nerd nite melbourne

It’s our fifth birthday! We will have fun, games, beer and some extra birthday specials to make it an awesome night. Our excellent 3-speaker lineup will be discussing why fish don’t freeze in cold water, tremors and blockchain technology.

Our friends at Howler will be hosting us with an awesome $15 burger/pot deal to fill your belly as we get into the nerdy learning.

Monday, 22 October 2018
at Howler 7-11 Dawson Street, Brunswick
Doors 7pm
Tickets: $10 online / $12 door (SOLD OUT)

*Presentation 1
Down the Blockchain Rabbithole
by Kaia Myers-Stewart
Description: Blockchain can do so much more than simply enable cryptocurrency transactions. Underneath the carefully constructed cryptocurrency veneer (98% of which is comprised of impressive sounding buzzwords), sits an IT infrastructure with unparalleled potential for positive social impact. From revolutionising supply chains, to reclaiming control of personal data, protecting civil liberties, and obliterating inclusion barriers, blockchain could hold the key to unlocking an incredible new era of social innovation. In this talk, we’ll break down the basics of blockchain: what is, how it works, and why it’s an infinitely better collective investment for humanity than any cryptocurrency token.

Bio: With her diverse background in technology, software development, education and psychology, Kaia has often found herself adopting the role of “knowledge-translator” in her professional career. Kaia’s team won gold at the 2018 UNLEASH Innovation Lab in Singapore are now the proud founders of a sustainability-driven collaboration platform called Bridg•it. Which uses machine learning to identify and facilitate opportunities for collaborative innovation across industrial supply chains. The team’s ultimate aim is to disrupt the linearity of traditional supply chain structures, creating instead a global supply web comprised of cross-industry partners, all working together to solve their pressing sustainability challenges. Since her first introduction to Blockchain and its applications in the supply chain space, Kaia has become an active member of the global blockchain community, and she currently co-organises Melbourne’s ‘Blockchain for Social Impact’ (BSI) meetup group.

*Presentation 2
Shake it Off: The Oldest Medicine on Earth
by Richmond Heath
Description: Imagine you’re giving a public talk and you find yourself trembling. What if that response isn’t simply a condition of being scared or nervous, but rather your body’s way of discharging fear, dumping adrenaline and down-regulating your nervous system? What if shakes and tremors aren’t just symptoms of anxiety, panic attacks or PTSD, but instead a key part of your body’s inbuilt recovery reflexes. Neurogenic movements — including involuntary shakes, tremors and trembling — have been deliberately used in health, healing and spirituality for millennia in many cultures. In western medicine however, this ancient mammalian recovery reflex continues to be misunderstood and pathologised as a symptom of stress, shock, mental health and trauma. This presentation will reframe this natural re-organisational impulse and explore how we might embrace these involuntary movements as a natural recovery resource we can deliberately use for our health and wellbeing.

Bio: Richmond Heath is an outside-the-square physiotherapist with a long history of innovative approaches to health & wellbeing. He has spent many years travelling the world gathering experience in diverse fields such as acute mental health in the UK and environmental education in Nepal. In 2010, he introduced a cutting edge self-care process to Australia called TRE that deliberately invokes neurogenic tremors in a safe and controlled way. He is the national co-ordinator of TRE and has been a passionate educator and professional trainer ever since – including the provision of trauma recovery workshops for survivors of the Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria and the Christchurch Earthquake in New Zealand.

*Presentation 3
Why some fish don’t freeze and other chilling tales
by Dr Michael Kuiper
Description: Surviving cold environments is especially challenging for life. Most living things contain appreciable amounts of water that can freeze at low temperatures, usually with fatal outcomes. Remarkably, certain species have adapted by producing specialized ‘antifreeze proteins’ that do exactly as their name implies; stop the organism from turning to ice. Come learn how these proteins have evolved and how recent supercomputer simulations have revealed their molecular secrets. Also learn about how not to dig for ice-algae in the Antarctic.

Bio: Dr Michael Kuiper is a bio-molecular modeller for Data61/CSIRO, who spends his days helping scientists simulating proteins on supercomputers. In a previous life, Michael worked as a field scientist in the Antarctic, fishing for the Antarctic cod and dodging fishy-breath seals. Having done a PhD on antifreeze proteins, Michael has always continued an interest and research into this field, and secretly longs for more skidoo rides.