Past Events
The Dating Games: Can you guess who’s who?
We’re back for April but we’re not taking you for fools!
We are seeking 15 guys and 15 girls who are attracted to the opposite gender and single to come and participate in our speed dating game. So if you are open-minded, up for a laugh, looking for someone special and curious to learn about the science behind the dating game then this is the night for you!
| Introduction When you arrive you’ll be greeted by one of the cheerful Science London crew, they’ll hand you a drink to help calm any nerves (we’re so good to you). Then once everyone has arrived we’ll be breaking the ice with our resident funny man Dr Steve Cross (co-creator of Science Showoff and Bright Club). He’ll paint a smile on your mouth and shoot an arrow through your heart. We thought we’d shake things up a bit and let you grill the expert before you attempt to woo one another. This time we have Dr. Nathan Oesch who will be telling us about the nature of human courtship and how the dating mind works. Don’t be afraid to ask him your questions, after all it could be the difference between having a quick fumble or finding a meaningful connection with someone… guess it depends on your aim for the night. Method |
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From Beer to Biscuits, the maths of food
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Maths is often thought of as a dry subject, far removed from reality. However, this is far from the case, and in fact maths is very important in food! In this talk Prof. Chris Budd from the University of Bath will talk about some of the maths needed to make beer, how maths can help you cook the perfect potato and why maths is vital to the biscuit business.
So please come along, and drink some beer or eat a potato. |
 Biscuit perspective by Peter & Maggie |
Date: Monday 22nd April 2013
Time: 7pm, for a 7.30pm start
Place: Upstairs at The Lamb, 92 Lambs Conduit Street, WC1N 3LZ [gmap]
Cost: Free
Poster for this event for you to print out and hang up in your place of work/study!
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Klaus Dodds will addresses the current controversies surrounding the present and future management of the Arctic region – at their heart lies a predicament about how to make sense of the Arctic as a highly dynamic, inhabited, resource-rich and increasingly accessible space.
Klaus Dodds is Profesor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London and author of many books on geopolitics, security and the Polar Regions. He is a frequent visitor to the Arctic region and worked in Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Iceland and the Nordic Arctic. Date: Wednesday 27th February 2013 |
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The Dating Games: Sniffing out a Soulmate
This is now SOLD OUT but we still have tickets for the After Party (starts at 9pm) so you still have a chance to find the love of your life the 15th with your friends Science London. You can get your ticket for £5 from EventBrite
It’s back! Bigger, better and ready to tackle Valentines Day!
We are seeking 20 guys and 20 girls who are attracted to the opposite gender and single to come and participate in our new speed dating game. So if you are open-minded, up for a laugh, looking for someone special and curious to learn about the science behind the dating game then what are you waiting for? This is the night for you!
| Introduction When you arrive you’ll be greeted by one of the cheerful Science London crew, they’ll hand you a drink to help calm any nerves (we’re so good to you). Then once everyone has arrived we’ll be breaking the ice with a short burst of humour from the love guru that is Dr Steve Cross (co-creator of Science Showoff and Bright Club). No one can tickle that funny bone quite like he can. Method Now, we were thinking we could line you all up and get you to sniff one another (very amusing for us to watch), but we figured you’d all be doused in perfume and aftershave so therefore, to help your natural scent stand out we will be sending you all t-shirts to sleep in for the two nights before the games. And when you arrive we’ll collect these t-shirts in and place them into sealed bags for our first round… |
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Building robots for fun and profit
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Shadow is an unusual robotics company, founded as a group of amateurs wanting to develop robots that they thought no-one else was developing, and evolving into one of the world’s leading robotics engineering firms. On the way they’ve engaged with, and built robots for, everyone from the space community to the extreme end of the performing arts community.
Rich Walker is the Managing Director, a typical engineer/cat-herding role, having joined in the fun 20 years ago, because he wanted to write AI software. Rich was then told “we have to build the robots before we can write software for them”, and handed the wrong end of a soldering iron. He still wants to write AI software one day, but currently sets up European research projects, plans long-term roadmaps for the robotics community, and finds new and interesting things for the Shadow team to engage in. |
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Rich will talk about what robotics is about, where it could go, and some of the interesting problems in the domain.
Date: Wednesday 27th March 2013
Time: 7pm, for a 7.30pm start
Place: Upstairs at The Lamb, 92 Lambs Conduit Street, WC1N 3LZ [gmap]
Cost: Free
Poster for this event for you to print out and hang up in your place of work/study!
Click here to leave a comment about this event
A world where anyone can make anything
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What if instead of printing on bits of paper, you had a 3D
printer? A 3D printer that makes
real, robust, mechanical parts. You could make lots of useful stuff, but interestingly you could also make lots of the parts to make another 3D printer. A machine
that could copy itself.
