We have another excellent 3-speaker lineup for you in October where speakers will be discussing the science of Star Trek, fan culture and transplant that helps people with diabetes. Come join us at Howler in Brunswick, for $16 burger and pot deals whilst you are learning.

*Presentation 1

Ch-ch-changes: Lives Online, Then and Now

by Eric Forcier @eforcier

Description: A tale of two online fan communities. This is the story of Sleepless Whispers, a community of Ender’s Game fans and young writers that formed in the late ‘90s. It is the story of #FakeWesteros, a present-day community of live-tweeting and role-playing Game of Thrones fans. One became the site of a virtual coming-of-age in the wild digital landscape of web forums pre-Web 2.0. The other faces an existential crisis as HBO’s Game of Thrones ends, living online in tweets. While exploring the technological and social changes that have taken place in the last 20 years, I will share with you one aspect of online community that remains the same.

Bio: I love science-fiction and fantasy. I am a fan. But I'm also a fan of fans: I think fans can teach us a lot about how entertainment, media technologies and information are profoundly intertwingled in contemporary life. That's why, as a researcher, I study fandom.  I am a PhD candidate and member of the Centre for Transformative Media Technologies at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. My research explores the information-related activities of transmedia fans in postdigital everyday life. I hold advanced degrees in library and information studies and humanities computing, which isn't as great an icebreaker at parties as you might think.  Disclaimer: While David Bowie fandom would make for a super fascinating nerd nite talk, he sadly doesn’t feature in this one. (Sorry!)

*Presentation 2

Islet transplantation: the organ transplant you’ve (probably) never heard of

by Allison Irvin @allisonirvin

Description: Type 1 diabetes is caused by the immune system attacking cells that produce insulin, the hormone that controls glucose levels in our blood. These insulin-producing cells are found in structures called islets, distributed throughout the pancreas. For some people with uncontrollable type 1 diabetes, the disease is a major disruptor to their lives, and an islet transplant can be a life-saving option. Separating the islets from the rest of the pancreas is a long and painstaking procedure, but when free, these little balls of cells can be injected into a recipient, dispersing and lodging in the blood vessels of the liver. From there, the transplanted tissue can produce insulin in response to glucose, allowing recipients to dramatically reduce their need for insulin injections.

Bio: Allison is a Jane of All Trades. She’s a mechatronics engineer by training, an aspiring pilot who is yet to fly anywhere, and a competitive brewer who always comes last. Although Allison is currently bringing blockchain to the world of finance, she has spent seven years working towards a treatment of diabetes - a journey she will share with the NerdNite audience.

*Presentation 3

The Science of Star Trek

by Dr Pam Rana

Description: Dr Pam will examine the science of Star Trek. Revealing the depths of the beloved show’s mindful accuracy. How fictional voyages of the Starship Enterprise travel boldly backwards in time bridging the frontier between fictional futures and present realities.

Bio: Dr Pam hails from the icy shores of Eastern Canada. She’s a celebrated comedian who has a real medical degree from the University of Queensland! The vessel that housed the degree is currently filled with pistachios, and the precise location of the documentation has been hotly debated for years. She joined The Leak first as a correspondent and then as a main contributor in 2017. She was beyond thrilled to use news satire as a platform for her hot-headed brand of jocular comedic environmentalism and jocular socialism. If Pam's brand were a body, it'd be an anti-capitalist head, social justice arms, science torso, ridiculous legs.