and beyond.
It’s Not Just COVID: An Overview of Outbreaks in ND
Believe it or not, COVID is not the only disease that has had an outbreak. We’ll go over a brief overview of some other disease outbreaks that have occurred in North Dakota through the eyes of an epidemiologist.
-Brenton Nesemeier was born and raised in Fargo. He is currently an epidemiologist with the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services. He graduated from NDSU with a MS in microbiology. He lives in Fargo with his big lovable Maine Coon, Groot, his diva rescue cat, Zoey, and his fluffy chonky ragdoll, Hades.
The Basic Mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons (Or how to Kill Monsters, Find Treasure, and Laugh Your Ass Off with Your Friends)
You’ve heard your cooler friends talk about it, and now there’s a movie with Chris Pine playing a hot bard, but how exactly do you play Dungeons and Dragons? Now’s your chance to learn the basics with a local friendly Dungeon Master. She will provide all of the dice – all you to provide is the heart of a hero and a propensity for mayhem.
-Laurie Seifert Williams has been playing D&D since approximately 1991 when she became a D&D “widow.” She grew to love the nerdiest of nerd games while learning to play in an effort to spend more time with her future husband. Laurie is currently a Dungeon Master for a diverse party of players who just celebrated their first year in her current campaign. Assisting her for Nerd Nite are Coale, Enigma, Orag, Otsana, and Vola.
So there you have it! See your beautiful faces at Fargo Billiards and Gastropub, Wednesday November 16th. Show starts at 7PM, doors open at 6:30. Still free and open to the public, as long as you’re old enough to get into the bar.
And not even proffered by a blurry figure out of the back seat of a windowless panel van! It’s Fargo Nerd Nite, baby. And there’s something for everyone.
Drug Development: Concept to Commercialization
Learn about the drug development journey- what it takes to get from the Eureka! on the lab bench, through the FDA, and on the shelves ready to help patients. This presentation is an overview of the key stages of drug development, clinical trial design, and important regulatory milestones and pathways.
[Charissa Quinlan is still writing her official biography but suffice it to say for now she is a bad bitch and this is a great talk and you will enjoy it.]
How Much Do You Really Know About Alcohol?
Did you know that the word alcohol originally referred to eye makeup? How about the fact that much of the wine mentioned in the Bible is not made from grapes? Or that beer originated in what is now Iraq? The production of fermented beverages such as beer and wine predates the smelting of metals, with the history of alcohol spanning over 8000 years. Join us for a discussion of this rich history and gain new insight into your favorite drinks.
Dr. Seth Rasmussen is a Professor of Chemistry at NDSU and the current national Chair of the History of Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society. In addition to his traditional chemical research on organic semiconducting materials, he has published extensively in the history of science over the last 15 years, with a focus on the histories of glass, alcohol, and plastics.
…Okay so the title may have been slightly misleading, but we really will have free candy for everyone, because it’s October and a great excuse to work on our collective diabetes. See you on Wednesday, October 19th, 7PM (doors at 6:30) at Fargo Billiards.
Well that month flew by fast. Thanks so much everyone that showed up to our post-Covid debut, and I hope you’re ready for MORE because we’ve got MOAR. Topics for our September show:
Mythbusting EVs & Mathmatically Deciding Yay or Nay
So you’re a math geek and want to know how to mathematically decide if an electric vehicle (EV) would work for you, or maybe you despise math want someone to explain an easy way to figure this out. Do these things catch fire? Are they as fast as a Bentley? Do they need sunlight to run? Do they have a fireplace? (For you a cliff notes types…no, yes, no, and yes.)
Join me for a balanced perspective on EVs…things to consider, upsides, downsides, EVcetera.
Dana Woodruf is an engineer working in finance at Bobcat. Originally from Houston, she moved to Fargo last summer. She’s had an electric vehicle for 4 years and 83,000 miles…and she analyzes everything!
