Category Archives: ecology

In this post I preview October’s PubSci (Wednesday 15th!), celebrate maths and poetry, promote a science radio show close to my heart and mark the passing of two very different legends.

Apologies for the extreme tardiness of this blog post. If you rely on my blog for event updates you’ll be biting your nails by now. Head to the Next Event page and grab you ticket ASAP. As I explain later, I’ve had my head in a rather wonderful project, that I hope you’ll enjoy. Remember, if you subscribe to PubSci’s calendar, events in your calendar will update automatically.

But first…

It would be absurd to begin this blog with anything other than the death of conservation and primatology legend, Dr Jane Goodall — and it would be almost impossible to overstate her impact.

To quote the BBC: “Goodall discovered that chimps used tools, created complex societies and could be so aggressive they could even kill one another. This suggested that chimps and humans are likely to have common ancestors – and was ground-breaking information. Her work made waves amongst her fellow researchers, and the public enthusiastically responded to her revelations.

The idea that chimps and humans were related spurred debates about what it means to be human, inspiring a rethink on animal rights. Her books were so widely read that when one of Jane’s subjects Flo died in 1972, The Sunday Times ran an obituary.“

Not only was Jane Goodall a pioneering primatologist and powerful advocate for conservation and habitat protection, she was also an inspirational humanitarian and a role model for young women — so much so that she was immortalised as a Barbie in their Inspiring Women series and as a Lego Minifigure, in both cases accompanied by chimps.

Tireless Goodall died at the age of 91 in the middle of a US speaking tour and left behind a final message for the world, a message of personal and environmental hope for these times:

“I want you to understand that we are part of the natural world. And even today, when the planet is dark, there still is hope...”

You can read the full text here and watch the video of Dr Goodall delivering her final message to the world here.

October’s PubSci is upon us – book now on Eventbrite!

October’s PubSci is on Wednesday 15th October, which means it’s today if you’re reading this the same day it appears in you mailbox, so I’ll keep this brief.

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like without antibiotics…? 100 years ago, infections we consider almost trivial today frequently led to lasting illness or death until penicillin was commercialised. The shocking reality, however, is that bacteria and other microbes are developing resistance to antimicrobial drugs faster than we are developing new antimicrobials.

With drug resistant infections costing the NHS £180 million a year, it’s more important than ever to understand how microbes become resistant, what we can do about it, and what options are out there if antibiotics fail us altogether. This month at PubSci, Professor Jenny Rohn from UCL explores what happens when the antibiotics stop working, why antimicrobial resistance matters, and what scientists are doing to stop us returning to the days when even a scratch could be fatal.

You can get full details, as ever on PubSci’s Our Next Event page until it’s updated for November, but why not head straight to Eventbrite and grab one of the few remaining tickets.

Much To Do About Numbers?

Last month’s PubSci was all about the clever ways William Shakespeare used maths in his plays, and the speaker, Rob Eastaway, is involved with the launch of Maths World, only a stone’s throw from Shakespeare’s Globe. Maths World is new discovery centre for London which aims to do for mathematics what the Science Museum and Natural History Museums do for their fields; think immersive and interactive exhibits, puzzles, AI, code-breaking etc. Wonderfully it’s located in Bankside, part of the historic Liberty of Southwark, as it was known in Shakespeare’s day.

Maths World is located at 6 Burrell St, SE1 0UN, near the Tate Modern. Expect much ado about numberphiles when it officially opens on 13th November.

Rob’s talk on Shakespeare’s Maths was such a great hit that he ran out of books to sell. Apologies to those who didn’t manage to get a signed copy of Much Ado About Numbers. You can always grab a copy in the shops or via the link on Rob’s website and bring it to one of his events to be signed at a later date. I once took a copy of Connections [the book of the 1978 BBC TV series] to a talk by James Burke to get it signed by him some 30 years after it was published — which he most graciously did!

Talking of Connections…

Looking further back to Augusts’ PubSci, I was delighted to discover that August’s speaker, Ruth Stalker-Firth had written a super blog post about PubSci ahead of her talk. You can read it (and find the rest of Ruth’s website) here where there’s also a follow up post with event photos. She’s even kindly linked back to last month’s PubSci blog. If you’re a blogger, vlogger, influencer, broadcaster, or whatever, please let us know if you happen to mention PubSci so I can add it to our archive.

And on the Subject of Broadcasting…

What kept me rather busy of late was recording, producing and editing my first ever radio show! The Science Show is co-presented by myself and Mike Lucibella on Resonance FM, the Arts Council funded community radio station for London. Yes it broadcasts live on FM in London, and you can livestream it anywhere in the world or get it on Radioplayer across the UK.

The show is a monthly one hour magazine programme (ie with several different segments) that you can listen to in one go, or break up into three easy chunks. So far we’ve made a pilot show (with some technical limitations) but the station was so excited by the early test recordings that they’ve given us a regular slot: 5pm on the fourth Tuesday of the month, beginning 28th October, with a repeat at 10am the following Sunday.

