Day 6: The XXX Files

Thursday 1.11.12 This was part of the science after dark series and was one of the highlights for me. Largely because it took place in my favourite pub, The Lass O'Gowrie and I managed to persuade my other half to accompany me. Also it had adult themes and kept us very entertained betweem 7-10pm. Three entertaining talks from experts at the Manchester Metropolitan University. They were Embarrassing bodies (i.e. infectious diseases) with Prof Val Edwards Jones, Famous people with congential diseases by Dr Chris Murgatroyd and Evolution of the Penis by Dr Michael Carroll. This last speaker was a soft spoken irish man and so full of the blarney though I must admit to never hearing an academic say the words shagging and knob as much as this guy did. All in fun in the cosy upstairs room of the Lass.  

Day 5: The cost of Transport

Wednesday 21.10.12 This panel discussion was the event of choice for me this evening and it took place at the Manchester Conference Centre. A very nice place and I think the first time I have been in for years since it was refurbished. This was a 2 hour affair from 6.30-8.30pm with light refreshments first and some free literature some of which I picked up along with a free 2 gb memory stick. The discussion was about the latest developments and their potential impact on the future of transport. It was a four member panel which included the Chief Scientific Advisor DOT, Rod Smith and a non expert comedian who has attended the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Timandra Harkness. She was very good and of course funny. I agree with her about wanting a flying car as long as it is powered by hydrogen, water or electricity. Strangely I don't recall electric cars being mentioned at all. Road tax was discussed alot with one audience member asking if it was right to punish us with increased taxes. I agree in recovering the amount needed to pay for repairing roads etc but not to continue increasing taxes forever.  

Day4 The Wasted Conversation

Tuesday 30.10.12 saw me at MOSI for this event which was held on the 3rd floor in a lovely but draughty room. Blankets were thoughtfully provided. The wasted works sculpture was on display for us all to see and looked very pretty and purple as light shone through it. This is artwork by Gina Czarnecki which explores the life giving potential of 'discarded' body parts as well as their relationship to myths, history, cutting-edge stem cell research and notions of what constitutes informed consent. The sculpture was made out of a resin and resembled a palace. Close inspection revealed that it had milk teeth on it! The artist Gina was there for a discussion with stem cell scientist Prof Sara Rankin. They talked about how they got together to collaborate and how they had an interest in each others field. That is a scientist with an interest in art and vice versa. Gina had apparently been to the Sundance Film Festival last year. They also talked of having to get approval for this project from the health service. It is still possible to donate your milk teeth if you wish to.

Here is a link to an interview with Gina on the science festival Blog. Very interesting it is too :)

    http://manchestersciencefestival.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-wasted-works-is-created-by-artist.html    

Also there were a couple of armchairs for us to try out. Their cushions had been injected with fat collected from liposuction. It came with a caveat to be gentle as the fat may seap out. We should see the shape of our buttocks on the cushion upon standing up. To be honest I wasn't taken with this idea. I didn't see anyone else sit down on them either. Full points for creativity though. Another thoroughly enjoyable after work event.  

Day 3: The man in the white suit

Monday 29.10.12. This week as I am working I can only attend evening sessions of the festival as it doesn't line up with half term for me this year. Not letting this stop me though. On this particular evening I attended a screening of a chemistry film at Manchester Metropolitan University All Saints building. I was a tad late as I couldn't find the building. 6PM start. Little did I know this was an old Alec Guinness film made by Ealing Studios way back when. It was introduced by a microbiologist who mentioned German Expressionism. This reminded me of a swedish friend of mine who is really into that. We were also told 3 main things about modern film making 1931: wobbly sets 1951: wobbly props and 1991: wobbly cameras (I think). LOL. I found it interesting as being a chemist I would! I felt sorry for Alec Guinness character in the end by the way his supposedly new wonder material came undone (literally!). There was an offer of pizza and a pub discussion in the end but it was 9pm so home time for me. A thoroughly nice night. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. I was hoping to find the whole movie on YouTube but I could only find clips so I will leave you with one of those. I hope it encourages you to see the film if I'm not the only person not to have seen it

 

Day 2: Domino Computer Challenge

Sunday 28.10.12 I now have a festival program but there didn't seem to be much I could go to today. I went to one event today but boy was it worth it. The domino computer challenge. This event which also happened yesterday was created by mathematician and MOSI science communicator in residence Matt Parker. Basically, it uses dominoes to illustrate how a computer and its circuitry work to solve a calculation, here a simple addition sum. Ten thousand dominoes were involved. This event was billed as starting from 2pm and finishing at 4pm. I arrived promptly before 2pm to find domino builders still setting up. After some time I asked a nice guy at a nearby table (he was one of the builders) and he told me they had been at it since 8.30am! It will more than likely be ready from 3pm and will only take a minute. Got to admire the patience of everyone involved and it was fun to watch them. As it turned out all was ready by 3.30pm. I filmed it on my cameraphone and you can watch my YouTube video below. Sorry about the poor sound quality. No matter what the outcome it was still great fun! I took some photo's as well. Enjoy.

  

 Also exciting today was a live link up to Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes! You can tweet a message to them on code and they will decipher it and send it back to you :) 'Baby' is here too!

