PubSci

On Friday 26th March we’re delighted to welcome back Dr Erica McAlister, senior curator of Diptera in the Department of Entomology at London’s Natural History Museum,  with The Inside Out of Flies

The eyes of a Robber Fly [Artwork: R Marshall, source photo © NHM London]

In this talk, Erica looks at the astonishing mechanics of fly anatomy, revealing the engineering embodied in each species of fly and discovering some of the fascinating implications flies hold for human technology, from hearing aids to biomimetics.

Along the way expect flies without wings, flies with rotating genitalia and tales of the terrible hairy fly as she uncovers science lessons in the form and function of the humble fly. This is a talk not to be missed.

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Erica McAlister describes herself simply as somebody who “studies flies, talks flies, shows off about flies” – something of an understatement, perhaps,  for the country’s foremost communicator of fly science.

Who you gonna call? Not a ghostbuster, but our speaker, Erica McAlister with a giant pooter and a pig.

A passionate communicator of her topic, Erica is especially keen on encouraging young people to enter the field and frequently give talks to schools. As senior curator of Diptera in the Department of Entomology at London’s Natural History Museum, Erica is renowned for her extensive knowledge of the subject and the enthusiasm and humour with which she presents it.

She is a regular guest on BBC Radio 4, appearing on The Natural History Programme, The Living World, Who’s the Pest?, The Museum of Curiosity , and Natural History Heroes in which she championed the entomologist George Verrall. On TV she has featured in The Museum of Life and Springwatch 2017.

In April 2019, Erica was Jim Al-Khalili’s guest on Radio 4’s The Life Scientific and in March 2021 Erica presented a week of lunchtime programmes on Radio 4 called Metamorphosis – How Insects Transformed Our World, currently available on iPlayer and BBC Sounds. Earlier this month, Erica gave the annual Verrall Lecture of the Royal Entomological Society, appropriately titled ‘A Fascination of Flies’.

Erica is the author of two acclaimed books published in association with the Natural History Museum: The Secret Life of Flies (2017) and The Inside Out of Flies (2020)

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Viewing the talk: Virtual PubSci is hosted live online via Zoom. We also stream events live on our YouTube channel where they remain available for at least 28 days.

Like all our events, this talk is free to attend, but you will need to register with Eventbrite to access Zoom. We have included the option to donate a small amount when you register to help cover web hosting fees etc.

Ticket sales go live at 12:05 on Friday 12th March. You’ll receive a confirmation email; the Zoom link is emailed on the day of the talk and available in the eventbrite online event page.

More details on the event registration page.

Important Note: We aim to make our events accessible to all. You don’t have to pay, and you don’t need to install Zoom – Zoom can be run in a browser and events are streamed on the PubSci YouTube channel. Anybody wishing to support PubSci in our science communication can choose to make a donation when registering with eventbrite or contribute to our PayPal money pool, which goes directly to keeping PubSci online.

Please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed.

On Wednesday 3rd June we’re excited to welcome Dr Caspar Addyman, director of the InfantLab at Goldsmiths, University of London as our first ever speaker for Virtual PubSci. Caspar will give the talk that was originally scheduled for 1 April: Life Lessons from Laughing Babies. The talk will be streamed on Zoom and other channels.

In this talk Dr Addyman will survey the reasons why babies have such a great time being babies and why understanding baby laughter is key to understanding ourselves.

Joining Instruction: Please register for the event in advance by following this link to Eventbrite (opens in new window). Registered attendees will be sent joining instructions before the event start time. This is to minimise the risk of “Zoom Bombing”. Caspar will take questions after the talk via chat or Zoom.

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Caspar Addyman is a lecturer in psychology and director of the InfantLab at Goldsmiths, University of London. His Baby Laughter project has surveyed families all over the world to find out just what causes all those little giggles and he is interested in how laughter helps babies bond and learn.

Caspar worked with Grammy winner Imogen Heap to create a song scientifically designed to make babies happy. He has a written a novel, Help Yourself, about a retired psychologist and a failed comedian and his popular science book, The Laughing Baby, published by Unbound in April 2020, is available from Amazon and all good book stores.

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Join us on Zoom/YouTube/Facebook Live this coming Wednesday 3rd June for our first ever Virtual PubSci. The links will be open from 7pm for a 7:30 start.

As usual the event is free, and it is free to register with Eventbrite. If you wish to support PubSci and help cover the costs of our monthly Zoom Pro hosting account you have the option to make a donation when registering.

To keep up to date with new events, please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed.

NB The events may be virtual but the science is real! Sadly we don’y know when we’ll be back in the Old King’s Head, but we send our best wishes to Craig and the team who have hosted us for so many years.

