Category: Events
-
An evening with a Steminist
‘I’m a STEM-INIST’- read the clever amalgamated (STEM + Feminist) caption on the T-shirt worn by Professor Dame Anne Glover, catching the eyes of the audience, as she stepped on the to the stage to deliver her talk on why ‘diversity makes life better for everybody’. She had been invited as the keynote speaker to…
-
Festival of Creative Learning: Art and science at small scale
Art and science intersected excitingly last Monday night at the University Main Library. As part of the Festival of Creative Learning, a pop-up exhibition of postcards about science and art was put on display on the first mezzanine of the library and remained up until the close of the Festival on Friday. The postcards were…
-
Privacy in the age of AI: who’s following our digital footsteps?
Two weeks ago, EdIntelligence, the University of Edinburgh Machine Learning society, launched the “We Need to Talk About AI” seminar series in collaboration with the School of Informatics, with a sold-out event centring around big data and privacy in an increasingly digital world. The event was hosted by postgraduate Artificial Intelligence students Mari Liis Pedak…
-
Edinburgh International Science Festival 2018 / Factfulness: Why We’re Wrong About the World And Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Wars, climate change, overpopulation, scarce resources – the world is doomed, isn’t it? The late Hans Rosling, professor of International Health at the Karolinska Institute, dedicated a big part of his life to showing us that this isn’t necessarily the case. If anything, many things are getting better. Yes, there is a lot of uncertainty…
-
Edinburgh International Science Festival 2018 / The Science and Spirit of Scotland
On Tuesday evening a capacity crowd of revellers descended upon Summerhall’s Dissection Room to enjoy a panel discussion on the ‘spirit of Scotland’. No, not the foul tasting orange insecticide that perplexingly outsells Coca-Cola here, but Scotland’s other national drink (the one to which changes in recipe are celebrated rather than derided). Upon entry to…
-
Edinburgh International Science Festival 2018 / Should we “edit out” disability?
The first panel member to speak at this thought-provoking discussion pointed out early on that on closer examination, the quotation marks of the title could be placed around almost any word or words: “should” we edit out disability (as if a decision of this magnitude is so simple a question)? Should “we” edit out disability…
-
Edinburgh International Science Festival 2018 / The survival of nothing: is extinction important?
Humans have a tremendous impact on the environment, making the topic of species extinction a pressing issue. Human dominance can make us feel like we are invincible. But what about our own extinction? Organised as a part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, a discussion led by the renowned palaeontologist Dr Steve Brusatte, raised some…
-
Edinburgh International Science Festival 2018 / A Celebration of Women in Astronomy
Prof. Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell is currently a Visiting Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and is famous for the significant scientific achievement of discovering the first radio pulsars in 1967. The discovery was recognised with a Nobel Prize for Physics, but she was excluded despite having been the first to observe and…
-
Edinburgh International Science Festival 2018 / Edinburgh Medal Address: Prof. Cordelia Fine
Since 1989, the Edinburgh Medal is awarded to scientists during the International Science Festival. The award recognises their contributions to science and technology, and to the better understanding and well-being of humanity. This year, Prof. Cordelia Fine joined the long list of awarded scientists for her work on gender equality and her contribution to close…