Sonic Screwdrivers and Tractor Beams: From Science Fiction to Real Life – Wednesday 8th January 2014 6pm
Science fiction has come up with many fantastical tricks and tools to move objects without human touch; such as Star Trek’s tractor beam and Dr Who’s sonic screwdriver. Local scientists have now turned this fantasy into reality with real-world versions…
Healthy Body, Healthy Mind: Could Keeping Active Improve Mental Ability and Exam Results? – Monday 25th November 2013, 7pm
The ancient Greeks believed that the development of the mind and body were inextricably linked. In our current time, we are suffering from a worldwide pandemic of physical inactivity and obesity with recent figures suggesting that over 20% of five…
Cafe Science Tayport – Beached Whales: Is Human Noise Responsible? Thursday 14th November 2013, 7pm
If you can’t make it to Cafe Science Extra on Wednesday 13th November, then this event in Fife is a second opportunity to hear Dr Stacy DeRuiter’s talk about whale conservation and management. Every year the news reports that large…
Beached Whales: Is Human Noise Responsible? – Wednesday 13th November 2013, 6pm
Every year the news reports that large groups of whales and dolphins are beaching and dying on beaches across the World. Whilst the majority of these tragic events have natural causes, evidence also suggests that exposure to sounds such as…
Cafe Science Revisited – Monday 4th November 2013, 6pm
What links the decline in bee numbers and pesticides? How is lab based research helping us understand colorectal cancer? These are two questions we hope to answer as we welcome back Dr Chris Connolly and Prof Inke Nathke (both University…
National Screening for Bowel Cancer – Idea to Reality – Monday 28TH October 2013, 7pm
About 30 years ago it was recognised that the presence of bowel cancer could be detected by testing for traces of blood in stool, and that this might be utilised for screening. In the intervening period there has been an…
Algal Blooms – A Downside of a Hot Summer – Wednesday 9th October 2013, 6pm
Harmful algal blooms can turn sea water red, freshwater a vivid green and represent a risk to humans and marine animals. In the heat of the summer the conditions are perfect for growth of algal bacteria. This, along with other…
New programme released
We are excited to announce that the new leaflet for our upcoming series will be available in local libraries, tourist information and Universities from later this month. The leaflet will also be available at our next talk on Monday 30th…
Neglected Diseases – Dundee’s Quest for New Medicines – Monday 30th September 2013, 7pm
Dundee is leading a new battle on tropical diseases. These infectious diseases are responsible for more deaths and disability in sub-Saharan Africa than all other causes combined. As a result there is a huge difference in average life expectancy -54…
The Scientific Imagination: Science Fiction and Innovation – Wednesday 11th September at 6pm
This talk asked how science fiction continues to influence science, and vice versa? The relationship between science and science fiction is more important than ever, as the twentieth-century has developed into the twenty-first. Many of the fantasies of Golden Age…
Summer Special – Transformations – D'Arcy Thompson and the Chimera in Art – 7pm, 14th August 2013
Come along to our special summer event presented by Matthew Jarron, Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee. This event is held in conjunction with Dundee Science Centre’s popular summer exhibition ‘Myths and Monsters‘, which features a life-size model…
Summer Holidays
What a fantastic season of Cafe Science we’ve had: – 19 events – our 100th Cafe Science in Dundee – record breaking audiences – over 1000 of you came to listen to a cafe science! Thank you everyone who came…
Fertility and Lifestyle – How lifestyle choices can affect conception – Monday 24th June, 7pm
The Scottish Government has recently announced new measures to bring NHS funded fertility treatment across Scottish Health Boards into line. Good news for some, however current criteria consider lifestyle choices and exclude treatment for some patients based on their lifestyles….
Diverting a disaster – food for thought. Wednesday 12th June, 6pm
As the World’s population increases, we need to grow more food. A traditional way to grow more food from the same land is to add fertilizers, which are rich in phosphorus. Despite this, there are still low-levels of phosphorus in…
SCIENCE IN THE COURTROOM – TRUSTING THE EXPERTS. MONDAY 27TH MAY, 7PM
Scientific evidence is one of the most common types of evidence used in the courtroom. It is also the most easily misunderstood and misinterpreted. Confidence in the reliability of scientific evidence is vital to the integrity of the legal process…
The psychology of making decisions – Wednesday 8th May, 6pm
Should I have a tea or a coffee in the morning? Should I marry this person? Is this defendant guilty or innocent? Should I undergo this risky operation? From the banal, to the weighty, pretty much everything we believe…
Does it matter how we speak to our children? – Monday 29th April, 7pm
Last time you spoke to a baby, did you find yourself using funny words like ‘milkie’ and ‘blankie’ in an embarrassingly high-pitched voice? Profesor Vera Kempe from the University of Aberaty will join us this month to discuss what characterises child-directed speech, who…
The Higgs Boson – just what is it, and what’s next? – 6pm, Wednesday 24th April 2013
We’re pleased to announce that we now have a new date for the Aidan Robson talk that we had to cancel due to the snow. Aidan will be back in Dundee on Wednesday 24thApril 6pm at Dundee Science Centre. ——————————————————————————————-…
Making the World Computable: Understanding the World Through Complexity – 6pm, Wed 10th April
When we look at the natural world, we see many activities taking place simultaneously: the world is a complex system, with processes cooperating and competing. To understand the world, we need to think about not just the individual activities, but…
The Psychology of Magic: Understanding how we see the World – 7pm, Monday 25th March
For centuries, magicians have baffled audiences by performing seemingly impossible acts. One reason for this is that our perception of the world around us is itself an illusion created by our brains. Magician’s are able to exploit this disconnect between…