In 2004 Dr Adrian Bowyer created this machine, RepRap, the Replicating Rapid-prototyper, humanity’s first self-replicating general-purpose manufacturing machine. The technology RepRap uses existed in 2004, but the cheapest proprietary machine then would have set you back £15,000. And it wasn’t even designed so that it could make itself. Now for around £400 you can build your own self-replicating machine! Science London have invited Adrian to talk about the development of RepRap, why his team are giving away the designs for free and the benefits to small communities in the developing world as well as individuals in the developed world. The RepRap machine is being distributed entirely free to everyone using open-source – so, if you have one, you can make another and give it to a friend… |
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Adrian Bowyer holds a first degree and a PhD in engineering from Imperial College. He was an academic at the University of Bath for 35 years, retiring from academic life in 2012 to help to run the company RepRap Professional Ltd. His areas of research are geometric modelling and geometric computing in general, the application of computers to manufacturing, and biomimetics.
Date: Wednesday 30th January 2013
Time: 7pm, for a 7.30pm start
Place: Upstairs at The Lamb, 92 Lambs Conduit Street, WC1N 3LZ [gmap]
Cost: Free
Click here to leave a comment about this event
The 1,000 mph engineering adventure
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The BLOODHOUND Supersonic Car, launched by Richard Noble and Andy Green in October 2008 is set to take the land speed record into a whole new speed regime. The team, including researchers from Swansea University at its heart, plans to take a manned vehicle to 1000mph, increasing the current land speed record (763mph) by over 30%.
The target presents the team with massive scientific and engineering challenges, not least of which being how the car will stay attached to the ground at these speeds. The CFD (computational fluid dynamics) research team at The College of Engineering at Swansea University has been working on answering such questions, and predicting the overall aerodynamic behaviour of such a vehicle. The BLOODHOUND project is currently entering the build phase with vehicle completion expected in mid-2013. The car is then due to be tested in 2013 in an attempt to increase the World Land Speed Record from 763 mph to 1,000 mph. Dr Ben Evans from the BLOODHOUND team will answer both the how and the why questions related to this iconic project. |
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Ben studied for a PhD in Computational Fluid Dynamics at Swansea University, which led to his post-doctoral research on the development of unstructured mesh techniques for high speed flows with particular application to the BLOODHOUND supersonic car. He is currently employed as a lecturer in Aerospace Engineering in Swansea University’s College of Engineering and remains a member of the BLOODHOUND SSC design team.
Date: Wednesday 9th January 2013
Time: 7pm, for a 7.30pm start
Place: Upstairs at The Lamb, 92 Lambs Conduit Street, WC1N 3LZ [gmap]
Cost: Free
The Dating Games: Unlocking the Secrets of Body Language
We’re back again with a new experiment and a Christmas party!
Since July nearly 100 single Londoners have taken part in the Science London Dating Games. We have had a lot of fun, collected some good data, found two scientifically matched pairs and encouraged many more phone numbers to be swapped at the bar afterwards! Now, for Christmas we have decided to mix it up a bit, change the rules, put up some mistletoe and look at another aspect of dating… body language!
We are seeking 15 guys and 15 girls who are straight and single to come and participate in this new speed dating experiment. So if you are open-minded, up for a laugh, looking for someone special and curious to learn about the science behind the dating game then what are you waiting for? This is the night for you!
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Introduction When you arrive you’ll be greeted by one of the cheerful Science London crew and handed a drink to help calm any nerves (we’re so good to you). Once everyone has arrived we’ll be breaking the ice with a short burst of humour from the love guru that is Dr Steve Cross (co-creator of Science Showoff and Bright Club). Ask anyone who is anyone and they’ll tell you he was FANTASTIC at the games in October so we are lucky to have him back! Method |
 There’ll be no blindfolds this time!
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You will be asked to take a seat opposite your first potential love match and then we’ll begin. After 3 minutes of chatter you’ll then have sixty seconds to rate them before we ask you to say your goodbyes and move on. After you have ogled and chatted to everyone you’ll hand in your scorecards to our behind-the-scene experts who will examine the data.
Discussion
Whilst we are crunching the numbers you’ll hear about the best types of flirting from Dr. Harry Witchel, a psychobiologist who knows all the moves that makes men and women attract one another. He knows how to make your body language speak like a native.
Results
The Science London data team will then report back to announce any successful matches. Should we find a couple (or couples) who have flirted their way to high scores we will foot the bill for their first date.
Conclusion
Will this novel dating approach help us to find true love? Honestly, we do not know. We had a LOVELY matched couple in October! We have high hopes for them…
**AFTER PARTY**
We think it is a shame that we can only invite 30 singletons to come and play in this game. The last two Dating Games have sold out within weeks and we hate turning people away so why not come and join us for a frolicking festive after party? We will be cranking up the music, propping up the bar and could be playing some scientifically themed games… At only a fiver you can’t go wrong surely? Entry to the after party is included in the full Dating Games entry so if you’re dating no need to buy an after party ticket.
Note: An after party ticket only allows you to entry after 9pm, once the dating portion has ended.
