A list of all SciBar events in reverse chronological order

6th June 2011 – The Structure of the Vacuum

Professor Simone Marzani of Manchester University will lead our discussion of the vacuum structure. Is it really “nothing at all” or is it stuffed with interesting things designed to appear to be nothing – mostly? This session originated from our continue reading
9th May 2011 – Computers and the Brain

How is it that we find some things very difficult which computers find ever so easy AND VERY MUCH VICE VERSA? How can we improve our computers and our knowledge of how our brain functions? Professor Steve Furber will lead continue reading
4th April 2011 – Einstein’s Last Legacy: Detecting Wrinkles in Space-Time

Associate Professor Andrea Lommen of Franklin & Marshall College and Dr Ben Stappers of Jodrell Bank study millisecond pulsars. These are dead stars with about the mass of our sun, collapsed down to about the size of Knutsford (10km across), continue reading
7th March 2011- Neutrinos

Dr Marieke Navin, from MOSI Manchester, recently participated in the refurbishment of a huge neutrino detector called Super Kamiokande beneath the Japanese Alps. She says “The detector is a cylinder 40m diameter and 40m tall holding 40,000 tonnes of ultra-pure continue reading
7th February 2011 – Cosmic Rays

Professor Tony Bell from Oxford University led our discussion on cosmic rays. These are the highest energy particles in the universe. Their energies reach about ten million times that of particles accelerated at CERN. Mainly protons, one single particle can continue reading
10th January 2011 – Bees: Clever Little Things and WE Need Them

Professor Ian Munro from Daresbury will lead a discussion on Bees and how the number of hives is reducing due to a mysterious disease. Bees are very smart; being able to calculate the distance between various food sources so as continue reading
6th December 2010 – Microbes and Health

Dr Ian Wilson of Astra Zeneca plc will lead our discussion on Microbes and Health (ours not theirs!). You probably know that our digestive tracts (that’s “guts” to you and me) are teeming with a fantastic variety of bacteria – continue reading
1st November 2010 – Future Energy

How a Strange Rock and a Particle Accelerator Can Shape Our Future Doctor Hywel Owen from Manchester University will lead a discussion on options for future energy requirements, and how a novel form of nuclear power based on Thorium could transform continue reading
4th October 2010 – Cheshire and Continental Drift

Cheshire: Where Have You Been and How Did You Get Here? Professor Peter Styles from Keele University will lead us through the journey that our county has travelled from the interior of the ancient supercontinent Pangea to its current position continue reading
6th September 2010 – Beer: The Amber Nectar

Keith Sheard, Head Brewer at Joseph Holts Brewery, will join us to discuss how a brewer decides what he would like his beer to taste like, and how he goes about achieving that objective. Although having tested a myriad brands of continue reading
5th July 2010 – The Deep Oceans and Their Inhabitants

Join Professor Paul Tyler of The National Oceanographic Centre on Monday 5th July to discuss “What goes on down there”. What are conditions like at the bottom of the deep oceans? The pressure is phenomenal – can anything live? What continue reading
7th June 2010 – Synchrotron Radiation

Professor Richard Pattrickand will join us to discuss synchrotron radiation which is electromagnetic radiation, generated by the acceleration of ultrarelativistic (i.e. moving near the speed of light) charged particles through magnetic fields. This may be achieved artificially in synchrotrons or storage continue reading