Café Scientifique
Café Scientifique is an informal evening of lively discussion revolving around the contemporary scientific issues of the day. Each meeting begins with a short talk from an invited science-related speaker. This is followed by an hour of open discussion. Everyone is welcome to come and express their views, or to just enjoy a drink and listen. No scientific knowledge is assumed and everyone can participate.
Café Scientifique takes place on the first Wednesday of every month and has featured a wide variety of subjects from chocolate making to Egyptology.
Forthcoming Café Scientifiques
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Better Looking, Better Living, Better Loving
Guest Speaker: Dr John Emsley, University of Cambridge
Better Looking, Better Living, Better Loving is about the often unacknowledged role of chemistry in grooming, health, food, and personal relationships, which take the form of the many products that chemists have devised to improve these areas of our life. The science of chemistry has much to be proud of - the challenge for the 21st century is to find ways of ensuring its benefits can be produced from sustainable resources and making it possible for everyone around the world to share them.
Better Looking will focus on the cosmetics and skin treatments which make people feel better about themselves, as well as discussing hair loss which afflicts so many.
Better Living will look at the way in which chemists successfully put an end to a life-long mental illness that once blighted millions of lives, to how they discovered a new way to make a sweetener which offers the potential for saving lives now and in the future.
Better Loving will focus on the role of chemistry in both recreational and procreational sex – and how it can help when things go wrong.
Finally, the talk will look at a new type of career for young chemists, in museums and art galleries, where they are needed to analyse and restore great paintings, and how they are making life very difficult for would be forgers.
The evening is free but places are limited so we highly recommend that you book your place(s) in advance by telephoning City Screen Picturehouse Box Office on 0871 704 2054 or if you prefer to book online click here and collect your ticket(s) from the Box Office on the night.
The Café does not make a profit or pay a fee to the speaker.
Café Scientifique takes place on the first Wednesday of every month at City Screen Picturehouse, Basement Bar, York at 7.30pm.
For further information kindly contact the Events and Marketing Coordinator, Science City York T 01904 870047
www.sciencecityyork.org.uk/community
Wednesday 3 June 2009
Visual Illusions: Reading Between the Lines
Guest Speaker: Dr P Thompson, University of York
Visual illusions are often seen as curiosities showing the fragility of our visual systems. However there are occasions when visual illusions are held responsible for distortions in the real world. Dr Thompson will deliver a lavishly illustrated talk concentrating on two very different examples of visual illusion; the application of 'entasis' on the columns of building from antiquity to the present day; and the aversion to horizontal stripes on clothing experienced by many concerned with their size and shape.
Entasis, the slight bulging in the middle of classical columns, is commonly explained as a correction for a visual illusion, whereby straight-sided columns would appear concave. Peter Thompson dismisses this explanation and secondly, manages to link his discussion of entasis with the reputed illusion that wearing horizontal stripes makes us look larger. His work dismissing this idea attracted much media attention last year and this presentation will feature 'hot-from-the-lab' results to support the concept that vertical stripes should be avoided.
Peter Thompson obtained his doctorate from the University of Cambridge and then held a Harkness Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, before taking up a lectureship at the University of York. He was awarded a Senior Research Associateship by the US National Research Council, which enabled him to work at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California in 1990. He has (with others) created the model of the Solar System along the cycle track from Bishopthorpe to Riccall. In 2006 he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship. He is editor of the academic journal ‘Perception’.
Wednesday 6 May 2009
Bacteria: Your Friend and Mine
Guest Speaker: Dr T J Smith, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Biomedical Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University will discuss how beneficial 'good' bacteria can help provide us with a cleaner environment.
Pollution in the environment is a serious problem. Industry throughout the world releases harmful chemicals into rivers, soil and the atmosphere. 'Good' bacteria in the environment have been living with pollution for centuries and many have evolved the ability to break it down and make it less harmful. Others can be used in industrial processes to make chemicals with fewer harmful by-products.
Wednesday 1 April 2009
Allergies: Wheezes, Sneezes, Itches and Rashes. Is Your Body Over-reacting?
Guest Speaker: Professor Fred Pearce, Department of Chemistry, University College London
Wednesday 11 March 2009
The Meeting of the Real and Virtual Worlds?