Manchester Science Festival 2012

Well its that time of year again. I cannot believe how quickly it has come around. Since 2009 I have been a STEM Ambassador and was really looking forward to contributing in this way again. I don't know what happened but somehow I didn't get the memo and so started to panic about missing out. After making enquires it seems I have indeed somehow missed the boat and the deadline has passed. Gutted but on the plus side I get to attend some of the festival. Not as much as I would've liked because this year it doesn't quite match up with half term either. Anyway enough explanations already! Today Saturday 27th October is the first day of the festival. I started off at Blackwells book store 11am to see an author's talk entitled 'Waking The Giant' by Bill McGuire. He is a professor of geophysics at UCL and has in the past been a UK government advisor and also done some documentaries. This is also the title of his new book. It was a scary, realistic, eye opening and fascinating talk followed by a good and lengthy Q& A. I really enjoyed it, bought his book and had it signed. A great start to the festival for me. The talk centres around the fact that climate change triggers natural phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunami's. Bill is actually a volcanologist by training. We learn't that 2010 was the hottest year on record and that 2000-2010 has been the hottest decade on record. Another startling fact was that it only takes a very small pertubation to trigger such events. Also  ice sheets are heavier than one might think and can easily cause the surface of earth they are in contact with to bend. I shall enjoy diving into his book which here had a £4 discount :) Next I went along to Manchester Metropolitan University to see a chemistry event entitled 'Fireworks: How do they work?' This was a great show for kids and adults alike. The pyrotechnician in residence Matthew Tosh would make a great children's tv presenter and I loved his t-shirt. It had a hazard symbol on the front and said 'pyrotechnician' and on the back which I saw first it said 'if you see me running, try to keep up!' He put on a splendid show explainng every stage of how a firework is made starting with Caron black powder which set alight on its own isn't very impressive. He worked up to flashes, whistles, fountains and even did a sonic boom and there were smoke rings and flash metal which I suspect is magnesium. Lots of smoke and smells and the kids were really entertained. Also he explained how rockets get their thrust and why he doesn't like them. Basically he doesn't trust them.As he explained he is a trained pyrotechnician and the fireworks he used are specially designed to be used indoors. I wish I had thought of filming this with my cameraphone. I saw that it was being filmed and so hope to see it again online. I would highly recommend seeing his shows. Back in the corridor afterwards, where students had stands doing various things, there was one which caught my eye. A young PhD student with a research stationary bike was talking to a few people about his work. He is concerned about us becoming a nation of overweight people and researches how too much body fat can lead to diabetes. He was very nice and mentioned running alot. I told him I'd just ran a marathon and how could I get to be a better runner especially during training. He said something about reaching my limits. I had hoped for more useful advice but never mind. He was telling us all to start off by doing low intensity running and this will build up more energy mitochondria and we will even notice a difference on our second run. He was nice and slim and I mentioned diet. He said it doesn't matter he eats rubbish (10 mars bars a day!) but lots of excercise. This was a pleasant way to spend 30 minutes. My last 2 events of the day were two author talks back at Blackwells.  The first by a cancer researcher from Greenwich University talking about her new book 'How millions survive cancer'.  Due to advances in technology and treatments thats how. She was a lovely lady from NYC and I enjoyed a brief chat with her afterwards. Dr Lauren Percochino was her name and I got her business card and told her about The Christie and The Paterson Institute for Cancer Research. She had a tiny model of a breast for us to feel so we could get an idea of what a malignant lump would feel like. A frozen pea, certainly very hard. I feel reassured that I now know what to look for. The next talk was very entertaining and involved a demo and I managed a small glass of red wine. Prof Chris Cooper from Essex University whose book and talk were called 'Run, swim , throw, cheat' which was about doping in sports. Very topical in light of the recent Olympic games here this summer. In fact he was the media contact for the games. He drank a small bottle of coke thoughout his talk and had 6 disposable wine glasses and 2 bottles of a red berry drink to demonstrate how athletes can top up their blood count which technology these days can now detect anyway. He had to rush off so answered questions whilst he packed up his things. All in all I've had a good day one and am now all fired up about the festival. Went home happy wanting more.         

A methane rocket

Last Monday, that is 17the September, in one of our labs we gave the A level physics students their first science demo: a methane rocket! Always great fun for everyone. Our physics technician provided the empty drinks bottles and attached abit of plastic tubing on the outside of it with gaffer tape so that it could be threaded onto the string in the lab. Myself and a colleague as chemists were asked to generate the fuel :D we generated oxygen using manganese dioxide and 100% vol hydrogen peroxide. The rocket contained a 70:30 mixture of oxygen and methane which we of course got from he fumecupboard gas tap. This was great explosive fun and I can't believe we were allowed to do it indoors. This demo was the idea of our new physics teacher. Looks like were are in for a fun year if not an explosive one. I filmed it using my phones camera and thankfully I spoke softly enough for the mic to hardly pick up my voice. Here is that video I hope you enjoy. Perhaps you can tell me in the comments either here or on YouTube what you think? Is this a demo the kids would remember? I think I would :)