Launched November 2004

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Tuesday 16th May, 6pm
 

 

Date:	November 16th – Launch Event!
Title:	'Why There Will Never Be a Convincing Theory Of Schizophrenia'
Speaker:	Prof. Richard Bentall, The University of Manchester
Description:	Over the last century (Probably) billions of dollars have been spent attempting to unravel the secrets of schizophrenia, but with little success. Just about every variable known to influence human behaviour (genes, cerebral insults, brain biochemistry, the family environment, even cat-born viruses) has been singled out as a cause of schizophrenia at one time or another, but replicable findings have been extremely rare. As a consequence, schizophrenia patients treated today do no better than similar patients treated in Victorian times. This lamentable state of affairs could exist because schizophrenia is a very tricky condition, or because we have not yet spent sufficient resources on scientific research. However, I will submit that the real problem is a poverty of ideas. The concept of schizophrenia is incoherent, and groups together people with a wide range of unrelated difficulties. Once the actual problems of patients (for example, hallucinations, delusions) are examined from a psychological perspective, they become easy to understand. This approach leads to an understanding of severe mental illness that is more scientific and (in its practical implications) more humane than the traditional approach.

 

Date:	RESCHEDULED TO WEDNESDAY December 15th, 2004
Title:	'Keeping in Time With Your Body Clock'
Speaker:	Prof. Greg Atkinson, Liverpool John Moores University
Description:	Greg Atkinson is a co-author of the books “Biological Rhythms and Exercise” and “Keeping in time with your body clock” (both Oxford University Press). He has been researching human biological rhythms for 14 years and is now back at Liverpool John Moores University, where he completed his PhD on the subject in 1994. Greg will first describe how various physiological functions (e.g. body temperature) vary over a 24-hour period in healthy individuals. Greg will discuss how science has helped unravel the mechanisms for these “circadian rhythms” He will also describe how circadian rhythms might differ between individuals. Greg will then go onto to talk about the applied scientific work, which has helped describe what happens to circadian rhythms when they are disturbed by illness, flights to new time zones or shiftwork.

 

Date:	January 18th 2005
Title:	'On Dobzhansky's take on Evolutionary Theory'
Speaker:	Dr. Tom Dickins, University of East London
Description:	Evolutionary theory is a theory of organic design.  All of the functionally organised systems we see in the natural world are a consequence of natural selection.  Natural selection is to be understood as a sorting process, a form of algorithm that sifts through various physical characteristics and favours those that enhance the survival and reproductive chances of the organisms that possess them.  In this way certain traits persist and the relative frequency of the genes that code for them increases.  Such traits are adaptations. Many adaptations can be understood as decision rules.  For example, females in relatively poor socioeconomic environments reach menarche earlier than those in relatively well-off socioeconomic environments.  This can be understood as a physiological decision to invest nutrients in reproductive effort at an earlier time.  Given the impact of relatively poor circumstances on health, longevity and future resources the decision to begin reproductive life sooner rather than later is evolutionarily rational. Unsurprisingly, females in these circumstances also consciously organise themselves for reproduction sooner rather than later, and this is reflected in rates of teenage pregnancies among other things.  In this talk I shall argue that evolution has designed humans that consist of specific packages of hierarchically organised decisions rules.  These rules are physiological and psychological.  The purpose of many psychological adaptations is to fine-tune, or calibrate lower-level responses to the detail of specific environments.  Such a perspective has implications for the behavioural sciences and those who seek to use this research to inform policy.

 

Date:	February 15th
Title:	'A Clone of Your Own'
Speaker:	Arlene Klotzko, Writer in Residence, Science Museum
Description:	Our fascination with cloning is about much more than science and its extraordinary medical implications – the prospect of human cloning triggers our dearest hopes and especially our darkest fears, forcing us to ponder anew what it means to be human, and what it would be like to have 'a clone of your own'. Someday soon (if it hasn't happened in secret already), a human will be cloned, and mankind will embark on a scientific and moral journey whose destination cannot be foretold. Join Arlene Judith Klotzko, lawyer, bioethicist and writer in residence at the Science Museum, as she describes the new world of possibilities that can be glimpsed over the horizon and hear why there is only one Mona Lisa. And there will never ever be another you.

