https://www.facebook.com/events/2693426317609630/

What is Nerd Nite???
Nerd Nite is an evening of entertaining and educational presentations. Speakers present for 15-20 minutes, followed by a brief Q&A with the audience.

Nerd Nite operates in over a hundred cities!
Join us on Sunday 19 July at Loft Hostel Bar (4F)!
Free entrance.
Talks begin 8:30 PM

<July Speaker Line-Up>

“Chemical weirdness in space: How the Universe breaks all the rules you learned in your chemistry class”
by Helgi Rafn Hróðmarsson

In my twenty minutes I will give an introduction to chemistry in space. When we learn chemistry in school we more or less learn about an idealized chemistry that takes place at ambient temperatures and pressures. In space, however, things are vastly different. Near-zero temperatures, no real pressure, ultraviolet and X-ray radiation fields give rise to some truly strange but incredibly important chemical processes. Whether it is stars, planets or life itself… without this weird chemistry, none of them would exist.

Bio: Helgi Rafn Hróðmarsson is a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at the Laboratory for Astrophysics at Leiden Observatory. He has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Iceland and is a laboratory astrochemist. He serves on the editorial board of the AstroPAH newsletter (http://astropah-news.strw.leidenuniv.nl/) and writes about science under the pseudonym The Cosmic Chemist (see www.cosmicchemist.com & https://grapevine.is/tag/the-cosmic-chemist/). Outside of sciece he plays drums for the Icelandic black metal bands Misþyrming and Carpe Noctem.

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“The South Atlantic Anomaly: The Bermuda Triangle of Low Earth Orbit”
By Christopher Busby

Nearly all satellites have to deal with an invisible threat to their own well-being: a patch of space problematic enough that it has earned itself the nickname, “The Bermuda Triangle of Low Earth Orbit”. This talk covers what the area is, how and why it affects our satellites, as well as how we’ve decided to deal with it.

Bio: Chris is an aerospace engineer with years of experience in the design and operation of satellites in low Earth orbit and beyond.

MC: Arna Rún Grönvold
Organizers: Yeonji Ghim / Saori Fukasawa