Feel free to get yourself a pint of  Doombar or a glass of Malbec before the talk, but please ignore the event location on the website. For the time being, PubSci is in your living room not in the pub! “DID ANYBODY ORDER FISH AND CHIPS?”

On Wednesday 4th March we’re excited to welcome Michael Marshall of the Good Thinking Society, to talk about anti-science beliefs and how to combat them.

Is it possible to have a rational conversation with people who believe in a flat earth? New Scientist recently asked the same question. Image © Josie Ford / New Scientist

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Once considered harmless fringe beliefs, anti-Science and conspiracy thinking have reached the cultural and political mainstream thanks to YouTube and Twitter. Michael Marshall has spent over a decade conversing with proponents of pseudoscience to better understand their thinking, hosting them on his podcast and even attending a Flat Earth convention in the USA. Drawing on these experiences, Michael will share techniques for constructively engaging with people caught in pseudoscientific thinking, to help unweave conspiracy theories and connect with the people behind anti-science ideas. He also has some very funny stories.

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Michael Marshall (Image courtesy of Centre for Inquiry)

Michael Marshall is Project Director of the Good Thinking Society and Vice President of the Merseyside Skeptics Society. He regularly speaks with proponents of pseudoscience for the Be Reasonable podcast (all links opens in new page).

As the UK’s only full-time sceptical activist, Michael’s work has seen him organise international homeopathy protests, go undercover to expose psychics and quack medics, spend a weekend embedded in the flat earth movement and co-found the popular QED conference.

Michael has written for the Guardian, The Times, New Scientist, New Statesman and The Skeptic.

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Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.

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As usual the event is free, but we will have a whip-round to cover speaker’s expenses. We aim to keep PubSci accessible for all, although it is unsuitable for under 18s as we meet in the upper room of  a pub.

Unfortunately there is no wheelchair access.

Please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed.

PubSci is back from the winter break…

On Wednesday 5th February we’re very excited to welcome Professor Malcolm Fairbairn of Kings College London.  He will be talking about what dark matter is, how we find it, and why it matters. 

Image courtesy of Getty ©

Dark matter cannot be directly observed but is understood to account for nearly 85% of the matter in the universe. It is passing unimpeded through each of us constantly and acts as a cosmic support for galaxies in the Universe, including the one we call home. Despite this we cannot see it or touch it. Malcolm Fairbairn is a leading figure in the search for dark matter, and we are delighted to start our 2020 season with this talk.

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Prof Malcolm Fairbairn

Proffessor Fairbairn is a member of the Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology Research Group at KCL, working at the intersection of particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology to study dark matter and particle physics in the early Universe.

For much of the last decade he focused on dark matter, but Malcolm has also worked on dark energy, early universe cosmology and its relation to Higgs physics as well as applications of machine learning to astrophysics and particle physics.

Originally from Wigan, his career took him to live in four different countries. He left CERN to take up a permanent position at King’s College London in 2007.

In 2019 Malcolm was scientific advisor to the Science Museum’s season of exhibitions and events exploring the nature of dark matter.

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Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.

As usual the event is free, but we will have a whip-round to cover speaker’s expenses. We aim to keep PubSci accessible for all, although it is unsuitable for under 18s as we meet in the upper room of  a pub. Unfortunately there is no wheelchair access.

Please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed.

Football is coming home on Wednesday 6th November when we’re delighted to welcome Professor Alison Leary, Chair of Healthcare & Workforce Modelling at London South Bank University to discuss how maths can improve crowd safety.

Millwall FC crowd medical services team on match day

How can maths make watching football safer? Alison Leary is the match day lead for crowd medical services at Millwall FC and an expert in healthcare and mathematical modelling. In this talk about maths, crowd safety, and league football, Alison will discuss the vital issues of risk, safety planning and what it’s like to change the rules.

Prof Alison Leary

About Our Speaker

Professor Alison Leary is Chair of Healthcare & Workforce Modelling at London South Bank University. Her research includes: complexity & healthcare; knowledge discovery through data mining (big data); stochastic methods & workforce modelling. She provides consultancy to the NHS, government and commercial organisations. 

Prof. Leary holds a PhD in Clinical Medicine. After ten years in biomedical science she qualified as a Registered Nurse, and in 2014, was named an inspirational woman in healthcare by Health Service Journal. 

Alison was made a Fellow of the Royal college of Nursing in 2015 and of the Queens Nursing Institute in 2016. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority, and Visiting Professor at Canterbury Christchurch University. She sits on multiple trustee boards and judging panels and writes regularly for the general, trade and academic press. In 2016 she was made  a Winston Churchill Fellow studying high reliability organisations such as NASA.

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Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. As usual the event is free, but we will have a whip-round to cover speaker’s expenses.

Please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed.