Edinburgh Cafe
 
 

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NEW - download a write-up of previous events:

  • why robots will never rule the world (Feb 08) here

 
Date:
 
Monday 13th September
Title: 'Fusion power: safe, clean and limitless energy for future generations?'
 
Speaker:
 
Michael Loughlin
Description:

Nuclear fusion has great potential as a, non-polluting and safe energy source. There are, however, huge technical challenges which must be met before we can harness this potential. Nuclear physicist Michael Loughlin, who has worked for more than two decades in fusion research, will explain what nuclear fusion is and how it will be used to generate electricity.

Come along and see whether fusion really does promise to solve our problems of energy supply and environmental impact.
 

 
Date:
 
Monday 11th October
Title: 'The Big Bang: what is it and do we believe it?'
 
Speaker:
 
Simon Singh
Description:

What is the Big Bang, who came up with the idea and why do we believe in it? Simon Singh tells the story of the Big Bang theory, from its birth in the 1920s to the observational evidence that backed it and then clinched it. As well as discussing the development of the Big Bang theory, Simon will also discuss more generally how new scientific ideas are invented, developed and adopted, which will include the partnership between theory and experiment and the role of personalities and politics.
Simon Singh received his PhD in physics from the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Fermat's Last Theorem and The Code Book, and is just about to publish "Big Bang", the story behind one of the most important theories in the history of science. His website is at
www.simonsingh.net
 

 
Date:
 
Monday 8th November
Title: 'Nanotechnology: what is it and why should I care?'
 
Speaker:
 
Anthony Walton
Description:

Nanotechnology, which is simply the exploitation of extremely small (sub 100nm) structures, has been in use for over a hundred years. The technology is now commonplace in diverse products from cosmetics to computers. Recently, as governments and companies have been investing billions in nanotechnology, there has been a corresponding bloom of media scare stories which have seriously threatened public confidence in this growing industry.
Professor Anthony Walton will explain what nanotechnology actually is, why things so small are so useful and why most of the media scares are unjustified.

 

Date:
 
Monday 13th December
Title: 'Obesity: fat chance of progress?'
 
Speaker:
 
Jonathon Seckl
Description: Obesity is described as an epidemic in our society. Well technically perhaps not, but there is a lot of fat about these days. Some question whether we should treat people for the outcome of their (mal)adaptive eating behaviour?  In this session, Prof Jonathan Seckl will discuss obesity, its nature, causes and consequences and how medical scientists are beginning to come up with a better understanding of what we might do to remedy this big issue.
 

 
Date:
 
Monday 10th January 2005
Title: 'MMR: Science and Fiction'
 
Speaker:
 
Richard Horton
Description:

The controversy surrounding the MMR vaccine has inflicted deep wounds in our public life. Scientists and doctors have pitted themselves one against another. Parental distrust in medicine has become acute.  Families have been divided. This rancour has propelled MMR out of science and into politics.  But there has been a collective failure to conduct a reasoned debate about an issue of vital public interest. This failure is now being repeated not only for new vaccines (such as the 5-in-1 jab) but also for almost all new scientific issues that bear directly on public health (eg, nanotechnology). What has gone wrong?  How can we construct a culture that tolerates, even welcomes, dissent but values rational discussion?  What are the implications of the MMR affair for the health of our children - and for children suffering the threat of infectious diseases in some of the poorest parts of the world today?  In short, what can we reclaim from the ashes of this tragic breakdown in trust? The answers to these questions require nothing less than a complete re-evaluation of science in modern society.
 

 
Date:
 
February 10th Valentine' specials
Venue: The Oxygen Bar, 3 Infirmary St, Edinburgh
 
Title: 'The Science of Love'
 
Speaker:
 
Gareth Leng and Dr Craig Roberts
 
Description: What is love? What can scientists tell us about it? Come and  spend an evening discussing this most enigmatic of human behaviours.  Who knows, you might even pick up some tips for a successful  Valentine's Day!
 
 

Date:
 

March 14th
Venue: The Oxygen Bar, 3 Infirmary St, Edinburgh
 
Title: 'Can we really control the climate and do we want to'
 
Speaker:
 
Prof Stephen Salter
 
Description: Professor Stephen Salter will talk about an exciting new approach to tackle the problem of climate change. By changing the properties of clouds, he thinks we can reflect more sunlight and limit global warming. Furthermore, this could be achieved even without reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Come along and ponder this potential solution to this massive issue.
 
 

Date:
 

April 11th
Venue: Filmhouse Cinema Bar, Lothian Road,
 
Title: 'Is the first 1000-year-old already in middle age?'
 
