Sex, paradoxes, and wise guys.
Do you compete for sex? Seen evidence for alternative facts? Join us on May 23!
Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/sex-paradoxes-and-wise-guys-may-tickets-34506192952
To say I’m excited about May’s Nerd Nite is a hell of an understatement. We have a legendary lineup of speakers and their topics are stimulating to say the least.
Nerd Nite comedy fest headliner Tom Denson is back to show us what goes on in the mind of the Nerd. The award hog of every PhD prize she can get her hands on Khandis Blake talks sex and conflict (hot right?) and The Conversation regular Stephen Woodcock talks probability paradoxes and how even rigorous scientific studies can produce conflicting results (wait… does that make them alternative facts?
khandis blake | sex lab postdoc | evolutionary social psychology
They say that dudes are the most competitive sex, but Khandis has her doubts. In this talk, she’ll spend some time illuminating the crazy world of female-female sexual competition and male-female sexual conflict. Expect to hear about sexy clothes, ovarian hormones, and women’s assertiveness. There will even be talk of sexy selfies #sohotrightnow #hashtag
Khandis is an evolutionary social psychologist who marries gender studies with evolutionary thinking. Her work combines insights from neuroendocrinology, evolutionary theory, and feminism to psychological research aimed at understanding gendered phenomena. She completed undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate degrees at the University of Melbourne and her PhD is from the University of New South Wales. In 2016, she was awarded the Australian Psychological Society Elaine Dignan Award, the International Society for Research in Aggression Lagerspetz Award, the International Society for Research in Aggression Young Investigator Award, and the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists Award for Outstanding Postgraduate Research. Away from the lab, Khandis spends her time teasing her fluffy lion dog and cooking damn fine food.
stephen woodcock | highrise dweller UTS | applied mathematician
Barely a week passes without seeing a headline proclaiming that some common food or behaviour is either associated with an increased or decreased health risk… or often both, in contradictory reports. How can it be that seemingly rigorous scientific studies can produce the exact opposite conclusions? In this talk, Stephen Woodcock will discuss some probability paradoxes, explaining how surprising, counterintuitive and often misleading results can arise.
Stephen is an applied mathematician with diverse research interests spanning the sublime to the ridiculous (with greater emphasis on the latter end of that continuum.) After obtaining a four year Mathematics degree from Oxford, he did what every young mathematician wishes to do – move to Scotland to look at sewage. Six years (one PhD and one postdoc) as a Civil Engineer later, he left Glasgow to join the Mathematics department at UTS, where he works on applications of random processes. Current research includes coral reef health, facial recognition algorithms, the impact of STIs on human fertility, talent development in sports academies and optimal poker strategies. He frequently writes for The Conversation and believes he is the only mathematician in Australia to be interviewed on the radio as to why a rugby league player should have chosen to urinate in his own mouth.
tom denson | ass prof and prof ass | psychologist and funny guy
Ever wondered what’s going on in the mind of a nerd, but were afraid you’d get grossed out or sprayed in the face with IQ points? Let Dr Tom face the danger in an all new, ongoing, never before seen, fan favourite segment called “Interview with a Nerd, by a Nerd” hosted by Dr Tom. Dr Tom – he puts the “science” in “tologist”.
WHEN: Tuesday 23rd May. Doors open at 6:30 for a 7pm start.
WHERE: Friend In Hand Pub 58 Cowper Street, Glebe. They do a great $15 parmy special. Seating will be in rows so it’s probably easiest to get some grub downstairs before the show starts.
TICKETS: General entry is $12, buy tickets here, limited (but available) tiks on the door.
See you there – I’ll be the one with a beer in each hand.
Miriam x