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Previous Events
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| Date: | Monday February 15th |
| Title: | Is it creative to believe in the paranormal? |
| Speaker: |
Dr. Christine Mohr - Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol |
| Description: | Madness and creativity are often considered together. This claim seems supported by personal reports and insight into the mental health of famous artists. Studies will be presented that link language processing in the two hemispheres to associative word processing, paranormal belief and creativity. The audience is invited to consider the idea that these links could explain the wide prevalence of paranormal beliefs in the general population. |
| Date: | Monday March 15th |
| Title: | Risk: Can we quantify our uncertainty? |
| Speaker: | Professor David Spiegelhalter - University of Cambridge |
| Description: | There has been a traditional division between ‘risk’, which can be quantified using probability distributions, and ‘uncertainty’,
which is the surrounding mess of doubt, disagreement and ignorance. In well-understood situations we may be happy to
quote reasonable odds for future events, and David looked at ways in which these risks can be communicated visually.
When the problem is more complex, analysts may use a mixture of judgement and historical data to construct a mathematical
model that can assess future risks, but deeper uncertainties may be glossed over. He used examples from swine flu to climate
change to illustrate different approaches to dealing with uncertainty, from ignoring it to trying to fully quantify it, and
concluded that we should all try to be aware and open about the magnitude and potential consequences of our ignorance. |
| Date: | Monday, May 10th |
| Title: | The MoD X-Files |
| Speaker: | Nick Pope, ex MOD |
| Description: | The Ministry of Defence is in the process of declassifying and releasing its entire archive of UFO files. The files go back decades and are packed with thousands of fascinating cases, including UFOs seen by police officers and pilots, and UFOs that were tracked on radar. Nick Pope explained why and how the MoD investigated UFOs and what conclusions were drawn. He discussed some of the most extraordinary cases from the MoD files, and explained why MoD recently terminated the UFO project and discussed the controversy that blew up when it was announced that the department was destroying newly-received UFO reports after 30 days, to avoid any liability under the Freedom of Information Act. Finally, Nick briefed us on the Royal Society discussion meeting "The detection of extraterrestrial life and the consequences for science and society". |
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| Date: | Monday July 5th |
| Title: | The Curious Life and Complex Legacy of Alec Reeves |
| Speaker: | David Robertson, Technology Response Ltd. |
| Description: |
Alec Reeves was one of the
20th century's greatest scientists and engineers. He was also an enigma.
Often called 'father of the
digital age', he invented Pulse Code Modulation - the basis for today's
pervasive digital technology - and later, working at Standard
Telecommunication Laboratories in Harlow, led the team that pioneered
optical fibres. Yet Reeves is virtually unknown to the public.
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