Event of the week
An evening with Adam Hart-Davis, 7 November, Royal Institution
Baroness Greenfield talks to the avuncular broadcaster about his passion for science. Hart-Davis is well known in the UK for explaining the science behind everyday things, in such programmes as ‘What the Romans did for us’. The event is also notable as the first truly public talk at the Royal Institution since it closed for a major refurbishment two years ago.
Public events
Ian Gibson MP is at Birkbeck on 7 November to talk about bioethics and its influence on the political decision-making process. On the same day, Gresham College’s Robin Wilson continues his exploration of the history of numbers. The mathematical theme continues later that day when Jeremy Butterfield from the University of Cambridge talks at the Royal Society on emergent phenomena, fractals and infinity.
Artist Grace Weir, whose exhibition In My Own Time is currently on show at the Science Museum, is at the Dana Centre on 8 November to talk about her fascination with time, space and perception.
On 9 November, the Natural History Museum offers a glimpse of Arctic samples collected 200 years ago. The talk, Arctic Heroes, recounts the tales of polar explorers who carried out scientific work in extreme conditions—long before Gore-Tex was invented.
The Future of Sound, on 9 November, is described as a ‘sonic spectacular’ in the entrance hall of the British Library, featuring innovative use of surround sound and a selection of bizarre instruments.
Academic lectures
David Bishop-Bailey of the William Harvey Research Institute speaks at Imperial College on 5 November about novel nuclear receptor signalling pathways. On 6 November, Jonathan Gibbins from the University of Reading visits Imperial College to give a talk entitled New ways to turn platelets on: implications for haemostasis and thrombosis.
The Mill Hill lecture, on 7 November, sees Barry Dickson of the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna discuss the genes and neurons that regulate Drosophila mating behaviour. On the same day, Rolf Würtz from the Institut für Neuroinformatik at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany talks about organic computing for face and object recognition, at the Gatsby Unit, Queen Square.
Meetings and conferences
On 5–6 November, the Royal Society hosts a meeting addressing the health of public understanding of science research. A panel of international experts attempts to establish a global set of benchmarks and indicators for scientific literacy and culture.
A meeting at the Institution of Chemical Engineers on 6 November looks at recent progress towards a hydrogen economy. On 8–9 November, Informa Life Sciences hosts a conference at Regus Victoria to discuss regulatory affairs affecting biotechnology.
And finally…
Four commuters en route to a climate change conference find themselves at the mercy of the railway schedules. Huddled resignedly in a waiting room, they begin to talk amongst themselves…
Ever inventive, the Dana Centre has wrapped up the complex issues surrounding climate change into an evening of improvised performance. You influence the characters as they debate environmental issues from four different standpoints.
