In this post I preview next week’s PubSci talk by Mark Lythgoe, look back at January’s Antarctic barnstormer, rediscover a childhood favourite movie, and preview the most unlikely musical ever.
February’s PubSci talk is nearly here!
Just a few tickets are still available for this unique opportunity to catch world-renowned and multiple award-winning scientist and communicator Professor Mark Lythgoe talk about the mid-blowing technology of body imaging. Use the button below to book for “Naked to the Bone – Next Gen. Biomedical Imaging” on Wednesday 18th February.
If you subscribe to PubSci’s calendar, you’ll have got the Eventbrite booking link as it went live.
If you don’t yet subscribe, now’s a good time to do it so PubSci events in your own calendar update automatically with the latest information and booking links as soon as they’re available. Clicking onTHIS link downloads a small .ics file which adds our calendar to yours once you’ve open it.
Scroll down for full details of February’s PubSci on Wednesday 18th or head straight to our NEXT EVENT page.
Polar Volcanoes, Whale Poo, Penguins and Beers – but no Bears!
January’s event was a delightful first for PubSci as we collaborated with Polar Beers and UK Polar Network for a fantastic joint event on Antarctica, featuring two talks on the Antarctic and a polar-themed pub quiz.
In Antarctica 2.0, Lavy Ratnarajah, a lecturer in Climate Science at the Department of Earth Sciences, UCL talked about nutrient and carbon cycling in the Southern Ocean and the effect that warmer ocean waters (due to climate change) are having on this delicate balance.
It turns out that whale poo is a key factor in this cycle, and that ultimately, the whales eat the things that eat the things that eat their poo. Very neat indeed!
Mike Lucibella shared insights from his recent Masters in the History and Philosophy of Science (also at UCL), focusing on Deception Island, a flooded volcanic caldera off the Antarctic Peninsula which experienced a series of violent eruptions in the 1960s, leading to the evacuation and destruction of three research stations.
The remaining island (including a new landmass) is now a scientifically important area, protected for its rare plant and birdlife. Fun fact: There are hot springs in Antarctica where you can bathe!
Lastly, we were treated to a pub quiz by Megan Malpas andIsabelle Sangha from Polar Beers, an outreach initiative of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge and UK Polar Network. The quiz tested general knowledge of both poles, popular culture and general science as well as rewarding those who paid attention during the talks.
There were even quiz prizes: Polar Beers t-shirts for the top teams (modelled here by Megan and Izzy), and free stickers for everybody else.
Fun fact: Despite the name Arctic deriving from to arctos (Greek for “bear”), the presence of polar bears in the Arctic north is just a happy coincidence. Arctic/arctos refers to two constellations known to us by their latin names, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (which also includes the pole star which denotes celestial north). Antarctic, therefore, means away from – or opposite to – the region of the bear. Fittingly there are no bears in Antarctica.
Whilst Antarctic researchers are quite safe from polar bear attacks, they are frequently approached by penguins. Not only are these odd birds surprisingly curious about humans, I’m reliably informed that nothing else on Earth smells quite like penguin poo!
Many thanks to all our speakers, and a big thank you to Mike for arranging this one.
February’s PubSci: Naked to the Bone – Next Gen. Biomedical Imaging, 18th Feb
On Wednesday 18th February 2026, PubSci is delighted to welcome Professor Mark Lythgoe to the Old King’s Head to share the beauty, wonder, and exciting future of medical imaging. If’s only a few days away now, so grab a ticket while you still can.
Have you ever wanted to look inside your head, pondered what an MRI is or wondered if Star Trek’s “medical tricorder” could become a reality? Or even marvelled at a medical X-ray…? All these and more are forms of biomedical imaging.
Mark Lythgoe is director of UCL’s Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging as well as Director of Biomedical Imaging Research at the Francis Crick Centre, and it’s fair to see we are extremely lucky to be able to host such a busy, and wold renowned, research director at Science in the Pub.
For “Naked to the Bone”, Mark will explore the history and development of imaging before looking to the next generation of biomedical 3-d, full colour, multi-channel imaging that is even today already becoming a reality. Not only is the topic fascinating, the resulting images are truly stunning – and truly life-saving.
