|
Date:
|
September 27th 2004 |
| Title: |
'Does Darwinism Have a Politics?'
|
| Speaker: |
Steve
Fuller
|
| Description: |
Philosopher
Peter Singer once urged the Left to replace Marx with Darwin as its
philosophical foundation. Historically, Social Darwinism has been
associated with right wing ideologies. What are the political implications
of Darwinism? Formerly at the University of Durham, Steve is now Professor
of Sociology at the University of Warwick and has published widely in the
sociology and philosophy of science.
|
Date:
|
October 18th
2004 |
| Title: |
'Digging up bones: scientific
justification and ethical considerations'
|
Speaker:
|
Charlotte Roberts |
| Description: |
Archaeologists have excavated thousands of bodies over the years from all
over the world. Why are we so fascinated with corpses? Why should we
continue to recover our dead and what can we learn about our past? Charlotte
started out as a nurse and is now professor of palaeopathology at the
University of Durham. Her many publications include accessible books on the
history of disease.
|
Date:
|
November 15th |
| Title: |
'Alcohol: bad for the young but good for the old?'
|
Speaker:
|
Oliver James |
| Description: |
The
government has seems to have given up on its promise to provide a national
alcohol strategy. Perhaps we should sympathise, given that alcohol health
messages are increasingly complex. Alcohol is arguably responsible for more
deaths, injuries and unhappiness in under thirty year olds than anything
else. But, “moderate” alcohol consumption reduces the risk of
cardiovascular death or stroke and may reduce the risk of dementia and type
II diabetes. Oliver is Head of the School of Clinical Medical Sciences,
University of Newcastle, has been treating patients with alcoholic cirrhosis
for 30 years, and is an enthusiastic wine amateur.
|
Date:
|
January 17th
2005 |
| Title: |
'Designer babies: Born and
Made'
|
Speaker:
|
Sarah Franklin |
| Description: |
What is a designer baby and
how do we know what we think of them? How can the desires of individual
parents be reconciled with the need for limits to reproductive intervention?
Are humans increasingly made as well as born? Has this always been the
case? Sarah has conducted ethnographic research on new reproductive and
genetic technologies in Britain for over 20 years, including two years of
fieldwork with two of Britain's leading centres of preimplantation genetic
diagnosis. She is based at the BIOS Centre at the LSE.
|
Date:
|
February 21st
|
| Title: |
'Pollution and health risk: How much do we have to accept?'
|
Speaker:
|
Tanja Pless-Mulloli |
| Description: |
Chimneys,
shipyards and coal mines are the legacy of the industrial past of the North
East. In recent decades, there have been drastic changes in pollution
levels; in evidence about links between pollution and human health; in the
distribution of pollution amongst the rich and the poor; and people’s
acceptance of pollution. Tanya will explore the past, look at the present
and gaze into the future of these interrelated factors impacting on our
quality of life. Tanja is an environmental epidemiologist at the University
of Newcastle.
|
Date:
|
March 21st |
| Title: |
'Right at
the beginning ... of the Universe'
|
Speaker:
|
Carlos Frenk |
| Description: |
Cosmologists
have learned more about our Universe in recent decades than in the rest of
human history. Using astronomical data in tandem with virtual universes
constructed in supercomputers, we are now beginning to understand how the
universe evolved from the early simplicity of the Big Bang to the
present-day structured complexity. We can confidently trace back cosmic
history to about a micro-second after the Big Bang and possibly beyond.
Carlos is Ogden Professor of Physics and Director of the Institute for
Computational Cosmology, University of Durham. |
Date:
|
May 16th |
| Title: |
'Atkins: the sugar industry
gets it in the gut'
|
Speaker:
|
Eric Brunner |
| Description: |
The low
carbohydrate Atkins diet forbids soft drinks, crisps, sweets, chocolate and
biscuits, and is an effective way to lose weight. Atkins advocates a high
protein, high fat diet. But high fat is linked with cardiovascular disease,
and there is not enough protein from animals, fish and seafood to feed six
billion. Surely deep-fried tofu is not the only way forward? Come and graze
on some indigestible contradictions. Eric is a Reader in Epidemiology at
UCL, and has previously worked at the London Food Commission.
|
Date:
|
June 20th |
| Title: |
'The appliance of Science'
|
Speaker:
|
Arlene Judith Klotzko |
| Description: |
Arlene is a
bioethicist and lawyer. Author of A Clone of Your Own, she has
contributed to several US and UK broadsheets, and now writes the regular
“Science Matters” column for the Financial Times. She has been
writer in Residence at the Science Museum, London and Visiting Scholar in
Bioethics at the Windeyer Institute, University College, London. She will
be talking about morally fraught areas of biomedicine.
|
Date:
|
July 18th |
| Title: |
'Big Brother versus the Internet'
|
Speaker:
|
Ian Brown |
| Description: |
Computer
voting? Electronic patient records? Copyright… data encryption…
Information security, surveillance and privacy are major issues of our
time. Based at UCL, Ian is the Director of the Foundation for Information
Policy Research, chairman of Privacy International, and has consulted for
the financial services industry.
