Science Week 2017

Monday 3 April 2017

Microbes in the real world
- Film screening: 'Resistance': documentary screening and panel discussion with Professor Nick Keep, Dr Sanjib Bhakta, PhD student Arundhati Maitra and MRes student Alina Chrzastek. Using microscopic footage, harrowing personal stories and expert insights, the documentary 'Resistance' clarified the problem of antibiotic resistance, how we reached that position and what we could do to turn the tide in the battle against superbugs.
- Sophie Downes, PhD student: 'The interactions between fungi and heritage buildings' (blog post). The talk looked at the airborne fungi that have been identified in UK heritage buildings and the damage that can be caused to organic collections, such as textiles, paper materials, wood and leather.

Professor Mike Oaksford: 'On the source of human irrationality.' Human reasoning and decision making are error prone. Research suggests there are two systems for decision making with irrational decisions arising from System 1, the older system, which is fast and unconscious and shared with other animals. System 2 is slower and uses language and working memory to reach a reasoned decision. In this talk, Professor Oaksford took the opposite view and argued that human irrationality derives from System 2 since it requires converting unconscious processing into language and our use of language overrides our rational response.

Rosalind Franklin Lecture: Professor Gaia Scerif: 'Attention, nature and nurture.' Professor Scerif’s lecture showed how data from children receiving early genetic diagnoses with a high risk of attention deficits in late childhood suggest that early attention, and its development over time, predicts later behavioural problems and classroom outcomes. By assessing attention development in both atypical and typical populations, this research reveals the dynamic interplay between attention and experience.

What controls the Earth's long-term climate?
- Dr Philip Pogge von Strandmann: 'Keeping the Earth habitable.' The Earth has been inhabited by life for almost 90% of its existence. Given that life requires quite narrow conditions to survive, this implies the Earth's climate and environmental chemistry have been quite stable for around 4 billion years. This talk examined the processes that may have created a relatively stable climate.
- Tianchen He, PhD student: 'Triggering the radiation of early animals - the Cambrian explosion.' Animal life only emerged after the oxygen content of the atmosphere and ocean increased dramatically, roughly 700 million years age. However, the exact triggers that allowed this fundamental change in life on Earth are still not clear. This talk provided insights into the story of early animal evolution and examined the plausible causes and consequences of the unprecedented Cambrian explosion.
- Professor Andy Carter: 'Understanding climate change through studying how and when Antarctica became a frozen continent.' To fully understand the behaviour of the modern climate system and make projections about future change, predictive models must be grounded in a natural context which includes variables that influence long-term global climate. In this context, the talk explored current understanding of how and when Antarctica first became a frozen continent.