MSF 2013- 21st Century Coffee House (Penny University)

Lucky you, you've stumbled across an explosive blog post, with lasers and fire! I'm not a liar, you really have. Recently I went to a the Penny University event at the Manchester Science Festival (MSF) 2013 and I want to tell you all about it. So grab a coffee, sit back and relax...

21st Century Coffee House- Penny University Live

Yes, you did read that correctly. University for one pence. I must admit, it's not technically a whole degree for 1p, rather some talks by experts in their respective fields for 1p. If you did the maths though, you would still see it is much better value than £9000 a year! 

21st Century Coffee House? Penny University?

Yes, the name stems from 17/18th century coffee houses, which cost only 1p to enter. It didn't matter which class you were, as long as you paid 1p, you could enter and join in with discussions. They apparently very quickly became well-known as alternative places for learning, as you could speak with scholars outside of the traditional university environment. You could also get coffee there.

This event had a similar theme, where it cost 1p to enter and you could then buy coffee and listen to experts talk about their research in their specific fields. Hosted at MOSI's cafe, there were talks by 5 people, plus a quick intro about coffee and the old coffee houses themselves. 

The talks were about a wide range of topics, from bronze-age mummies to how we may have a possible cure for cystic fibrosis. The bronze-age mummy talk was very interesting for me in particular, as apparently quite a lot of mummies found in the British Isles were actually a mish-mash of various different bodies! Lovely. Another talk was on how smog is created over cities, especially in the morning, how this relates to climate change and some of the events being taken to prevent this increase in temperature. This included an example which involved oranges and lasers! 

Oranges and Lasers?

Science right there.

Yes, that famous combination, oranges and lasers. Originally, the laser was directed through the vial, but the beam wasn't visible. The orange peel acted as a pollutant, which reacted with some ozone which was already in the vial. When Sarah Moller (the speaker, pictured) shined a laser through the vial, the laser could be seen! This showed that the principle of how clouds work, by having particles which the water can grab onto. This creates bigger particles, which gets more water. You see the point. 

But this wasn't the only experiment of the night. No, no. No. Make way for exploding custard!

Exploding Custard!

Yes, exploding custard! Science communicator Ian Russell isn't a scientist. But he is brilliant science communicator and has been doing a show for years, all over the place, to get kids interested in science. This has taken him to places like the Royal Institution in London and even to Russia! He explained to the audience how children can notice things that adults can't. Why? Because adults are boring and have had most of the creativity drummed out of them at school. Startling, but it's true. 

Not to leave the audience on a low, he then showed us one of the tricks he uses in his show. That was exploding custard powder. By having the custard in powder form and mixing it with a lot of air at a high temperature, you can make it explode! So that's what he did. Have a look:

Put the powder in the tub, ready for all the air and fire...

BOOM!

Ta-dah! Exploding custard!

Cost?

It's in the name! Penny university! It cost one pence to get in and then you could buy coffee for extra.

Will It Happen Again?

Alas, this was a one-off event for the Manchester Science Festival. However, there are plenty more awesome science events during the rest of the festival. So have a look at the guide here and see what you fancy. If you want to find out more about the Penny University, their website is here. But for now, I'm going to try and cram in some more science festival fun! Bye!

Interview with Simon Singh.

Recently, at the Manchester Science Festival 2013, I caught up with Simon Singh. Simon is the author of the bestselling "Fermat's Last Theorem" and has recently written a book about the maths hidden within "The Simpsons". The book is titled "The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets" and I spoke to him about the famous yellow family...

Read More

MSF 2013- Science Showoff

Hello! The time is upon us, by that I mean the Manchester Science Festival (MSF) 2013 is here! This great city is currently experiencing a flurry of science-related activity, which anyone can get in on. However, there are so many events for you to go to, what happens if you miss some? Don't worry, that's where I come in. Over the period of the festival I will be visiting several events and shortly afterwards, I will be blogging about them. You can then use my blog as a guide to see whether you should visit these events the next time they are town. Anyway, enough chat! Let's get down to business...

Science Showoff

What?

I have to admit, it's quite a jazzy logo.

