Sheffield Science Café

'Power' is not about resources; it's about sex', Steve Moxon

2009-05-22T12:35:00.000+01:00

'Power' is assumed to be about resources, exercised by men over women as well as by men over other men. But this misunderstands the biology of dominance, which is same-sex, serving not to apportion resources more efficiently by minimising conflict, but to create competition so as to apportion reproduction. To understand society, our conception of 'power' needs radical revision. Steve Moxon has published a provocatively titled book, 'The Woman Racket: The new science explaining how the sexes relate at work, at play and in society - http://www.imprint-academic.com/moxon. A scientific essay on dominance is to be an editorial in the journal, Medical Hypotheses, and he publishes his own occasional and challenging blog - stevemoxon.blogspot.com.

Monday, 1st June at 7pm in the bar of The Showroom

Big Science for Big Questions: the race to find New Physics at the Large Hadron Collider

2009-05-07T10:05:00.001+01:00

Monday, 11th May at 7pm in the bar of The Showroom

On 10th September 2008 seemingly the whole world was watching as the largest machine on the planet, the 27km circumference Large Hadron Collider, was coaxed into life 100m under Geneva. This mammoth project has been 15 years in the making, and despite the early engineering glitch it promises to revolutionise our understanding of how the universe works at the smallest and largest scales, answering questions ranging from how particles acquire mass to why galaxies rotate as fast as they do.

In his presentation Professor Tovey will give a whistle-stop tour of the LHC and the giant experiments which observe its collisions; outline the motivations behind their construction; and highlight the key role in the project played by Sheffield scientists.

Café Scientifique is sponsored by LloydsTSB

Dan Tovey Professor of Particle Physics,
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Sheffield

emotional responses to music in film

2009-04-26T23:50:00.000+01:00

Dr Nicola Dibben, the University of Sheffield
‘Chills, thrills and other feeling states: Understanding emotional responses to music in film soundtracks.’
For many people music elicits strong emotional experiences, and film soundtracks often exploit that potential, whether it be to heighten an effect of suspense and terror, as in the shower scene of the film Psycho, or of love and romance, as in Brief Encounter. Musicians have developed the ability to evoke emotions through a folk psychology of musical techniques, many of the clichés of which can be heard in film music. But why do these techniques work (and why do they sometimes fail?). The talk will explore the way in which affective response to music is dependent on psycho-biological mechanisms for expectation, illustrated with clips from films, and data drawn from experimental research. The talk illustrates the way in which affective experience of music is shaped both by culture and biology.
Dr Nicola Dibben is a Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Sheffield where her research and teaching focuses on the relationship between music, mind and culture.
She has over 40 publications spanning music cognition and emotion, textual analysis of popular music, gender and identity, and critical and cultural theory. She is editor of the journal Popular Music and has two books forthcoming: Björk (Equinox Press, 2009) and Music and Mind in Everyday Life (Oxford University Press).

April Cafe: Nothing is Certain: Understanding Randomness, Unpredictability and Uncertainty

2009-03-31T13:46:00.000+01:00

Keith Worden [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield]
Monday 06 April 2009 at 19:00 The Showroom

Engineering relies increasingly on computer modelling of systems and structures. Because of the expense of prototypes for testing, modelling offers clear economic advantages. However, this may not be as reliable as one would wish, because of uncertainty in the physics being modelled. This may be due to the inherent randomness or unpredictability of nature or may be a result of ignorance. Even if physics is deterministic, predictability can be lost – as in Chaos Theory, where the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings can appear to have catastrophic consequences. Uncertainty also commonly arises in living organisms, e.g. the behaviour of human tissue depends on highly uncertain material properties; this will be illustrated by reference to models of heart valves and ‘shaken baby’ syndrome.

