Nerd Nite Fort Collins S2024E10

Join us at The Wolverine for Nerd Nite Fort Collins Episode 10!

Upstairs Doors open at 6:30pm. Speakers commence at 7:00pm.

We have two exciting speakers lined up this month: 

1. Mastering Chaos: A Spooky Introduction to Predicting the Future by Senne Van Loon

The Earth system is chaotic. In theory, the flap of a butterfly's wings could set off a tornado on the other side of the world, but could just as easily stop a tornado from forming. This makes it difficult to make predictions, and yet we are able to make decent weather forecasts, at least on the timescale of a couple of days. All of this is possible due to a meticulous combination of physical model predictions and observations, a technique called "data assimilation". We will elucidate the basics of this technique and investigate if, with it, it is possible to become Masters of Chaos.

2. Why I Love Math from a Guy Who Hates Numbers by Scott Sieke 

I never liked math in school, yet I've come to consider it one of the most interesting and creative fields of human achievement. I’ll share some hands-on examples of math that don’t require any specific background to appreciate. You'll learn how to create your very own photo-graph (in Excel), as well as learn about infinities of different sizes, geometry in shapes and tiling, and finally, I'll share some of the most beautiful equations in all of mathematics—the shortest ones with the fewest numbers.