Category: Events
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Inspiring STEM
The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he’s one who asks the right questions. – Claude Levi-Strauss. Having been a ‘researcher’ for a few years now, I have had to battle the stereotype of a ‘crazy scientist’ with many school-going kids. In my attempts at outreach activities, I have tried to explain…
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The Midlothian Science Festival: a volunteer’s perspective
A take on the the ‘Bright Sparks’ gala day celebrated for under-fives at the Danderhall Library Who would have thought that, at 22 years old, I would find myself scouring the house on a Friday night asking my flatmates to save the loo rolls and return them to me. At a workshop I’d attended that…
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Ada Lovelace Day 2017 – Celebrating women in STEM
The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) is a very hot topic. Researchers are trying to identify the underlying causes and find ways to tackle the gender imbalance in these fields. More and more often, networks are created and events are organised to support and promote the ladies of STEM. One…
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The Heart Uncovered: the people behind the thought
ASCUS, the UK’s largest publicly accessible laboratory supported by the Wellcome Trust, has contributed immensely in demystifying ‘research’ as it goes on in laboratories. At a new event titled “The Heart Uncovered: Cardiovascular Science Open Session”, ASCUS is hosting PhD researchers Rebecca Wafer, Teodora Aldea and Emmanouil Solomonidis from University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cardiovascular…
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EUSci at the Fringe 2017 / Why do we need evidence?
When I attended “Why do we need evidence?” at the Edinburgh Fringe, I didn’t expect an event about the history of medical science to leave me despairing for its future. The long and in many cases tedious road to scientific discovery (which led to the discovery of antibiotics, genes, vitamins, and bacterial life forms) often…
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EUSci at the Fringe 2017 / 1 Woman, a High-Flyer and a Flat Bottom
Samantha Baines’ latest effort was promoted with one objective: to restore three lost women of science to the modern consciousness. Although set within a bunker with an approximate capacity of 35, it achieves its primary purpose. Word-of-mouth will transmit her message amplified by every attendee enlightened with the knowledge of these luminaries. In this, I…
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EUSci at the Fringe 2017 / Mia: Daughters of Fortune
Did you know that 40% of parents with learning disabilities have their children removed by social services? I didn’t. Until I attended “Mia: Daughters of Fortune”. Mia is part of the Daughters of Fortune project, which explores parenthood with a learning disability. Led by Mind the Gap, the UK’s largest inclusive theatre group for people…
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Edinburgh International Book Festival / Mysteries of the Quantum Universe
Mysteries of the Quantum Universe and the Value of Interdisciplinary Learning In the exclusively lay context (we all have that one outrageously ‘meta’ friend who is a little too existential), a knowledge of quantum-anything really does separate the wheat from the chaff. Unsurprisingly, and as a self-confessed lover of all things meta and existential, when…
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Science at the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Whilst the month of August heralds the end of the Scottish summer (though a five-day spell of sunshine hardly merits the term), so too does it mark the beginning of Edinburgh’s iconic ‘festival’ season. Amongst students, the ‘Fringe’ is unequivocally the most celebrated, with a direct correlation existing between an individual’s sense of self-worth and…
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EUSci at the Fringe 2017 / The Naked Dietitian
I’ll be honest, when I sat down and first started watching ‘The Naked Dietitian’, a one woman show at the Quaker Meeting House (Venue 40), I thought the editor had sent me to the wrong place. With the remit of reviewing a ‘science-themed show’ it wasn’t immediately obvious to me where the science was coming…