|
Date:
|
Monday 17th
October 2005, 7.30 pm |
| Title: |
'Aren’t we all neurotic? Why
the antidepressant controversy won’t go away'
|
|
|
Atrium, Central Square, Forth
Street (behind Newcastle Central Station) |
Speaker:
|
Dr Michael Barr
(Bios Centre, LSE) |
| Description: |
.Dr
Michael Barr (Bios Centre, LSE) asks: Are antidepressants good medical care
or just good business? Who should be prescribed such drugs? Can biochemistry
explain and treat an existential crisis? Is there a future for
psychotherapy? Formerly of PEALS, Michael moved to the LSE in 2004 to
explore these and related questions. So come and join the debate on an issue
that has recently attracted international attention.
|
Date:
|
Monday 21st
November 2005, 7.30 pm |
| Title: |
'Fuel Cells & the Hydrogen
Economy - Tees Lights The Way Forward'
|
|
|
Atrium, Central Square, Forth
Street (behind Newcastle Central Station)
|
Speaker:
|
Ben Mayo
|
| Description: |
Ben Mayo introduces us to
fuel cells, the new energy alternative: engines which are twice as efficient
as internal combustion, silent, and emit little more than water. Over the
next few years we will be starting to use them to power everything from
laptops to buses. Our region has most of the attributes required to be right
at the forefront of this exciting new technology. A Tees light house will
be using fuel cells in the near future. Ben is the Director of the Fuel Cell
Applications Facility at the Centre for Process Innovation on Teesside.
|
Date:
|
16th January
2006 |
| Title: |
A New Year: A New
You: 2006
|
Speaker:
|
Amelia Lake
(Newcastle University) |
| Description: |
Amelia Lake (Newcastle
University) gets to grips with those seasonal resolutions about diet and
health. Are you all going to take out gym membership and set optimistic
goals? Will you eat those five fruit and veg? Are you all going to take out
gym membership and set optimistic goals? Is behaviour change at this time
of year really a good idea, and do we need to change our behaviour?
|
Date:
|
Monday 20th
February 2006 |
| Title: |
Uncanny Valley: Living with
Living Machines
|
Speaker:
|
Richard Evans |
| Description: |
For
the last forty years, scientists around the world have been working towards
realising the dream of creating humanoid robots. Now, as walking, thinking
and even feeling robots and androids take their first tentative steps into
reality, writer Richard Evans outlines the latest robotics research and
discusses the far-reaching ethical and social implications of the coming
world of artificial helpers, friends and lovers. Richard researched his
acclaimed futuristic thrillers Machine Nation and Robophobia
at MIT, sponsored by Arts Council England
|
Date:
|
Monday 6th
March, 7pm |
| Title: |
Artificial Life and Virtual Reality
|
Speaker:
|
Steve Grand |
| Description: |
To
celebrate the AV Festival, an evening with acclaimed programmer Steve Grand
(job: Digital God), whose innovative work on the Creatures game and Lucy the
robot is described in his books Creation: life and how to make it and
Growing up with Lucy. Can something that happens inside a computer
ever be really alive, or really real? What does this imply for our
traditional understanding of reality?
|
Date:
|
Monday 15th May |
| Title: |
Why memes?
|
Speaker:
|
Mary Midgley |
| Description: |
One of
Britain’s most renowned and best-loved
thinkers, Mary has written about animals, about Darwinism and about the Gaia
hypothesis. We are delighted to welcome her back to raise more questions
about science and society.
|
Date:
|
Monday 19th June |
| Title: |
How gay are your genes?
|
Speaker:
|
Lisa Matthews |
| Description: |
Twin
studies suggest that sexuality may partly be influenced by genetics. Dean Hamer famously identified a region of the X chromosome which may be
involved. For the last two years, writer Lisa has been working with the
region’s lesbian, gay and bisexual community to explore their attitudes and
responses to genetics, and their views on sexuality.
|
Date:
|
Monday
17th July |
| Title: |
SmartHEALTH diagnostic technology: earlier and more effective
treatments of cancer
|
Speaker:
|
Calum McNeil, Professor of Biological
Sensor Systems, Newcastle University and Coordinator of the SmartHEALTH
programme |
|
Description: |
SmartHEALTH is an innovative European healthcare technology - in the early
stages of development - which aims to make cancer diagnosis, treatment and
monitoring more effective. In miniaturizing a laboratory into a hand-held
device, testing could be moved from remote laboratories to local clinics,
GPs surgeries or even your home. Waiting for test results could be reduced
from days to minutes. To support more accurate and personalised diagnosis,
these miniature systems will also allow GPs to access patients’ electronic
records - held anywhere in the country - using mobile phone or wireless
internet technology. The prototypes systems under development are for
breast, cervical and colorectal cancer. This event aims to raise a diversity
of issues, including questions such as:
• What diseases would we choose to test with our GP or in our own homes?
• Who will have access to this new technology?
