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THE picture opposite is a nanotechnology Molecular engine inserted here to comemorate our first discussion session led by Prof Paul O' Brien on Nanotechnology . Go to our discussion group site to see more nano engines and other superb science photos including astronomy ,black holes , satellite pictures of England in the dark etc and look in the Files section to get statistics on Uk Energy 21st Century needs Have a look what we discussed after the SciBAr Evening and add your comments/questions ---click here.

Knutsford SciBAr Discussion group

If you would like to see a 17 minute video of Knutsford SciBAr in operation (it downloads in 4-5mins broadband) CLICK HERE

The last bit was shot sound only so other video of the SciBAr has been added on top

PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS-- Pre 2007

4th of December 2006 "Big Bang to Stars and Galaxies"

Dr Thomas Mohaupt from Liverpool University introduced us to the The BIG BANG taking us from our current Universe and where it might be heading to the first trillionth of a second after the big bang. The microwave background radiation, from all parts of the sky, is what remains of the light from the big bang after 15 billion years of universe expansion, and it tells us what happened only a minute fraction of a second after it started. Inflatons, massive expansion faster than the speed of light?. How did it get lumpy and why so homogeneous at the beginning. And why is curved space ever so flat around here? Some very interesting things happened very quickly in our new universe but then not much for a very long time and its all there in the record We had a look at the results of this unimaginable explosion and we its remnants. It's sobering to think that every atom in your body and on the earth was made inside a star at millions of degrees. Will we ever know what went on before the Big Bang ?-- it used to be an impossible thought but scientists now think................

6th of November 2006 " North Pole Migration - Why your compass points the wrong way"

Professor David Gubbins from Leeds University l introduced us to the wandering North Pole. How and why does the North Pole wander -- The varible direction of magnetic North in different parts of the world. The Earth's magnet periodically reverses so that the North Pole becomes the South Pole and vice versa . What happens when it's changing over. Why is the earth magnetic ? What's in the centre of the Earth ? What happens to volcanoes whilst all this is going on. will cosmic rays get more deadly if we are not protected by the Earth's magnetism.It turns out that even in reversals the magnetic field does not go to zero ,but does drop by 80%. It's happened before and it's bound to happen again and some signs say it has already started .

2nd of October 2006 " Dark Matter and Multiple Universes -- Can we STRING them together"

Dr Brian Cox from Manchester University and CERN will introduce us to the front line of today's Physics. Examining the evidence for DARK MATTERand MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS AND UNIVERSES. looking at STRING THEORY , BRANE THEORYand SUPERSYMMETRY to explain the recent observed results together with progress in the search fornew supersymetric particle partners for each of the known fundamental particles we've found so far . If we find these it will give us some confidence that we are on the right track . As michio Kaku said :-String theory explains all the evidence we currently have about the universe and it is the only theory in town which can do this -- BUT we don't have any hard evidence that strings exist as we have not yet got the capability to reach the energies needed to see the Strings directly. Maybe there's another theory not yet discovered which can explain everything and direct evidence can prove it . What are CERN doing and what energies can be reached now and in the near future with their Large Hadron Collider . Sounds complicated but as I've said many times :-If they are explained clearly then Its NOT difficult to UNDERSTAND BUT it is DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE

4th of September 2006 -- "Multiple Dimensions - - How can we even think about them ?"

Professor Nige Ray from Manchester University will explore with us what it means to have many dimensions as many current theories of the Physics seem to demand. How can you travel in a direction which is not forward nor back nor up nor down nor left nor right but is at right angles to all those directions even if you are a fundamental particle .What do we mean when , like Einstein , we say that Space is "curved" -- How can "nothing" or a vacuum be curved .It's difficult to get your mind round it and Professor Ray will help us do just that . Following on from our QM and Relativity sessions Professor Ray will help us feel more comfortable with some of the basic but weird concepts involved and show how just by being normal but having an extra dimension any creature would have Godlike powers over lesser dimensional creatures

7th of August 2006-" Quantum Mechanics for Dummies"

Professor George Lafferty from Manchester University. Incredibly, for such a complex and weird subject, Professor Lafferty was rated for " Enjoyment" by the audience at 4.8 where 4.0 is good and 5.0 is excellent when he introduced us to the basics of QM. He also coveredsome of the incredibly accurate but weird stuff that it forecasts AND WHICH IS REAL . Was your car in the garage this morning or had it "LEAKED" through the wall into the garden- Can a particle go from A to B without going over some points on its path? Incredibly the answer is yes. And what about Schrodingers cat- both dead and alive ??. ...If a rifle was as accurate as QM you could aim it at an amoeba on the moon and hit it every time. Probability plays a clear role -but how can it be so accurate when we 're not even sure what's going to happen. Prof Lafferty gave a masterly description of what is the most weird and most proven theory ever. Without it -no computers, transistors TVs --but can this be REAL its not difficult to understand BUT it IS difficult to believe and no-one seems to know WHY it is like it is . you just have to get used to it.

