If you’ve felt a weakening in the dork side of the force in town it’s probably because Dorkbot has been on hiatus, but that’s about to change. Tonight, the meeting of artists, scientists, and everyone in between gets together to spotlight a trio of experts on a subject dear to their respective hearts.
The event takes place tonight (Monday, April 21) at 7pm at the Thinkery (1830 Simond), which is becoming the center for smart and cool things in town whether you’re a kid or an adult. The theme welcoming back Dorkbot to the edutainment fold is “Under the SeaBot.”
Starting things off is Lewis Weil who not only spearheads Dorkbot’s sibling Nerd Nite but also grows seaweed here in landlocked Austin. He runs the only inland culinary seaweed farm in North America at Agua Dulce Farms. He’ll explain the ins and out of growing sea greenery good enough for some of the swankiest eateries in town. It probably goes without saying that making seaweed thrive in the drought-prone climate of Central Texas involves technology worthy of a Dorkbot time-slot.
Wiley Wiggins might be most famous for his roll as the kid from Dazed and Confused or more recently as a co-founder of the Juegos Rancheros indie video game nonprofit, but he also dabbles in paludariums. By “dabble” we mean he builds “enormous microcontroller-regulated biotopes in his home.” That’s what the Dorkbot site says anyway. That pretty much means he creates tropic conditions in small boxes. When was the last time you made any real micro-climates other than turning on your air-conditioning?
Lastly, the leader of Dorkbot, Dustin Younse takes a punny tangent with his talk called “Under the C’s: Lessons Learned in the Trenches of a Library.” In his talk about the present and future of public book dispensaries Younse will show the important role technology is taking to keep information accessible.
RSVP on Facebook if you’re so inclined, but definitely head over to Mueller and welcome Dorkbot back. It’s free and all ages, so you can indoctrinate the kids into dorkdom early.
This article appears in April 18 • 2014.
