Using the Crowned Portcullis badge. The crowned portcullis, the emblem of the United Kingdom Parliament, can only be used on invitations to sponsored events. Groups and activities that do not qualify for neighborhood funding and resources include businesses; charitable and nonprofit organizations; government institutions such as schools and hospitals; municipal agencies, boards, and commissions; fundraising events or campaigns; partisan lobbying, political, or religious activities; and activities that support violence or terrorism. The religious persecution that brought colonists from Europe to the British colonies of North America stemmed from the conviction, held by both Protestants and Catholics, that the uniformity of religion must exist in any given society.
This conviction was based on the belief that there was a true religion and that it was the duty of civil authorities to impose it, by force if necessary, in order to save the souls of all citizens. Nonconformists could not expect mercy and could be executed as heretics. The predominance of the concept, denounced by Roger Williams as a forced uniformity of religion, caused the majority religious groups that controlled political power to punish dissidents among them. In some areas, Catholics persecuted Protestants, in others, Protestants persecuted Catholics, and in others, Catholics and Protestants persecuted misguided co-religionists.
Although England renounced religious persecution in 1689, it persisted on the European continent. Religious persecution, as observers from all ages have remarked, is often bloody and relentless, and is remembered and resented for generations. Check out our YouTube channel for videos of past events and conferences. Computer science mathematics computer science chemistry engineering earth and environmental sciences biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology anatomy physiology and neurosciences anatomy physiology and neurosciences anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience biology of organisms evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology of health and human and health sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences science and human sciences online upcoming free events This event will explore professional opportunities that exist in the science and law sectors.
Scientific areas biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology scientific areas history of science upcoming scientific events scientific areas scientific areas real society prizes free events upcoming events in the biology of organisms evolution and ecology of the biology of organisms evolution and ecology of the biology of organisms evolution and ecology of the biology of organisms evolution and ecology of the biology of organisms evolution and ecology of health and human sciences computer science chemistry chemistry chemistry engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering earth and environmental sciences earth and environmental sciences earth and environmental sciences earth and environmental sciences earth and environmental sciences online transforming our future free events upcoming live events Astronomy and physics astronomy and physics astronomy and physics the royal society awards conference free events live events upcoming scientific areas Astronomy and physics astronomy and physics the royal society awards conference free events live events upcoming scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas anatomy physiology and neurosciences online transforming our future free events upcoming live events The open day of real society past events The history of science of real society past events Scientific areas computer science and human sciences health and human sciences real society conference past events London summer science exhibition past events London summer science exhibition past events London summer science exhibition past events London summer science areas past events London Summer Science Exhibition past events London Summer Science Exhibition London summer science past events Scientific areas scientific areas London summer science exhibition past events scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas London summer science exhibition past events Organic biology evolution and ecology scientific areas London scientific areas scientific areas London summer science exhibition past events Astronomy and physics astronomy and physics astronomy and physics science exhibition London summer science exhibition past events Summer science exhibition later The Royal Society's annual summer science exhibition offers a free interactive experience for anyone curious about the latest developments in science and technology. This year, visitors can get to work with the battery to improve their brain plasticity, predict the next eruption of a silent volcano, operate the human eye using microsurgical robotics in virtual reality, or explore how Raman spectroscopy can detect both bone diseases and life on Mars. Scientific areas Scientific areas scientific areas biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology immunology and developmental biology health and human sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences the royal society awards conference past events Engineering Engineering Engineering the Royal Society Awards Conference past events Engineering Engineering Engineering the Royal Society award ceremony past events Scientific areas Scientific areas festive event past events Scientific areas scientific areas festival event of biology, evolution and ecology past events Scientific areas scientific areas festival event past events Earth and environmental sciences real international society past events This event explored the role of science in reducing the environmental impact of the fashion industry. Scientific areas chemistry chemistry online engineering transforming our future past events Chemistry chemistry chemistry chemistry engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering engineering science health and human sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences health and human sciences health sciences and human sciences organic biology evolution and ecology online transforming our future past events areas scientific scientific areas scientific areas the royal society awards conference past events Anatomy physiology and neuroscience biology of organisms biology evolution and ecology of the biology of organisms evolution and ecology microbiology immunology and developmental biology the royal society prize conference past events Scientific areas the royal society prize conference past events the royal society prize conference past events Online scientific areas the royal society prize conference past events Scientific areas Scientific areas of health and human sciences biology of organisms evolution and ecology microbiology immunology and developmental biology London conference past events Scientific areas Computer Science Computer Science Scientific areas history of science of real society past events Scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas the real society history of science past events Sciences of computer science computer science mathematics chemistry chemistry chemistry chemistry chemistry engineering biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience biology of organisms evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology health sciences and human and health sciences and human and health sciences health sciences and human sciences and health sciences and human sciences and health sciences and human sciences and health sciences and human sciences health and human sciences that transform our future Past events Festival event Past events The program is supported by the Royal Society's Places of Science grant program.
Explore the beauty found in patterns and repetition as you create and color Islamic geometric patterns, using a compass and ruler, with Samira Mian. Attend the event This workshop will take place at Leighton House on January 21st at 2 p.m. This workshop is suitable for children from 5 to 11 years old (£5 per child), with free admission for an accompanying adult. Please note that children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
All materials to be provided Adults who accompany adults are free and admission to the historic house is included About places of science Through the scholarship program The Places of Science This year, 36 small museums across the United Kingdom have received up to 3,500 pounds sterling to execute projects that tell stories of science to their local community. From family days at the museum, through community-led creation and curation, to workshops for schools and the making of documentaries, each project offers an exciting way for people to engage with science in the local area and beyond. Explore the projects we've funded. Past London Places of Science events The program is supported by the Royal Society's Places of Science scholarship program.
Explore the beauty found in patterns and repetition as you create and color Islamic geometric patterns, in grids and templates with Samira Mian. Attend the event This workshop will take place at Leighton House on January 14th at 2 p.m. All materials to be provided Adults who accompany adults are free and admission to the historic house is included About places of science Through the scholarship program The Places of Science This year, 36 small museums across the United Kingdom have received up to 3,500 pounds sterling to carry out projects that tell science stories to their local community. The Science and Civilization series has brought together a number of leading academics, writers, philosophers, and other renowned public figures to discuss important issues related to academic freedom.
Evolution and ecology of the biology of organisms evolution and ecology of the biology of organisms The royal society prize conference past events Scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas the royal society awards conference past events The scientific meeting of the royal society past events Celebrating 132 years of service at Harrow Cottage Hospital, this exhibition will share the fascinating story of a lost hospital in Harrow. Funded by the Royal Society's Places of Science program, it will be a unique opportunity to view archives, photographs and original objects related to Harrow Hospital. The exhibition will shed light on nursing, medicine and patient care in the context of the beginnings of a national health service. A digital display case complements the exhibition at the museum and can be viewed on the museum's website.
Attend the workshops This exhibition is free and can be found at Headstone Manor and Museum The museum is open Thursday through Sunday, from 11 to. m. At 3 p. Information on travel and accessibility can be found on the museum's website About Science Places Thanks to the Science Places grant program.
This year, 36 small museums in the United Kingdom have received up to 3,500 pounds to carry out projects that tell science stories to their local community. Summer science exhibition past events Award-winning conference past COP 26 events Past events Roundtable Debate past events The Age of Genius explores the intertwining of external events and inner intellectual life to tell the story of 17th century Europe. Grayling, join us in talking about that story. Open Day Previous Events Astronomy and Physics Astronomy and Physics Chemistry Chemistry Chemistry Microbiology Immunology and Biology of Development Earth and Development Sciences Earth and Environmental Sciences Earth and Environmental Sciences Earth and Environmental Sciences Biology of Organisms Evolution and Ecology of Organisms Biology Evolution and Ecology of Organism Biology Evolution and Ecology of Health and Human Sciences Summer Exhibition of Earth and Environmental Sciences Past Events Biochemistry and Ecology of Organisms Biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology microbiology immunology and developmental biology biology of organisms evolution and ecology of the biology of organisms evolution and ecology of the biology of organisms online past online events Chemical engineering engineering that transforms our future past scientific areas of anatomy, physiology and neuroscience scientific areas online scientific areas past scientific areas biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology anatomyphysiology and neurosciences scientific areas award past events Astronomy and physics astronomy and physics astronomy and physics online past events Health and human sciences microbiology immunology and developmental biology health and human sciences online past events Health and human sciences evolution and ecology biology of the organism evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology health and human sciences online past events Astronomy and physics astronomy and physics in online past events Anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience anatomy physiology and neuroscience past events online Are threats to academic freedom damaging global science? Scientific areas Scientific areas Scientific areas online scientific areas past events Scientific Areas of Health and Human Sciences Microbiology Immunology and Developmental Biology Past Online Scientific Areas Past Online Scientific Areas Past Events Free for Attendees of the SNP Party Conference An interactive international online event organized by the Royal Society, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Max Planck Society.
Scientific areas: computer science, computer science, online computer science, previous events This event is jointly organized by the National Academies of the United Kingdom, the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medical Sciences. Past Scientificareas events are part of Summer Science Online, the Royal Society's free digital program of talks, quizzes and videos that celebrates historic and cutting-edge science. We're bringing Summer Science to the Internet, with a free digital program of talks, quizzes and videos that pay homage to historic and cutting-edge science. Past YouandThePlanet events Talk to scientists who are at the forefront of understanding and protecting our changing world, including the Museum's own team, the future leaders of African research and the scientists of tomorrow from schools across the UK.
