Science Showoff

On Saturday 6th September I was finally able to see my first ever Science Showoff.  I can safely say that it did not disappoint.

The Science Showoff is an open mic night with a distinctly scientific theme.  In 9 minutes the performers aim to entertain the audience using a variety of techniques.  The acts I saw ranged from stand-up-comedy (including the wonderful Steve Cross as the MC for the night), science themed songs, an agony aunt for PhD students by Sarah Cosgriff and even wild animals in the form of Jim Bell and Curly.

During the interval I was able to finally conquer my arachnophobia and held Curly, the Curly Haired Tarantula (Brachypelna albopilosum).  My housemate is now begging me for a pet one...or three!! N/B. house spiders do still cause me to run around the house screaming unfortunately.


This night was one of the best open mike nights I've seen and I intend to see many more, possibly one day as a performer if I can think of something.  It also allowed me to finally relax after a day working at the British Science Festival.  Sadly then I had to run to have an early night (mentally I'm a pensioner) as I was up at 7am for my next day at the festival, no rest for the wicked!

British Science Festival-Day 1

Heyy, sorry about how late this is but I've been working at the British Science Festival all week (I drew the short straw and had 12 hour days) and have only just found a small window of free time.

On the 1st day of the festival I donned my  bright yellow and pink t-shirt before setting up the lecture theater for the speakers.

The 1st talk that I sat in on was about recreational maths and was organised by Peter Rowlett, it had 3 sections.

1) John Sharp spoke about Durer, in particular Durer's great work "Melancholia 1".  He showed how there was a magic square incorporated into the picture.  He then went on to demonstrate geometry software, used in both maths and art history and how it can be used as perspective apparatus.

Picture from http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_image.aspx?image=ps342975.jpg&retpage=21363

Close up of the magic square from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melencolia_I

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         2) The 2nd speaker, Robin Wilson, from the BSHM, also mentioned the magic square in Durer's work and showed that the date of the engraving appeared in the bottom row of the square.  In a magic square the sum of the rows, columns and diagonals is always the same.  Benjamin Franklin was well known for creating complex magic squares.  He then went on to talk about the popular Latin squares, where each number appears in each row and column only once.  It is famously used for sudoku and in agricultural experiments.

One of Benjamin Franklin's Magic Squares (from http://www.math.wichita.edu/~richardson/franklin.html)

3) The final speaker, Peter McOwan, used magical maths and showed the audience how to perform a Derren Brown style magic trick where the order of randomly selected coloured balls were selected.

The next talk of the day, that I was fortunately able to witness was that of Intellectual Property Law (IP Law) and examples of entrepreneurs in the science world.  IP Law was a direction I once considered for my career but I feel that research is probably an area I am better suited for.
This talk explained the difference between Copyright, Patent and Trademarks and we also heard from Greg McDonald, who founded STIQUE (which has created a new type of tyre lever) and Richard Garnett from Wisdom Systems (who has patented a new closed transfer system for pesticides in agriculture).

It was then time for lunch. Even though I am a scientist I completely forgot how a ham sandwich, left for approximately 5 hours at ambient temperature (about 25 degrees to account for it being in my bag next to a radiator) goes, when described in highly scientific terms as, pretty grim.  Fun times!

After my disappointingly tepid lunch it was time for my final shift of the day, a talk about photography.  This talk explained the ideas of exposure aperture and focal length, and also how to take good selfies.  As my friends tell me that the  "#Selfie song" was written for me I did pay great attention.

So that was my 1st day...5 more to go!!

Back to the Think Corner

Heyy, as I had a day off today I went back to the Think Corner to lend a hand.  Arriving in my highly coveted "Mind" t -shirt I found I was highly appropriately dressed as the theme was mental health. (standard posy train selfie)

I was able to take part in a "speech bubbles" workshop, where creativity was used as a form of relaxing.  I found it very useful, even though I am probably the least artistic person in existence (better stick to science).  The idea was to create a speech bubble and then decorate it however you wish, be it a quote, scene, picture or just random shapes.  Unsurprisingly mine ended up being very sport orientated. Before this workshop I never thought of using creativity as a way to express emotions and relax but it is surprisingly effective.

The group "survivor arts" who created this workshop are also running an exhibition on Sunday 7th September and are showcasing artwork as well as running workshops, including music, poetry and drama.  Check out the website here: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/social-policy/departments/applied-social-studies/social-work/survivor-arts.aspx and here http://www.survivorsartfoundation.org/


I was also able to have my blood pressure checked and found out it was normal/low, again not surprising but still good to know.  I happened to meet another boy who is on my University course. Small world!!

I met the NHS team that deal with mental health issues and counselling and learnt about the principles of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-more in a later post).  It also shows how much support there is available for mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, agoraphobia, schizophrenia and many others. http://www.bsmhft.nhs.uk/our-services/birmingham-healthy-minds/


Finally I saw a machine that measures gait and helps to rehabilitate people after they have lost motor function due to a stroke or similar.  The example here was how to make a cup of tea/  Although it still needs refining it is highly impressive how far technology has come.


I'm so thankful I was able to go along and have a look round and what was on offer today.

British Science Festival Training Day and Think Corner

Heyy,  so I finally know what I'm going to be doing at the Science Festival.  I am going to be the AV assistant for various events, both during the day and at night.  I shall be helping the guests set up and sort out any technical problems (i.e. turning it off and on again).  Although I have some 12h days I should have enough time to see some other things the festival has to offer.  Of course I shall be reviewing all the events I am fortunate enough to see, both those I am working at and others I visit as a spectator.

Hopefully you'll enjoy my reviews, feel free to leave any comments or requests.

After my training day I went shopping with my housemate into Birmingham and finally got a chance to visit the Think Corner.  The Think corner is a pop up shop which is is partnership with The University of Birmingham and aims to engage with the public and entertain them.  There is a wide range of topics, from nuclear physics, to dentistry, to playing around in a childs' ball pit.

I was able to try out many different gadgets, such as the highly attractive equipment used to determine where my jaw was and how well I clean my teeth.

I managed to cause a flower to shatter by soaking it in liquid nitrogen and made a bottle of water turn to ice by just banging it on a table (popular in many youtube videos).Here us the link to the Think Corner website,  including what's on, opening times and directions.
http://thinkcorner.co.uk/

The British Science Festival-Coming to Brum

Heyy, I know it's been nearly a year since my last post but Uni work has been hectic as always. Managed to get the grades I needed so I am officially on the MSci course, meaning an extra year of university and work (yay).

I am off to the training day for the British Science Festival as I have been given the opportunity to work there as a Festival Assistant (more to follow when I find out my official role).  Fortunately this year the festival in based in Birmingham with a lot of events in the actual University of Birmingham, which is very convenient for me :-) .

The festival is a great example of scientific engagement and communication with the public.  It features talks, workshops and exhibitions by real scientists who want to show you how diverse and exciting science can really be.

Many of the events are free, or carry a nominal fee and carry right on in to the evening so even busy working people still have an opportunity to attend.

It is running from 6-11 September 2014 and is well worth a look.  More information about what's on and who is attending can be found on the website: http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/british-science-festival