November Nerd Nite on the Rocks
with Dana Adams
Dana will discuss Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Minnesota and its impact on local turkey producers. She’ll explain what an outbreak is and the appropriate mitigation response. She’ll also tell us about historic incidences of avian influenza including the 2015 response and it’s impact– and the more recent 2022 outbreak and initial steps that were taken. You’ll go away with some take home facts to share over Thanksgiving with the fam.
November Nerd Nite on the Rocks
by Andrew and Melissa Grosberg
Join mead maker Andrew Grosberg as he discusses mead, the oldest alcoholic beverage known to man. He will discuss the history of mead from its advent over 12,000 years ago to its rise, fall, and rise again in popularity. Learn what makes for different flavors of mead, from the honey that is used to the flavoring added.
November Nerd Nite on the Rocks
by Danielle Palmateer
Dynamic Body Balancing is a blend of gentle, hands-on techniques in craniosacral therapy, myofascial unwinding, and hands-off biofield therapy. It works to release restrictions in a strong, yet delicate soft tissue in the body – the fascia. We’ll learn how those restrictions can cause a whole host of physical symptoms, how they can lead to an inability to process and release emotional trauma, and why we MUST NOT separate the body, mind, and spirit in our pursuit of optimal health and happiness. Danielle will demonstrate how to tap into feeling your own energy field (the Force, if you will), and a few of the techniques used during a Dynamic Body Balancing session.
October Nerd Nite on the Rocks
by Jamie Jensen
What’s green, red, and black all over? It’s Batman’s feminine adversaries, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Cat Woman. These lovely ladies, and several others like them, have a lot more in common than their sexy figures. Join Jamie as she takes us for a deep dive into the history of the female villains of the Batman comics. Learn the circumstances surrounding their origin stories and their creation as addendums for their male counterparts. Find out how they add complexity to comics by introducing moral gray areas and serving as foils to the more straightforward “good versus evil” of male villains.
October 6th Nerd Nite on the Rocks
Matt Love, Fire Chief
Firefighting has changed a little since the days of “Johnny and Roy”! Specifically, “what is burning”, “what’s it burning in”, and the science-based strategies and tactics employed by fire professionals have come a long way. Using real-life depictions and video from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, St. Cloud Fire Chief Matthew Love will identify key change aspects, fire dynamics involved in this change, and flow path considerations for the modern firefighter.
September Nerd Nite on the Rocks
Jade Harveland
We’ve put them on pedestals and looked to them in our time of need. But when they’re not in their capes, they are still people with emotions and faults. But when those character flaws shine through the cracks of corruption, the statement, “Never meet your heroes,” never hit so hard!
September Nerd Nite on the Rocks
Mary Jordan
If all you know about libraries is that they have crabby old ladies who shush people, they charge tons of money in fines, they all work with kids, and they only have dusty paper books – then you need an update! Today’s libraries are keeping up with the times. They serve a vast spectrum of people with different needs, provide all sorts of materials, and offer a wide variety of services. But, like any good story, there are a few villains. Publishers, ebook vendors, book banners – all of them work in different ways to get between the service mission of libraries and their patrons. Join us to hear about all the different ways that libraries have adapted to serve your information needs!
Meet the James Webb Space Telescope
August 4th St. Cloud Nerd Nite with John Mielke
He’s not an expert, but he IS a self-proclaimed “space case”. Our very own emcee, John, will tell us what all the hubbub is about. John will describe the differences between the Hubble and Webb space craft and their capabilities, their distinctive positions in space, and their missions. He’ll also show lots of images of heavenly bodies…and if we’re lucky, some pictures of stars and galaxies too!
June Nerd Nite on the Rocks
Steven Dorsher
Several weeks ago, the W Boson made the news when CERN, a world-famous particle physics laboratory, replicated an experiment at Fermi Lab, but with better data. The results showed that the W Boson’s mass was much different than theoretically expected. Steven will explain in greater detail what the W Boson is, the significance of the finding in the context of the field, the relationship to the Higgs Boson, and the more speculative and exciting implications of the result for other areas of physics such as supersymmetry or dark matter.
June Nerd Nite on the Rocks
Kevin Hanson
Pole jumping originated long ago as a way for people to navigate natural barriers. Pole vaulting developed as an athletic event to challenge gravity and see who could jump the highest using sticks of various materials. In his presentation, Kevin will discuss modern techniques and the science that now allows men to jump over 20 feet and women almost 17 feet in perhaps the most difficult single event in athletics.