Science and Technology Group: Difference between revisions

From Reform Club Science Group
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
(142 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
== Now planning meetings for the 2022 Season  ==


Please get in touch if you know of a suitable speaker or would like a specific topic addressed.


== April Meeting: Peter Wilson, The Rise of Antimicrobial Resistance ==
To keep informed, please sign up to our mailchimp list:


=== April 19th, Strangers Room ===
<mailchimpforms prefix="science-and-technology-group" account="c848bb9da2c85dd0281575c04" list="deb28a80da" type="subscribe" />


We may be witnessing the end of antibiotics as we know them. Penicillin is no longer the miracle drug it once was. Bacteria have evolved to beat it at its own game. The same goes for most other antibiotics. The problem is so severe that drug manufacturers have given up the unequal fight. They no longer sink significant sums into developing drugs that will retain their efficacy for a shorter and shorter period. This solves a problem for their investors, but creates a bigger problem for any of us that might be threatened with infection, which is all of us.
= 2022 Programme =


Without antibiotics, life will be very different. We will be afraid to take risks of coming into contact with infection. We will be afraid to play contact sports, in case we get an injury which might require even minor surgery. We will have to be very careful about how we live our everyday lives.


Peter Wilson is a consultant microbiologist at University College London Hospitals. He was trained at Cambridge and UCL and became a consultant in 1990. His main interests lie in antimicrobial chemotherapy and infection control and he has responsibility for critical care.
<!--


[[Peter Wilson|Read More...]]
Dates for our meetings in 2020 are as follows (future dates are always provisional):
We will put this back when it has some shape.
{{2022 Programme}}


== May Meeting: Giles Yeo, ''Are your genes to blame if your jeans don't fit?'' ==
-->
=== May 16th, Strangers Room ===
Obesity may well be the world’s largest public health problem.


The recent rapid increase in obesity must be down to changes in our lifestyle and in the types of food we eat. It is clear that our environment has changed a lot over the past fifty years. People take much less exercise and consume far more calories than ever before.
I am currently working on the 2022 programme. I hope to have talks on the following subjects:


Although we are all exposed to these changes, only some of us are obese.
- Dark Matter,


Our response to this changed environment depenfileds on our genetic make-up. Twin studies estimate that 40% to 70% of the variability of our weight may be due to genetic factors.
- Quantum computing,


Once we realize this, we can use genetics as a tool to understand human obesity. The focus of Dr Yeo’s group is on the molecular mechanisms underlying obesity. It has made major advances in understanding the biology of appetite control. It appears that some of us simply feel hungrier all the time and, as a result, eat more.
- Cyptocurrencies,


Dr Yeo will challenge the prevailing view that obese people are bad, lazy and lacking in moral fibre. He argues rather that they are fighting their biology, at least in most cases. Society will have to accept this before it can come up with strategies to tackle the problem successfully.
- Applied Artificial Intelligence (speaker from DeepMind),


[[Giles Yeo|Read More ...]]
- Exploring Space (Nicole Stott),


= 2017 Programme =
- Autonomous vehicle liability,  
Dates for 2017 are as follows (all meeting are on Wednesdays, usually the 3rd one of each month):


{| class="wikitable"
- Use of psychedelic drugs in treatment of mental illness,
|-
 
! Month !! Day of Month !! Speaker !! Title
- The Chinese social credit system (or related).
|-
 
| February || 15th || Prof [[Martyn Thomas]] || Cybersecurity
If you have a comment, please get in touch, especially if you can refer me to a suitable speaker on any of the topics above.
|-
 
| March || 15th || Prof [[Anil Seth]] || Machine Consciousness
 
|-
[[FAQ]]
| April || 19th || Prof [[Peter Wilson]] || Anti-Microbial Resistance.
|-
| May || 16th, <!-- whichever is vacated by Pol Comm, 23rd (alternative, but near to Thackeray), or 31st (late in the month, not ideal) --> || Dr [[Giles Yeo]] || Are your genes to blame if your jeans don't fit?
|-
| June || 21st || Prof [[Paul Veys]] || CAR-T Study, Anthony Nolan.  
|-
| September || 20th || Dr [[Paolo Tasca]] || Bitcoins and the Blockchain
|-
| October || 18th || Prof [[J A Madrigal]] ||  Stem cell therapies.
|-
| November || 15th || Dr [[Uday Phadke]] || Innovation
|-
|}

Revision as of 04:59, 17 December 2021

Now planning meetings for the 2022 Season

Please get in touch if you know of a suitable speaker or would like a specific topic addressed.

To keep informed, please sign up to our mailchimp list:

<mailchimpforms prefix="science-and-technology-group" account="c848bb9da2c85dd0281575c04" list="deb28a80da" type="subscribe" />

2022 Programme

I am currently working on the 2022 programme. I hope to have talks on the following subjects:

- Dark Matter,

- Quantum computing,

- Cyptocurrencies,

- Applied Artificial Intelligence (speaker from DeepMind),

- Exploring Space (Nicole Stott),

- Autonomous vehicle liability,

- Use of psychedelic drugs in treatment of mental illness,

- The Chinese social credit system (or related).

If you have a comment, please get in touch, especially if you can refer me to a suitable speaker on any of the topics above.


FAQ