Professor Lythgoe’s groundbreaking research has led to him receiving some of the biggest awards in his field, and his science communication has been recognised by three major awards. He’s frequently on TV and radio, was interviewed by Jim Al Khalili for The Life Scientific, made a TV documentary about Einstein’s brain, and wrote and narrated Images That Changed The World for Radio 4.
If that weren’t enough, Mark is passionate about combining science and art, yet, remarkably, he failed his A levels, never got undergraduate degree, and describes his CV as having “more holes than a Tetley teabag”!
You can read more about Mark on PubSci’s Next Event page (until it is updated for the next event), or head straight to the Eventbrite booking page to secure one of the few remaining tickets ASAP.
One of Our Dinosaurs isn’t Missing…?
As a kid in the 1970s, one of my favourite films was Disney’s London-based caper, One of Our Dinosaur’s is Missing in which a spy steals a secret microfilm from China and hides it in a dinosaur skeleton at London’s Natural History Museum (clearly meant to be Dippy, the much loved Diplodocus which greeted visitors there). This leads to the dinosaur being kidnapped on a too-small lorry while rival factions chase it through the streets of a Disneyfied 1950s London to prevent the secrets on the microfilm falling into the “wrong” hands.
The British contingent is led by “spirited British nannies” as might be expected from Disney Studios, but the cast reads like a Who’s Who of British comedy talent of the era: Peter Ustinov, Helen Hayes, Derek Nimmo, Joan Simms, Roy Kinnear, Dereck Guyler, Bernard Bresslaw.
Regrettably it also includes some crass Chinese stereotypes (sadly typical of their day) but it retains a place in my heart for making me laugh out loud and showing dinosaurs at the cinema long before Jurassic Park.
I mention this film, not for nostalgic reasons, but because until very recently we thought one of our dinosaurs really was missing. Not just a dinosaur — a whole clade (morphological taxonomic group): The ceratopsians.
If that doesn’t sound familiar, think of Triceratops, the iconic three horned vegetarian monster that shared the late cretaceous period with T-Rex, right up until a 10-15 km-wide asteroid smashed into waters between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea, causing a 15-year winter that ended the age of the dinosaurs and wiped out 75% of all life on Earth.
Ceratopsians (meaning face-horn) have been found pretty much the world over — except in Europe, which is strange, and had been considered something of a paleontological mystery. Why did Europe not get any of the Triceratops’ punk-faced cousins? And if ceratopsians were in Europe (or rather, in what became Europe millions of year later, where were their fossils?
Well, in a roundabout way the answer has been staring us in the face all this time, especially if you’ve ever been to Crystal Palace Park. Amongst the park’s famous concrete dinosaurs (many of which aren’t dinosaurs at all, such as the giant Irish Elk Megaloceros giganteus), are examples of Iguanodons (“iguana-toothed”)… except these aren’t iguanodons at all, and have since been reclassified as Mantellodons after the couple who first described their fossils remains
But if that sounds confusing, it turns out that Iguanodons’ close cousins are even more confusing. The rhabdodontids, which are closely related to iguanodons, were a type of dinosaur found exclusively in Europe in the late cretaceous – i.e. right up until that asteroid wiped out all the non-avian dinosaurs [yes, the survivors became the birds of today]. And that matters, because in the rest of the world you have ceratopsians but no rhabdodontids whilst in Europe you have rhabdodontids but no ceratopsians.
And guess, what! It turns out the missing European ceratopsians were hiding in plain sight because, according to research published recently in Nature, palaeontologists have now realised that many rhabdodontids might actually be misidentified ceratopsians. They were there all along — we just thought they were something else. 🤦♂️
If you want to know more about why One of Our Dinosaurs Isn’t Missing, the Natural History Museum has a very readable article on it here.
Space, Dinosaurs & Scooby Doo…
The above science news is one of the topics Mike and I talk about in our monthly radio show and podcast – imaginatively called The Science Show (I think of it as the Ronseal of podcast titles) – along with surgery in space and Antarctica, what’s the appendix for, who’s on Cloud 9, prehistoric poison, and how many blue whales could fit onto Rhode Island, what’s happening in and around London this month aaaand some excellent music.
The most recent episode of The Science Show came out on 2nd Feb and I encourage you to give it a listen and send us your thoughts to the email address given out at the end of the show.