Extract some plant DNA, discover what is valuable in your urine and what lives under your feet. Then look to the future with the final discussion about what the next steps are for us and the planet. If you have any questions, please contact the Events team. Astronomy and Physics Astronomy and Physics Astronomy and Physics Astronomy and Physics Awards Conference Past Events Astronomy and Physics Past Events International Anatomy Physiology and Neuroscience Anatomy Physiology and Neuroscience Anatomy Physiology and Neuroscience Prize Anatomy Physiology and Neuroscience Past Events Past Events Past Events Past Events Past Events Chemical Engineering Awards Conference Past Events Past Events Chemical Engineering Awards Conference Past Events Past Events Past Events Past Engineering Awards Conference London changing perceptions past events A series of events, workshops and talks to consider if understanding our genes could lead to a better understanding of mental illness.
Before the debate, Don Paterson will interpret poetry as a resident poet in the Constructing Scientific Communities project, based at Oxford University, which is being carried out in collaboration with the Royal Society. Don will be accompanied by acclaimed guitarist Graeme Stephen. This event is organized in collaboration with the Royal Society of Literature. Past events in London A year after the Royal Society report on computer education “After the Restart”, the Royal Society, together with the Digital Skills Partnership, organized an event to analyze how the landscape has changed and what more remains to be done.
The objective was to analyze the progress achieved since the publication of the report, as well as to explore how companies can support the new National Center for Computer Education and how the industry can better support computer science in schools, in particular. More than 70 business representatives attended and confirmed the interest and commitment of companies to provide support for IT education. The day ended with a “Call to Action” that described the types of support needed and how organizations can direct their efforts to achieve maximum impact. Professor Simon Peyton-Jones has published a reflection on his blog about the day, which can be read here.
Earth and Environmental Sciences conference of the award of earth and environmental sciences past events Astronomy and physics biology of the organism evolution and ecology biology of the organism evolution and ecology of the organism evolution of biology and chemical ecology event of the chemistry festival past events The development of improved rechargeable batteries represents a major technological challenge for this new century, since batteries constitute the limiting components of the change from running on gasoline to electric vehicles, while allowing the use of more renewable energy (energy) on the grid. To minimize the ecological implications associated with their wider use, we must integrate the sustainability of battery components into our research efforts. The challenges to developing batteries with a minimum ecological footprint are enormous. They require new materials and new concepts, as well as new chemical compositions.
The presentation addressed these different aspects. First, with regard to the new concepts, we will show how the discovery of a reversible anionic redox process driven by lithium among stratified oxides rich in lithium represents a transformative approach to creating materials with exacerbated capacities. Secondly, in terms of sustainability, our new findings were presented with sodium ion chemistry, which uses a novel material design, together with the assembly of 18,650 prototypes. Finally, the future aspects of battery research were discussed.
Attend the event This event has taken place. Past London twilight science events Biochemistry and molecular cell biology Biochemistry and molecular cell biology Biochemistry and molecular cell biology past international events Organic Biology evolution and ecology microbiology immunology and developmental biology conference past events Human and Health Sciences Award Past events Earth and Environmental Sciences Award Conference Past events Biochemistry and molecular cell biology biochemistry and molecular cell biology award conference London past events Mathematics Prize Conference Past Events Science Venues Past Anatomy, Physiology and Neuroscience Awards Conference Past Events Astronomy and Physics Science Venues Past Events Health and Human Sciences London Science Café Past Events Past Events Microbiology and Developmental Biology Anatomyphysiology and Neuroscience Science Venues Science Venues Unleash your creativity at a special evening opening of the Summer Science Expo. Anatomy, Physiology and Neuroscience Places of Science Past Events An idea currently being tested is to return from methane to hydrogen, but what are the safety considerations and costs for the taxpayer involved in this switch to hydrogen in everyone's homes? What about using hydrogen in our cars instead of diesel fuels to improve the air quality of our roads and cities? Are we right to distrust hydrogen or do they receive an unfairly bad press? We spoke with engineering professor Nigel Brandon (OBE Freng) and answered questions and concerns from the audience to find out if he would let hydrogen into his home. What is a Scientifique Café? A Café Scientifique is an informal event based on dialogue with a scientist.
A short talk by the speaker is followed by questions from the audience, an interactive activity and a debate during the rest of the event. Astronomy and Physics Astronomy and Physics Scientific Coffee Past Events Anatomy Physiology and Neurosciences Anatomy Physiology and Neurosciences Anatomy Physiology and Neurosciences Health and Human Sciences Conference Prize London Conference Past Events Organic Biology Evolution and Ecology Organic Biology Evolution and Ecology Past International Events Astronomy and Physics Awards Past International Events Astronomy and Physics Awards Past International Events Astronomy and Physics Prize International Events Astronomy and Physics Prize Past Events Past Events Past omiphysiology and neurosciences anatomophysiology and neurosciences anatomophysiology and neuroscience anatomophysiology and neuroscience microbiology, immunology and developmental biology award conference in London previous events This event is part of the British Academy's season on Robotics, AI and Society Past events of the British Academy in London Gene therapy allows you to replace or modify genes in a patient's cells. The technique has the potential to treat the underlying cause of a variety of diseases, and as research progresses, applications are likely to increase. But what should the limits be? And how do we decide where the treatment ends and the improvement begins? Dr.
Stephanie Schorge and her team are researching gene therapy as a cure for epilepsy. We teamed up with Stephanie to explore current research and discuss where this novel technique is heading in the future. Scientific areas anatomy physiology and neuroscience biochemistry and molecular cell biology London cafe scientifique past events Earth and environmental sciences London past events Engineering Engineering Engineering London awards past events Engineering Engineering London Awards past events Engineering Mathematics London Round Table past events Earth and Environmental Sciences Earth and Environmental Sciences Earth and Environmental Sciences London CafeScientifique Past Events Engineering London Engineering London Prize Events Astronomy and Physics Events physics astronomy and physics prize conference past events Discover how the revolutionary movement in Paris and London helped shape the scientific landscape during the 18th century. London Astronomy and Physics Awards Conference past events Ensuring that everyone has enough to eat is one of the global challenges of this century.
Promising techniques and technologies, including selective breeding and transgenic technologies, can develop crops that can grow in difficult and changing conditions. Scottish researchers are well positioned to develop this technology. However, nearly a third of people in the UK believe that the risks of GM crops outweigh the benefits. Is that true? Do we need to reanalyze technologies such as genetic modification? You will need a conference pass to attend this event.
Royal Statistical Society and Royal Society Conservative Conference Side Event Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology Past Events Past Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology Festival Past Events Health and Human Sciences Festival Past Events Health and Human Sciences Festival Event Past Events Anatomyphysiology and Neuroscience London Festival Event Past Events Astronomy and Physics, Engineering, Health and Human Sciences Festival Event, Event of the health and human sciences festival, past events, earth and environmental sciences earth and environmental sciences earth and environmental sciences earth and environmental sciences event of the health and human sciences festival past events Have you ever wondered how a computer can learn? Now's your chance to find out!. Come play with the artificial intelligence team from Queen Mary University of London to see if you can beat a computer. Meristematic is the digital art exhibition of the Summer Scientific Exhibition, which brings together digital and sculptural works of art that explore the formation and structure of plants. Explore your sensitive side and take a look at the Society's most advanced experience.
We're opening the Royal Society to adults only to enjoy a sneak peek of the exhibits at the Summer Science Expo, with hands-on activities and additional workshops, fascinating talks and cocktails. Admission is free and open to everyone over 18 years old, registration is not necessary. London Policy Lab Past Events Earth and Environmental Sciences Earth and Environmental Sciences London Scientific Cafe Past Events Organic Biology Festival Evolution and Ecology Past Events Astronomy and Physics Astronomy and Physics Event Astronomy and Physics Event Past Events Past Events Past Events Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology Festival Event Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology Festival Past Events Festival of Microbiology Immunology and Developmental Biology of Human Sciences and of Health past events Anatomyphysiology and Neurosciences Anatomy Physiology and Neuroscience London Cafe Scientify past events Organismal Biology evolution and ecology biochemistry and molecular cell biology scientific areas scientific areas past events Engineering Cafés Science past events Health and Human Sciences London past events Mathematics engineering engineering health and human sciences London panel discussion past events Astronomy and Physics physics chemical engineering astronomy and physics organic biology evolution and ecology biology of organisms evolution and ecology engineering microbiology immunology and developmental biology London past events Astronomy and physics scientific areas London awards conference past events Scientific areas London scientific areas past events British Academy past events Biochemistry and molecular cell biology event festival of evolution and ecology of the biology of organisms past events scientific areas of engineering past scientific areas of engineering past events past scientific areas of engineering past events scientific areas event festival events Roundtable on health and human sciences past events Scientific areas London history of science past events Scientific areas London history of science past events Scientific areas scientific areas history of science Past events Listen to the audio recording of this event to discover how holography could unite the world of physics. Information about the activity of the Royal Society and its fellows on the streets of 17th century London and the many ways in which the Society and the city influenced each other.
Summer science exhibition: family shows: Sunday, scientific meeting in London, past events, Summer Science Exhibition, shows for young people, Saturday: a series of walk-in activities that will take place over the weekend as part of the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition. Our annual summer science exhibition showcases the most exciting cutting-edge scientific and technological research. Disasters can have an enormous impact on people's lives and livelihoods. They can be a major obstacle to sustainable development and can often prevent people from escaping poverty or cause people to slip back into it.
In March of this year, countries around the world adopted a new international framework whose objective is to substantially reduce the impact of disasters over the next 15 years. But what does this framework actually say? How can it be funded and implemented? What does it mean for science? And what influence will it have on the next Sustainable Development Goals and on the agreement on climate change? This PolicyLab brought together a panel of international experts to explore these issues and discuss the challenges of implementing the framework in the UK and around the world. Each year, the Next Big Thing session at Hay presents some of the most extraordinary and visionary research work being ventured into the UK. This year, the panel will address topics such as brain imaging and the discovery of materials, while talking with radio station Claudia Hammond.
Speakers Michelle Moram, Clare Burrage, Jane Reid and Debra Skene. £7 tickets are required to attend this event. Tickets are available on the Hay Festival website. How did the first female scientists use writing to advance their careers? How were they limited by their gender? What influence did subject specialization and limited access to education have on their careers? Guided by presenter Helen Arney, historians Dr.
