What a packed week it is this coming week! The 8th of March is International Women’s Day and it seems all of London has events happening to celebrate. But there is no shortage of talks, screening, and panels on the other days either; watch out for everything from Amazonian people to the science of psychedelics, to making your own terrarium while having a curry. All the events here are in chronological order so make sure to read down the list and fill your time and your mind with interesting events!
7th to 9th March: Looking Ahead to the Third Human Genome Editing Summit at the Royal Society
7th to 9th March, Online, Free
“In partnership with the UK Academy of Medical Sciences, the US National Academies of Sciences and Medicine and The World Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society is hosting a three-part series of online events looking ahead to the 2023 Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing. This event has pretty much every important organisation attending to speak, so if this is your area (or even if it isn’t!) make sure to catch the discussion.”
7 March 13:40 – 16:00 UK GMT : Looking Ahead to the Science | 8 March 14:00 – 16:00 UK GMT : Looking Ahead to the Equity & Access | 9 March 14:00 – 17:00 UK GMT : Looking Ahead to the Governance
7th March: Racing Green: How motorsport science can save the world at the Royal Institute
7th March, £7-£16, Online or In Person at The Royal Institute
“Motorsport is the world’s fastest R&D lab and the science extends its reach far beyond the track. From using the aerodynamics of a Formula 1 car to keep our food cool in the supermarket to Mercedes’ F1 engineering team helping London’s NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic. Kit Chapman discusses technology developed on the track, the overlooked figures in motorsport history and the green technology that could save the world of tomorrow.”
7th March: The Digital Disconnect at the LSE
7th March, Free, Online for non LSE students
“With the increased digitisation of society comes an increased concern about who is left behind. From societal causes to the impact of everyday actions, leading experts will discuss Ellen Helsper’s latest book, The Digital Disconnect which explores the relationship between digital and social inequalities, and the lived consequences of digitisation.”
8th March: Women and Climate change: Leading the way to a more sustainable and equitable world at Imperial with the Grantham Institute
8th March, Free, Online or at South Kensington Campus
“Women’s vulnerability to climate change stems from a number of factors – social, economic and cultural. Women have limited access to and control of environmental goods and services; they have negligible participation in decision-making, and are not involved in the distribution of environment management benefits. Consequently, women are less able to confront climate change. In many societies, socio-cultural norms and childcare responsibilities prevent women from migrating or seeking refuge in other places or working when a disaster hits. Women, in many developing countries suffer gender inequalities with respect to human rights, political and economic status, land ownership, housing conditions, exposure to violence, education and health. Climate change becomes an added stressor that will aggravate women’s vulnerability.”
8th March: Bitch: A revolutionary guide to sex, evolution and the female animal at The Royal Institution
8th March, £7 – £16, The Royal Institution
“In the last few decades a revolution has been brewing in zoology and evolutionary biology. Join award-winning broadcaster and filmmaker Lucy Cooke as she demonstrates how the female of the species has been marginalised and misunderstood by the scientific patriarchy. In this talk, Lucy explores a riotous cast of animals, and the scientists studying them who together are redefining the female of the species, overturning outdated binary expectations of bodies, brains, biology and behaviour.”
8th March: Entangled Futures: Weaving our ecological path at Central St Martin’s
8th March, Free, Central St Martin’s
“This lecture aims to expose the socio-environmental impacts of fast fashion and to explore ways to rethink the textile production through diverse examples of speculative design that emphasise on the cultural shift needed to reinvent our way of producing and consuming.
The lecture will follow from the projects led by the Centre for Sustainable Fashion presented by its director Dilys Williams, to the explanation of how speculative design can be a starting point to re-create our imaginary, promoted by Lorna Powell and Georgia Vincent, both alumni from London College of Communication.”
8th March: Cellular Phones at Gresham College Lectures
8th March, Free, Museum of London
“The most commonly used computer in the world is surely the one in your hand. Mobile or cellular telephony is nowadays hardly about telephony at all, but about communication in its broadest sense. Companies and governments have fallen and risen due to the use of mobile phones and in many countries without a phone you cannot transact with society. The smartphone is therefore a, if not the, pivotal innovation of this century.”
8th March: The Science of Psychedelics with Dr. David Luke at Juju’s
8th March, £11.37 – £30.24, Juju’s Bar and Stage
“The traditional use of psychoactive plants and fungi for spiritual and shamanic rituals has occurred for thousands of years, whereas the Western scientific research of these substances has only been explored in the last 100 years, and prohibition stalled the last 50 years of this. In this talk you will be introduced to the science of these traditional psychedelics along with their modern counterparts first synthesized in the 20th century. Dr. Luke will also touch upon the mental health applications for these drugs. Now that scientific research is resuming, what do psychedelics tell us about the weirder side of human consciousness, and what can be learned from the traditional shamanic practices with these substances?”
8th March: Florence Nightingale’s London
8th March, Free, Charing Cross Library and Archives
“Famous as the Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale spent most of her life living and working in London, and specifically in Westminster. Using extracts from her recently published book, Julie Chandler explores where Florence shopped, started her school of nursing and wrote her own book.”