I Have Five Minibikes and So Should You
A minibike is a two-wheeled, motorized, off-highway recreational vehicle popularized in the 1960s and 1970s, but available continuously from a wide variety of manufacturers since 1959. OK- thanks Wikipedia, but what’s the whole story? What’s the difference between a minibike and a dirtbike, or a scooter? Should I build five of them in my garage? How do I do that? We’ll address these important questions and more.
Dusty O Schultz was born and raised right here in Fargo ND. In 2002 he graduated from the North Dakota State College of Science with a degree in Diesel Technology. For the last 20 years he has been employed at GPK Products in the maintenance department as a Mold Tech. Hobbies include using an axe to split wood the old fashioned way, fixing pretty much anything that does not contain a computer, and rocking out to his favorite jams.
…and since our last speaker had to back out (don’t worry- he’ll be back in November!) we’ll supplement with some trivia, along with our usual potty humor, door prizes, dranks, and overall good times. So we’ll see you this Wednesday, September 21st, 7PM, Fargo Billiards and Gastropub. This show is free and open to the public, but as we learned in August that may change shortly, so get it free while it’s free.
There are not nearly enough dirty O-chem shirts for sale. Completely untapped market.
F an A right, tater- after a two year pandemic induced hiatus and the world’s slowest relauch process, we are FINALLY BACK. Now we can pair our excessive drinking with learning again! YAAAAAYY!! Topics:
Does God Shoot Craps? And Other Ways People Fuck Up Quantum Physics.
While postulating about quantum mechanics, Albert Einstein famously stated “God does not play dice with the Universe.” He had a knack for saying cool sh*t that people still misinterpret to this day. Most folks have heard something about quantum mechanics, whether it be in the news, as plot devices for popular books or movies, or from other crap that borders on religion/philosophy. Let’s kickoff Nerd Nite with a chat about quantum mechanics; a few of the basic ideas, some of the neat consequences and where lots of folks get things wrong (even Einstein).
Warren Christiansen has been a nerd his whole life. He loves board games, role playing games, movies, music and most things nerd. Warren is an Assistant Professor of Physics at NDSU and also regularly plays music around town at Junkyard Brewery and Max Lounge.
How Dirty is Carbon?
The press will tell you that carbon can be dirty but they never mention the deep and scandalous truth of how it really gets down. Join me for a journey through organic chemistry that would make your mother blush (depending on your mother).
Dr. Angelica Meyer is a fun-loving Ph.D. Organic Chemist after graduating from the University of Kansas. Afterwards, she served as a chemist in the oil field for 5 years and is currently working as a senior manager in Technical Operations at Aldevron, where she designs and drives processes for GMP manufacturing of biologic materials. She’s a mathematician at heart where the beers are always half-full!
Fic or Fact, Uncovering the Truth about Pole Fitness
Put on your best detective face as we collect historical clues to answer the burning question: does doing pole fitness make you a stripper?
Dr. Misty Tomchuk is co-owner of Zero Gravity Alternative Fitness in Fargo, ND. With a background in hard sciences and education, she has been teaching and coaching since 1999. Her hobbies include starting businesses, helping people, and binge watching tarot readings on YouTube.
OH, and we finally ponied up and got sweet FNN tshirts! They are soft and stretchy and fantastic for subtley proclaiming your nerdery to the world. These will be on sale at the show for $20 each (cash or venmo), or keep an eye on our social medias for chances to win one for freesies.
SO, Wednesday August 17th, show at 7PM, doors at 6:30, Fargo Billiards and Gastropub. See your beautiful faces there.
Greetings my nerds- I hope your year has been going well. I just got home from the annual Nerd Nite Bosses retreat, where all the other bosses shared news about their successful relaunches since the “end” of quarantine, and I haven’t done shit for over a year. *facepalm*
SO consider this the fire lit under the posterior to get this beast off the ground again. It’s going to be a lot of work- we need to re-establish our relationship with our venue, line up speakers, organize the door prizes, and try to remember all the passwords to all of our social media accounts, but it’s fecking worth it bc Nerd Nite is awesome and unique, and so are all of you. <3
Thanks for sticking with us, keep being safe, and watch for updates probably after the New Year. Until then, MEMES.
