1. LANDING ON THE MOON: HOW HARD IS IT, REALLY?
In the 1960’s, two superpowers were engaged in a titanic battle to land the first human on the moon. Why did America get there first? Why was Neil Armstrong chosen to make that first step? In this talk, SPACE HISTORIAN Francis French took you through the colorful personalities and risky decisions that led up to the historic moment of the first moon landing. Together we all toasted Dick Gordon: Apollo 12 astronaut, friend of Francis, and handsome bastard.
Mr. French is a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, and is the Educational Director of the San Diego Air and Space Museum. He’s authored a number of books and articles for Spaceflight Magazine, and he has even completed training at the US Space Academy whaaaaaaaaaaat!?
2. WHY ARE THERE STILL MONKEYS? AND OTHER STUPID CREATIONIST QUESTIONS
We looked at the pseudoscience of Creationism, and turned the willfully ignorant into the hilariously mocked. The evidence against Creationism via genetics, geology, the fossil record … the very universe itself, is overwhelming. Why don’t they get it??
Voted last year’s FAVORITE SPEAKER, PALEONTOLOGIST Trevor Valle returns to Nerd Nite San Diego once more! Trevor once got into a prolonged, intense Twitter war with Ke$ha and her fans, after he saw a photo of her defiling a fossil he spent years cleaning. He’s also the host of National Geographic’s “Mammoths Unearthed”, and he loves hockey more than you probably love anything.