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Previous Events
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| Date: | Monday January 19th |
| Title: | The Amazing Science of Hearing - How your ear uses soft components to do a hard job |
| Speaker: | Dr. Jonathan Ashmore, Professor of Biophysics University College London |
| Description: | To hear sounds you use the cochlea of the inner ear, a very small delicate structure about the size of a pea buried in the bone on either side of the head. For over sixty years it has been clear that our ability to hear quiet sounds does not just depend on the physical properties of cochlear structures, but requires the concerted action of many hundreds of sensory cells, the hair cells of the inner ear. Just how has only become clearer recently. I shall talk about the machinery of hearing and what recent molecular, genetic and physiological findings have begun to tell us about its surprising properties. Age related deafness arises when a subpopulation of the sensory cells, the outer hair cells, begin to degenerate (for reasons which are not completely clear). I shall also talk about possible strategies being explored for cochlear repair |
| Date: | Thursday February 5th |
| Title: | Genetic Genealogy: The history hidden in your genes |
| Speaker: | Bryn Carr of Family Genetics |
| Description: | In today's society, DNA testing is a familiar resource not only in criminal cases but also in private homes around the world. From paternity to health and ancestry, DNA tests are used by millions to answer questions about their past and their future. How did genetics move from academic circles to become a public pastime? Follow the history of genetic genealogy, from eccentric millionaires to ancient mysteries, as we find out what our DNA tells us about our history, and how. This talk discussed not only the mechanics of DNA testing, but also its social implications, addressing issues such as corporate exploitation of the individual's need for identity. |
| Richard Epworth recently retired from | |
| Date: | Monday March 9th |
| Title: | Is a little bit of Polonium good for you? - Current Issues in Radiation Protection |
| Speaker: | By Jim Thurston, Head of Radiation Protection, Physics Department, Royal Marsden Hospital, London |
| Description: |
Every one of us will almost
certainly be deliberately exposed to ionising radiation several times during
our lifetime, especially for medical or dental diagnosis or treatment. We
are also exposed to natural background radiation all the time. The
deliberate use of ionising radiation for medical and other purposes has been
going on for over 100 years now, and the public perception of the risks
resultant from such exposure has changed quite dramatically during that
time. However recent events have brought the attention of the public back to
considering the potential harm of ionising radiation, such events including
the Litvinenko Affair, Terrorism and Dirty Bombs, a return to Nuclear Power,
etc. Jim's talk gave a historical background to the uses of ionising radiation, discussed some of the recent issues in the public domain, and also introducedsome of the latest thinking on the actual hazards and risks of exposure to ionising radiation. |
| Title: | The Human Interface with Reality: "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?" |
| Date: |
Monday April 27th |
| Title: | Sustainable Energy, Without the Hot Air - Prof. David J.C. MacKay |
| Speaker: |
Prof. David J.C. MacKay, Professor in the Department of Physics at Cambridge University |
| Description: |
How easy is it to get off our fossil fuel habit? Could Britain live on its own renewables? How does our current energy consumption compare with our sustainable energy options? Professor David MacKay will offer a straight-talking assessment of the options. Popular myths will be dispelled, leaving you with a clearer understanding of the scale of the energy challenge www.withouthotair.com |
| Richard Epworth recently retired from | |
| Date: | Thursday June 25th |
| Title: | Sailing Towards 100 Knots |
| Speaker: | Bob Spagnoletti |
| Description: | The motivation to sail at high speed has changed over the years; originally it was getting your cargo to market as quickly as possible, now it is predominantly for sport. Today, the accessibility of high-tech materials has made it possible to experiment with different concepts, leading to new and more adrenaline pumping forms of sailing. So how fast can a sailing craft go? What will it look like? The talk outlined the physics of fast sailing and speculate on the ultimate speed. How do windsurfers, kite boards and hydrofoil boats measure up? What has been achieved so far? What can go wrong? |
| Richard Epworth recently retired from | |
| Date: | Thursday October 1st |
| Title: | Looking into Arty Questions |
| Speaker: | Helen Saunderson, University of Leicester |
| Description: | When is a bin bag not a bin bag? What happens when you look at an art work that is a gnome covered in cigarettes? Does it matter if you are Homer Simpson (art novice?) or Brian Sewell (art critic)? Helen described psychological research undertaken to answer these, and other arty questions. Starting with a plea for a cross-disciplinary "Babel fish", she described how the eyes function (with some interesting examples of how easily they can be fooled!). Leading onto the method of the research, namely using a machine - which was likened to that in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ - but that in fact only records where and when somebody looks. Helen described her preliminary results, and what these might tell us in relation to the questions posed... |
| Richard Epworth recently retired from | |
| Date: | Monday November 9th |
| Title: | Don't Sleep there are Snakes - Life and Language in the Amazon Jungle |
| Speaker: |
Daniel Everett, Professor of Linguistics at Illinois State University |
| Description: |
The Brazilian Tribe
That Converted A Missionary |
| Richard Epworth recently retired from | |
| Date: | Monday December 14th |
| Title: | A History of Communicating with Light |
| Speaker: |
Richard Epworth - Ex STL, BNR, Nortel, Manchester University, and organiser of Stortford's Cafe Scientifique |
| Description: |
Mankind has communicated using light for aeons: a wave of the hand, a nod of the head, or a wink of the eye. Light gives us the power to communicate over vast distances, but generally travels in straight lines, so for many years long distance communication was dominated by copper conductors carrying electrical signals that could be steered over the horizon and around corners, even under the oceans. With the invention of the laser in 1960, researchers in Harlow started to explore a variety of ways of guiding optical signals. Their aim was to exploit the potentially vast information capacity of light. You heard a story of cul-de-sacs and competing microwave technologies, how the prophetic vision of Charles Kao and George Hockham in the mid 1960s, was developed by an ever increasing community of skilled scientists through the next decades, to become the incredible global optical fibre communication network of today. We explored how different the world would be today, if Charles had been less obsessed, and the doubters had been heeded. There were demonstrations of pulses of light travelling down glass fibres, and exhibits of key historical significance in the story of Communicating with Light |