Welp, with the updated guidance from the CDC and the POTUS (no gatherings of groups >10 people), we’ve now decided that March Nerd Nite will be totally virtual. Practice your self quarantine and stream us live from our Facebook Page;Science Evolved is still coming in to educate us on this scourge of a virus, because just like GI Joe taught us, knowing is half the battle 🙂 Remember that you can submit your questions via Slido.com, event code #FargoNerdNite (there is no sign up or anything required- just enter the event code and submit your questions easy peasy).
We’ve also rescheduled our other two speakers to later in the year, so we can focus on what everyone’s talking about currently- thanks heaps to Ben and Jon for being so flexible with their time.
Depending on how the situation develops, future events may be delayed, cancelled, or totally virtual as well- stay with us on social media or via our email list for updates, and please continue to wash your hands, practice social distancing, and share dank memes to fight this garbage off. AND if you are so inclined, please consider buying some giftcards from the Gastropub to help support our awesome venue while they tough out this quarantine- call them up at (701) 282-4168 to purchase and they will mail the gift cards out to you.
So pour yourself a drink from the comfort of your couch, and tune in tomorrow, March 18th, 7PM to get all the real lowdown- minus the hype- on COVID-19 with our speaker Manpreet Bains’ talk ‘Is the Coronavirus Going to Kill us All?’ (Side note- that is a pretty hype-y title. Wtf Matt LOL.).
Stay healthy, nerds. Hopefully we won’t see you soon.
Greetings nerds! I hope you are all weathering this storm well. Let me get right to the point: as of right now, March Nerd Nite is going forward as planned. We struggled quite a bit with whether or not to cancel this show, but we refuse to give into hysteria, and based on the most recent guidelines of the CDC, we believe that with a little thoughtfulness, we can carry on our nerdery without significant risk to our audience, our venue, or ourselves. Not to mention that in the wake of panic currently sweeping the medias, we believe it is important to fight fear with facts, and as one of our speakers has incredibly relevant facts to share, we shall align with the old adage that the show must go on.
As always, you are free (and for this month, I daresay you are encouraged) to stay home and enjoy NN from the comfort of your toilet paper fort by streaming our show via Facebook Live (@nerdnitefargo). BUT considering that the risk level for ND is low right now, you are also welcome to join us at the GP as usual. Allow me to remind you to please stay the fuck home if:
You are sick.
Have recently been in contact with someone who is sick.
Have recently traveled to an area of high infection rate (way to go Idaho, Alaska, and Alabama- crushing it).
Are yourself extra vulnerable to illness, or have frequent contact with someone who is.
AND since we anticipate that many of you will choose to stay home, for the first time in a long time, you can submit questions to our presenters via Slido.com, event code #FargoNerdNite. With that said, please allow me to present the details for this month’s talks!
Is the Coronavirus going to kill us all? Over the past few weeks, the news media has been dominated by the scary Coronavirus out of China. People have become so petrified of this disease, they’ve even stopped drinking Corona beer and cut back on Chinese food. So, what is the coronavirus and is it dangerous? This talk will discuss details of the virus and delve into how fearful we should really be of this disease.
Manpreet Bains is an all-around science enthusiast who graduated with a Ph.D. in Molecular Pathogenesis a few years ago. After graduate school, he started working for a local biotech company, which he left a few months ago to start working on a science blog (scienceevolved.com). He’s the lucky father to a one-year old baby girl and spends his free time binging Netflix, gaming, and spending time with family.
Going Undercover – A Peek Behind the Curtain of US Intelligence Agencies. You are about to get a briefing on the history of US Intelligence: its origins, victories, tragedies, and how it’s changed throughout the years. We will also take a look at some bad ass spies that changed the world, even though you never heard their names.