How to be Creative

2009-03-05T17:03:00.001Z

Cafe Scientifique, the Arts-Science network and the ESRC present:

How to be Creative
Thursday, 12th March 2009, 7 - 9 pm,
the Showroom Bar

As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, we are hosting a special event on creativity in the sciences, the social sciences and the arts. Two physical scientists, a psychologist and an artistic director/performer will draw on their research and personal experiences to share their insights and tips on how to be creative. This is an opportunity for Cafe Scientifique guests to interact with the disciplinary specialists on where, how and whether they are creative! With a mix of stories, studies, discussion and creative activities, this session is set to be a Cafe with a difference!

March Café: Ghost Science

2009-02-13T09:19:00.001Z

Ghost Science and pharmaceutical research: Statistics without data and other weapons of mass deception

Dr Aubrey Blumsohn Consultant, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals

This is not the best of times for academic medicine involving pharmaceuticals. Doctors and patients rely on the scientific literature to make rational decisions.
Many incidents have cast doubt on the honesty of that literature. Pharmaceutical companies have developed an extraordinary stranglehold over academic life, journals, governments, regulators, and common sense.
"Authors" of " scientific" publications have been denied access to raw data in several instances. Those charged with regulating integrity have colluded with scientific fraud.

Fear of litigation and the flow of advertising and grant revenue have inhibited proper discussion.See http://www.sciencecafesheffield.org/200902.htm
http://scientific-misconduct.blogspot.com/

More on Darwin and Evolution

2009-02-13T08:14:00.004Z

If you were interested in our previous Evolutionary biology talks [ http://sheffieldsciencecafe.blogspot.com/search/label/evolution ], there are some Darwin related events to which you are invited.

The University of Sheffield's Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Society is organizing a series of lectures during which speakers will talk about their own experience with the theory of natural selection and what their understanding of the theory has given them in their scientific arena.
These lectures will be held in Firth hall (Firth court, Western bank, at the University of Sheffield) between 1 and 2 pm on the following days:

Friday 20th February: Dr Frank Ryan, author of the popular science book "Darwin's Blind Spot" talks on how modern evolutionary biology has much to offer medicine in terms of new molecular and biotechnology research in a lecture entitled "The New Evolution/The New Medicine".

Friday 27th February: Professor Terry Burke talks on one of Darwin's most misunderstood theories, sexual selection.

Friday 13th March: Dr Milton Wainwright talks on the possibilities that "Survival of the Fittest" was an idea already in the scientific domain before the publication of "On the Origin of Species", and that Darwin just happened to publish the right book at the right time.

To reserve a place contact Glenn Masson: glennmasson@googlemail.com

February Café POSTPONED to 02 March 2009

2009-01-16T09:13:00.003Z

January 2009 Cafe: How much do we really know about fluoride?

2008-12-02T09:03:00.004Z

How much do we really know about fluoride?
19:00 12 January 2009 [Venue]

How much do we really know about fluoride?
"How much do we really know about fluoride? Ulrich Weigert, who has spent many years studying its effects, has some things to reveal about it which may shock some listeners and cause them to revise their views on the advisability of ading it to water, toothpaste etc. This is an important public issue on which the public should be as fully informed as possible - which it is not at present".

The quest for ever larger astronomical telescopes

2008-11-19T12:29:00.001Z

Monday 01 December 2008 [Venue]
Richard de Grijs, Reader in Astrophysics,Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Sheffield.

Astronomy is in a golden age. It is, in particular, a technology- enabled science: progress in astronomy demands new technologies and new facilities.
In the past half-century a new generation of telescopes and instruments allowed a golden age of remarkable new discoveries: quasars, masers, black holes, gravitational arcs, extrasolar planets, gamma ray bursts, the cosmic microwave background, dark matter and dark energy have all been discovered through the development of a succession of ever larger and more sophisticated telescopes.
In the last decade, satellite observatories and the new generation of 8- to 10-metre diameter ground- based telescopes, have created a new view of our Universe, one dominated by poorly understood dark matter and a mysterious vacuum energy density. This progress poses new, and more fundamental, questions.
As the current generation of telescopes continues to probe the Universe and challenge our understanding, the time has come to take the next step.
A small step in telescope size will not progress these fundamental questions. Fortunately, preliminary studies indicate that the technology to achieve a quantum leap in telescope size is feasible.
A telescope of 50-metre to 100-metre diameter can be built, and will provide astronomers with the ability to address the next generation of scientific questions.

