Speaker: James Croft | University of Sussex All throughout history, and all across the world, eclipses have been viewed as significant events. The civilisations of ancient China, ancient Egypt, and ancient Britain have seen in them signs and symbols, portents of things to come. What can we learn about our history - and about ourselves […]
Human brains are nature’s own ‘prediction machines’ - evolved organs that are constantly trying to predict flows of sensation, both from within our own body and from the wider world. This casts perception and feeling as forms of ‘controlled hallucination’ in which raw sensory information delivers experience only relative to our brain’s best predictions. These […]
Speaker: Neil Phillipson Neil explains the incredible achievements of the post-Moon era – showing how the vast body of work the scientific community has done since the Moon landings has led us to the moment when we shall, at last, become a space-faring civilisation, ready to explore and colonise the Solar System and beyond – […]
You have probably met lasers in your day-to-day life, perhaps to bring a music concert to life, or to direct your gaze in a PowerPoint presentation. Lasers are beams of amplified light which we can control very precisely. They are powerful tools inside and outside of science. Laser uses include quantum computing, precision cutting, medicine […]
Speaker: Dr Sonali Shukla Stars and planets are distinct astronomical objects yet their formation processes are intertwined. Brown dwarfs straddle both categories, exhibiting characteristics of both stars and planets but not quite fitting into either category. This talk will explore the history, discovery and latest results from the study of brown dwarfs, drawing parallels with […]
Speaker: Dr Eva-Maria MuellerUniversity of Sussex Join me on a journey into the enigmatic realm of dark energy, the unseen force accelerating the expansion of our universe. In this talk, I will guide you from the ground-breaking discovery of dark energy to the forefront of current research, unravelling its profound implications for the cosmos. Designed […]
With Prof Jennifer Visser-Rogers We are bombarded with numbers and statistics in the media on a daily basis and are expected to use these to make decisions about our day-to-day lives. But what do these numbers really mean? Real life involves risks. From cycling without a helmet, visiting a country with contagious diseases, to living […]
Ever wanted to go to space, like… for real? Well, now you can! Come and learn how budding astronauts Louis and Russ launched their DNA to the edge of space… and even managed to retrieve it! Come and learn exactly how they did it, how you could do it too, and if their DNA has […]
With Dr Valentina Scarponi and Alice Clark Up until the late 1980's, Sussex Bay harboured dense kelp beds. However, since then, 96% of the kelp beds have been lost from the Bay, resulting in a degraded habitat. It is thought that the kelp was lost as a result of decades of trawling, increased water temperatures, […]
Speaker: Will Joyce Spacecraft exploration of the outer planets and their extensive systems of moons discovered a variety of strange new worlds, some planet-sized, many challenging conventional science, and some being downright bizarre. Plus, several may even be home to life, despite being well outside the Sun's "Habitable Zone"! This discussion surveys many of these […]
Following her sold out 'Girlcrush' event from last year, Florence Given returns to Brighton Waterstones to discuss her much anticipated new book, 'Women Living Deliciously'. In 'Women Living Deliciously', Florence encourages us to fall in love with our lives and uncover the sense of wonder in ourselves that has been buried by shame, perfectionism and […]
With Dr Corina Ciocan Over the past 80 years, glass reinforced plastic boats (GRP or composite boats) have become a mainstay of the boating industry while little attention has been given to the consequences of GRP degradation or boat disposal. Recent studies reveal widespread glass fibre pollution in heavily trafficked waterways while research and policy […]
Speaker: Amber Shepherd, University of Sussex There is still a lot that we do not understand about our universe, such as dark matter and dark energy. Much of our understanding of dark matter comes from observations made from far out galaxies. We are building a very sensitive tabletop device to gather data which may help […]
With Dr Matt Pope La Manche is the name we give to the Ice Age landscapes of the English Channel, southern Britain and northern France. It has a record of early human behaviour which varies from isolated and difficult-to-interpret single artefacts through to rare sites preserving deep and rich accumulations of many thousands of finds. […]
Matt Haig is the the beloved author of titles such as 'The Midnight Library' and 'How to Stop Time' and now brings us another beautifully wrought and inspiring novel, 'The Life Impossible' Meet Grace, a retired maths teacher who has been left a run down house on a Mediterranean island by a long lost friend. With […]
With Dr Iris Asllani This talk delves into the remarkable insights that MRI technology provides into the brain’s circulatory system and its impact on health. By exploring how blood flow sustains brain function, we will uncover its critical role in cognition, aging, and neurological disorders. You'll learn how cutting-edge imaging techniques allow us to visualize […]
Speaker: Professor Stephen WilkinsUniversity of Sussex In our current understanding, our Universe emerged from an incredibly hot, dense state roughly 14 billion years ago. While initially incredibly hot and full of light as the Universe expanded it cooled, eventually becoming dark, entering a period known as the “cosmological dark ages”. During this period dark matter […]
In 'The Trading Game', Gary Stevenson charts his life from working-class roots in Ilford to becoming one of Citibank's leading financial traders, dealing in trillions of dollars of other people's money everyday. He takes us right to the dark heart of the trading world, introducing us to the many intoxicating and amoral characters who reside […]
With Abigail Dombey CEng What part will hydrogen play in getting to Net Zero? with Abigail Dombey CEng CEnv. Hydrogen is being hyped as THE energy vector for the transition to net zero. However, whilst it will be essential for the decarbonisation of many areas of the economy, there will be limits to its use. This presentation will […]
Speaker: Tahani BaldwinUniversity of Sussex During the height of the Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, a little-known yet revolutionary program dared to defy the norms of the 1960s. Spearheaded by visionary aerospace physician Dr. William Randolph Lovelace ll, this groundbreaking initiative sought to answer one bold question: Could women endure the […]