The pilot episode went out live on Thursday 9th October and you can listen to it here:

Please let us know what you think by sending us a message at our dedicated email address.

Return of the IgNobels

With the 2025 Nobel Awards announced over the past week or so, it’s easy to forget their lighthearted counterparts. The Ig Nobels recognise research that makes you laugh and then makes you think – much as good comedy does. Last year I was dressed as a banana as part of the Royal Institution‘s Ig Nobels Live night. This year I’m event managing the evening so I might get away without skinning up as a banana — but then again, I might not!

This year’s special event on Friday 31st October is called IgNobels Face-To-Face at which prize winners and some of the leading minds in science will explore how research on the unlikeliest of subjects can have real world implications. Expect a night of hilarious and enlightening stories from some of the strangest and most intriguing scientific research in recent years! And if you enjoy a Halloween party, you’ll still have time to go out and do something spooktacular afterwards. Book with the Ri at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ig-nobels-face-to-face-tickets-1489016060119

Shall I Compare Thee to a Synaptic Junction?

No, I’m not trying to wax poetical about neurones (although the neuroscience of dementia is the topic of our November talk by Dr Emma Clayton)*, nor am I alluding to Rob’s Shakespeare talk. Science is traditionally communicated in precise language but there are times when evocative imagery is the most powerful medium for scientific ideas. Prof Sam Illingworth’s CPD course on Science Communication through Poetry sets out to do exactly that, and it’s back for the third year.

Four interactive sessions explore how poetry can bring science to life and connect with audiences in fresh, creative ways. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a scientist, a poet, or an enthusiastic amateur. I participated a couple of years ago and enjoyed it greatly. Sessions take place online over consecutive Tuesday lunchtimes, beginning 21st October and there are a few paces left.

Find out more and book here.

Farewell to John Searle

Another great mind left us last week: American Philosopher John Searle died at the age of 93.

Searle contributed to the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and social philosophy, and he is best known for philosophy concerning Artificial Intelligence. Searle’s most celebrated contribution is the 1980 thought experiment known as The Chinese Room which holds that a computer executing a program cannot have a mind, understanding, or consciousness, regardless of how intelligently or human-like the program may make the computer behave. ChatGPT users take note! In 2015 Searle was invited to address Google in a talk titled “Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence”.

Searle called his philosophical position “biological naturalism” which insists that consciousness and understanding require a specific biological machinery found in brains: “Brains cause minds”. I won’t go into it here, but the Wikipedia page (linked above) gives a good account of the Chinese Room and what Searle inferred from it.

The next few decades may show Searle to be right in insisting consciousness and understanding are biological phenomena, or they may show his opponents in the Strong AI camp to be right (which is what the loud tech bros tell investors) — but a third possibility is that John Searle’s famous thought experiment presents an opportunity to reassess how we understand ourselves first and foremost, just as profoundly as meeting a “conscious AI” would do. Or indeed looking into the eyes of a great ape and recognising an ancient shared lineage which tells us we are more connected than we dare admit in this fragile world.

~

Don’t forget to grab your last minute ticket to October’s PubSci, and remember to follow us on all the socials including LinkedIn to keep up to date with what we’re doing. You can find those on our Linktree.

* Please note that our November 2025 talk is on Wednesday 26th November, which is the fourth Wednesday. We had to move it from the previous week because Mike and I will both be at the IoP Communicators and Outreach conference on 19th and will be giving a short talk about PubSci.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to email or comment in response. Hope to see you at The Old King’s Head on Wednesday 15th October.

15/10/2025 Posted by Richard, PubSci programmer and host

PubSci: Sipping • Supping • Science

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The Summer / Autumn Programme

PubSci’s latest programme runs from July to November (there’s no event in December) and is perfect for printing out and pinning to your work noticeboard or sticking to the fridge, It’s always available on the Current Programme page, along with past event programmes, and you can link to the image below on your own website.

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Keeping Up With Future Events

To make sure you don’t miss out on future events, subscribe to our Google Calendar to be the first to know when new talks are scheduled, and follow PubSci’s events on Eventbrite to be notified when tickets are available. You can also sign up to our own mailing list on any page on this site.

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About PubSci talks

PubSci is organised and hosted by science communicator, Richard Marshall, assisted by Mike Lucibella. Events are held upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge tube. No specialist knowledge is required, just curiosity. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Talks run for ~45 minutes and are followed by a Q&A session. The Old King’s Head has a happy hour before 7pm, and the kitchen serves excellent pub grub.

Support PubSci

There is no charge for attending PubSci talks, but we have a cash whip-round to cover expenses on the night – consider it “Pay What You Can Afford”. As few of us carry cash these days, you can make a donation when registering for ticketed events with Eventbrite. Please help us continue putting on events. PubSci has no other source of funding.

We aim to keep PubSci accessible for all, although it is unsuitable for under 18s as we meet in the function room of  a pub. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access. 

You can find all our links on our LinkTree.

Address:

The Old King’s Head (upstairs room)
King’s Head Yard
45-49 Borough High Street
London SE1 1NA