November Café: 'Torture As A Government Service - the New Technopolitics of Pain'

2008-11-10T06:52:00.001Z

Monday 10 November 2008
Dr Steve Wright Leeds Metropolitan UniversitySchool of Applied Global Ethics
'Torture As A Government Service - the New Technopolitics of Pain'
Many share the fear and loathing of the new torture technolgies deployed by the US in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Few however realize that such techniques were originally pioneered here in the UK and only part of a new technopolitics being developed for military operations in urban terrain. The talk will discuss the creation and deployment of these new technologies and the efforts of academics, NGO's and comedians to return us to human security as if people mattered.

Listen, We're on the Radio!

2008-10-23T14:30:00.002+01:00

We will have a spot on the Sound Of Science Radio programme on Friday 24 Oct 2008.

This is the third Science Café report on the programme and we plan to have many more once per month. I, Kenneth, compiled this this report from two conversations:

The first with Alison Cooper and Tina McGuinness, the second was with John Stratford, Chamu Kuppuswamy, Alison Cooper and the star of the show: Prof. Stephen Wood.

I enjoyed the feeling of having done the programme, but it was hard work to do. I hope you enjoy listening.

Tune in to 93.2FM on Friday morning at 09:00

See: http://www.sheffieldlive.org/index.php?page=Friday

or The Sound of Science blog.

Sheffield Live! 93.2FM is a community radio station

Can you hear us?

2008-10-08T09:54:00.004+01:00

We believe that we have the sound issues sorted now.

We have moved the PA speakers to the "Back" of the Café, so that people in the "front" section can hear the human voice and people in the back can hear the PA.

Photographs of September 2008 Event...

2008-10-07T06:55:00.002+01:00

...can be found on the website at http://www.sciencecafesheffield.org/img_events/200809/

KGM

October Café: Is Management theory irrelevant outside airport books and managerial conferences?

2008-09-23T20:20:00.004+01:00

Monday 6th October at 19:00 in the Café bar of The Showroom

Is Management theory irrelevant outside airport books and managerial conferences?
by Professor Stephen Wood

Research Chair and Deputy Director, Institute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield Popular Management books often present ideals and concentrate on sanitized cases. Yet they address an important issue: the quest for more flexible organic, high involving organizations. And they have influenced the spread of managerialism, which has added to the scepticism surrounding management thought. Such concern may not be misplaced if management thought lacks a strong theoretical base. Or is it more that managers are skipping key elements or the devil lies in the details of implementation?

Stephen explores the argument that the problem is the growing distance between management thought and social science. In so doing he presents some of the social science that in fact underpinned earlier popular management writing and how this has progressed, concluding that current recipes for bringing the two fields further together are inadequate and pointing to ways forward.

Feature on Sheffield Live

2008-07-18T10:06:00.003+01:00

Café Scientifique was featured on the local radio station, Sheffield Live. Dr. Ross Drayton attended our July Café, and reported his experience on his radio programme, Sound of Science.
You can listen to the programme via an audio download.

Sheffield Live! 93.2FM is a community radio station: www.sheffieldlive.org

September Café

2008-07-17T17:07:00.007+01:00

Monday 01 September 2008
19:00 The Café at The Showroom
No Tickets Required.
http://www.sciencecafesheffield.org/200809.htm

Dr Frank Ryan will talk about four amazing revelations arising from his travels and contacts within the world of evolutionary biology, each linked to a single image that will exemplify this broader understanding.

The first will relate to a very surprising new discovery about the human brain that links to my redefinition of HIV-1 as an “aggressive symbiont”.
The second will link the fascinating but highly controversial topic of James Lovelock’s Gaia with our present concerns about global warming.
The third will examine his contribution to just one facet of Lynn Margulis’s theory for the origin of nucleated cells and link it both to the dance of the chromosomes in mitosis and the human eye.
The fourth will link the current race to create the first truly artificial (and thus entirely alien) life form in the lab... Read More >>

.

