Mid June Blog: July PubSci is back on! Plus June hot press info, a new Events Programme, and amazing things to do.

TONIGHT

If you’re coming to The Old King’s Head for tonight’s PubSci, here’s an important update:

1. It’s warm today – which means it’s gonna be even warmer in the upstairs room.
   • We have to keep windows closed due to noise from outside, so wear light clothes and bring a small fan
     • We’ll ventilate before the talk and during the break so if you sit by a window please leave it open until the the event starts.
2. It’s football today, so the pub will be busy and noisy downstairs.
   • Please be patient with the staff, know what you’re ordering and remember that you can order at the foot of the stairs, but please wait at the open door and don’t enter the bar area.
     • If you’re eating, order early (there are menus and a Specials board upstairs) and listen out for your name / order.
3. It’s not just any football, it’s England’s first game of the men’s World Cup
   • Greg, the landlord, told me he could have filled the pub three-times over with football bookings, and it’s a sign of PubSci’s long relationship with the Old King’s Head that he’s honouring our event booking tonight.
     • Please be super-lovely to the staff, and spend loads at the bar!
4. The match kicks off at 9pm, when PubSci usually wraps up and it could get noisy from 8.30
   • We’ll pack up the screen and projector during the break, and finish the Q&A no later than 8.45
     • Please keep questions clear and brief, without long statements or pronouncements
5. We’ll be handing the room back to anybody who wants to watch upstairs
   • For once, there won’t be lots of time for socialising after the event
   • As soon as we finish, we need to quickly turn the room around (possibly literally) and open the doors
     • Please help by returning your glasses to the downstairs bar and your plates to the upstairs bar.
     • If we need to move chairs, please help us with that too so we can keep musing the pub
6. Don’t be put off
   • The side door will be open, so you won’t need to struggle through a sea of footy fans when arriving or leaving

July’s PubSci is back on!

We postponed Marcus du Sautoy’s planned July talk s it clashed with the first semi-final of the World Cup. However, I have arranged a different talk for the following week when the football is all over.

Serotonin is popularly known as the happiness molecule but its relationship with depression is complex, and measuring neurotransmitters in living brains remained a challenge for years.

Now Dr Hashemi’s team at Imperial College has developed a revolutionary, non-invasive technique for diagnostically tracking serotonin levels in real time and turning the results into music.

Tickets will be available on Eventbrite soon.

30th June 2026: Of Doubtful salmon and Hovering Hamsters

Can hamsters levitate? Do salmon emote? Did herring inspire a Doctor Who spoof? Science communicator and host of PubSci, Richard brings some of the quirkiest stories of animals in science to the London Fortean Society in a not-to-be missed event on Tuesday 30^th June: The Levitating Hamster and the Salmon of Doubt.

This is not a PubSci event, so you’ll need to book through London Fortean Society at https://wegottickets.com/f/21077. Their venue is The Bell on Middlesex Street, London E1 7EX (Liverpool Street / Aldgate East).

There’s a new event programme

The PubSci Spring / Summer Programme has finally been uploaded. You’ll notice it doesn’t go very far into the future – that’s because the world cup and August’s total solar eclipse have changed a few plans – but it’s still worth looking at and printing out.

A radio show to delight your ears

Episode #8 of The Science Show was broadcast on Monday 1st June and is available to stream now as a podcast. In this show:

• George Holdaway joins me to discuss the latest science news including: How fungi can trigger ice and rain; the perilous state of Antarctic ice; NASA’s moon base plans; Pluto and Plutino; and String Theory emerging from nowhere

• George and I take a Random Walk from Mercury to Murder via Evangelista Torricelli, Toxic Hats, and Tycho Brahe.

• Dr Parry Hashemi from Imperial College London talks neurotransmitters, brain organoids, and turning serotonin into music.

• Plus details of the best science-related events in London and beyond – including this weekend’s Great Exhibition Road Festival where Dr Hashemi’s team has an amazing interactive installation that allows you to listen to happiness in the brain! – and, as always on the truly unique Science Show, we throw in some excellent music for good measure.

Stream it here https://tinyurl.com/TheScienceShow-Episode-8

And I’m delighted to say that, within days up release, Show 8 shot to the top of the Science charts and reached number 23 among all podcasts on Mixcloud! A huge Thank You to those who listen in live or stream the podcast. If you haven’t yet, you can find out what you’ve been missing at https://www.mixcloud.com/The_Science_Show/

Anyhoo, I’ll be back with an update soon. Meanwhile, I hope to see you all tonight.

Richard (Science communicator and PubSci organiser/host)

17th June 2026