Ben Jagim earned a Bachelor’s from UND and a Master’s in International Affairs from Texas A&M with a concentration in Intelligence as a Tool of Statecraft. He operates his own insurance agency and enjoys community projects. His nerd focus includes A Song of Ice and Fire, superhero movies, Star Trek: TNG, and history. Short version: he drinks and he knows things.
…and we may even have one more, but he’s really procrastinating sending me his talk details, so unfortunately I can’t tell you anything more about him. 🙂 The last things I’ll share are that there will still be beer, there will still be learning, and there will still be fun. Unless things take a turn (and if they do, we’ll keep you updated), we’ll be at Fargo Billiards and Gastropub this Wednesday, March 18th, 7PM (doors at 6:30) should you choose to join us, otherwise we’ll be cheersing you from the other side of the internet. Don’t forget to Slido us your questions, and stay awesome, friends.
Happy Saturday, nerds. It’s been a hot minute since the last FNN and we sure do miss the hell out of you all, so I am thrilled that we finally get to kick off our 2020 season! Check out our bomb line up for this month:
Tentacular: the Origins of Hentai. Explore the true gift to America that was given to us because of a truly gruesome crime. See how this art form made it into the public sphere in the west, and left us wanting more!
Though it is known that Ari Harveland is a local sex nerd, it is less known that she has been a casual history nerd ever since she presented on Elizabeth the 1st of England in elementary school. Part time crazy cat lady, part time nerd, Ari is back again!
HIVstory: A look back through the history of HIV across the world, in the US and in ND. A year-to-year history of the good, the bad and what is to come in the future.
Brenton Nesemeier grew up in Fargo and went to NDSU where he received his MS degree in Microbiology. He has been with the ND Dept of Health for 3 years, where he gets to talk sex, vaccine preventable disease (get your shots people), and food borne outbreaks to the public on a daily basis.
…plus trivia, booze, prizes, and other general nerdery, all happening on Wednesday February 19th, 7PM, at Fargo Billiards and Gastropub. Free and open to the public, as long as you’re 21, because there are laws about drunk children here. Be there and be square.
Happy November, Nerds. Our next show marks the 50th official Fargo Nerd Nite- that’s over a hundred talks, hundreds of beers, dozens of speakers, several botched trivia games, and a couple of very tired bosses. 🙂 I’d like to tell you that we have special plans to celebrate this anniversary, but let’s be real- we’re underachievers and we have a format that works, so let’s stick with it. Topics this month:
The Gambler 500: The most badass off-road rally that you have probably never heard of. Giving tossed aside and sometimes abandoned vehicles a new life and a chance to become legendary! Intentionally vague, always awesome! ABG!
Dusty O Schultz was born and raised right here in Fargo, and graduated from NDSCS with a degree in Diesel Technology in 2002. Hobbies include using an axe to split wood the old fashioned way, fixing anything that does not contain a computer, and constantly looking for another classic car to buy. When not doing any of that stuff Dusty maintains his status as the self-proclaimed Roller coaster champion of the world, for never walking past a roller coaster without riding it first.
Magizoology for Muggles. Accio Harry Potter fans! Did you know that magic is all around us, even in the muggle world? You just have to look in the right places! There are shape-shifter boggarts in the ocean, humans have their own magical tears like phoenixes, and there are even fungi that can use the mind controlling imperius curse. Come and see what else is inside the magical briefcase of the muggle world!
Kimberly Booth is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Biological Sciences at NDSU. She teaches biology for non-science majors, in which she focuses on two major goals: 1) providing a scientific lens by which to evaluate societal issues and 2) fostering curious and scientifically literate citizens. Her research interests include how students make decisions about socio-scientific issues, such as vaccination.
PLUS test your Nerd Mettle with some NN trivia, maybe have some cake, definitely have a beer…you know this story. AND since we take December off, this will be our last Nerd Nite of 2019 until we return in 2020, so you better get your fix now. See y’all Wednesday November 20th, 7PM, Fargo Billiards and Gastropub. Be there and be square.
