Look what you missed
in 2006!
(2007 programme coming soon)
SCIENCE IN YOUR LIFE:
City College, Pelham St. BN1 4FA
The science that surrounds us
BACK TO EVENTS LIST
Simplifying Science
6.00pm
Mitchell Symons gives a non-scientist's view of a puzzling planet.
tickets £4.50 / £2
In the Christmas best-seller "Why Girls Can't Throw" Mitchell Symons provides the answers to the everyday mysteries which keep you up at night; Is it possible to knock yourself out using just your own fist? Why don't women have beards?... Mitchell, who flunked every school science test he ever took, believes that non-scientists too should be allowed to satisfy their scientific curiosity. He also explains why a background in the arts and humanities is valuable when addressing matters of science.
The Emotional Rollercoaster
6.00pm
Claudia Hammond - The science of emotions, and how they work.
tickets £4.50 / £2
Everyday life produces an emotional rollercoaster few of us understand. Fear, anger, happiness, sadness, disgust, hate, jealousy, love, sympathy, guilt.. Claudia Hammond, psychology lecturer and presenter of the Radio 4 series Emotional Rollercoaster, gives an entertaining guide to how the brain and body interact to produce these emotions and what, if anything, we can do to harness them.
Will the Food Go Far Enough?
6.00pm
Far enough around the planet, that is. The truth about the Global food trade.
Clare Devereaux of Food Matters Introduces the food strand, looking at the strange, eccentric, expensive and damaging way food is handled globally. You would have to laugh if it wasn't so serious. Sponsored by Novo Nordisk.
Music Pleasure and the Brain
7.15pm
Dr. Harry Witchel and live musicians show how music affects the brain.
tickets £4.50 / £2
Have you ever wondered why music makes you feel so good? In this interactive demonstration, physiologist Dr. Harry Witchel from the University of Bristol will show you how the body and the brain are influenced by different kinds of music. He will be joined by clarinetist Karl Durr-Sørensen and French horn player Dominic Nunns from the New London Orchestra, who will play enchanting, haunting, and brain-befuddling excerpts of music live on stage, in order to illustrate the aspects of music that wield power over our emotions. Together they will show you why some music makes us joyous, while other music makes us sad, or angry, or anxious, and how the brain interprets this music. They will also show you how music affects your other sensations and plays with your memory.
Obesity - open forum
7.15pm
Why are we overweight? What's the cause and what's the answer?
tickets £4.50 / £2
Novo Nordisk (who sponsor this healthy-living strand) make insulin products. Their sincere wish is to go out of business, but just at the moment demand for their product is on the up, because of the upsurge in diabetes. It's all because of our unhealthy diets. Obesity must be the most preventable epidemic, yet we all seem powerless to stop it. This forum has experts from medicine, industry and education to discuss the way forward. Important for most of us; essential for parents.
Aspirin
7.15pm
Daimuid Jeffreys tells the story, from tree bark to Aspro
tickets £4.50 / £2
A deceptively simple substance, aspirin's history dips into so many other themes of science; chance discovery, gruelling research, unexpected break-throughs, ultimate triumph. Diarmuid charts the growth of pharmaceutical giants and the history of other related drugs. It is a huge story - enough to give you quite a headache.
The Hungry Years
8.30pm
William Leith's anatomy of a food addict - funny and heart-wrenching.
tickets £4.50 / £2
William Leith's unblinking look at the physical consequences and psychological pain of being an overweight man charts fascinating new territory for everyone who has ever had a craving or counted a calorie. William's book, The Hungry Years, is a story of food, fat, and addiction that is both funny and heartwrenching.
Pointing by Apes and Humans
8.30pm
Proof that apes are closer to humans than we ever believed.
tickets £4.50 / £2
Dr David Leavens, of the University of Sussex, drops a bombshell. Ten years ago it was believed that apes could not point, because they didn't have the capacity to understand each other's point of view. But recent research demonstrates that captive apes often do point. This means that the way we think of "us" and "them" must change.
Question Time
8.30pm
Put your questions to our panel of experts
tickets £4.50 / £2
A panel of experts are on hand to answer your questions. All aspects of science, from technical queries to science policy, are fair game. You the audience are invited to throw questions at our panelists, which include Tim Radford (ex-Guardian science editor) in the chair, with Mitchell Symons, Dr. Harry Wichel, and others. See stop press for details.