Guest Speaker: Professor David M Howard, Department of Electronics, University of York
Basement Bar, City Screen Picturehouse, York, 7.30pm
Virtual reality systems have been around for some years and yet they do not currently give an experience that is indistinguishable from the real world. This talk will outline an approach that is being considered to create a fuly immersive five sense stimulation that will give a real virtual experience; "real virtuality". It is based around a virtual cocoon which will stimulate all five senses thereby transporting the user virtually anywhere. What are the implications for society of such a device if it really does achieve what it sets out to? To what extent are people likely to use such a device? These and other questions are likely topics for discussion this evening.
Professor Howard holds a Personal Chair in the Department of Electronics at the University of York where he teaches and researches in music technology. His main research areas are the analysis, synthesis and perception of singing, speech, music and other audio signals.
Wednesday 4 March 2009
GM Crops: Real Benefits, Real Concerns?
Guest Speakers: Professor Howard Atkinson and Doctor Peter Urwin 'Urwin', Centre for Plant Sciences, University of Leeds
Basement Bar, City Screen Picturehouse, York, 7.30pm
Currently 923 million people are chronically hungry and we need 50% more food to be produced within 20 years to feed the growing world population. We have little more land available globally for productive cropping and the yield from some agricultural land may fall. There are several key questions we must address. Can GM crops help feed the world and what are the real limitations to ensuring food security? What are the risks for us and the environment? Are the concerns real and can they be managed? Is this science irrelevant to European needs? How would being a hungry African rather than a well fed European alter your viewpoint?
Scientists have a duty to listen to the concerns of society while meeting the challenge of providing new, beneficial crops that are safe to eat and ensure a healthy environment. Surely UK science must contribute to assuring future food security for all.
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Junior Cafe Scientifique
GM Crops: Real Benefits, Real Concerns?
Guest Speakers: Professor Howard Atkinson and Doctor Peter Urwin 'Urwin', Centre for Plant Sciences, University of Leeds
Fulford School, Heslington Lane, York YO10 4FY
Imagine you a poor student in an African school. One day your teacher tells you 923 million people are as hungry as you are now and we need 50% more food to be produced within 20 years to feed the growing world population. The teacher adds there is little more farm land and so it is poor children like you that will suffer even more in the future. You would want to know if new crops such as those that are genetically modified (GM) can help feed you. You would look to rich countries like ours to help. You would want to know if the new science can provide more food. The teacher tells you that some well fed people are concerned about the new science and this is slowing progress. Surely you would expect scientists to ensure the new foods are safe, cheap and available soon. That is what we are trying to do and we will explain how.
If you are a teacher and would like pupils from your school to attend this discussion kindly contact Mr Stephen Bailey, Head of Science, Fulford School, Heslington Lane, York YO10 4FY T 01904 633300
It was with regret that we had to cancel February's discussion on 'Allergies: Wheezes, Sneezes, Itches and Rashes' by Professor Fred Pearce. We hope to re-schedule for later in the year. We will update the website with news of the revised date.
Allergies: Wheezes, Sneezes, Itches and Rashes. Is Your Body Over-reacting?Guest Speaker: Professor Fred Pearce
Fred took his B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees at UCL before joining the staff as a Lecturer (1973) and Reader (1985) and then becoming Professor of Biological Chemistry in 1991 and Dean of the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences in 2000. He also has a long-standing interest in student welfare and was for many years Deputy Dean of Students for the College. His research interests are centred on the cellular basis of allergic and inflammatory diseases and the mode of action of drugs used in their treatment and he has published about 250 scientific papers in this area.
The evening is free but places are limited so we highly recommend that you book your place(s) in advance by telephoning City Screen Picturehouse Box Office on 0871 704 2054 or if you prefer to book online click here and collect your ticket(s) from the Box Office on the night. The Café does not make a profit or pay a fee to the speaker.
Café Scientifique takes place on the first Wednesday of every month at City Screen Picturehouse, Basement Bar, York at 7.30pm.