We need your help

2008-07-09T12:45:00.007+01:00

Café Scientifique is for everyone, we want to be all-inclusive.

If you can interpret the spoken word to sign language or help us to produce braille transcripts or any other useful service, please contact us.

We would need your services on a voluntary basis.

The interface between Science and the Law: the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, 2007-08)

2008-07-01T10:52:00.000+01:00

Monday 07 July 2008
Professor Roger Brownsword, Kings College, London

The interface between Science and the Law: the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, 2007-08)

Scientists want to advance knowledge, Society wants protection and advances. How does the law affect Science?

The recent Parliamentary debates concerning key provisions in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill highlight continuing concerns about the respect that, as a community, we attach to the human embryo. Ever since the Warnock Report in the 1980s, we have insisted that we accord the human embryo a special status and yet licences can be (and are) issued to use human embryos for research (including now using so-called cybrids or hybrids for research), and human embryos can be screened and then selected or rejected depending upon their suitability to serve as prospective "saviour siblings". Is this the best that we can do and what does the future hold?

Sound issues

2008-06-06T12:48:00.002+01:00

All,

Thank you for the feedback regarding the sound issues we have been experiencing.

I am glad to announce that we will, from now on, have the use of lapel microphones, so hopefully we can all hear better.

Fingers Crossed!

Thank You!

2008-06-06T12:33:00.002+01:00

During the May Café, we had a collection for funds to help start new Cafés in Uganda and Kenya.

I'm pleased to announce that we raised £38. This has been forwarded to Duncan Dallas in Leeds, who is co-ordinating the aid effort from the UK.

June Café

2008-05-22T14:53:00.001+01:00

Monday 02 June 2008
19:00 The Café at The Showroom
No Tickets Required.

Anthony J Ryan OBE
The ICI Professor of Physical Chemistry & Director of the Polymer Centre, University of Sheffield
Wonderland - Working at the art-science boundary

Wonderland is a project that has challenged Tony and his collaborator Helen Storey to devise beautiful materials and methods to demonstrate chemistry in a visual arts setting ? but crucially, their dialogue has challenged the underlying nature of science, it's societal, cultural and artistic context, leading to the development of real world applications. In the next CS session, Tony will talk about the project and its outcomes.

More on the December 2007 Café

2008-05-22T14:48:00.004+01:00

BBC Radio4's "The Today Programme" featured more about the use of modafinil.

Have a look... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7412719.stm

This was a feature of our December 2007 Café

javascript:void(0)

Bank Holiday Madness

2008-05-02T12:42:00.003+01:00

Folks,

Don't forget that monday coming (05 May 2008) is a Bank Holiday.

This means that Café Scientifique will be the 2nd Monday of the month: 12 MAY

See you then,

May Event

2008-04-25T13:53:00.005+01:00

Monday 12 May 2008
19:00 The Café at The Showroom
No Tickets Required.

Frank Ryan will present two Cafés. This, the first, will be linked to the 150th anniversary of the presentation of Darwin's theory at the Linnean Society in 1858, a year before publication of 'The Origin of Species'. Indeed, Frank Ryan will be co-hosting an international meeting at the Linnean Society in July to mark the occasion - click here for the abstracts.

At Café Scientifique Frank will discuss the concept of genomic creativity, explaining how viruses are a vital part of this, referring to symbiosis as a creative force. Frank has written on this subject . His latest book, 'Darwin's Blind Spot' is available, with free postage, from http://www.swiftpublishers.com/.

A second book, that is entertaining as well as informative, is his recently published eco-thriller. The 'Doomsday Genie', available from www.fprbooks.com.

Frank will have copies of these books available at his presentation. As an audience, be prepared to contribute to this session in order to shape the direction of Frank's follow-on presentation to be given on 1st September. What areas of this fascinating field do you want to explore?

You might even be able to get your copy of his book signed by the author!

http://www.sciencecafesheffield.org/200805.htm