Speaker:
 
Dr Aubrey de Grey
Description:
 
Aubrey de Grey wants to develop a cure for human aging. He believes the fundamental knowledge necessary to develop truly effective anti-aging medicine mostly exists, but the impetus is not there in the scientific community and society at large to make it happen. He will discuss the current and foreseeable biology of mammalian (and specifically human) life extension and the sociological, ethical and political ramifications of success in seriously postponing aging and age-related disease.
 
Date:
 
May 9th 830pm
Venue: Filmhouse Cinema Bar, Lothian Road
 
Title: 'Relativity and the Specialness of Now'
 
Speaker:
 
Dr John Kennedy
Description: One of the first consequences of Einstein's ruminations on time and relativity is that the concept of now has no singular meaning.  The relativity of simultaneity, absent in Newton's theory, means that what events count as simultaneous with any given event happening here right now -- now, as I snap my fingers - becomes an observer dependent notion.  But surely this is in conflict with many of our intuitions about reality.  Is it not that events, objects, and persons which exist now are special, in that they have a privileged ontological status over the things which existed in the past?  But how can that be, if what is now for us is the past for someone else?  Isn't reality the same for all of us?  And where does it leave determinism? Albert Einstein thought that the theory of relativity meant that the past, present and future were all on a par with respect to reality.  Dr John Kennedy, of University of Manchester and author of 'Space, Time and Einstein' begs to differ.  Walking us through the Minkowski four-space that is the arena for events in relativity, and discussing what we might mean by 'reality' in physics and in life, Dr. Kennedy will argue that in fact the present can be said to sustain its privilage over the past and its ontological specialness, while staying faithful to the formal consequences of Einstein's theory. 

This is the first of three Albert Einstein-themed Café Scientifique meetings of the year, to coincide with the Institute of Physics' 'Einstein Year' and the International Year of Physics. 
 
Date:
 
June 13th 830pm
Venue: Filmhouse Cinema Bar, Lothian Road
 
Title: 'The New Renaissance in Mathematical Science'
 
Speaker:
 
Dr Andrew Green
Description: The renaissance was a special time in the history of intellectual thought; a time when individuals could expect to understand the full range of current ideas from art to science and from engineering to philosophy. The story of science since this time has been one of ever increasing specialization.

This is an exciting time for mathematical scientists. A new subtlety in the way in which mathematics is applied to the world has emerged, which has opened up new disciplines to mathematical analysis. Once again, it is possible for mathematical scientists to be renaissance men and women with careers spanning areas as diverse as cellular biology, information theory, finance and economics, theoretical physics, and ecology.

Andrew Green will discuss these ideas from the perspective of a theoretical physicist, using examples from a range of disciplines to illustrate the nature of this new connectivity in science.

 
Date:
 
July 6th 730pm
Venue: Filmhouse Cinema Bar, Lothian Road
 
Title: 'Tissue engineering and biomaterials: making the bionic man'
 
Speaker:
 
Professor Steve Howdle, University of Nottingham and Professor Paul O’Brien, University of Manchester
 
Description: Imagine implanting biodegradable polymers to generate or repair human organs; using flexible plastic electronic newspapers every morning to download the daily news; and living and working in smart buildings with nano-coatings that are able to regulate temperature and lighting automatically.

How will advances in materials change the way we live over the next century? Scientists are developing smarter materials that can respond to their environments and new electronic materials are set to change the size and type of electronic products we use. Advances are coming out of the exciting field of nanotechnology but are also being inspired by replicating how biological materials are formed. More importantly new materials will improve energy efficiency and greener methods will make processing and synthesis cleaner and greener.

Come and find out more about the materials of the future and discuss the shape of things to come…
 

 
Date:
 
Monday 12th December
Title: 'Avian Flu: how worried should we be?'
 
Speaker:
 
Bob Dalziel and Sheila Burns
Description:

Bob Dalziel, a research virologist, will provide an introduction to what flu viruses are and how they affect us. Sheila Burns, a consultant virologist for the NHS, will deal with the more clinical and public health aspects of bird flu. We hope to have brief talks followed by both speakers taking questions.

Chaired by Philipp Wesche.
 

Date:
 
Monday 16th January 2006
Title: A cold winter: climate change in the UK
 
Speaker:
 
TBC
Description:  
Date:
 
Monday 13th March
Title:

Genes, patents and the law

Speaker:
 

Paul Chapman and Gerard Porter

Description:

The patenting of genes is controversial. Gene patents are needed to protect investment in research - but should genes remain unpatentable products of nature? Do patents on DNA make the human body a commodity? Rapid advances in genetics pose difficult ethical questions, and patent law seems to struggle to keep up with the pace of change.