Patricia Fara, Emily Winterburn and Claire G. Jones explores the history of women who publish in journals, write popular science and engage with the Royal Society. This event will also include the viewing of the short video Equilibrium (Where are the women?) created as part of the 350th anniversary of Philosophical Transactions and the presentation of our recently acquired bust of Dr. Lucie Green, created and gifted to the Society by sculptor Marcus Cornish.
Free assistance, no registration required Seats are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis Doors will open at 18:00 The event will be available for live viewing on this page. After the event, a recording will be available on this page, Michael Faraday Prize and lecture by Professor Andrea Sella, from University College London, a side event of the World Education Forum organized by the British Council and the Royal Society Scientificareas Scientificareas Scientificareas London Prizlecture past events This Royal Society PolicyLab event will discuss the use of scientific advice in policy formulation in the European Parliament. Scientific areas Scientific areas scientific areas conference with prizes in London past events Clifford Paterson Conference by Professor Polina Bayvel Freng Polina Bayvel Freng is professor of Communications and Optical Networks and director of the Optical Networks Group at University College London. Due to unforeseen circumstances, this event has been cancelled.
Fifty years after the death of conservationist Rachel Carson, we analyze her masterpiece Silent Spring and ask ourselves what we have learned. Our panel of experts, consisting of author John Burnside (FRSL), scientist, Professor John Pickett (CBE, FRS) and policy maker Kerry ten Kate, analyzed this important issue and placed it in the context of the environmental challenges we face today. This event was held in collaboration with the Royal Society of Literature. Public event with Professor Peter Vukusic, winner of the Kohn Prize, as part of the Gravity Fields Festival in Grantham, Linconshire.
Come and explore cutting-edge interactive science at our summer science exhibition. Explore our 22 fascinating scientific exhibits and try your luck at the scientific experiments that are changing our world. Summer Science Expo podcast Scientific Areas Scientific Areas London Policy Lab Past Events Café Scientifique with Professor Oliver Phillips Event Details The world's tropical forests are home to half of the Earth's species and continue to occupy a large proportion of our planet's surface. How does the biodiversity of these forests change with climate change? How does forest ecology affect the carbon cycle? Learn why understanding the dynamics of tropical forests is important for the well-being of our planet.
Professor Oliver Phillips is awarded the Royal Society's Wolfson Prize for Research Merit at the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. Scientific areas Scientific areas Scientific areas Scientific areas scientific areas London history of science past events pre-selection of the Royal Society Youth Book Prize with Richard and Mary Platt Scientific areas Scientific areas Scientific areas Scientific areas Scientific areas Scientific areas Scientific areas Scientific areas Award Conference London past events Café Scientifique with Dr. Christophe Corre. Details of the event The resistance of some strains of bacteria to antimicrobials is well documented, but is enough being done to develop new drugs without these problems? Is there anything that prevents us from manufacturing new antibiotics? What will our future be like if we can't find new drugs? Dr.
Christophe Corre is a Royal Society University researcher at the University of Warwick. Scientific areas Scientific areas London's history of science Past events Conservative Party Conference Side event Can research and innovation boost the UK economy? Event details The Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences will organize a side event to the Conservative Party Conference, bringing together the next distinguished panel to discuss whether research and innovation can boost the UK economy. Panel: Honourable David Willets, Minister of State for Universities and Science, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, FRS, FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester Ian Shott, FrenG, Managing Partner, Professor Shott Trinova Rachel Griffith, FBA, Deputy Director of Research at the Institute for Fiscal Studies Alice Thompson (president) Will attend this event This event will take place within the safe zone, so all attendees will need a pass to the match conference to gain access to the event. Side event to the Labour Party conference Can research and innovation boost the UK economy? Event details The Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences will organize a side event to the Labour Party Conference, bringing together the next distinguished panel to discuss whether research and innovation can boost the UK economy.
Panel Iain Wright MP, Alternative Minister for Competitiveness and Enterprise, Professor Lionel Tarassenko, FMedSci, FrenG, Oxford University Dr. Martyn Thomas Freng, Director, Professor of Martyn Thomas Associates Sir Christopher Pissarides, FBA, Alok Jha London School of Economics, Scientific Correspondence, The Guardian (President) Attend this event This event will take place within the safe zone, so all attendees will need a pass to the party conference to access the event. Side event to the Liberal Democratic Party conference Can research and innovation boost the UK economy? Details of the event The Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences will organize a side event to the Liberal Democratic Party Conference, bringing together the next distinguished panel to discuss whether research and innovation can boost the UK economy. Panel Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge Professor Eleanor Campbell, FRS, director of the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh Ian Ritchie, French, non-executive president of Iomart plc Robin McKie, scientific editor of The Observer (president) will attend this event.
This event will take place within the secure zone, so all attendees will need a pass to the match conference in order to access the event. Scientific areas Scientific areas London past events Scientific show at the Summer Science Exhibition Scientific areas London festival event past events Scientific areas London policy laboratory past events London scientific areas past events London festival event Past scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas London past events Public conference by Dr. Rachel Kendal as part of the Manchester Science Festival Event Details Dr. Rachel Kendal is a professor and professor in the Department of Anthropology at Durham University and recently completed a Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship from the Royal Society.
It could be said that relying on the knowledge of others over many generations, what is currently called cumulative cultural evolution, is something unique to human beings and, in general, is believed to be responsible for our success in colonizing practically all terrestrial habitats on the planet and in solving ecological, social and technological challenges. On the contrary, social learning (learning from others) is the basis for the widespread presence of traditions or cultures in all animals. Dr. Rachel Kendal has researched social learning strategies in young children, monkeys, chimpanzees and fish, and looks at how the unique ways in which humans learn from each other may have been fundamental to our ability to accumulate culture.
This event is part of the Manchester Science Festival. Joint event between the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy and the Royal Academy of Engineering with the participation of Dr. Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Competencies, with answers from Roland Aurich, CEO of Siemens in the UK, and Paul Nurse. Transcripts of Vince Cable's speech and Paul Nurse's speech are available (PDF).
Event details British research, a world leader in quality and impact, is helping us to identify new sources of energy for a more sustainable future and to seek cures for deadly and criminal diseases. New and profound ideas allow us to unearth the secrets of our past, to design and build the cities of the future, and to contemplate what it means to be human. The UK's preeminence in research continues to transform the way we live. But the world doesn't stand still.
As the UK has built on its rich heritage of curiosity-based research and improved its performance in research and innovation, other countries have tried to do the same. How can the United Kingdom maintain its global position? What are the conditions that favor excellence in research? How can these advantages be harnessed to benefit the UK economy? This event is jointly organized by the Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society, which together cover the full spectrum of contemporary science and research. Visit the Science Summer Science Exhibition website live at the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition ■ Explore more than 20 fascinating scientific exhibitions ■ Try your luck with the science that is changing our world ■ Ask scientists about their research A number of events will also be held in conjunction with the exhibition, including round tables, Café Scientifique events and weekend family activities. More details about opening times and exhibitions are available on the website.
Opening hours Tuesday, July 3 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, July 5 from 10 a.m. Friday, July 6 from 10 a.m. Saturday, July 7 from 10 a.m. Sunday, July 8 from 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m. Presentation of the political report “Science as an Open Company” Event Details The rapid and widespread technological change has stimulated new scientific practices rich in data and new forms of communication among scientists. This drives new forms of innovation and new types of public demand for access to research. However, these opportunities also challenge the way science is governed.
Open communication is key for scientists to test and challenge each other. If science wants to remain an open company, there need to be intelligent ways to share the enormous volumes of data it produces. The report Science as an Open Enterprise recommends ways for scientists, research funders, publishers, governments, and regulators to change the behavior and communication of science to ensure its integrity in the digital age. The panel includes Professor Geoffrey Boulton OBE FRSE FRS, chair of the study working group; Sir Mark Walport FMedSci FRS, Director of Wellcome Trust; Professor Brian Collins CB FrenG, Professor of Engineering Policy at University College London and former Senior Scientific Advisor to the Department of Innovation and Business Skills, David Eyton, Director of Technology of the BP Group; and Peter Knight, Director of Research, Information and Intelligence at the Department of Health.
There will be brief video answers from Professor GUO Huadong, president of CODATA, the Committee on Data for Science and Technology of the International Science Council; and Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda. Attend this event Registrations for this event have closed. The launch will take place at The Royal Society. Registration will be open from 18:00.
The debate will take place from 18:00 to 20:00, followed by a reception with drinks. Clifford Paterson Lecture by Professor Molly Stevens Event Details Molly Stevens is currently Professor of Biomedical Materials and Regenerative Medicine and Director of Biomedical Materials Science Research at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College's Institute for Biomedical Engineering. An unpleasant side effect of a longer life expectancy is the failure of a part of the body (the knees, for example) before the body as a whole is ready to surrender. The search for replacement body parts has driven the highly interdisciplinary field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Another example of bioinspired engineering is the use of biomolecular assembly processes to create higher-order architectures. Professor Stevens' group is currently researching to exploit specific biomolecular recognition and self-assembly mechanisms to create new dynamic nanomaterials, biosensors and drug delivery systems. This talk will provide an overview of their recently developed peptide functionalized nanoparticles for the biodetection of enzymes, which have allowed the most sensitive and easy enzymatic detection to date and have a number of applications in diseases ranging from cancer to global health applications. The Clifford Paterson conference is held every two years on any aspect of engineering.
It is aimed at scientists working in modern and popular fields, such as new media, technologies and consumer electronics. Royal Society conversation event with Professor Helen Storey, Professor Tony Ryan and Professor John Shepherd FRS at the Edinburgh International Science Festival. Pollution and air quality have been linked to increased respiratory problems around the world, so wouldn't it be great if we could clean the air around us as we go about our daily lives? Professor Helen Storey (MBE), artist and designer, and Professor Tony Ryan (OBE), polymer chemist, believe that catalytic clothing offers such a solution, since they use textiles as a catalytic surface to purify the air. Here, they discuss with Professor John Shepherd (CBE FRS) the motivation behind their collaboration, the technology they have developed and the benefits it could bring.