Science Showoff is an open mic night for scientists, teachers, students or just anyone who wants to talk to an audience about science. Each person gets roughly 8-10 minutes to talk about their topic of choice. They are generally aided by background slides, but don't be mistaken, this isn't a lecture. These talks are humorous, intriguing and relaxed. You get a range of performing styles, from the traditional (person talking to the audience for 8 minutes) to the bizarre (somebody not saying a word). 

Who?

The general set up. The lack of people is because this was
during the intermission, so they are at the bar.

The entire show was comprised of 7 performers, each doing a 10 (ish) piece. Yet the show needed somebody to make sure the show ran smoothly. This role was filled by Steve Cross, a man who prided himself on not knowing any science. This may sound odd, having a scientific novice hosting a show all about science, but it worked extremely well. This was mainly because he was a very laid back and funny individual, who was not above mocking certain members of the audience (chemists) and giving anecdotes.

It would take too much space to list all of the brilliant acts in depth, so I'll try and give a quick overview of my favourite 3 acts:

Katie Steckles- Without saying a single word or using any limbs to control an instrument, she played several tunes using a floppy disk drive. One of my favourite moments was when she played the Eastenders theme using the drive, recreating the opening sequence by using google maps to zoom out over London.

Tom Bishop- Talked all about the behaviour of "weaver ants" in the rainforest. One of the best things I learnt from him was that to form their many nests out of leaves, weaver ants will squeeze their young larvae. This forces a glue out of the larvae, which is used to stick the leaves together.

Yes, those are the lyrics to the chorus.

Chella Quint- "Adventures in Menstruating". An interesting title, I know. Chella took the audience on a journey through the advertising history of period products, as she tried to eliminate the social stigma about periods and make us all "period positive". A highly informative talk, I was unaware that the advertising techniques for period products haven't changed in over 80 years. We're on to you bodyform. Her piece was then rounded off with a song titled "The Crimson Tide", which was designed to explain the menstruation cycle as though it were being done on Sesame Street. A tad strange, but very enjoyable.

When?

Sadly, Science Showoff was only on once during the MSF. They do tours of the country and visit several cities. They are also in London a fair bit. However, I am sure they will be making a reappearance in Manchester very soon. Their website can be found here.

Why?

Why? Because it's fun, that's why.

How?

Now you're just being silly.

Is There Anything Similar?

Luckily for you, there are some similar events happening during the MSF. There is "Punk Science", hosted at MOSI, by two comedic members of the Science Museum. They plan to explain how humans love, laugh and feel pain, using very loose scientific demonstrations. There is also "Bright Club", which I believe aims to be a mixture of comedy, music and anything vaguely related to science. So never fear, the MSF schedule (found here) has you covered!

#Hooked Silent Disco Preview

Hello again! Hardly a day goes by now when I don't see the editing page of a blog post, but there is no use complaining! So what was I up to this time? Well, let me indulge you in my travels (again)...

#Hooked

Not part of the research,
but it does show a lot of
people. And it's at MOSI.

No, it's not a twitter campaign for fishermen and sailors. In fact, it's a new exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester. The idea behind it is that when you listen to a song, there are certain parts where you have to nod your head and sing along. These parts are called the "hook" of the song and believe me, you know one when you hear one (Paul Simon anyone? No? Just me?).

For a while, MOSI have been getting people to tell them the catchiest song they know, so they can try and identify what makes a song catchy. This is all part of a larger experiment, to help scientists understand our musical memory, the data of which could be used in Alzheimer's disease research.

Yet, they need a lot of data and that means they need a lot of people. This is where we all come in! They need more people to listen to songs and identify these "hooks". So to get people to come, MOSI are organising several events for the Manchester Science Festival (MSF) based around these catchy tunes. 

Silent Disco

These screens will cause you to either have a blast from the past,
or you'll be laughing at the crazy advertising
of yesteryear.