9th March: How do we respond to growing threats to health security? at King’s College London
9th March, Free, Online or King’s College London Strand
“Two years on from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scale and diversity of health security threats continues to challenge governments and practitioners worldwide. Various crises such as the US Anthrax Attacks, SARS, Ebola and COVID-19 have repeatedly shown the difficulty anticipating and responding to rapidly changing threat landscapes.
Now, as climate change drives the emergence of novel pathogens, hostile actors wage information bio-warfare, and drug resistance threatens our existing medical countermeasures, the importance of strengthening health security approaches has never been greater.
How should we address increasingly diverse future threats to health security whilst responding to the current pandemic crisis? How can we support health systems across high and low income settings to prepare for health emergencies? How should health, government and security actors engage with one another to anticipate health security threats? And importantly following COVID-19, how can we prevent the next pandemic from occurring in the first place?”
9th March: THE LAST FOREST (12A) + Q&A at the Science Museum
9th March, £8, The Science Museum
Screening followed by a Q&A of “Luiz Bolognesi’s unique film depicting the indigenous Yanomami community’s struggle to keep the spirits of the forest and their traditions alive.
The Yanomami represent the largest relatively isolated indigenous group in South America. Yet increasingly their way of life is being encroached on by outsiders who intrude upon their territory with little concern for their rights. The Last Forest, directed by Luiz Bolognesi and co-written with Yanomami community leader and campaigner Davi Kopenawa, mixes documentary and staged performance to present a visual experience of what it is to live among The Yanomami. The film provides a window into their relationship with the forest, their rhythms, beliefs, hopes and fears.”
10th March: Women & Sustainable Food Systems: Perspectives towards a Healthier World at Imperial with the Grantham Institute
10th March, Free, Online
“Food production is a major driver of climate change and biodiversity loss. A key challenge we face nationally and globally is feeding a rapidly growing population with nutritious food from sustainable and resilient food systems. Transforming how we produce food and shifting our eating patterns can help to reverse environmental degradation whilst enhancing the health of the population.
In this seminar, we will bring together speakers who work towards sustainable food systems across academia, industry and social entrepreneurship.”
10th March: The Cell Programming Revolution at The Royal Institution
10th March, £7.79 – £17.03, The Royal Institution
“Scientists are embarking on a biological version of the digital revolution. Until recently, controlling the mechanisms within cells—how they develop and change—was out of reach. But now biologists are finding ways to reprogramme cells at the genetic level, giving them access to the entire operating system of life.
Join neurosurgeon and stem cell biologist Mark Kotter, as he reveals how he and his colleagues made some of the first major breakthroughs, accelerating a worldwide race to discover the codes that underlie all human cell types.”
10th March: Terrarium Workshop & Curry Night With London Terrariums & DabbaDrop
10th March, £54.49, Portobello Road
“An evening of delicious plant-based curry’s, fresh beer & mini ecosystems you can take home with you. We’re so excited to host this evening workshop, where you can learn to design, plant and care for your own garden-in-a-jar (ideal for all of us Londoners with tiny gardens), whilst enjoying zero-waste South Asian food in Dabba Tins & fresh local beer in reusable bottles. You will be guided through making your terrarium using their specialist tools and expertise, and along the way you will learn the history and science behind these miniature ecosystems and how they survive so well on their own.
All materials, plants, food and drinks are included in the ticket price for the 2-hour workshop. Also, London Terrariums will provide bags and care guides for getting your terrariums home.”
11th March: Adventures In Writing About Space at King’s College London
11th March, Free, King’s College London
“Nicholas Booth, will deliver a lecture about his journey as an author and science writer in the space industry. BOOTH has been a writer for over thirty years. He was the youngest Briton to ever work for NASA and read physics at London University before working on Astronomy Nowmagazine. He then worked for the world’s oldes t newspapers: as a science writer for The Observerand then as a technology editor on The Times. He has written a dozen books including an encyclopedia on space, a look at the next century in space as well as a book on the planets and one on the ozone layer. He has broadcast regularly, presented on radio and worked as an editorial director and then as a mobile publisher. With an interest in history and unusual characters, his book Zigzag, about the double agent Eddie Chapman, is being made into a film by Tom Hanks. His book about a famous forgery in Victorian London, The Thieves of Threadneedle Street, has been critically acclaimed. In 2022, his first thriller, Messiah, is being published following on from his most recent book, The Search For Life On Mars co-written with Dr. Elizabeth Howell.”
12th March: Getting to Grips with the Climate Science at the Goethe-Institut
12th March, £0 – £5, Goethe-Institut London
“Climate change has become the defining issue of our times but it can feel vague, far away and confusing. Let’s be honest, climate science is hard. It weaves together geography, physics, chemistry, sociology, economics and politics. And new research is coming out all the time. Join a small-group of like-minded people, using a series of cards, to map out the systemic nature of climate change. You’ll be working through a visual version of the science reports produced by the UN (IPCC 6th cycle assessment, August 2021). More than 260 000 people have played this game worldwide. Sophia has delivered it more than 80 times. Over 3 hours we’ll cover the science – where no question is a silly one – and we’ll reflect on what it means for us and what we can do about it.”
Sofia Hurst is the News Sub-Editor for I,Science and is studying an MSc in Science Communications at Imperial College London
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