Nerdnite Auckland – Chapter 16
So…. after a bit of misstep in March (sorry about that) we’re back. All going according to plan, we’ll be back in Kingsland with a pint in our hands and something interesting in our ears on Tuesday the 1st of April. An architect, a meteorologist and a biologist or two have so far agreed to provide us the interesting bits. The beer you’ll have to get from the bar.
So, first up (in details being delivered, not speaker order mind, I’ve only got a vague idea as to how that’s going to go at the moment) is one Grant Bannatyne from Ignite Architects who will be talking about a project in London that he worked on a while ago conceived by Italian architect Renzo Piano. You may have heard of The Shard. It was the home of The Great Intelligence in the Doctor Who episode “the Bells of St John”. You all know which one I mean.
We also have on Georgina Griffiths from the Metservice coming along to talk to us about the Life and Times of cyclone Lusi. Lusi being the one that hit Northland a few weekends ago. Given the blasé reaction of Aucklanders to the news of an imminent storm, I suspect it’s about time some of you became reacquainted with what an actual cyclone is he mused.
And then there are Eli Christian and Jess Fitch, Phage Hunters. Some of you may recall Heather Hendrickson’s talk last year about phage? These are two of her students who went out and discovered some new ones.
These are viruses that parasitize specific bacteria, called bacteriophages. There is obviously growing interest in finding phages that infect bacterial pathogens. Like PSA – the bacteria that that is currently destroying kiwifruit. Eli And Jess spent a summer characterizing a set of potential Pseudomonas phages that will contribute to an understanding of phages that may be used as biosecurity agents.
That should be enough for you for one night. Now go out and gather up your geeks to make sure they’re in Kingsland on Tuesday he said. Go on. Go and gather them.
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