For further information kindly contact the Events and Marketing Coordinator, Science City York T 01904 870047
www.sciencecityyork.org.uk/community
Wednesday 7 January 2009
Nanotechnology and Health: Hope or Hype
Guest Speaker: Professor Clive Roberts
Nanotechnology is the ability to understand and control matter at the very smallest scales, from around 100 nanometres, right down to the dimensions of single atoms; a nanometre is one thousand millionth of a metre or about the distance your hair grows in one second. Nanotechnology is one of those areas of science that frequently reaches a wide public audience; it can excite with its revolutionary possibilities or cause real concern over its potential to cause uncontrolled harm. Prof Roberts aims through his talk to help promote debate on what we can really expect nanotechnology to deliver, how this might change our lives and how this can be achieved in a safe a way as possible.
Clive graduated with a degree and PhD in Physics from Imperial College, London before moving his research towards biology and medicine. He is now Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology at the School of Pharmacy, the University of Nottingham. Clive is the Director of the Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre and a founder of Molecular Profiles Ltd and eminate Ltd, companies exploiting nanotechnology in healthcare. Clive has also run a series of public exhibitions on Nanotechnology.
Wednesday 3 December 2008
Forensic Chemistry: Molecules of Murder
Guest Speaker: Dr John Emsley, freelance writer and broadcaster
Molecules of Murder will satisfy two types of audience; those curious by science and those fascinated by true crime tales.
Dr Emsley will discuss poisons which are found naturally, such as Belladonna, and those man-made, such as Carbon Monoxide and Polonium-210, the radioactive substance which killed the ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko. He will offer an alluring account of the main toxic elements describing their lethal chemical properties and their use in some of the most famous murder cases in history.
Emsley has worked as a science writer in residence at both Imperial College, London and Cambridge University. Since 1993 he has authored seven popular science books, his latest being Molecules of Murder. He has received awards for his publications including the Rhone Poulenc Science Book Prize for The Consumer’s Good Chemical Guide, and the Royal Society of Chemistry’s John Jeyes Lectureship.
The evening is free. The Café does not make a profit or pay a fee to the speaker.
Café Scientifique takes place on the first Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm. For this month only Café Scientifique will be held at Kennedy's Bar & Restaurant, No. 1 Little Stonegate, YORK YO1 8AX
For further information kindly contact the Events and Marketing Coordinator, Science City York T 01904 870047
Wednesday 5 November 2008
Rules of Attraction
It Takes More Than 'Chemistry' to Ignite the Fireworks!
Guest Speaker: Dr Lynda Boothroyd
Earlier this year a team of Hungarian psychologists found that men are drawn to women who look like their mothers, while women are attracted to men who resemble their fathers. Dr Boothroyd, a psychologist at Durham University has carried out similar research on sexual imprinting and concludes that "People are attracted to faces that have similar proportions to those of their parents, so they choose people that physically resemble their opposite sex parent." Her research also suggests that sexual imprinting is less likely where women fail to have a good relationship with their fathers.
With the intention of becoming a clinical psychologist and "saving the world", Lynda Boothroyd studied for her BA in Psychology at Durham. Her plans were de-railed when she attended her first lecture in Evolutionary Psychology and the emerging realisation that science was too much fun to give up. After leaving Durham she gained an MSc in Evolutionary Psychology at Liverpool, and then a PhD at St Andrews where she worked on the evolution of facial attraction and its link to family structure. She has since returned to Durham, first as a researcher and now a lecturer, and continues to pursue research into attraction, from multiple perspectives.
Previous Café Scientifiques
Wednesday 1 October 2008
Satellite Remote Sensing of Pollution
Guest Speaker: Professor Peter Bernath
York Scientist, Peter Bernath will discuss the methodology involved in the study of air quality, pollutant gases and causality. The team at the University of York use an infrared spectrometer on the ACE (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment) satellite to measure and record infrared absorption, comparing their findings with other satellite projects in the US and Europe. Pollutants in the atmosphere caused by biomass burning and industrial activity across the globe impact upon climate change. Satellite remote sensing of pollution is essential in the prediction of the earth's chemical weather patterns.
Wednesday 3 September 2008
The Plight of the Honey Bee Should We Be Worried?
Guest Speaker: Mike Brown, Head of the National Bee Unit, York
Beekeepers throughout Britain are concerned about the ever increasing number of bee colonies devastated by invading parasites, disease and disorders like Colony Collapse Disorder which threaten to wipe out the honey bee resulting in disaster for the food and farming industries.
On average British Bees produce 6000 tonnes of honey each year estimated to be worth £30 million sustaining jobs in rural communities.
