A weekly roundup of the best events in London for scientists.
Monday
I’ll be heading along to tonight’s Skeptics in the Pub, held at The Monarch on Chalk Farm Road. This month’s talk is named ‘Monsters, Mermaids and Misinformation’ and will be given by the Horniman Museum’s Paolo Viscardi (billed as a Dave Gorman clone, but I’ve always maintained he’s more of a Simon Pegg-a-like). Paolo will discuss anatomical forgeries and the hype they’ve inspired. Starts at 7.30pm and runs till closing time, with a small (usually £2) entrance fee.
Tuesday
The Dana Centre plays host to the Intelligence Squared team. For those not familiar, IQ^2^ (as they like to be known) put on stimulating public discussions in the manner of an oxbridge debating society. Their podcast is well worth subscribing to, although may be a little stuffy for some tastes. Tonight’s event concerns freedom of information in science and technology, and includes the Wellcome Trust’s ever-entertaining Daniel Glaser on a panel that also features a Times tech journalist and a representative of sci-art organisation Arts Catalyst. Free entry.
Wednesday
Tickets are still in good availability for tonight’s event, in which Lord Robert Winston discusses his new book about science experiments to inspire children. We’re talking ‘balloon rockets…glow in the dark jelly…making metal detectors’. The event is suitable for adults and children and will set you back a tenner. The fun starts at 6pm.
Thursday
You’re spoiled for choice today. The Royal Society have two events. From 4.30 to 6.30 they examine TV and film around the time of their tercentenary (i.e. 1960). Then, at 6.30, Professor Ada Yonath somehow links up bear hibernation, ribosome structure and antibiotics (free entry). In a free lunchtime lecture, UCL asks: Will robots take over the world?, a theme reprised at the Royal Institution in the evening, by Wired editor Ben Hammersley.
Friday
Back to the Royal Society for lunch and a free talk about 17th century scientific instrument maker. In the evening, the Royal Institution offer a discussion about the health effects on armed forces personnel from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars (£10).