When you purchase a ticket to the dtaing portion of this event you will be asked to complete a short personality profile and submit a headshot of yourself. This information is needed before the date night so please be sure to send it to us by 1 December
Also please note that when you sign up to this event you will also be participating in a real experiment into the science of dating. There will be journalists at this event who may wish to talk to you about your experience; you will have the option to share your information or decline.
Date: Wednesday 5th of December 2012
Time: Doors open at 7pm (dates starting promptly at 7:30pm)
Place: Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, 42-46 Pollard Row, London, E2 6NB [gmap]
Cost:
Dating Games – £8 (including a drink on arrival and entry to the after party)
After Party – £5 (doors from 9pm)
Both tickets can be bought from Event Brite or using the form below.
Please note when buying your ticket we have had to separate sales by gender to ensure a 50/50 split so make sure you pick the right ticket. We will not issue refunds for buying the wrong type of ticket.
The great mitochondria transfer debate
On 19 November Science London joins forces with the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) to facilitate an open debate into the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) public consultation regarding novel techniques of mitochondria replacement.
If you missed this you can watch it online here or through the embedded video below.
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Mitochondria are often referred to as the cell’s ‘batteries’ as they generate the majority of a cell’s energy supply. Around one in 200 children are born each year with a form of mitochondrial disease. Some children have mild or no symptoms but others can be severely affected and have a shortened life expectancy.
UK researchers have developed two novel medical techniques known as mitochondria replacement. Both could enable women to avoid passing these diseases on to their children by using a donor’s mitochondria to create a healthy embryo, which would then be used in normal IVF treatment. Any child born following mitochondria replacement would share DNA with three people, albeit a tiny amount with the donor. These changes would affect the germ line, meaning the donor’s mitochondrial DNA would be passed onto future generations. |
 3D rendering of a mitochondria. |
A previous scientific review undertaken by the HFEA concluded that there is no evidence to suggest the techniques are unsafe. However, as the science is so new it was recommended that further research in human eggs and embryos was needed. It is this work that is currently being undertaken at a Wellcome Trust funded centre in Newcastle.
The HFEA also launched a public consultation in September to gather views on the social and ethical impact of making these techniques available to patients. Their accessible and interactive consultation website explains the science and ethical issues we hope to expand upon in this public debate event.
Science London’s very own Dr Ben Still be chairing a leading a panel of experts on the night discussing how these mitochondrial diseases impact on human life, the scientific principles behind the replacement techniques and the ethical issues we should be considering.
The panel will be made up of:
Michael Duchen is a Professor of Physiology at University College London and Chair of Basic Life Sciences Domain. He has worked in the field of mitochondrial research for the last 20 years, and has pioneered the develop approaches to study mitochondrial function at the level of single cells in the context of cell physiology. He served on the editorial board of the Journal of Physiology and Membrane Biophysics, and is now holds a position on the advisory board of the Biochemical Journal as well as bring a member of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.
Mary Herbert is Professor of Reproductive Biology at Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and Health. Her research focuses on developing IVF-based techniques to prevent transmission of mitochondrial DNA disease from mother to child. Her team also works on understanding how chromosome segregation is regulated in oocytes and why this becomes error prone as women get older. She is Scientific Director of the Fertility centre at the Newcastle centre for Life, where she is responsible for the clinical laboratory service.
Dr Geoff Watts was the Chair the Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ Working Group on mitochondrial donation and is a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. He spent five years in research before becoming a science and medical writer and broadcaster. He presented BBC Radio 4’s Medicine Now and, more recently, its science programme Leading Edge. He was a founder member of, and served for six years on, the Human Genetics Commission.
You will be invited to ask questions and debate the issues with the experts before we end the evening with drinks at Portland Place (cash only bar).
Science London and the AMS are passionate about making science attainable and engaging for the general public. We believe this consultation is a topic which demands our attention as it has the potential to change fertility and medical treatment for generations to come.
We hope that you can come and join us on 19 November for what promises to be an evening of thought provoking science and ethical debate.
Date: Monday 19th November 2012
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Place: The Academy of Medical Sciences, 41 Portland Place London W1B 1QH [gmap]
Cost: Free!
Diamond as a gemstone? What a waste!
Using Diamond Nanotechnology to repair our bodies.
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Diamonds are a girl’s best friend apparently, but are they far more valuable in biotechnology? Diamond is not only a sparkler it has some extraordinary physical properties, which are used widely in engineering and technology. It’s extremely hard, has high thermal conductivity and its electrical properties make it very useful in high performance electronic devices. One lesser known quality is its bio-compatiblity, making it perfect for devices to be used within the body.
Professor Richard Jackman from the London Centre for Nanotechnology will tell us why wearing diamonds is only the beginning of our uses for these versatile gemstones. |
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Date: Wednesday 7th November 2012
Time: 7pm, for a 7.30pm start
Place: Upstairs at The Lamb, 92 Lambs Conduit Street, WC1N 3LZ [gmap]
Cost: Free
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