Tag Archives: Pubsci

Thank you… and we’re back in the room!

OKH Street SIgn

A huge thank you to everybody who came to the Old King’s Head on Wednesday.

It really was great to be back live, talking about science – in the pub. It’s been a long, steep journey to relaunch live events from scratch after three years without a venue. Wednesday made it all worthwhile.

If you weren’t there, you won’t know what you missed, but the full Spring / Summer programme is now up, so make sure you come to the next one if you can. Subscribe to our google calendar to be on the safe side!

The evening wasn’t without its surprises. The evening chef called in sick and it looked like there’d be no food at all, but lovely Sam from the bar, who has been a friend to PubSci for years, arranged for us to order pizzas from Giuseppe’s. She even took the payments and delivered the pizza. And they were delicious! Thanks Sam.

This is a good point to mention a little known fact: PubSci has a tradition of leaving a tip for the bar staff from contributions on the night (even if expenses outweigh contributions) because we couldn’t run the event without them.

It’s also a good moment to thank those who put in contributions to help keep PubSci running. Apologies to those who couldn’t make the QR code work – we think it was camera / device settings rather than an issue with the code itself. If you missed the chance on the night, you can always head to our linktree to use the Tip Jar.

Thank you Kate, George and Mike for giving such excellent talks, and for the audience questions. And for listening to me too! For the record, the talks were:

  • Kate Viscardi –  “How Long Is a Piece of String?
  • George Holdaway – “Islamic Art: The Quest for the Quasi Crystal”
  • Mike Lucibella – “What’s the Deal with Antarctica?”
  • Richard Marshall – “The Levitating Hamster and Other Definitely True Stories”

You all made it worthwhile. X

See you back at the OKH on Wednesday 17th May for Dr. Michael Byford: What We Learnt from the Pandemic (And What We Didn’t)

PubSci Returns to the Pub – Today!

Announcement Banner

A little reminder that we’re back in the Old King’s Head tonight

  • Kate Viscardi considers standards and deviations in “How Long Is a Piece of String?
  • George Holdaway discusses “Islamic Art: The Quest for the Quasi Crystal”
  • Mike Lucibella asks “What’s the Deal with Antarctica?”
  • Richard Marshall presents “The Levitating Hamster and Other Definitely True Stories”

Full details here: https://pubsci.info/next-event-19th-april-restart-special

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The kitchen will be open. Order before 7pm and tell the bar staff you’re upstairs – they’ll bring your food in arrive early to get a table seat..

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PubSci is free to attend but we have a whip-round to cover expenses. As so few of us carry cash now, you can contribute digitally too. This event will not be livestreamed. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access.

Please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed. The Spring/Summer talks programme will also be announced at this event. You can find all our links on our LinkTree.

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Venue:

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

Weds 19th April | PubSci Restart Event: A Celebration of Science

On Wednesday 19th April 2023 we’re enormously excited to be returning to in-person events, three years after we paused due to the pandemic. This will be a celebratory evening of science communication and socialising: Four different speakers on four different topics to make you laugh, cry, gasp, and ask “Just how close is the bar?”Announcement Banner

Please join us for an evening to remember:

  • Kate Viscardi considers standards and deviations in “How Long Is a Piece of String?
  • George Holdaway discusses “Islamic Art: The Quest for the Quasi Crystal”
  • Mike Lucibella asks “What’s the Deal with Antarctica?”
  • Richard Marshall presents “The Levitating Hamster and Other Definitely True Stories”

• • •

This event will be a social one as well as a SciCom one. In a change from the usual ~45-minute talk followed by questions, there will be more bar breaks and we’ve included extra time for catching up with friends old and new. Let’s celebrate getting together again!

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  • Kate Viscardi is a senior lecturer at LSBU and previously headed their Women in Engineering Centre.
  • George Holdaway is a polymath who tutors in STEM topics.
  • Mike Lucibella edited the newspaper of the US Antarctic Programme before joining UCL.
  • Richard Marshall has been programming and hosting PubSci since 2018.

Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station (see below). Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. The Old King’s Head has a happy hour before 7pm to get you in the mood, and the kitchen serves excellent pub grub.

• • •

As usual the event is free, but we will have a whip-round to cover expenses. As so few of us carry cash now, you can contribute digitally too. This event will not be livestreamed.

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. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access. We tried very hard to find an accessible venue.

Please check our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our iCal feed. The Spring/Summer talks programme will also be announced at this event. You can find all our links on our LinkTree.

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NB We used to meet on the first Wednesday of the month but PubSci is now on the third Wednesday.

image-third-wednesdays

Address:

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

PubSci Returns: 19th April 2023 | Old King’s Head Pub

The rumours are true: PubSci is back!

Three years after the pandemic halted live events, PubSci returns to its familiar home near London Bridge for a cornucopia of science talks in the comfort of the Old King’s Head (OKH). 

On Wednesday 19th April PubSci presents our Restart Special: A Celebration of Science.

Four Speakers in One Night

The PubSci Restart Special will be an evening of entertaining short talks on fascinating science topics. Some will make you laugh. Some will make you think. Some might turn you to drink. After the main event, you’ll have time to catch up with old friends, space to make new friends, and the opportunity to chat with your kind of people over a drink or two.

Save the date now and look out for the full event announcement in early April.

The OKH has a well-stocked bar, a happy hour from 5-7pm (we start at 7), and a great range of pub grub. The landlord has kindly agreed to keep the kitchen open for us, so you can satisfy your physiological and intellectual appetites at the same time.

Third Wednesday of Every Month

Looking ahead, we have a constellation of fantastic speakers lined up, including some all-time PubSci favourites. Don’t forget, we’ve moved from the first Wednesday of the month to the third, so please put third Wednesdays in your diary, beginning with 19th April 2023.

