Information line 0191 243 8210
Booking Hotline 0191 243 8223
Lectures
Science for Grown Ups
October 2008 – April 2009
The Centre for Life is not just for kids. Science for Grown Ups is a programme of events and activities for adults that aims to get people thinking and talking about topical science issues. We're adding to the programme all the time so keep checking back for details.
Lectures@Life: Ways of Seeing
The popular FREE Lectures@Life series is back for its fifth year. Exploring ‘Ways of Seeing’, and featuring lectures from leading experts in their fields, the series promises to be bigger and better than ever before.
Highlights include:
14 October 2008
A Life with Illusions
Professor Richard Gregory
Seeing is believing? What you see is what you get? Or is it? Join world-renowned neuropsychologist Professor Richard Gregory for a fascinating look at one of the oldest fields in psychology: perception – the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information.
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20 November 2008
Stars, Compasses and Clocks
Professor Sir Arnold Wolfendale
Prior to the late eighteenth century, navigation at sea was an unbelievably dangerous pursuit. In this lecture, former Astronomer Royal Sir Arnold describes some of the perils and tragedies leading to the famous 1714 Longitude Act, including the role of a self-taught Lincolnshire clockmaker, John Harrison.
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09 December 2008 - 6pm
Blown-up Biology
Ian Russell
Join legendary science performer Ian Russell as he explores the concept and nature of the cell, using a variety of spectacular living examples shown through the microscope. The lecture’s emotional message is the concluding sentiment of Darwin's Origin of Species, that "there is grandeur in this view of life..." This is a sensational multimedia show not to be missed.
Blown-up Biology is also our FREE Schools Christmas Lecture. Lectures will take place at 11am and 1pm - see here for details.
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26 February 2009
Seeing Other Worlds
Dr. Suzanne Aigrain
Space is arguably man’s last exploratory frontier – and the journey so far has been full of surprises. Planet hunter Dr. Suzanne Aigrain will explore the methods at the forefront of the search for planets outside our Solar System, examine the most interesting discoveries made so far and discuss the main challenges of the next decade such as detecting the first Earth-like extra-solar planets and searching for signs of life.
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10 March 2009
Seeing the Invisible
Dr. Pete Edwards
In autumn 2008, the start button for the biggest scientific experiment in the history of mankind will be pressed. Using the energy required to power Geneva, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will investigate many of the mysteries surrounding the smallest particles by recreating the conditions immediately after the Big Bang. It may also reveal secrets that the Universe has hidden since the early stages of its birth. Come along to explore the immense scale of the experiment, find out how the LHC works and examine some of the big questions it will address with Durham University particle physicist Dr. Pete Edwards.
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21 April 2009
Seeing inside the Body
Professor Penny Gowland
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a technique used in radiology to visualize the structure and function of the body. Imaging researcher Professor Gowland will explore the basics of how MRI works and how it has developed over the last 30 years. How does MRI help us understand the brain or how our bodies handle food? What can this technology tell us about why some foetuses grow slowly in the womb?
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All lectures are FREE, start at 6pm and will take place in Life Conference and Banqueting. Seats are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Doors open at 5.15pm.
Stop press!
Look out for more FREE lectures from some big name speakers including Dr. Brian Cox (experimental physicist and musician). Keep checking back for details.
The Well Brain Public Lecture Series
In association with Durham University's Institute of Advanced Study.
The most exciting frontier for modern biology is to understand how the brain functions, but much of the work we hear about has to do with brain diseases like Alzheimer’s.
For this set of lectures, Life has teamed up with the Durham University Institute for Advanced Studies to bring together some of the world’s cutting-edge researchers on brain science to look at how the brain functions when it’s healthy, and what this tells us about consciousness.
19 November 2008
7.00pm (Doors open at 6.45pm)
The Memory Puzzle - how we remember places and what happened there
Professor Neil Burgess
Our memories define who we are and aid most of our daily tasks, and yet how memory works remains a mystery. Professor Burgess from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College, London will outline some recent work that has used video games, neuro-imaging and computer simulations to suggests how the brain enables you to imagine where things were and what happened there.
12 February 2009
6.00pm (Doors open at 5.15pm)
The origin of the brain and why it is so complex
Professor Seth Grant
Professor Grant, Head of the Genes to Cognition Programme at The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute explores the fundamental mechanisms of human thought, and the molecules found at nerve cell junctions called synapses that make this possible. These molecules first evolved in single cell animals and are the precursors to the complex brains of all animals including humans. A striking evolutionary process has expanded this set and added new functions to brains of higher species leading to new behaviours. However, the price we pay for this evolutionary process is mental illness when the molecules are broken.
All lectures are FREE and will take place in Life Conference and Banqueting. Seats are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
Newcastle Science Festival
March 2009
Newcastle Science Festival explores some of science’s greatest inventions, hardest questions and entertaining experiments through family activities, lectures, debates and hands-on workshops.
Look out for exciting activities and events around National Science and Engineering Week. Keep checking back for details.
Ig Nobel UK Tour
9 March 2009
The Ig Nobel Prizes honour achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. This night of genuine science achievements and genuinely funny scientists is returning to Newcastle again to celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative and stimulate people’s interest in science, medicine and technology.
Mini Medical School
9 October to 13 November 2008
Please note that Mini Medical School is now fully booked. If you would like to receive information about upcoming events, please call (0191) 243 8223 or email info@life.org.uk
Explore the world of medicine with this special six week course at Life. Download the Mini Medical School leaflet for more information.
In collaboration with Newcastle University’s Faculties of Medical Sciences and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.
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For more details on any lecture or event, or to book your place, please call us on (0191) 243 8223 or email info@life.org.uk.