For more details and information on how to book tickets, visit www, sciencefest, co, uk. The Royal Society is pleased to work with the association “Living with Environmental Change” and the Natural Environment Research Council, to organize the Planet Under Pressure conference in London from 25 to 29 March. The Society worked closely with these partners to organize the meeting. More than 2,500 delegates from around the world are expected to attend.
Holly Bridge is a Royal Society University researcher based at the FMRIB Center at Oxford University. The research of Dr. Bridge analyzes how visual information is processed in the human brain, both in subjects with normal and abnormal vision. In particular, he is interested in how the entrance of the two eyes leads to a perception of depth (stereoscopic vision).
Bridge gave an interactive talk to school groups during the Royal Society's Summer Science Expo about his research. The students built a brain for themselves (from plasticine for modeling) and were then asked to perform a variety of tasks designed to show variation in performance both between individuals and within their own brain. An overview of current techniques used to investigate brain function and dysfunction gave an idea of how scientists hope to gain a comprehensive understanding of the brain. London festivals past events The Great Exhibition of 1851 has been routinely presented as a celebration of science, technology and manufacturing.
However, for many contemporaries, including Prince Albert, it was a deeply religious event. In analyzing the responses to the Exhibition, we will examine the complex and fascinating relationships between science, technology, and religion at the beginning of the High Victorian period. Free thinking and linguistic planning in the 17th century Scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas scientific areas London awards conference past events The exhibition will present a series of treasures from the extensive collections of archives, rare books, artifacts and portraits of the Royal Society. The Royal Society is a functioning building and the exhibition will not always be accessible to the public.
Free guided tours of the exhibition will be announced two weeks in advance. No prior reservation will be necessary during the week of Monday, June 28 to Friday, July 2, when the exhibition will be open from 10 to 4 hours every day. Lecture by Professor Donal Bradley (CBE, FRS, Imperial College London) Plastics have become ubiquitous structural materials because of the ease with which they can be processed at low cost into complex shapes. Imagine a world in which metals and semiconductors have similar attributes, that's the world of plastic electronics.
This technology has the potential to be used in multiple applications, including displays, solar energy, solid-state lighting, imaging and sensing, and photonics. In terms of consumer electronics, this means that a wide range of devices can be developed, upgraded or revolutionized, from flat screen televisions to e-book readers, from smart windows to printed circuit boards. Achieving maximum performance requires mastery of the chemical and physical structures of materials and interfaces at the nanoscale molecular. The promise of this technology is based on the ability to process materials using low-temperature printing and coating methods that go beyond those of traditional semiconductor manufacturing.
Professor Bradley, a pioneer in this field, will present plastic electronic materials, analyze how their molecular nature can be used to design desirable properties and describe recent advances in the manufacture and application of devices. Speaker Donal Bradley is Lee-Lucas Professor of Experimental Physics, director of the Center for Plastic Electronics and Deputy Director of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Imperial College London. Professor Bradley's contributions to the subject have resulted in a wide range of publications that place him among the 1% of the most cited physicists in the world. He is a co-inventor of conjugated polymer electroluminescence, co-founder of Cambridge Display Technology Ltd, co-founder and director of Molecular Vision Ltd, member of C-Change (UK) LLP and director of Solar Press Ltd., with more than twenty patent families to his name.
Professor Tadj Oreszczyn, Professor at University College London, Professor Robert Mair Freng (FRS), University of Cambridge In Shanghai, 20 km of tunnels will be built every year for the next 20 years. In Rome, a new metro line is about to be built under the Colosseum. In London, the exciting Crossrail project has received the green light. Urban congestion is a serious problem in many cities, so the creation of underground spaces and, in particular, the development of underground transport are essential from an environmental point of view.
How can tunnels be built in soil that is sometimes as soft as toothpaste? What can go wrong? Will the buildings above be affected by the collapse? What else is already underground that could stand in the way? Geotechnical engineering, the application of the science of soil mechanics and engineering geology, plays a key role in answering these questions. The talk will also describe the fundamental importance of geology and the development and application of the latest tunneling techniques. Current and future projects around the world will demonstrate the size, technical challenges, and complexity of modern underground construction. Protection against subsidence is essential and new ways to ensure that buildings are not affected during tunnel construction will be explained.
A one-day conference organized in collaboration with the Centre for Life Writing Research at King's College London. Hasok Chang, University College London Until the 1780s, water was still generally considered one of Aristotle's four elements. It took a whole century of exciting and challenging scientific debates before “water is H2O” became scientific common sense. The surprising story of this well-known substance illustrates the hidden challenges involved in establishing even the simplest scientific facts.
It will be recorded and can be downloaded from our conference archive. The Lisbon earthquake, which took place on the morning of November 1, 1755, was Europe's biggest natural disaster. The earthquake was followed by a tsunami and fire that destroyed much of Lisbon. This talk will reconstruct the events of the day with the help of archival material from the Royal Society.
Lecture on the Clifford Paterson Award given by Professor Martin Plenio, from Imperial College London, Aston University. Advanced artificial lenses that replace those that contain our eyes could make age-related near vision difficulties a thing of the past. Artificial lenses are already used to replace opaque lenses in people with cataracts, but they have a fixed focus. The next generation of lenses will be able to change shape or position inside the eye to focus just like the natural lens.
Lenses that move forward based on the stimulation of the muscles that focus the eye are now available, but not in the National Health Service, explains James Wolffsohn, from Aston University. The muscles press on the hinge, causing the lens to move forward to refocus on the objects closest to you. Another system based on springs between two lenses, similar to a minitoscope, is undergoing clinical trials. The use of a viscous liquid to fill the capsule in which the natural lens used to be, has also been proposed, but it is in the early stages of development.
“One day we might consider replacing eye lenses in all people as they reach their mid-40s to regain eye focus and prevent cataract formation,” James says. However, this measure could be controversial, since surgery would be performed on a healthy and effective eye, replacing a transparent lens, even if you need glasses. University of Newcastle At the University of Newcastle, a password system based on drawings has been developed. Research has shown that Background Draw-a-Secret (BDAS) is more reliable and secure than current password systems that use numbers or words.
We developed the BDAS from personal digital assistants, but it could be used in any password-protected system, ATM machines and iPhones, for example. When the user needs to re-enter their password, they will do so using the underlying image as a reminder. Can we freeze time? Using lasers to film the secret life of atoms, frame by frame, from Imperial College London Researchers at Imperial College London have developed a way to observe the inner workings of atoms. Until now, the molecular movement of hydrogen and methane has been “filmed”, but the system could one day allow complex reactions to be understood and controlled in their most basic form.
Previously, lasers were limited to pulses of light on the femtosecond scale, a billionth of a second. An additional step in the process that increases and concentrates laser energy was the necessary advance to achieve faster speeds. This year's Summer Science Expo included a talk by Dr. Maggie Aderin, principal investigator at University College London.
Maggie Aderin develops instruments that monitor climate change. Discover these and other missions that are making science count in the fight against climate change. With practical experiments to show how climate change works, Maggie's talk shows how the planets tell us about the future of the Earth. Are epidemics inevitable? Disease prevention and control in changing landscapes (University of Cambridge; Institute for Animal Health, Rothamsted Research) Mathematics is fundamental to establishing effective strategies for the prevention and control of infectious diseases such as sheep catarrhal fever.
Mathematical models can now predict how animal and plant diseases spread, and where and when future outbreaks may occur, for example, as the climate changes. Scientists from Rothamsted and the Pirbright Institute for Animal Health, and modelers from Cambridge, are also being consulted about possible disease invasions in the United Kingdom. Often, the ways to contain infections are contradictory. The plan only ended in 1939, after the arrival of the talking clock.
This talk, by the author of a forthcoming book about the Belvilles, tells the surprising story of London's time carriers. A talk that explores the 17th-century fascination with the extension of life, including the speculations of Sir Francis Bacon and the first members of the Royal Society, and analyzes their influence on modern science and medicine, including cryonics, genetic engineering and nanotechnology. Public exhibition on the history of China and the Royal Society from the 17th century to the present. Bakerian Prize lecture by Professor Robin Clark (CNZM FRS), from University College London Private anatomy teaching flourished in London in the second half of the 18th century.
Many of its leading advocates were also members of the Royal Society. This talk explores some of their stories and the Society's role in publicly sanctioning the noisy business of private dissection. Dr. Rim Turkmani, Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow of the Royal Society, Imperial College London When the Society was founded in 1660, Britain had become the European center for the study of Arabic, the key to harnessing the influx of knowledge from the Arab and Islamic world.
This talk, focusing on astronomy, will examine this interest in Arabic, highlighting the Arab books and manuscripts in the Society's Library. Professor Julian Evans and Dr. Shoufeng Yang, Department of Materials at Queen Mary University of London Using sound waves to create multi-material 3D objects Researchers from Queen Mary University of London are using old art methods to create new methods of dispensing solids with multiple materials. Gas and liquid valves are used everywhere, but valves for distributing dust have problems.
Dusts can clog or wear out valves. By modifying the specially designed funnels used by traditional cultures, scientists can now manipulate dusts in a novel way. Researchers use glass capillaries as funnels and transmit music to the capillaries through speakers to generate vibrations. The vibrations work like a valve, turning powders on and off as needed and controlling the flow.
Simeon Barber, Professor Colin Pillinger FRS, Dr. Judith Pillinger and Professor Ian Wright, Planetary and Space Science Research Institute, Richard Crowther Open University Professor, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and colleagues from the University of Leicester, European Space Agency, EADS, Astrium and SEA A space age challenge to avoid cross-contamination between planets Scientists and engineers from many areas of the UK space exploration community are investigating how to prevent the transport of microorganisms around the Sun System. Since the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, orbited the Earth in 1957, there must have been a transfer of microorganisms from Earth to space and vice versa. However, there is a strict code of practice to prevent biological contamination of the planets and other bodies of the Solar System by the Earth, and also to protect our own planet from any potentially dangerous material that could be brought back on a sample mission.
