Events of the week
To mark today’s Nobel Peace Prize for Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this week’s featured events all have an environmental flavour. The Science Museum launches a new exhibition on 18 October called Can Algae Save The World?, which looks at biofuels. In the Museum’s words, ‘The exhibition aims to empower visitors to cut through the media hype and make their own decisions about new technologies.’
On 15 October, the Royal Society of Medicine kicks off a series of events on climate change and health. The next day, Umut Cetin from the London School of Economics discusses the carbon emission markets, at King’s College Strand campus. Then on 17 October, the British Library presents Bob Spicer and Nigel Clark from the Open University, who will talk about the everyday disasters we can expect from global warming, such as changes to migration patterns and amphibian mutation.
Public talks
James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA double-helix, rolls into town on 19 October. The often outspoken septuagenarian delivers a talk at the Dana Centre to promote his new book Avoid Boring People. You can expect controversy.
Gresham College looks into London’s past on 15 October. Peter Barker, Head of Map Collections at The British Library, talks about the city’s cartography from 1250 to 1900. On the same day, the Royal Society holds an evening exploring the nature and causes of criminality. Novelists Fay Weldon and John Banville are joined by James Blair from the US National Institute of Mental Health and Terrie Moffitt, Professor of Social Behaviour and Development at the Institute of Psychiatry in London.
On 16 October, Sheffield University’s Tony Ryan delivers the Ellison Cliffe Lecture on Nanotechnology and the quest for motility at the Royal Society of Medicine. The following day, the Geological Society of London explores volcanoes, courtesy of the appropriately named Steve Sparks from the University of Bristol.
The Campaign for Science and Engineering holds its annual lecture at the Wellcome Collection on 17 October. David Willetts, MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, talks about science and education. Return to the Wellcome Collection the following evening for a panel discussion about anorexia.
Academic seminars
On 15 October at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, one of the world’s foremost experts on autism, Simon Baron-Cohen from the University of Cambridge, talks about the possible connection between autism and scientific talent. The next day, UCL’s Stephen Nurrish tackles post-developmental roles for Rho GTPase at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill. Finally, on 18 October, Jens Bo Nielsen discusses sensory feedback, movement perception and motor control at the Institute of Neurology.
Meetings and conferences
Biopark Hertfordshire is the venue for the Rational Vaccines Against Cancer meeting on 16 October. Persistent violent behaviour comes under the microscope on 16–17 October at the Royal Society, during a conference on the neurobiology of disorder. Finally, UCL Advances hosts its First Technology Innovation Forum on 16 October. The afternoon meeting is themed around imaging technology, and brings together decision-makers from industry with academic researchers.
Courses and workshops
A two-day workshop (16–17 October) at the National Heart and Lung Institute, St Mary’s Medical School, looks at practical applications of flow cytometry. Day 1 covers the basics via lectures, and Day 2 provides practical experience. On 19 October, Sense About Science holds a media workshop for physical sciences and engineering researchers. Broadcasters and journalists reveal tips of the trade and offer practical advice.
And finally…
In a running theme this week, the Dana Centre casts a cautious eye at criminality—specifically, yob Culture, the supposedly British malaise of behooded and thuggish youths intimidating the general public. What are the psychological causes of this phenomenon, and what can we do about it? An expert panel debates.
Browse the 100 scientific events happening over the next week listed in our Events Calendar.