In this Cafe Scientifique, patent attorney Paul Chapman will describe current patent law practice and explain why and how genes are 'patentable'. Gerard Porter, research associate at the University of Nottingham, will outline the history of patent law in relation to biology and kick-start a discussion on the consequences of gene patents for industry, health care services and the freedom of academic research. Come and join in with the discussion.

Chaired by Dr Jenny Bangham.

Date:
 

SUNDAY 18th JUNE, 6 - 9pm

Venue: Ocean Bar & Grill – First Floor, Ocean Terminal, Ocean Drive, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 6JJ

Title: Ships of the Ice
Speakers:
 

Geoff Swinney ARSGS, Royal Museum Edinburgh

Captain Nick Lambert, CO, HMS Endurance

Brian Kelly, RRS Discovery Dundee

 
Description:

How do modern ships of the ice compare to those of the earlier explorers? What were, and are, the challenges of moving around Antarctica?

Visit The HMS Endurance Tracking Project at www.visitandlearn.co.uk

Date:

Monday 18th September

Title:

HIV: still a fatal infection

Speaker:

Gordon Scott

Description:

With current drug/treatment regimes in the western world becoming increasingly effective at 'controlling' HIV infection in sufferers, should it still be regarded with fear and trepidation? Conversely, how and why was this 'controllable' disease able to kill 2.8 million people last year?

Date:

Monday 16th October

Title:

Sleep - do we need it?

Speaker:

Chris Idzikowski

Date:

Monday 13th November

Title:

Killer viruses - threats & risks

Download a poster for this cafe (jpg)

Speaker:

John Fazakerly

Date:

Monday 11th December

Title:

Childhood IQ and its impact on adult life

Download a poster for this cafe (jpg)

Speaker:

Ian Deary

Date:

Monday 29th January

Title:

Shedding light on dark matter

Speaker:

 

Date:

Monday 12th March

Title:

Living in a time of plague - the emergence of infectious diseases and its relation to how we interact with our environment

Speaker:

Mark Woolhouse

Date:

Monday 26th March

Title:

Communicating natural disasters with scientific content

Speaker:

This event, co-organised with the BA, will focus on how information about natural disasters with a scientific content is communicated to the public.

The speakers will look at examples such as
bird flu and tsunamis/earthquakes. However as with every Cafe Scientifique, the subsequent discussion session is likely to cover numerous different examples, dictated by the audience!

 

Date:

Monday 10th September

Title:

Barcoding Life

Speaker:

Peter Hollingsworth (RBGE)

Taxonomy - the science of naming and classifying life - has been based on physical form, or how things look. Three hundred years after the birth of Linnaeus we are now bringing DNA technologies to the taxonomist's toolkit.
Is this a threat or an opportunity for Linnaean taxonomy, and how should the science of taxonomy evolve?

Date:

Monday 12th November

Title:

Climate Change

Download a poster for this cafe here (jpg)

Speaker:

Simon Tett, Gabi Hegerl & Mary Elliot (School of Geosciences, Edinburgh University)

 

The recent Intergovermental panel on climate change (IPCC) recently concluded that:

•           Warming of the climate system is unequivocal…

•           … that the warmth of the last half century is unusual in at least the previous 1,300 years.

•           Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.

•           Continued greenhouse gas emissions at or above current rates would cause further warming and induce many changes in the global climate system during the 21st century that would very likely be larger than those observed during the twentieth century.

To assess how abnormal is this modern ‘human induced’ change in our climate system, we compare recent climatic trends with geological evidence for past climate change. This evidence shows that the Earth’s climate has always changed due both to external drivers, such as changes in the energy from the sun, the orbit of the Earth and to internal drivers, such as instabilities of large continental ice sheets. We will discuss climatic variations on geologic timescale and over the last few centuries and explain the unusual changes in the recent climate and how future climates might change. We will demonstrate why we think human activities have changed the climate and how the Earth’s climate might change in response to anthropogenic increases in greenhouse gases.

Date:

Monday 17th December

Title:

Holes, Hefalumps and Pooh: why we need good forensic science

Speaker:

Allan Jamieson, Director of the Edinburgh Forensic Institute

'The difficulty is to detach the framework of fact - of absolute, undeniable fact - from the embellishments of theorists and reporters.  Then, having established ourselves upon this sound basis, it is our duty to see what inferences may be drawn, and which are the special points upon which the whole mystery turns.' Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of Silver Blaze: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The forensic scientific expert carries a heavy responsibility to interpret physical evidence for the jury.  Without unnecessarily compromising the accuracy of what is reported the expert must provide helpful impartial explanations.  It is imperative that, as with the chain of evidential custody, there is a clear continuity from scientific theories and facts to the interpretation of evidence and the explanation of this interpretation to the jury. 