Because the search for evidence of life beyond Earth is of enormous scientific and public interest, we must continue to minimize the risks of cross-contamination. Scientists don't want to send a spacecraft to Mars carrying terrestrial bacteria with them, because not only could false positives be obtained, but future generations of experiments could also be endangered. The research is not only academic, but it provides scientists with information on how to prevent pollution on Earth and in space. Research institutions involved in planetary protection include the Open University's Institute for Planetary and Space Science Research, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, the universities of Leicester and Cranfield, several companies in the UK space sector, and the European Space Agency.
Adele Costabile, Professor Glenn Gibson, Dr. Sofia Kolida, Professor Bob Rastall, Dr. Kieran Tuohy and Dr. Gemma Walton, researchers at the University of Reading, are studying bacteria found in the human gut to find ways to increase well-being and reduce the risk of disease.
Bacteria in the human digestive tract are acquired at birth and develop and change throughout our lives. What we eat affects our health both positively and negatively. New foods have been designed to change microorganisms in the intestine and improve health. Microorganisms are sometimes associated with diseases such as gastroenteritis.
But most of them aren't all bad: many of the foods we enjoy, such as bread, cheese, wine and chocolate, are made with the help of microorganisms. The bacteria in our gut digest this food, and the composition of the food we eat can affect our well-being. “Our team seeks to better understand the delicate balance of bacteria we use to digest our food, so that we can help regulate their activity, improve health and prevent diseases,” says Professor Bob Rastall. Sr.
Matthieu Bultelle, Professor Paul Freemont, Mrs. Kirsten Jensen, Professor Richard Kitney, Dr. Chueh Loo Poh, Sr. Alex Petrick and Sr.
Vincent Rouilly, from Imperial College London Applying an engineering approach to building biological systems Researchers at Imperial College London are modifying translatable DNA fragments to create living devices that don't exist in the natural world. DNA instructs cells how to behave. Scientists are discovering new ways to change DNA to build engineering devices and systems. A catalog of different DNA-encoded instructions is continuously updated, increasing the opportunity for complex designs.
The catalog is made up of “BioBricks” or small chains of DNA that contain particular instructions. By bringing together different “BioBricks”, scientists can create new devices and, in the future, they could build living machines. It has incredible potential to change our daily lives. Cars, computers, construction materials, medicines: there are many things that could be improved by modifying and recombining DNA, says Professor Richard Kitney of Imperial College London.
Synthetic biology could also help with the environment. By creating very strong and lightweight materials, it would allow the production of airplanes and cars that were much lighter and therefore use much less fuel. It could also allow the production of renewable energy sources. Scientists are continually updating the Register of Standard Biological Parts to continue expanding what synthetic biology can produce.
Ms. Alison Barnet, PhD. Fernando Bello, Professor Sir Ara Darzi, Dr. Roger Kneebone, Sr.
Stephen Marchington, Dra. Debra Nestel and Mrs. Natalia Ognjenovic, Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology at Imperial College London Bringing simulation to life to learn the skills of surgery As surgeons' training time decreases, researchers at Imperial College London have developed simulation and evaluation technology to improve risk-free training for patients. It also improves communication with patients and the team, decision-making and professionalism, which are vital but often overlooked skills for a good surgeon, explains Dr.
Roger Kneebone, from Imperial College London. Patient-centered simulation combines simulated body parts and advanced computer simulations with professional actors who take on the patient's role. Synchronized video analysis and hand movement, together with computer-based evaluation and feedback technology, provide a complete picture of the surgeon's skills and assess where improvement is needed. Students receive feedback from the computer and the actor who plays a conscious patient asks questions during the procedure.
Students then watch video footage to see where improvement is needed and provide a history of training. As more “keyhole surgery” procedures are performed, the simulation will help surgeons practice these highly specialized procedures before performing them on real patients. The research team is also expanding simulations to include complex operations, emergency situations and patient-specific simulations, in which surgeons use imaging scans and create a simulation of an individual patient's anatomy. This will make it possible to prepare ahead of time for difficult surgery.
By Dra. Tara Shears, a researcher at the Royal Society University of Liverpool Deep in the Swiss countryside, the world's largest scientific team, the Large Hadron Collider (or LHC), is being put to the finishing touches. The LHC is the most powerful particle accelerator ever built. It is capable of recreating the very energetic conditions that were last seen in the universe a billionth of a second after the Big Bang, and allows particle physicists to study the fundamental ingredients of the matter from which the universe was formed at that time.
Surprisingly, it will do this 40 million times per second and use huge high-tech experiments to record what is happening. Why would we want to go so far to explore the structure of matter? In this conference, Tara Shears will explain how the LHC will help scientists learn more about the nature of matter and expand the frontiers of our knowledge more than ever. Tara Shears is a particle physicist and researcher at the Royal Society University at the University of Liverpool. Since obtaining his doctorate in 1995, he has worked on experiments at CERN, the European Center for Particle Physics, in Switzerland, and at Fermilab, in the United States.
His research interests focus on the properties of background quarks and the light they can shed on new fundamental particles and interactions. Advance booking or registration is not required. If you have any questions you want to ask the speaker, get in touch between 6.30 p.m. and 7.10 p.m., and they will be passed on to the president and can be included in the question session at the end of the conference.
We cannot guarantee to answer all questions during the question session. Dra. Felicity Henderson, from King's College London, Rupert Baker, from the Royal Society Library, and Anna Winterbottom, Queen Mary, from the University of London, Dra. Anita McConnell, from the University of Cambridge.
There has never been a complete biography of Jesse Ramsden, possibly the best manufacturer of scientific instruments in 18th century London. Now, drawing on archives from the UK and Europe, including those from the Royal Society, Ramsden's life in his large Piccadilly workshop comes to light in a forthcoming book. Clare Brant, King's College London When balloons were invented, there was lively debate about their possible uses. This event presents the spectrum of meanings that were attributed to balloons and shows how natural philosophers competed with adventurers to explore and understand regions of the air.
The basic sources of Islam, the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, give great importance to science. So, theoretically, the relationship between Islam and science is both close and very deep. It was this relationship that established science as an integral part of Muslim culture and civilization. During the classical period, from the 9th to the 15th century, Muslim scholars devoted themselves to science while people affected by famine craved food.
Not only did science flourish in Muslim societies, it became synonymous with Islam. But the decline was just as dramatic. Why did Muslim societies abandon the pursuit of science? Why is science so conspicuously absent in Muslim societies? Why are theory and practice so out of sync? This conference explores these issues and argues that a viable and dynamic culture of Islam is not possible without a serious infusion of the scientific spirit. Science belongs to the very heart of Islamic culture and the survival of Muslim civilization itself is intrinsically linked to its problematic relationship with science.
Ziauddin Sardar is a writer, broadcaster and cultural critic. He is currently an honorary visiting professor at the School of Arts at the City University of London and, considered a pioneering writer on Islam, science and contemporary cultural issues, he has been described as “Britain's own Muslim scholar”. This conference is generously supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. Professor Lisa Jardine and Dr.
Robyn Adams, AHRC Lives and Letters Editing Center, QMUL When Robert Hooke died in March 1703, his will was incomplete and unsigned. Despite the efforts of friends like Richard Waller, his enormous archive was quickly dispersed and much of it was lost. This event will explore some of the consequences of leaving a legacy of disorganized documents. Round table chaired by Professor Lisa Jardine, from Queen Mary University of London Scientists agree that humanity is a tiny and insignificant anomaly in the impersonal vastness of the universe.
But what would that universe be like if we weren't here to say something about it? Would there still be numbers if there was no one to count them? Or scientific laws, if there were no words or numbers to express them? Would the universe be vast without the mere fact of our smallness and insignificance to give it scale? This paradox is what Michael Frayn calls the “oldest mystery in the world”. In his new book, The Human Touch, he shows how fleeting and indefinite our contacts with the world around us are. Like all living beings, humanity has had to play an active role in order to survive and to spread and, to this end, it has had to create, from its transient contacts, an understandable world in which action was possible. This, he argues, introduces an irreducible element of subjectivity into our understanding of the universe.
The world is what we make of it. But in that case, what are we? Lisa Jardine, acclaimed writer, historian and critic, will question Michael Frayn about some of the conceptual issues of this nature that have driven many of his novels and plays. Martin Carr, from the Royal Society Library; and Richard Heap, from the Science Policy Section of the Royal Society The Library's Science Policy collection contains reports from study groups around the world, demonstrating the Society's historical participation in political issues. This talk will use documents from the collection to discuss some topics of long-term interest, including the beginnings of the science of climate change.
A member of our Science Policy team will describe current policy work on this and other issues. This event will last approximately one hour and is FREE. Dale was one of the most prominent medical researchers of the 20th century and served as president of the Royal Society and president of the Wellcome Trust. This talk focuses on the man, his work and the important changes in the Royal Society during his presidential term.
This event will last approximately one hour and is FREE by Rupert Baker, from the Royal Society Library. A chance to hear the stories behind some of the most adventurous (and, in some cases, disastrous) maritime voyages. Illustrations and atlases of famous names such as Captain Cook, Baron von Humboldt and Commodore Anson will be on display. The Summer Science Exhibition is the Royal Society's showcase of cutting-edge science.
The “no entry” signal was identified through a simple but ingenious manipulation of ant trails. Elva Robinson, a student at the insect social laboratory, explains: “I took material from the unrewarding branch of an ant colony's path, that is, from the branch that didn't lead to food. This material was applied to a branching trail from a different colony, where both branches led to the food to see if it repelled ants, and so it was.”. Elva has a hypothesis about the need for these “no entry” signals.