The National Bee Unit is part of the Central Science Laboratory, an executive agency of Defra. The role of the NBU is to protect the honey bee, an essential pollinator of crops and wild plants and to provide specialist advice and technical consultancy service on bee health to government departments, bee keepers and industry.
Previous events
Wednesday 6 August 2008
Fact or Fiction: A New Theory Forbids Material Time Travel but Allows Colonization of the Universe
Special guest, Selwyn Wright a former Professor of Power Engineering and Acoustics at the University of Huddersfield and Scientific Adviser to the French Government (ONERA) and Aerospatiale in Paris and Marseilles discusses the significant problems with Einstein's 'Special Theory of Relativity'. Selwyn will discuss how satellites and GPS systems confirm the existence of an ether and will explore how, using the concept of a propagating medium or ether, it will be possible to allow visual time travel.
Wednesday 5 March 2008
‘From Field to Fork’
Julian Davies, Stockbridge Technology Centre, discusses developments in horticultural production.Wednesday 5 December
Fighting Malaria with a Medicinal Herb
Dr Maggie Smallwood
Programme Manager
CNAP Artemisia Research Project
Centre for Novel Agricultural Products
Department of Biology, The University of York
Malaria continues to be a global public health problem, killing between one and three million people every year and undermining development in some of world's poorest countries. What's worse, the malarial parasite has become immune to most of the medicines used for treatment. The fight against this deadly disease now largely depends on a drug extracted from the aromatic herb Artemisia.
However, these new medicines are too expensive for many, largely because the Artemisia crop is little changed from its wild and weedy origins and yields of the active ingredient are low. Find out how the latest genetic technologies are being used to fast-track the plant breeding of Artemisia, producing high-yielding, non-genetically modified varieties that will help to make one of the world's most important anti-malaria drugs more affordable to those in need.
Wednesday 7 November 2007
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine:
Social, economic and ethical considerations
Professor Andrew Webster
Director of the UK Stem Cell Initiative and Head of the Department of Sociology, The University of York
This presentation discusses the latest state of play within the UK and more widely in regard to stem cells research. It looks at the main social science research that is being undertaken in this area and asks what sort of clinical, economic and bioethical implications might the field of embryonic stem cell research have for patients, regulators and citizens more generally. The talk will be of interest to those who want to see beyond the media 'hype' of stem cells research.
Professor Andrew Webster is Director of the UK Stem Cell Initiative funded by the principal social science research council, the ESRC. He is also Head of SATSU and of the Department of Sociology at the University of York.
Wednesday 12 September 2007
Liquid Crystals - lip gloss to LCD televisions
A special cafe as part of the BA festival of Science taking place at the Mansion House
Liquid crystals are found everywhere, from soaps and detergents to flat-screen LCD televisions. Internationally renowned experts from the local region Professor Gray, CBE, FRS, Professor Raynes, FRS and Professor Goodby will take you through the development of liquid crystals and their use in modern-day equipment such as mobile phones, televisions, satellite navigation systems.
Wednesday 4 July 2007
Middle World: A tale of pollen, proteins and Proust…
Dr Mark Haw from the University of Nottingham
On the morning of June 12th 1827, in a house on the corner of Soho Square, central London, a Scots botanist made a discovery that would eventually change our understanding of matter and life. That botanist, Robert Brown, originally intending to study plant pollination, ended up seeing into the heart of matter—and observing one of the secrets of life. So what connects pollen, plastics, proteins, DNA, time, entropy, atoms, Einstein, a suicide in an Italian hotel, a scandalous Parisian affair, nanotechnology, rice pudding, and global stock markets? The answer lies in the ‘middle world’: where matter on a microscopic middle scale, bigger than atoms, smaller than everyday visible objects, is caught in a strange restless dance. That peculiar dance of middle world matter, as first investigated by Robert Brown that summer of 1827, is vital in understanding everything from washing up liquid to proteins. And it may even hold a clue to the daddy of scientific questions: the origin of life.
Wednesday 6 June 2007
Nuclear Fusion: Solution to the Energy Crisis?
