Nerd Nite SF! Confessions of an Alien Hunter

Seth Shostak knew he would spend his life hunting for signs of life in the Universe from the time he was just 10 years old. He is now Senior Astronomer at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute whose mission is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the Universe. Shostak has published hundreds of scientific articles, written several popular books and even has his own radio show. Ryan Wyatt, Director of Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences will join Shostak on stage to hear the latest confessions of one of this world's leading alien hunters! Of course, we all know that learning is more fun when you're drinking with friends and colleagues, which is why Nerd Nite exists in the first place. Held monthly in more than 50 cities across the globe, this is where science nerds take the stage to give fun and informative presentations while the audience drinks along. As nerds and non-nerds say, Nerd Nite is like the Discovery Channel™...with Beer!

We have 100 seats held for Academy guests at this ticketing link when you use the promo code "NERDALIEN". The remaining tickets will be available at sf.nerdnite.com one week before the event.

Speakers: Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute and Academy Fellow   
Ryan Wyatt, Director of Science Visualization   

Also on the program:

"Wearable Computing and Big Data" by Anselm Hook

Wearable computers and big data will make our current Internet seem like a simple "series of tubes" after all. With technologies such as dense 3D scene reconstruction and a new, shared open voxel (volumetric pixel) map of the world, get ready for your Iron Man-style augmented reality (AR) dreams to come true! See fun examples of Anselm's recent AR work and discuss some non-obvious implications while we break through the Google-Glass-ceiling to catch a glimpse of the future.

Anselm Hook is a software programmer at Dekko, an AR startup. He also worked on Terry Gilliam's latest movie, The Zero Theorem. Prior to that he was at Xerox PARC, and in a former life he wrote video games.

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"It's 2013. WHERE IS MY PERSONAL ROBOT?" by Elad Inbar

We often hear about the robotics revolution that's set to change every aspect of our lives. From self-driving cars, pizza delivery drones, humanoid robots, all the way to the simplest vacuum cleaners, robots are here, and the trend is accelerating. But look deeper, under the flashy PR, and it's obvious that the way to a bright, Hollywood-style future–with a Jetsons Rosie in every home–is still a long way off. Join a live demo of robots (including the humanoid NAO) and an open and intriguing discussion.

Elad Inbar is the founder and CEO of RobotAppStore, the first marketplace for robot apps, and RobotsLAB, a boutique firm dedicated to teaching STEM topics using robots.