 

Date:	Tuesday, March 15
Title:	‘Exploring Our Universe’
Speaker:	Prof. Michael F. Bode, Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University
Description:	To Follow

Date:	Tuesday, April 19th, 2005
Title:	‘Black dogs and Bengal tigers - why a diagnosis of depression may be bad for your health’
Speaker:	Prof. Christopher Dowrick, Professor of Primary Medical Care, University of Liverpool
Description:	Is there an epidemic of depression sweeping the world, or are we radically altering our interpretation of normal human experiences? Do we need a dose of medication or a renewed sense of meaning? Christopher Dowrick takes a critical insider's look at commonly held views about the diagnosis and management of depression. He argues that our belief in depression as a medical condition is based on some shaky theoretical and functional foundations. He shows how commercial, professional, organisational and cultural factors combine to sustain the popularity of depression as a concept, which is based more on our values than on science. Moving seamlessly between controlled trials and Camus, from prescribing to Proust, he considers alternative ways of understanding the thoughts and feelings that we currently describe as depression.  He proposes a conceptual framework based on the central importance of purpose and meaning for understanding ourselves as active, creative and engaged. This framework provides a means of moving beyond depression as a medical concept and as a personal problem. When applied to encounters between doctors and patients in primary care it leads us towards enabling narratives, with an emphasis on listening and understanding rather than diagnosis and prescription

Date:	Tuesday 18 October
Title:	'Einstein: His Life and Legacy'
Speaker:	Dr Dominic Dickson, Department of Physics, University of Liverpool
Description:	As part of Einstein Year 2005, a wide-ranging exploration of Einstein, both as scientist and man, aiming to explain the importance of his three major 1905 discoveries.

Date:	Tuesday 15 November
Title:	'The Oldest American? Footprints from the Past'
Speaker:	Dr Silvia Gonzalez, Department of Archaeology, Liverpool John Moores University
Description:	40,000 year-old human footprints, preserved in volcanic ash in Central Mexico, are challenging established models for the early peopling of the Americas. Dr Gonzalez will present her findings, together with a discussion of the philosophical and political implications of having humans in America at such early times.

Date:	Tuesday December 13th
Title:	'Synaesthesia: what you see is what you hear'
Speaker:	Robert Black, School of Psychology, University of Liverpool
Description:	What colour is a C sharp?  Synaesthesia is a fascinating positive abnormality which occurs in about 1 in 10,000 people (although some estimates put this ratio as much lower), where an overlap occurs between the senses.  There are many varieties of synaesthesia - we are researching sounds being visualised externally in vivid colour. What do synaesthetes see?  Is it affected by their mood?  Are we all born with synaesthesia and then subsequently lose it?  Are there any practical benefits of this unique condition?
Date:	Tuesday January 17th
Title:	Archaeology, art, religion and dead fish; a holistic view of medieval life
Speaker:	Dr Sue Stallibrass, English Heritage & The University of Liverpool
Description:	A case study reveals how animal bones recovered from an archaeological site can raise issues about people's lives, environmental change, economics and religious beliefs. Archaeological science is moving from a pre-occupation with statistical validity to trying to engage more with the real people in the past and asking how they viewed their world?

Date:	Tuesday February 21st
Title:	Science shops: Adapting a European idea for use on Merseyside
Speaker:	David Hall, Senior Lecturer in Applied Sociology, Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work Studies, University of Liverpool
Description:	'Science shops' originated in the 1970s in the Netherlands as a student-led movement to open up the knowledge base of higher education for the benefit of local communities. Since then, science shops have developed to various degrees across Europe and have been written in to the EU science and society action plan. But what is a science shop? And how can the idea be put into action? David Hall will be talking from first-hand experience about examples of community-based action research by students with local voluntary and community organisations that share the ideals of science shops.

Date:	Tuesday 21st March, 6pm
Title:	Science and Religion
Speaker:	Jonathan Clatworthy, Guest Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University of Liverpool
Description:	Do science and religion live in separate worlds? Does one trump the other? Are the options still the same as they were in Darwin's time -- or even Occam's?

Date:	Tuesday 20 February 2007, 18.00–19.30
Title:	The Art of Shock: Bad Art for Wicked People
Speaker:	David Canter, Professor of Psychology, University of Liverpool
Description:	Professor David Canter's main area of expertise is investigative psychology: the systematic analysis of human behaviour. This Café SciArt talk focuses on the psychology of shock and attempts to analyse reactions to the work of Jake and Dinos Chapman. This event is one in a continuing series of talks and discussions exploring the cross-over between the disciplines of art and science.

Date:	Tuesday 20 March, 18.00–20.00
Title:	Images of the universe
Speaker:	Mike Bode, Liverpool John Moores University
Description:	The Café SciArt series of talks and discussions explores the cross-over between the disciplines of art and science. On this occasion, while the exhibition on the second floor at Tate Liverpool is championing Liverpool as the centre of the creative universe, we will consider how the universe as a whole is imaged and how this affects our perception of it.

Date:	Tuesday 17 April, 18.00–20.00
Title:	Artists & global warming
Speaker:	David Buckland, Director of the Cape Farewell Project
Description:	Cape Farewell brings artists, scientists and educators together to collectively address and raise awareness about climate change. Created by David Buckland, Cape Farewell has led three expeditions into the High Arctic, a place both for artistic inspiration and scientific enquiry. Rachel Whiteread, Anthony Gormley and Gary Hume, among others, have taken part in such expeditions, which aim to illustrate the workings of this crucial part of the planet. David will comment on the large-scale installation of the summit of Everest, a souvenir of an ascent made by Xu Zhen and collaborators and on China’s stance on climate change.