• What are the challenges of introducing complex Information technologies
into the healthcare system for patients, GPs and the wider public? |
|
Date: |
Monday, September 18th |
|
Title: |
Freedom to shape the future? |
|
Speaker:
|
Bano Murtuja and Tom Wakeford from the new
Right 2B heard network |
|
Description: |
Do we trust experts to decide about genetics, nanotechnology and
biotechnology? Is it realistic for non-specialist citizens to control
policy on science and technology? |
|
Date: |
Monday, October 16th |
|
Title: |
Free energy or a nuclear
state? |
|
Speaker:
|
Bridget Woodman, energy analyst, Warwick Business School |
|
Description: |
How should UK reduce
carbon emissions while keeping the lights on? Through renewables, or
through another generation of nuclear reactors? |
|
Date: |
Monday, March 5th 2007 |
|
Title: |
Patient choice or patient
responsibility? |
|
Speaker:
|
To be
confirmed |
|
Description: |
Current UK health policy makes the patient
central to choosing where and how to be treated but this implies freedom
without responsibility. Is there now a dangerous imbalance between doctor
and patient? |
|
Date: |
Monday, May 21st |
|
Title: |
Body parts - free, or for sale? |
|
Speaker:
|
Naomi Pfeiffer, London Metropolitan University |
|
Description: |
Since slavery was abolished, it has been illegal to buy and sell human
bodies and body parts. However, scientists, biotech companies and tissue
banks profit from human tissue given freely by patients and members of the
public. Naomi Pfeffer asks whether a market in human body parts should be
allowed to develop. |
|
Date: |
Monday
September 17th |
|
Title: |
Do Animals Feel
Pleasure? |
|
Speaker: |
Jonathan
Balcombe |
|
Description: |
Jonathan Balcombe, animal behaviourist and
author of
Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good
will argue that animals have deeper emotions than
conventional science accepts. For Balcombe, behaviours are not just about
adaptation, they're about feeling good. |
|
Date: |
Monday
October 15th |
|
Title: |
Our Future Human Body? |
|
Description: |
As part of the
Cyborg Future exhibition at the Discovery Museum, we take a look at the
shrinking divide between us and the technology we use, from prosthetic body
parts to smart textiles and wearable body extensions.
Tobie Kerridge
and Ian Thompson (Biojewellery) and Peter and Carla Allen
(KnoWear) will be discussing whether this is the future we want with
Sabine Seymour. |
|
Date: |
Monday 19th
November |
|
Title: |
For Whom the Roads
Toll |
|
Speaker: |
Phil Blyth |
|
Description: |
What challenges face us in delivering a robust
and sustainable road transport system fit for purpose in the twenty-first
century? Phil Blyth, Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems at Newcastle
University argues that we will need to change the way we travel if we are to
manage and optimise our use of roads and alternative forms of public
transport. He will explore the options for paying for road use as well as
looking at the additional impacts and benefits of such as scheme as the
technology involved will lay the foundation for future intelligent
infrastructure for transport. |
|
Date: |
Monday
7th January
2008 |
|
Title: |
Cafe Philosophique -
Theory Slam! |
|
Speaker: |
|
|
Description: |
If you're looking for a festive alternative with intellectual zing, come and
pitch ideas at the first Tyneside Theory Slam. All comers will be
offered three minutes each to sell us their theories - serious, silly,
conspiracy - and the audience vote will select the winner.
Email us in advance at
info@cafeculturenortheast.org.uk if
you have a pet theory you want to share.
Theories
put forward so far include Is the Pope a Catholic? and The
Truth of Existence. These, and others, will be shared.
|
|
Date: |
Monday
21st January |
|
Title: |
King Coal rides again:
restoration of the monarchy? |
|
Speaker: |
Paul Younger |
|
Description: |
In this era of low-carbon ambitions, could it remotely make sense to talk of
a renaissance of energy production from coal? Geologist and environmental
engineer Paul Younger, HSBC Professor of Energy & Environment at Newcastle
University, argues that it's time we disinterred Old King Coal and restored
him to his throne but this time under a new constitution that will limit his
powers to lord it over his subjects. |
|
Date: |
Monday 18th
February |
|
Title: |
Climate change: fact
or fiction? |
|
Speaker: |
Hayley Fowler |
|
Description: |
The science of climate change has become heavily politicised, with 'beliefs'
intertwined with scientific fact. Hayley Fowler, NERC Research Fellow in the
Water Resource Systems Research Laboratory at Newcastle University, will
explore the myths surrounding climate change science, explain what impacts
we may expect in the future and how interventions may help to reduce these. |
|
Date: |
Monday 17th
March |
|
Title: |
Where can we go with
stem cells? |
|
Speaker: |
Lyle Armstrong |
|
Description: |
Will scientists soon be able to re-programme embryonic stem
cells to create tissues for transplantation? Is cloning a way to avoid
problems of immune rejection, or would it be better to use the technique to
understand how to re-programme adult cells to make them like embryonic stem
cells? Cutting edge insights from
Lyle Armstrong , a member of the
world-beating team at Newcastle's Centre for Stem Cell Biology and
Developmental Genetics. |
|