I’ll be announcing the spring/summer programme at the Restart Special before posting it on our website. While there, you can subscribe to the PubSci calendar to be notified as events are scheduled. Don’t forget to join our email list to receive the full monthly update.

PubSci remains free to attend. We pass round a beer mug at each event on a pay-what-you-can basis to cover costs such as speakers’ expenses and AV equipment. 

See you on the 19th!

Richard

 

PS  You can follow us on social media too.

Twitter   Facebook   Youtube

Regretably, the upstairs room at the OKH is not wheelchair accessible.

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What’s the future of PubSci Online?

Running PubSci via Zoom while we were unable to get together in person was a great experience, despite the additional costs. Creating a Virtual Pub with Real Science ™ allowed me to invite speakers from the USA, and gave us the chance to widen the PubSci community without geographical limits. We haven’t forgotten you!

Whilst PubSci is about in-person science communication at heart, returning to live events doesn’t mean the end of the wider PubSci community. The April event will be IRL only, but we hope to begin live-streaming later in the spring. Once live events are up-and running I will work on the logistics and set about finding volunteers to record and stream live talks. If you come to PubSci regularly and have experience with OBS, please get in touch!

If you’ve never been to PubSci, our YouTube channel has recordings of our online talks during lockdown


 

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Remember when PubSci used to meet in an actual pub…?

PubSci Update

It’s been a while since my latest communication, so it’s time for an update.

We’re working on restarting PubSci soon and have got some fantastic speakers lined up for the next season of talks, including some you may know from TV and radio, but we don’t yet have a venue. I was hoping to get live events running this autumn – but we had a setback that probably delays it to early next year.

I had found a pub that ticked all the boxes: A separate function room available free of charge, wide and not-too-steep stairs for better access, good beers, great food, located near tube and mainline stations, in-house AV (so I don’t need to set-up a projector and screen every time), WiFi so we could livestream… and management who loved the idea of hosting a SciComm event. So what went wrong?

We planned a test event in September and a full restart in October, but UK energy price rises started affecting their costs, and we had the conversation I was dreading: “I’m sorry, but we can no longer host events without charging for the room.”

While this was deeply disappointing, it’s also a great excuse for a pub crawl of potential venues, so every cloud has a silver lining… Watch this space! And if you know of the ideal venue feel free to email us here at PubSci Towers.

I’ll be back when I have any substantial news, but in the meantime, please continue to follow and engage with PubSci on Facebook and Twitter, and don’t forget that you can always watch some of our past events on the PubSci YouTube Channel.

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay curious, and – to quote our friends at science fact-checking website Metafact.io “May the facts be with you!”

Richard

Hope to see you in the pub

Science in the Pub Quiz

On Wednesday 6th December we’re holding our annual quiz, which has a slightly more scientific spin than your average pub quiz. Rounds are more likely to involve interactive cake and booze identification than knowledge about sport and soap operas.

Einstein

It’s just £3 to enter and we suggest teams of five, although don’t worry, you can come on your own or in smaller groups and join up with others on the night – it’s more about fun than prizes. That said, there are cash prizes and spot prizes too!

So join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station. Doors open at 6pm for a prompt 7.30pm start – we hope to see you there!

Dani Rabaiotti – Does it Fart?

On Wednesday 1st November we are thrilled to have Dani Rabaiotti talking about animals farting. Yep – Toot. Parp. Poot. Pfirt. Psthhhp. Pop. Pfeeeeew. Pthzzzzzz. These are just some of the noises animals make when they fart. Find out which animals fart, and why, as well as how there came to be an entire book dedicated to this topic.

image1

Dani is a PhD student at the Zoological Society of London, and author of ‘Does it Fart? – The definitive guide to animal flatulence’. Dani will be chatting about how she went from studying climatic impacts on African wild dogs to becoming an author of a science humour book on the theme of farting animals. She will also be covering a range of animal fart facts, anecdotes, research experiences and discussing the scientific literature on the topic (of which there is surprising amount!) along the way.

If you fancy buying Dani’s book it will even be available on the night and if you ask really nicely Dani might fart on it for you (or at least sign it).

image2

Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station. Doors open at 6pm for a 7pm start and as usual the event is free, but we will have a whip-round to cover costs – we hope to see you there!

Jane Hallam – Fishtopia! An irreverent celebration of fish diversity

On Wednesday 5th July we have something fishy going on at PubSci.

Fish are great, and Jane Hallam loves fish. An aquarist with over fifteen years of experience in public aquaria, zoos, and billionaires’ private tanks, she’s here to talk about some of her favourite fish – the ugly, the misunderstood, the weird and the fabulous. From the mating rituals of deep-sea anglerfish to record-breaking sharks, there will be something for anyone with a passing interest in our watery friends.

Jane Hallam

Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station. Doors open at 6pm for a 7pm start and as usual the event is free, but we will have a whip-round to cover costs – we hope to see you there!

 

Fireproofing an iconic building

On Wednesday 5th April we are delighted to welcome Dr Fiona Nairn Scott who will be talking about fireproofing an iconic building. Fiona has a background in Materials Engineering and is now a Principal Consultant with a major Built Asset consultancy firm, with experience in the automotive, aerospace and rail industries, in both the UK and overseas.

An iconic building. Photo by Mike Gimelfarb, 2008

An iconic building. Photo by Mike Gimelfarb, 2008

Fiona’s last project was part of a major refurbishment of an iconic building with national significance. She will discuss issues around maintaining and retaining historic features, while at the same time making the building fit for the 21st Century’s needs – which is no small undertaking!

Join us upstairs at the Old King’s Head, near London Bridge station. Doors open at 6pm for a 7pm start and as usual the event is free, but we will have a whip-round to cover costs – we hope to see you there!