The team is currently conducting experiments to determine how the different pheromones work together to help the colony function better, for example, making it easier to choose the right branch where two trails divide. Pharaoh's ants also use geometry to give direction to their paths. The paths from nests to food have repeated Y-shaped branches that fan out away from the nests at an angle of approximately 60° between the branches. An experiment by another student from the insect social laboratory, Duncan Jackson, discovered that if an ant loaded with food moved away from the nest, it could not change its route if the branching angles were 120°, but they could do so if the angle was smaller.
It's impossible to know which path is which”. Tropical (or Latin American) leaf-cutting ants are also being investigated in Sheffield. These ants handle waste hygienically to avoid contaminating the nest. A worker who removes waste from the nest does not enter the landfill, but leaves it in a connecting tunnel for the ants that live in the garbage can collect it.
The use of different chambers, the different groups of ants that live in the chambers and the passage of waste from one ant to another effectively prevent the nest from being contaminated with waste. Bats may hold the key to the development of robotic devices that can inspect constructed structures. Using complex coded noises, bats identify the location of prey, for example, with extraordinary precision. By incorporating a similar system into robotic devices, they are expected to be able to locate and find faults with similar accuracy.
The goal is to develop robots that can remotely inspect inaccessible or dangerous areas, such as nuclear installations or gas pipelines. By emitting waveforms over a wide range of frequencies and detecting how long it takes for “echoes” to return, bats create a clear picture of their environment. One aspect that we can incorporate into robots is to imitate bat waveform sequences and use improved echolocation within the robot's detection and positioning system,” says Markus. Some parts of this system have already been designed and are currently undergoing laboratory evaluation.
When a robot detects a defect, the computer can start a special routine to change the behavior of all robots in use. “The computer acts as the control of a mission, receiving information from individual robots and sending orders to people and the group, so that behavior changes according to the distribution of defects,” explains Markus. The robots also carry their own processors that allow them to travel in a straight line and perform specific tasks. The cameras on board the robots perform a visual inspection.
Ultrasound, which uses sound waves when they “echo” on surfaces, is used to measure the thickness of structures and detect defects. Another system is based on changes in magnetic fields detected by the robot as it moves along the surface of a pipe, indicating a certain level of metal loss that could mean corrosion. Research to develop robotic devices is part of an ongoing program funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Six universities and an industrial consortium, including Rolls Royce and Shell, make up the Research Center for Non-Destructive Evaluation.
The work with bats is carried out as part of a four-year project known as BIAS Biologically Inspired Acoustic Systems, involving a small group of universities, industry and the British Geological Survey. Automating the inspection of inaccessible or dangerous structures is a key priority for reducing inspection costs, improving safety and preventing disasters. Paul Beard, Professor Dave Delpy, Dr. Clare Elwell.
Adam Gibson and Dr. Jem Hebden - University College London Dr. Caroline Angus and Professor Chris Cooper - University of Essex The Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory at University College London (UCL) has developed a non-invasive technique for monitoring brain function in the crib of newborns. Initial results have demonstrated that the technique, known as optical tomography, can correctly identify brain activity in newborns when performing a physiological task, in this case the movement of the baby's arm.
Further refinement of the technique could allow the evaluation of brain function in newborns and preterm infants as an early indicator of long-term outcome. In addition to their world-leading work in optical tomography, the UCL team, together with the Medical Optics Group at the University of Essex, has pioneered other measurement techniques, such as near-infrared spectroscopy, which is used to measure brain or muscle oxygenation. Photoacoustic imaging is one of the group's latest techniques and has not yet left the laboratory. When a short pulse of light travels through the tissue, the tissue is slightly absorbed and heated.
The heated tissue expands rapidly and creates a sound wave that can be detected and analyzed to obtain a high-resolution image that shows exactly where the light was absorbed. The technique can identify features that are currently indistinguishable using other scanning methods, such as ultrasound or x-rays. Unfortunately, the reality is always a useless pair of plastic glasses, but all this could change because of a breakthrough made at Imperial College in London. By exploiting the way atoms move in solids, researchers have made solid materials completely transparent.
The secret to this advance at Imperial College London are the specially printed crystals composed of nanoscale boxes containing electrons. When light shines on these crystals, it becomes entangled at the molecular level instead of being absorbed, causing the material to become transparent. For the time being, the effect can only occur in a laboratory under specific conditions, but future applications could include seeing through debris at earthquake sites or looking at parts of the body hidden by bone. Despite the almost magical feat of making solids transparent, the key finding of this research is the fundamental physical effect that transparency creates.
This effect has potential in the development of new efficient lasers, data security and quantum computing. An obstacle to the development of lasers has always been the need to create something called population investment in the material that amplifies light, usually glass or glass. The advance of Imperial College in London demonstrates that light can now be amplified without the need to create a population investment. This contradicts Einstein's old rule and opens the way for the development of a completely new range of lasers.
Data security could be improved due to the discovery that, as light passes through these crystals, it slows down and could be stopped and stored. Chris explains: “When we send information as light passes through the optical fibers, it can only be accessed by performing a form of measurement, which alters the information. This technology allows us to send light signals across a network without having to disturb them ourselves. So, if sensitive information were spied on, the disturbance would appear and we could catch the spy with 100% certainty”.
Francis Crick Lecture by Professor Daniel Wolpert, University of Cambridge The ease with which humans move their arms, eyes, and even lips when we speak hides the true complexity of the control processes involved. This is evident when we try to build machines to perform tasks of human control. While computers can now defeat the grandmasters of chess, no computer can control a robot to manipulate a chess piece with the skill of a six-year-old child. A major factor that hinders control is the uncertainty inherent to the world and to our own sensory and motor systems.
Daniel will explain how the brain manages this and will demonstrate that a key feature of expert human motor performance is the brain's ability to function optimally in the presence of uncertainty. No tickets or prior reservation required. Every year, the Royal Society presents the latest in science and technology at an exhibition in London. We invite teams working at the forefront of research in the UK to talk about their work with the public.
Peter Walker, Professor Zhongmin Jin, Dr. Joanne Tipper and Dr. Ruth Wilcox. Engineers use advanced methods and novel approaches to design and build replacement body parts at the Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (IMBe) at the University of Leeds, the world's largest joint simulation center.
The IMBe exhibition focuses on new approaches to arthroplasty, the improvement of treatments for osteoporosis (a disease that weakens bones) and the development of artificial heart muscle. A key problem with artificial joints is that “wear particles” are released from their work surfaces. These small particles of material that detach from the artificial joint cause a biological response in the patient. Ultimately, “wear particles” can cause bone mass to be lost around the joint and to loosen.
But not all patients react so badly to wear particles, and Joanne is trying to identify which genes are involved when patients react poorly. Osteoporosis leads to reduced bone tissue and strength and is the leading cause of bone fracture in the elderly. A new keyhole surgery technique called vertebroplasty has been developed to treat these types of fractures. Vertebroplasty involves bone repair by injecting a cement mixture through a needle.
Fetah Benabid, Sr. François Couny, Sr. Phil Light, Dr. Georges Humbert, Professor Jonathan Knight and Professor Philip Russell.
A new type of optical fiber could revolutionize the use of light to carry data. The hollow-core photonic crystal (HC-PCF) fibers being developed at the University of Bath use a completely new way of containing light within optical fibers. The methodology could eventually make small-scale optical circuits replace current electronic circuits. Many people are aware of the fibers that carry light, because of the popular fiber-optic lamps of the 1970s and their more recent use in artificial Christmas trees.
However, these optical fibers have much more important applications as a highly efficient means of transporting data. Optical fibers contain and guide light in a solid glass core through what is known as total internal reflection (TIR). Until 1991, TIR was thought to be the only way to guide light over long distances. However, that year, Philip Russell, from the University of Bath, predicted that light could be guided in a hollow core, just like water traveling through a hose.
The key to guiding light in this way is the repeating bar structure of the surrounding material, which in effect creates a light trap that causes light to reflect back into the core. This innovative technique leads to dramatic reductions in transmission loss. In addition, because light can be made to interact with gases inside HC-PCFs, the technique has other applications. Michael Kramer, Professor Andrew Lyne, Dr.
Maura McLaughlin, Ph. D. Duncan Lorimer, Professor Sir Francis Graham-Smith and Sr. Tim Ikin. University of Manchester, Jodrell Bank Observatory.
Last year, researchers at the Jodrell Bank Observatory at the University of Manchester announced that they had identified a double pulsar system, one of the “Holy Grails” of gravitational physics. The discovery of these two orbiting neutron stars has already made it possible to test with “unprecedented precision” several effects predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity. Described as a “rare laboratory” for testing Einstein's “mind-blowing” theories, the discovery provides the strongest proof to date of general relativity. A pulsar is the collapsed core of a massive star that has ended its life in a supernova explosion.
These incredibly dense objects, which weigh more than the sun but are only the size of a city, produce beams of radio waves that travel across the sky like a lighthouse, often hundreds of times per second. Radio telescopes, such as the giant Lovell telescope in Jodrell Bank, receive a regular train of pulses as the beam repeatedly crosses the Earth, so that objects are observed as pulsating radio signals. The regularity of these beam sweeps makes pulsars exceptional clocks that allow for very precise timed observations. The key feature of the double pulsar system is that the orbits of both stars in the system can be measured through radio signals that reach Earth.
Using some simple mathematics, the relationship of these orbits makes it possible to calculate the mass ratio of pulsars, and the good thing is that this calculation is free from any supposed theory of gravity. This makes the system perfect for testing theories of gravity, such as Einstein's theory of relativity, which, if correct, should be able to predict the mass ratio of pulsars determined by their orbits. Professor Sir Ara Darzi, Professor Brian Davies, Professor Guang Zhong Yang, Dr. Fernando Bello, Dr.
Parvinder Sains, dr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Dr. Julian Hance and Dr. Alex Zivanovic.
Medical robotics and computer-aided surgery are new and promising fields of study. At Imperial, extensive research is being carried out to develop and evaluate the delivery of “intelligent”, interactive and improved healthcare using robots. By combining the optimal functions of robots and humans, these new technologies improve the work of surgeons and represent a new chapter in the history of surgical therapy. Telemanipulating robots allow the surgeon to see the site of the operation inside the patient in 3D on a computer screen and, through a variety of systems including hand movements, voice control and pedals, to control both the movement of the instruments and the camera that transmits the images.
By reducing the size of the surgeon's movements relative to the movement of the instruments, the system effectively eliminates hand tremor. In 1991, a “world first” was achieved at Imperial with the demonstration of robotic prostate surgery. It was the first time that a robot actively extracted tissue from a human patient. Imperial is evaluating telemanipulating robots to establish what other new operating techniques might be possible in the future and which operations actually benefit from robotic technology.
Training systems for conventional surgery are also being developed. Imperial is integrating force feedback and active restraints for one of the telemanipulating robots, the da Vinci, and is working on new visualization techniques. Bakery lecture given by Sir John Pendry, FRS, Imperial College London Our ability to control light is limited by the materials available to us. John Pendry will present a new class of design materials that refract light in a completely new way and whose properties are designed by controlling their nanostructure rather than their chemical composition.
New materials, often referred to as metamaterials, open up new perspectives in optics and offer the possibility of super-high-resolution lenses that can resolve details finer than the wavelength of light. The concepts have applications in a large part of the electromagnetic spectrum and examples will be given ranging from magnetic resonance, in which frequencies of 21 MHz are used, through the GHz frequencies used in mobile telephony, to optical frequencies, in which new materials are candidates for wiring fully optical chips. Alan Wilson, Dr. John Hutchinson, Dra.
Rachel Payne and Dr. James Wakeling. Royal College of Veterinary Medicine, University of London. What limits a racehorse's maximum gallop speed? The ability of animals, from an insect to a horse to a man to a dinosaur, to run fast is defined by physics and mechanics.
From a mechanical point of view, an animal's leg resembles a child's pogo stick, but animals can run efficiently across a range of speeds and over a variety of terrain without bouncing. However, this “elasticated leg” gait is inherently unstable and understanding how animals remain stable during movement is interesting both on its own and because of the design of animal-inspired robots. Researchers from the Royal College of Veterinary Medicine have developed a team to study the movement of animals literally “in the field” (or even on the racetrack) in order to understand the principles of designing each animal's movement system. Increasing power doesn't make a horse run faster.
Using a combination of data collected from racehorses in training using global positioning systems and radio-connected sensors in the animals, as well as a computer simulation of horses' locomotion, the team can show how a horse can gallop at more than 40 miles per hour and which horse has the best potential to be a winner. In fact, horses fly more than they run when they gallop, as their legs are lifted off the ground more than 80% of the time. The muscular effort of galloping horses is halved by storing and returning the energy of elastic tension in spring-like musculotendinous units (the pogo stick mechanism) and is optimized to stretch and retreat at about 2.5 strides per second. The higher the frequency, the higher the speed.
A key skill of fast runners is to bring their legs forward for the next pose quickly to support their weight. This is a particular challenge for large animals with long limbs, where muscles contract slowly and have relatively low power production. Web links Der Wiesenhof Island Pferde Modeling Software for locomotion simulations MSC, Nastran The Structure and Motion Lab, Sr. Peter Butler, Sr.
Shehan Hettiaratchy, Dr. Jonathan Lohn, Sr. John Norton, Dr. Alex Clarke and Sr.
Guy Thorburn. Royal Free and University College Medical School. Facial injuries caused by accidents and burns can be devastating. Modern plastic and reconstructive surgery can offer solutions to restore normality; however, very serious injuries, such as facial burns in which the skin of the face, nose, ears, eyelids, lips and hair is destroyed, present a problem that can be insurmountable even for modern reconstructive techniques.
Facial transplant is a possible solution for these devastating injuries. Transplanting a human face is now technically possible and there are several surgical units around the world that are striving to achieve this. The technique is likely to be appropriate only for a very small number of patients and it is important to note that it cannot give a “normal” appearance and therefore will never be a cosmetic procedure. There are a number of factors that limit the prospective numbers, in addition to clinical need.
Selecting the right recipients will be difficult and will take considerable time. This process would involve identifying patients who would have a functional benefit and who also had realistic expectations from the procedure. The patient would have to be determined and determined to accept prolonged rehabilitation and the need for chronic immunosuppression. The patient must be robust enough to deal with these challenges and the psychological effects involved.
One of the main issues to consider is that of consent for the initial procedure. The three main requirements for valid consent are that it be given freely without undue pressure, that the person has enough information to make a balanced and intelligent decision, and that the person has sufficient capacity to make this decision. If valid consent cannot be obtained, it is clear that no facial transplant should be performed. However, if valid consent is possible, other ethical considerations come into play that could be sufficient to override the patient's autonomous decision.
There is a possibility that society may judge that the risks of the procedure are too high or too uncertain. There is also a risk that the media will pay excessive attention to the recipient. On the other hand, it could be considered that carrying out this procedure would have too great an impact on some third party. An important consideration is the influence that adverse publicity about facial transplants could have on organ donation for established transplant programs.
Clearly, there are a large number of ethical issues that require consideration. Katrien Van Look and Professor William Holt. Institute of Zoology (Zoological Society of London). Gregory Paull, Dra.
Eduarda Santos and Professor Charles Tyler. Environmental pollution is a growing concern for the health of both humans and wildlife. It's now well established that some contaminants, known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC), can alter hormonal systems. These chemicals mimic or alter hormonal function in animals and may be responsible for the observed decline in sperm quality in humans and for disruptions in reproductive function in many species of fish and birds.
Researchers are using zebrafish to study the reproductive effects of EDCs at the molecular and genetic levels. Zebrafish exposed to concentrations of EDC that are now normally found in the aquatic environment are evaluated to determine their reproductive status in terms of sperm quality and overall fertilization and hatching success. The mapping of the zebrafish genome is more than 90% complete, making it an ideal model for ecotoxicological studies such as these. A microarray is basically a microscope slide in which genes can be placed individually and used to measure the effect of the chemical substance in terms of its effect on gene expression.
EDC interactions turn on and off some genes, causing the physiological changes responsible for the observed reproductive dysfunction. The matrix now established for zebrafish includes 16,000 individual genetic probes. Evaluating sperm motility, fertility and reproductive development in fish exposed to chemicals, in parallel with working with microarrays, allows researchers to investigate. Michael Faraday's lecture by Sir David Attenborough (CH, CVO, CBE, FRS) Once upon a time, technical inadequacies led natural history filmmakers to distort events or even invent them in an attempt to convey an impression of reality.
Today, film and video equipment has reached such perfection that most of those initial problems have been solved. It is now possible to show things that are not only invisible to the naked eye, but, in fact, have never occurred. To what extent can (or should) filmmakers manipulate images and events to convey deeper truths? Natural Environment Research Council. We know that the Earth is warming and, at first glance, it could be easy to make the connection between rising atmospheric temperature, melting ice sheets and rising sea levels.
But the reality is much more complex. A team of oceanographers and glaciologists from the United Kingdom has recently returned from Antarctica, where they have been looking for ways to explain why, in some places, ice sheets are thinning. These stretches of ice depend on a balance between the accumulation of snow at the top and the melting in the oceans below. Satellite data has shown that in a certain part of Antarctica this balance is changing.
Combined with underwater measurements, these data will help explain how and why these changes occur. This, in turn, will improve our models for predicting the effects of future climate change and inform policy makers on how to better respond to the challenges that these changes may pose. Satellite measurements and underwater technology have shown that some sections of the West Antarctic ice sheet that float on water are melting much faster than previously thought. British Antarctic Survey scientists are tracking how recent climate changes could cause more warm water to flow beneath ice sheets, increasing the rate at which they melt.
Meanwhile, work at the Scott Institute for Polar Research suggests that the explanation could lie in much earlier climate change, at the end of the last glacial period, 20,000 years ago. A model developed by scientists from University College London demonstrates the inherent dynamic behavior of ice sheets. Each of these stories has its own implications for predicting how fast the ice sheet will melt in the future and what practical steps we could take to slow it down. Understanding exactly what's behind the fragility of ice sheets has important implications for all of us.
If the West Antarctic ice sheet were lost, global sea levels could rise 5 meters, threatening coastal populations around the world. The mass of ice at the poles influences ocean circulation, carrying deep, cold waters to the north, thus affecting climates many thousands of kilometers away. Web links Autosub British Antarctic Survey Natural Environment Research Council View all 2003 exhibitions by Professor Jonathan Ashmore FRS, Professor Andy Forge, Dr. Jonathan Gale and Professor David Kemp.
The inner ear contains a precisely tuned hearing device: the cochlea. Its protected location within the temporal bone on either side of the head means that it has been difficult to study in detail how the cochlea works. Hearing research has benefited greatly from recent advances in genomics, where researchers have begun to identify which genes influence cochlea development. Currently, nearly 30 genes have been linked to genetic disorders that cause deafness in approximately 1 in 1,000 births.
Finding ways to detect and control this prelinguistic deafness has a significant effect on how children develop their social skills. Deafness also affects a large proportion of the adult population: the combined effects of environmental noise and aging mean that more than 50% of the population over 75 years of age has significant hearing loss. Understanding the genetic causes of this disability will have important implications for finding forms of prevention and treatment. The cochlea has the function of transforming the sound energy that the middle ear sends to the cochlear fluid.
The elastic basilar membrane, which extends along the cochlea, begins to undulate and each frequency causes a wave that peaks at a different point in the membrane. The cochlea separates the different frequencies in the same way that a prism divides light, and this is crucial for analyzing complex sounds. Sensory hair cells along the basilar membrane then translate each sound into a pattern of electrical signals. The stimulus that causes hair cells to function is measured at the molecular scale, which means that understanding individual molecules and the genes that encode them is particularly important in this research.
Quiet sounds must be strengthened before they can be transformed into the neural activity that leads to perception. For these sounds, the healthy cochlea acts like a hearing aid. A subset of hair cells physically react to increase the strength of the ripples as they pass. A small proportion of this wave energy escapes and, as it leaves the ear, causes secondary vibrations in the middle ear and eardrum, creating “otoacoustic emissions” (OAE).
This characteristic of a healthy ear for producing sounds provides a useful mechanism for assessing how well the cochlea is working. Web links Sordera Research UK Otodynamics: commercial research See all 2003 presentations by Professor Peter Barnes, Dr. Ian Adcock and Dr. Kazuhiro Ito.
More than 5 million people in Britain suffer from the debilitating and sometimes deadly effects of asthma. The disease results from chronic inflammation of the tissues that line the lungs and is usually treated with medications called corticosteroids, which suppress inflammation. However, scientists know little about how the genes that cause inflammation in lung cells are turned on or exactly how corticosteroids turn them off again. Now, a team of researchers from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London has made a surprising discovery about how inflammatory genes are turned on and how corticosteroids help to turn them off.
It appears that inflammation is the result of changes in the structure of DNA in lung cells. The discovery could lead to new and better anti-inflammatory drugs, in addition to offering new knowledge about other chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. The DNA inside living cells rarely takes the form of the bare double helix discovered by Watson and Crick. Instead, it's wrapped around a bundle of proteins called histones, which help protect it, and then it's carefully packed into the chromosomes.
Recently, researchers have discovered that histones are not only packaged, but they can also affect how genes encoded in DNA are turned on or off. They do this by controlling the force with which DNA wraps around them. When a gene is activated, the stretch of DNA in which it is found is partially unwound around the histones. This allows the cell's machinery that converts the gene's instructions into proteins to access and read the DNA.
A collection of enzymes regulate coiling and unwinding by altering histone shapes. Professor Barnes and his team have discovered that in chronic inflammatory diseases, such as asthma, relaxing enzymes are abnormally active. As a result, DNA containing more than 100 genes involved in inflammation is unwound and activated. Web links Chromatin structure: function & See all 2003 exhibitions: Dr.
Ian Parry and Dr. Andrew Bunker. Astronomers can now observe the behavior of old galaxies in greater detail than ever before using an instrument built by researchers in Cambridge. The instrument divides images from large telescopes into small elements that are analyzed separately to reveal the motion and even the chemical composition of distant stars.
Observing distant galaxies is the same as observing an event from a long time ago, since their light takes time to reach us. Astronomers need very large telescopes to capture the faint light from distant galaxies, which is scattered as it travels as waves through a pond. However, to obtain as much information as possible from the images collected by these telescopes, Dr. Ian Parry, from the University of Cambridge, and his colleagues have built CIRPASS, the Cambridge infrared panoramic survey spectrograph.
When connected to one of the largest telescopes in the world, this instrument can reveal the behavior of galaxies about 8 billion years old, when the Universe itself was only 6 billion years old. The light spectrum of a distant object contains a great deal of information about how it moves and what it's made of. Astronomers use a spectrograph to collect this information, distributing light across its spectrum. Spectrographs typically use slits to measure line spectra in telescope images.
However, CIRPASS measures a spectrum of individual dots in an image to provide a much more detailed image. Single-pixel light is channeled by a lens to an optical fiber, a flexible tube for transporting light. Then, the spectrograph, which is kept in a freezer at -40°C to improve its performance, distributes the light coming out of each fiber between its colors to produce a spectrum for each pixel. Having a spectrum for each pixel adds a third dimension of information to the telescope's two-dimensional image, allowing astronomers to deduce how stars in ancient galaxies moved, how fast they formed and what they were made of.
Stars were born more frequently in the early Universe than they are now. CIRPASS can look to the past to study this process in more detail than ever before. And by measuring the movement of stars in old galaxies, the instrument can also reveal how the galaxies themselves formed. Web links Ian Perry See all 2003 exhibitions: Dr.
Sophie Scott, Professor Stuart Rosen, Dr. Andrew Faulkner and Yi Yui Meng. Professor Richard Wise, Dr. Jane Warren and Galina Spitsyna.
We live in a world of constant conversations. Speech—in the form of conversations, phone calls, songs, radio and television—assaults our ears, but somehow we manage to make sense of it all without even thinking about it. How does our brain choose the words and the meaning of this confusing cacophony of sounds so easily? Researchers from University College London, John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and Hammersmith Hospital in London have teamed up to discover how the brain performs this feat. In addition to providing fascinating information about how our brains work, research could help us understand what happens when people are forced to relearn their speech comprehension skills, for example, after a stroke or when they are fitted with a type of hearing aid called a cochlear implant.
In addition to understanding words, the brain also uses the way words are pronounced, such as intonation and melody, to convert spoken language into meaning. This system must also be robust and flexible enough to deal with variations in speech sounds, such as regional accents. The team is trying to figure out how the brain uses all of these different components to convert speech sounds into meaning. To do this, they are performing brain scans on volunteers to see what areas of their brains are activated when volunteers hear speech.
They have discovered that different areas of the brain are responsible for interpreting the different components of speech, such as words and intonation. Strangely enough, people who speak different types of languages use their brains to decode speech in different ways. The team discovered that a part of the brain called the left temporal lobe (located next to the left temple) is activated when English speakers hear English. The team believes that this region of the brain connects speech sounds to form individual words.
But when Mandarin Chinese speakers perceive Mandarin, both the left and right temporal lobe are active. Web links See all 2003 exhibitions: Dr. Daniel Davis. Ilya Eigenbrot, Dr.
Dan Elson, Professor Paul French, Dr. John Lever, Dr. Mark Neil, Professor David Phillips OBE, Professor Gordon Stamp and Dr. Klaus Suhling.
Being able to observe the molecules that act within living tissue without damaging or altering it is a “holy grail” for life scientists and doctors. Now, a team of physical and life scientists, engineers and doctors from Imperial College London is making it a reality. They are developing a way to use ultrafast lasers to observe the behavior of proteins and other molecules in living tissues. In addition to causing a revolution in basic research, the technology could also help diagnose diseases such as cancer and arthritis, even before the patient experiences symptoms.
Until now, most researchers have relied on special dyes or antibodies to reveal the position of specific types of molecules being studied in cell and tissue samples. The problem is that most of these methods destroy the sample being studied. There are some methods that allow living samples to be used, but so far they only provide limited information on molecular interactions. The technology being developed by the Imperial team addresses these problems, extending established fluorescence imaging techniques to the time domain.
This is based on the observation that many molecules will “glow” in a characteristic way when they are made to shine by a laser. The color and brightness of the glow can give a lot of information about the molecule, but they aren't always specific enough to identify it. Recently, scientists have begun to analyze the temporal aspect of the glow: its lifespan, or how long the glow lasts after the laser stops shining. Add this lifespan information to the color and brightness information and you get a unique multidimensional “fingerprint” to identify a particular molecule.
In addition, the lifespan of the glow will be affected by the environment of the molecule, so you can deduce what the environment of a molecule is like and if it is interacting with other molecules. This means that, in addition to being able to identify different molecules, lifetime fluorescence imaging (or FLIM) can provide information about how molecules work. The Imperial team is developing ways to apply FLIM to biological research and medicine. By attaching lasers to microscopes, they use FLIM to observe living cells.
See all the exhibits from the 2003 Royal Society GlaxoSmithKline Prize conference, Professor Mark Pepys (FRS FMedSci), University College London. 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James Logan, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, James is a full professor in the Department of Disease Control, scientific director of the Center for Product Testing for Arthropod Control (arctec) and a member of the Royal Entomological Society. Royal Society Youth Book Prize finalist event with Richard and Mary Platt Event Details Celebrate the wonderful world of poop at a one-day event for families and children. Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge and Oxford University are studying how cells communicate with each other using chemical messages to translate events that occur outside the cell into a response, which may provide information about the processes that govern healthy aging. At this event, Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, Antoine Petit, President and CEO of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Martin Stratmann, President of the Max Planck Society, will discuss opportunities for European collaboration in the field of AI.
In this talk, Dr. Adam Rutherford will explore how abuses in his own fields of evolution and genetics, by politicians, ideologues and by scientists themselves, were fundamental to the most heinous crimes in modern history. The theme of this event is “translational research” with several sessions so that participants have the opportunity to discuss issues, concerns and successes in this area. Attend this event: It will be a hybrid event.
In-person attendance is by invitation and is only suitable for people over 18 years of age. Free support: no need to register. Live captions will be provided for this event. Doors will open starting at 18:00 and seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Travel and Accessibility Information Please note that this event will be filmed as a live stream. Event Details Explore the wonders of the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition on this adults-only nighttime experience. Presentation of the winner of the Kavli Prize in collaboration with the Kavli Foundation Event Details Professor Jane Luu is a member of the technical staff of the Active Optical Systems Group at the Lincoln Laboratory at MIT. Kesseler, an artist and professor at Central Saint Martins in London, works from a microscopic examination of plant forms to create works of art in glass, ceramics and textiles.
A world leader in remote wildlife observation, the Center uses state-of-the-art solar cameras on the islands of the Forth estuary to broadcast incredible live close-ups of seabirds and marine fauna on giant screens. Susanna Edwards, visiting researcher at London Metropolitan University, Curious is a research project that includes a residency at the Science Museum in London. The intense cultural and commercial activity centered in London at the end of the 17th century attracted a variety of entrepreneurs. Professor Dianna Bowles is professor emeritus in the Department of Biology at York University and founder of the Center for New Agricultural Products.
Michael Faraday Award and Lecture by Professor Brian Cox OBE Event Details This conference will explore the place of science in society and discuss how the tremendous discoveries of recent years, at the Large Hadron Collider and elsewhere, have helped to transform the public perception of science. .
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