Winchester Science Festival - Day 2

Winchester Science Festival is the working project of the not-for-profit organisation Winchester Science Foundation. The Winchester Science festival is held at the Winchester Discovery Centre on Jewry Street next door to the theatre. Winchester Science Foundation aims to…

• Champion and celebrate science with the public
• Promote science education and science communication
• Raise the awareness of Hampshire science

Tickets for the three day festival cost £48.15 or you can buy tickets for each talk separately for £3.30. You can purchase your tickets either at the Winchester Discovery Centre or online at the web address below:

www.winchesterscifest.org

SATURDAY 25 JULY ....

DINOSAUR HUNTING IN THE SAHARA DESERT
DR DAVID MARTILL
10.00-11.00
Travel to the Sahara desert to discover what dinosaurs roamed there and how their fossils were formed.

MAPPING THE UNIVERSE
PROFESSOR WILL PERCIVAL
11.15-12.15
Professor Will Percival, will review the latest theories of the history of the Universe from the Big Bang to present day. The evidence for this model will then be considered, focussing on how large surveys of galaxies provide a wealth of information about the Universe in which we live. The Universe has an interesting history, going through periods of rapid acceleration and deceleration, rather like a car in rush-hour traffic. By mapping the Universe as a function of look-back time (the time taken for the light from distant galaxies to reach us), we can observe these different phases, and understand the processes causing them.

YOU ARE DEFINITELY WRONG! CERTAINTY & UNCERTAINTY IN THE SCIENTIFIC DEBATE.
DALLAS CAMPBELL AND FRIENDS
12.30-13.30
Why we believe what we believe, and why certain areas attract so much controversy. 

LUNCH 13.30-14.30

WHAT'S EATING THE MARY ROSE
DR JOANNE PRESTON
14.30-15.30
The Mary Rose Tudor warship provides a unique environment for scientific research. Almost 500 years of submersion and burial in marine sediment allowed large quantities of sulphur and iron compounds to build up, which led to the production of wood-degrading sulphuric acid when the ship was raised and exposed to water and oxygen. In this talk we will discover the extreme microbial communities that reside in the Mary Rose and how environmental microbiology research and archaeological conservation combine to protect King Henry VIII’s iconic warship.

NO TURN UNSTONED: THE HARMS AND BENEFITS OF RECREATIONAL DRUGS
SUZI GAGE
15.45-16.45
The media love to sensationalise the dangers of illicit drug use, whilst downplaying or even ignoring the harms from legal drugs. Suzi takes us on a trip through the current scientific understanding of the harms, and also potential benefits of recreational drugs, both illegal and legal.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM MACAQUES?
DR JEROME MICHELETTA
17.00-18.00
Like humans and other primates, macaques have big brains and live in large social groups. In order to live in these complex groups, they need to keep track of each other and take part in intricate social interactions. To do this, they use sophisticated and subtle communication, such as facial expressions, body postures and vocalisations. Humans are closely related to macaques as we have all evolved from a common ancestor. In this talk, Dr Jerome Micheletta will explain how better understanding the macaques’ behaviour helps us to understand how and why humans behave the way we do.