Dr Roddy Vann from the University of York
We live today in a world that is short of energy. The Middle East, which supplies most of our oil, is in political turmoil and in any case supplies are running out. In the meantime, the atmosphere has the highest carbon dioxide content since well before the dinosaurs were around, which has lead to noticeable global warming. (Or has it?!) This talk will provide some background on this "energy crisis", and will outline how nuclear fusion (not to be confused with fission!) might provide us with a way out.
Wednesday 2 May 2007
A Wireless City – do we need it?
Darrell Hooper from Science City York
Broadband is becoming a very familiar medium within homes, businesses and schools. Users are now discovering its benefits and potential while they’re out of the home to find directions, information on local services as well as access to the internet and email . As more and more ‘Wi-Fi’ cities emerge, is there demand for free wireless internet access within York’s historic walls? Is technology becoming too invasive in our everyday lives? Come and listen to an industry expert present the pros and cons of outdoor broadband services and add your views to feed the debate.
Wednesday 4 April 2007
Science Horizons
Your chance to tell us what you think, and the sort of future you want.
The Refectory Kings Manor, Exhibition Square (next to the Art Gallery)
Science Horizons is a national series of debates about new technologies, and their likely effect on society and the future as a whole. Scientists, Engineers and other experts across the country will examine which areas of science and technology they think will have the biggest impact in the future in this Government-funded survey. But experts don’t have all the answers. They can’t always predict which particular developments will emerge and they can’t say how such developments will be used by individuals and society. Your contribution to the discussion is highly valued and this event provides an ideal opportunity to make your views count.
During April’s Café Scientifique, a number of speakers from the Environment Department and SATSU from the University of York will lead a discussion on Climate Change and the emergence of New Technologies. Facilitators will record views from people across York and the surrounding area and report their findings to Science Horizons, assisting in compiling a national viewpoint of the future of Science and Technology.
For this special event there is a change of location from the regular Café Scientifique venue and one free drink will be provided for participants.
Wednesday 7 March 2007
The Carbon Challenge
Jayne Lomas BA(Hons) Dip Arch RIBA
English Partnerships
The Carbon Challenge has been launched by Government to accelerate the construction industry’s response to climate change. Jayne will outline what the Carbon Challenge is and discuss how this can be achieved through the creation of zero and near zero carbon communities. These zero carbon developments achieve no net carbon emissions from all energy uses in the home and so the amount of energy taken from the national grid is less than or equal to the amount put back through renewable technologies. How can this contribute to living a truly Sustainable lifestyle and will it affect our standard of living?
Wednesday 7 February 2007
Intelligent Design v Evolution
Dr Simon Hardy from the University of York
There is much evidence that evolution has occurred to give us the diversity we see in nature even if we do not fully understand its mechanisms. But if Natural Selection cannot explain some organ or process, is Intelligent Design a possible alternative as a cause of biological diversity? Should it be taught in school science lessons alongside Evolutionary Theory? Dr Simon Hardy will lead the discussion on what the arguments are for Intelligent Design and why these cannot be tested experimentally, as well as discussing some of the scientific arguments against Intelligent Design.
2006
Wednesday 6 December 2006
People and Animals in the Yorkshire Dales – the long view
Professor Terry O’Connor from the University of York
The cherished landscape of the Yorkshire Dales is in part the outcome of millennia of co-existence between people, their livestock, and populations of wild animals. How much do we know about that long story? Did farming have a significant impact on the fauna of the Dales deep into prehistory? How did animal populations respond to earlier climate changes? The remains of animals found in archaeological deposits in the Dales are yielding a fascinating and often surprising story that shows how different the Dales have been in the past, and which can make a useful contribution to today’s debates about conservation and ‘rewilding’.
Wednesday 1 November 2006
The Physics of Woodwinds
Professor Peter Main from the University of York
All musical instruments are wave generators. The woodwinds generate sound waves in an air column coupled to the atmosphere. What is the source of these waves? How do we control the frequency so we can play in tune? How is it possible to get so many notes out of a little pipe? A comparison of the flute, clarinet, oboe and saxophone shows how each uses the physics of waves in its own distinctive way.
Wednesday 4 October 2006
Tsetse Control: The Role of Science in Development
Dr Martin Warnes from Manchester Grammar School
Dr Warnes will describe the application of scientific method to develop sustainable control of tsetse and African Trypanosomiasis in Zimbabwe. The restraints on development caused by parasitic disease, and the limitations to scientific solutions in the third world, will be discussed.