This is where I come in. One of the events for the MSF based around "hooks" is a "silent disco"! A "silent disco", for those for don't know, is not exactly silent. Everyone is given a pair of fancy headphones, which are able to tune into multiple channels. On each of these channels, different music is playing. So you can effectively have a different disco to everybody else if you want! This isn't an ordinary silent disco though (an odd phrase), as all the songs being played are ones identified by the general public as the catchiest tunes around. So you won't be able to stop yourself dancing!

The preview was recently, which is what I was invited to. I got to try out this silent disco and I have to tell you, it was a lot of fun. I was up and dancing after a few songs and it was contagious. Once a few people were dancing, more and more people joined in. This was only at the preview, so at the actual event it's going to be heaving!

Dates

Now that I've got you "hooked" (I couldn't help myself), I best tell you about the date of the main silent disco. It is happening on Wednesday 30th October 2013, starting at 7PM. It's coupled with a free chat with the creator of #Hooked and special guests, about what makes music catchy and addictive. The actual disco will be starting later on and will cost a £5 deposit (for the headphones, I assume).

See you there, I hope you bring your best shapes. I know I will!

Play Expo 2013

Hello all, it would appear all has been quiet recently and I haven't been up to much! Do not worry, very soon you will be inundated with blog posts and you won't be able to move! For the moment, however, you will have to savour this one.

I recently went to a convention called "Play Expo". Think of it as a place where new video games are shown, where you can try them out and also a place where you can do some retro gaming. Sounds like fun, if you're in to that sort of thing. Luckily, I am.

Games

Some guys playing Assassin's Creed 4

Right then, to the good stuff. The brand new games and technology that was being shown off. There were famous developers there; Nintendo was there (showing off the Wii U and 3DS),  Sony was there with Ubisoft (showing off Assassin's Creed 4), but strangely Microsoft weren't there with the Xbox One. Missed a trick there. While I tried these consoles out and found them to be a lot of fun, one piece of tech really sticks in my mind. This piece of tech was called the "Oculus Rift".

Imagine you were playing a game where you were flying a spitfire. Now imagine you were placed right into the cockpit and you were in the game. This is what the Oculus Rift does. It's almost a set of binoculars, but each eye piece acts as a screen, so all you can see is the game. Sounds good so far? It gets better. The best bit is when you turn your head. When you look around, so does the game. This meant you could look around the cockpit and over the wings just by turning your head. You were truly in the game.

Just look at that guy, he's not
even in our world anymore.

It was pretty bizarre at first, but soon you were doing flips in the plane and having a great time. Word of warning though, doing these daredevil tricks can make your stomach feel a bit odd. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Retro Gaming

Ahh memories.

For those who are fans of gaming from yesteryear, you don't have to worry. There was a whole section set up with old consoles and PC games, so you could play all your old favourites. For me, these included DOOM, Command & Conquer and Mario Kart 64. I love DOOM so much.

Multiplayer gaming on old consoles was also available, so my friends and I indulged some time in playing Super Smash Bros, the aforementioned Mario Kart 64 and Bomberman, to name a few. Old fashioned computer multiplayer was there as well, with several computers connected up to play games like Quake.

There was pretty much a console there for everyone, but if you weren't a fan of consoles, there were plenty of pinball machines to keep you entertained for hours. If you aren't a fan of pinball machines, don't go?

Cosplay

Yes, there was cosplay. No, I did not partake. For those who don't know, cosplay is basically people dressing up as their favourite characters from games, comics, art, anything really. Some people put a lot of time into their costumes and it shows. Some people, not so much. 

Not official cosplay, this was Nintendo's effort.
I just love the picture.

Play Expo did have a cosplay competition, where people could show off their efforts and be judged by a panel. For someone who had never watched a cosplay competition before, this was a bit bizarre. By the end of it, I did have a new found appreciation for the art. I shan't be doing it though. Not for a while.

Location

The convention was based at the EventCity centre in Manchester, which is right next to the Trafford Centre. Incredibly easy to get to by bus, as my friends and I found to our relief. 

Dates

The convention occurs in Manchester in mid-October time every year. Tickets vary in price, depending on whether you are going for the day or the whole weekend. It runs for both Saturday and Sunday, so you can buy a weekend ticket and spend your whole weekend gaming! Huzzah!