This presentation will explore how the scientist can minimise the risk of serious errors and the consequences for the profession, the system and the accused.

Date:

Monday 14th January

Title:

No job for a gentleman?

Speaker:

Felicity Henderson, Historian for the Royal Society

The Royal Society has shaped the course of Science and framed our view of Scientists. The myth of its foundation in 1660 is of a club for noble gentlemen, driven by amateur curiosity about the natural world. This is exemplified by Robert Boyle- son of the Earl of Cork - who epitomised the wealthy, disinterested, unworldly experimentalist. For some, this contrasts with the present, where such amateur passions have been sullied by worldly and commercial concerns.

The records of the Royal Society present a different picture. The early Society was closely involved with mercantile affairs, particularly the East India Company and the Royal African Company and some of the most active fellows were merchants and tradesmen. Fellows were keen to develop money-making schemes including marketing local mineral waters, patenting improvements to coaches and growing new crops, such as potatoes.

The notion of the scientist changed rapidly. By the 1700s, scientists were ridiculed for investigating fleas and worms or weighing air – scientific investigations were seen as worthless and beneath the dignity of gentlemen. One of the few Fellows to be a paid scientist was Robert Hooke and some have argued that he was looked down upon by more gentlemanly Fellows.

What lessons can be drawn from this founding period of the Royal Society? What is the purpose of Science and how should it be funded? What is the difference between amateur and professional scientists? Felicity will use a range of examples from the historic records to highlight these and other questions.

Date:

Monday 18th February

Title:

Why robots will never rule the world

Download a write-up of this event (pdf) here

Speaker:

Chris Malcolm, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh

It is sometimes suggested that there is a dangerous possibility that computers or robots or some unholy combination thereof might become so much cleverer than us that they would take over the world, by force if necessary. Moore's Law, by which computers become twice as powerful every 18 months or so, is often cited in support of this.

I will explain what more is required than computer power, plus the brake on Moore's First Law which is provided by his little known Second Law, plus the important differences between biological and machine evolution which have given us such a large and decisive advantage over our creations.

Date:

Monday 10th March

Title:

Braneland: a romance of many dimensions

Speaker:

Hannu Rajaniemi, ThinkTank Mathematics

A recent ambitious attempt to formulate a Theory of Everything - string theory - suggests that some of Edwin Abbot's ideas may have been remarkably prescient. Tiny higher dimensions could be lurking in the world of high-energy particle physics. Or perhaps we are not that different from Mr Square: some physicists suggest that we are stuck on a Flatland-like slice - a brane - inside a much larger and stranger Universe...

I will discuss the emerging understanding of the relationship between physics and higher-dimensional geometry and give some pointers on living in Braneland.

Date:

Monday 14th April

Title:

The great game - looking for extra-terrestrial intelligence

Speaker:

Alan Penny, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews

Forty-seven years of searching for radio emissions from advanced civilisations has found nothing.

The searches are getting much more powerful and it seems more and more likely that there are other Earths like our own but the Fermi Paradox and the Anthropic Principle may point to us being alone. We still have no way of telling if our searching has any realistic chance of success.

Should the search be called off, or should it be intensified? Alan Penny will argue that conditions are now right for Britain to join in.

Dr Alan Penny is an Honorary Reader in the School of Physics and Astronomy at St Andrews, where he teaches a graduate course on The science of SETI in the SUPA (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance) graduate school. He spent two years at the SETI Institute in California, working as a Principal Investigator on a planet-hunting programme. Alan is currently contributing to efforts to get Britain involved in SETI.

Date:

Thursday 8th May 2008, 7.00pm

Venue: Edinburgh Camera Obscura, Castlehill, The Royal Mile

Please note change of date and time for this special event

Title:

Moving Objects With Light

Speaker:

Will Hossack, School of Physics, University of Edinburgh
SPECIAL EVENT: Edinburgh Café Sci at the Camera Obscura

As this first Edinburgh Café Scientifique special event we will be holding an evening at the Camera Obscura. This is a brilliant opportunity to get free entry into the Camera Obscura, hear a great talk on the power of lasers, and enjoy a drink and hopefully some nice Edinburgh weather on the roof terrace!

Lasers have been in common scientific and technological use for almost 50 years but still remain the source of  surprising physical phenomena. We find that if a laser beam is very tightly focused, it has the fascinating ability to trap objects at its focus. If we then move the beam we can manipulate objects entirely by light. This phenomenon is relatively easily demonstrable with modest lasers and optical systems and can be used to trap small objects, including biological cells, under a conventional high resolution microscope allowing a new range of analyses to be undertaken.

 

 

Last Modified  13-05-2008                                                                                                                            Home