We use Mixcloud for podcast hosting as it’s the only platform which automatically pays royalties to copyright holders, allowing us to play the great music we love, and which make our particular scientific miscellany so different from every other science show. Unfortunately this comes with the limitation of streaming only (no downloads) but we consider this a small price to pay for creative freedom and supporting musical artists. You can listen live on Resonance 104.4 FM at 3pm on the first Monday of every month (also DAB, RadioPlayer, and livestreaming from the Resonance website).
DON’T PANIC! It’s the Culture Corner.
As you know, we love a bit of science / art crossover here at PubSci Towers. We’ve hosted an award-winning sculptor who works with molecular and biological forms, leading to an article in Forbes which name-checked PubSci (no relation by the way – we coincidentally share a surname), a world-famous mathematician who is also Scientist In Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and have showcased an AI-generated protein decoded from a Shakespearean sonnet. We’ve also celebrated Shakespeare’s surprising love of maths, and poetry as a form of science communication. So, isn’t it about time for some music?
That is how I preceded, news back in November that the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is running a series of Sunday morning concerts at King’s Place in London called Bach, The Universe and Everything, named for this quote from The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:
“Beethoven tells you what it’s like to be Beethoven, and Mozart tells you what it’s like to be human. Bach tells you what it’s like to be the universe.”
Douglas Adams
This series of talks and music places Bach’s cantatas in the context of the amazing discoveries of the last 350 years, with each event featuring a cantata and a talk from a guest scientist, writer, artist or broadcaster, alongside choral and instrumental music. Well, the final two events of the series are approaching, and I think you should know, especially as it’s now 25 years since Douglas Adams took his seat at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
On Sunday 22nd Feb, the producer of the pilot episode for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy for Radio 4 talks about how the series came about.
And on Sunday 22nd March, the Curator of Time at Royal Museums Greenwich talks about the life and work of John Harrison, that great Enlightenment mind who made the first reliable marine chronometer, and died 250 years ago. You can book for both concerts (subject to availability) by clicking here.
Is this the weirdest science musical topic ever…?
Not long ago, I featured a science musical about AntiMicrobial Resistance, but I’ve now found something even more brilliantly weird!
‘Zombie Ant Fungus’ is a specially commissioned work exploring the world of parasitic fungi. And who among us doesn’t love cordyceps…?
On Saturday 9th May, the Royal Institution in Piccadilly premieres this radical new performance which blends neuroscience, mycology, sound and behaviour. Developed by self-styled creators of insect eco–entertainment, Pestival, and a gathering of renowned scientists and musicians, each performance is followed by an expert panel discussing the piece and looking deeper into the science and art behind it. There’s a shortened family performance in the afternoon followed by table-top activities for young people, and a full performance in the evening.
Mind altering, brain-hijacking fungi, science, and music — this sounds like my kind of fun. If it’s your kind of fun, you can book now by following the above links, or see what else is going on at the Ri here.
Not quite lastly (and definitely not leastly), have a look at what’;s coming up at PubSci this Spring!
PubSci’s latest events programme (below) covers January to May 2026 and I’m super-excited with what’s in store for PubSci in the coming months. The events programme is perfect for printing out and pinning to your work noticeboard or sticking to the fridge. It’s also available on the Current Programme page. I recommend putting the dates in your diary now. Even better, subscribe to our calendar HERE. For example this is what you’ll see for March’s PubSci when you subscribe to our Calendar.
Click the image to open the programme in a new tab.
Finally, a reminder about how you can listen to a rather excellent Science Show
The Science Show on Resonance FM is co-presented by myself and Mike Lucibella. Resonance is the Arts Council-backed radio station for London, broadcastings live on good old FM. It’s also on DAB and you can livestream Resonance anywhere in the world or and on Radioplayer across the UK. Better still, listen any time here.
The Science Show is a monthly, hour long magazine programme (i.e. a show with different segments) that you can listen to in one go or break up into three easy chunks. Our fifth show went out on Monday 2nd February 3pm, and our next show goes at on Monday 2nd March in the same regular slot
It’s not on any podcast server, but our page on Mixcloud effectively works like one – just find the show you like the look of and click PLAY. You can let us know what you think by sending a message at our dedicated email address.
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Don’t forget to grab your last minute ticket to February’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.
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to email or comment in response. Hope to see you at The Old King’s Head on Wednesday.
16/02/26 Posted by Richard, PubSci programmer and host
PubSci: Sipping • Supping • Science
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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.
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.
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
PubSci 