3rd of July 2006-" Relativity for Dummies"

Professor Jeff Forshaw from Manchester University introduced us to the basics of Relativity The observations of light on which it is based. then some of the incredibly accurate but weird stuff that it forecasts .Big Bangs, curved space time, Black Holes , Singularities, wormholes, Time Travel? with its own inherent contradictions. This theory has been proven now to an accuracy of 1 in 10 to the power 14 and enables us to rendezvous precisely millions of miles away in space with comets and asteroids.. Without Relatuvity- we could not tell accurate time even on satellites which are very close. With it , Astronauts age slower than the rest of us, Yes really !and two separate events can occur simultaneously, or not, depending on how fast you are moving.A fascinating evening

Also at this July session of the SciBAr Andrew Rudd -Poet Laureate of Cheshire read the poem he has written about his visit to Knutsford SciBAr earlier in the year and was supported by two SciBArians who had written poems about the SciBAr.Go to the Sience and Poetry page to see the poems and Andrew Rudd's comments on his visits to the Knutsford SciBAr Poetry and Science

8th of May 2006-" The Evolution of Brain Size "

Professor Ian Dunbar from Liverpool University will lead our discussion on what caused the incredibly fast increase in human brain size in such a very short evolutionary period of time. How do we compare with other animals What did size do for us ? Are there implications for society, politics and "ideal community sizes" Is the human brain still evolving ? or are we now locked in a new world with a pre-historic brain and finding it difficult to cope. Are there implications for dealing with Europe , the larger society and our species' aggression across the world

5th of June 2006-" Synaesthesia - What you see is what you hear "

Rob Black from Liverpool University will explore with us the overlapping of senses in affected people which is Synaesthesia .What colour is a C sharp? Synaesthesia is a fascinating positive abnormality which occurs in about 1 in 10,000 people (although some estimates put this ratio as much lower), where an overlap occurs between the senses. There are many varieties of synaesthesia- some people might see colours when looking at certain numbers- Rob is researching people who, on hearing a particular sound, "see" ,for example, the colour purple. What do synaesthetes see? Is it affected by their mood? Are we all born with synaesthesia and then subsequently lose it? Are there any practical benefits of this unique condition?

3rd of April 2006 -- "How Memory works"

Dr Lee Wickham fromManchester University helped us explore: - How does the memory manage to store such prodigious amounts of information, most of which we will not consciously use again. Why does the brain bother? Is that word"consciously" significant. If all this stuff is in there why is it sometimes (always?) difficult to remember or recall things ? Does it (as it seems to do) get worse as we get older, and if so why? Is it possible to improve your memory and if so how ,and why does it work. Why does "sleeping on it " or "thinking about something else"sometimes help you remember What's going on in abnormal cases of ,say, people with prodigious memory or those who can't remember anything more than a minute ago . Why can old people sometimes have vivid memories of long ago and none of last week ? Memory is a very powerful function but it does seem to have its own little idiosyncracies.

6th of March " The Sperm's tale - The Evolution of Promiscuity "

Professor Tim Birkhead from Sheffield University asks is promiscuity favoured by evolution? and why sperm have to do battle in different ways to achieve success in fertilization in lots of different environments . The conditions they have to work with are often governed by the behaviour patterns of the species concerned . Some female birds even eject the sperm of a lesser male if one they fancy more becomes available later.The poor old sperm has a hard time. We discussed his Life and Mission his friends and enemies in his battle to be the one that wins "The egg and sperm race".

6th of February 2006 "Immortality and control of the Ageing Process --When? NOT If?"

Dr Aubrey de Grey from Cambridge University discussed the work to make Methuselah mice that live "forever", What is the process of aging? Can we control it and eradicate it to create immortal humans who stay physiologically around 20 years old for thousands of years? How do we go about it? Once it has been proven with mice, does anyone believe there will be a research funding problem on the human project " Not on your life" some say. Dr de Grey said his main priority was to take people with 2/3 of their life gone and double the remaining part with no furher aging.As chairman of the Methusaleh Foundation Dr de Grey has just donated the first prize for successful rejuvenation of mice !

9th January 2006 "Nuclear Fission & Nuclear Fusion -- What's the difference and what's the issue"

nuclear fission

Paul Howarth from BNFL has worked for some time on both nuclear fission and nuclear fusion and explained how the two entirely different processes create useable energy and some of the technology issues which have been or need to be overcome in order to practically use either to generate the nation's energy. e.g.How do we get a star into a bottle and how can we manage nuclear waste.He showed why fusion research was important -- Every bathful of water contains an eggcupful of heavy water which via fusion can develop as much energy as 40 tons of coal . For homework work out how many bathfuls of water there are in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and how many tons of coal we'd need to get the same energy

5th December "Virtual Reality- What's virtual about it?"

Terry Hewitt Director of Research Computing at Manchester Computing at the University of Manchester explored the role of virtual reality, and some important perception issues were addressed. He also showed how virtual reality is used with some examples from the work at Manchester including virtual reality in the operating theatre, the virtual wind tunnel( it's now more accurate than a real one), and an autopsy on a mummy from the museum using a cat scanner for data.

7th Nov 2005 "THE MIND -- THE SELF-- THE BRAIN - -which is the REAL "YOU ? & who's in REALLY in charge?"

Dr Martin Farrel of Manchester University led the discussion on :-
"Self "- what does it seem to be ?-- what is it ? exploring your view and other views of self.
How does the brain create a single total concept from different data arriving at different times from the senses What role does memory play in the perception of self. Our 3rd of April session is on "How Memory Works"
How just by mild concentration did they miss the Gorilla ? --
Who am "I" --Where am "I" type questions-- Where do "I" start and end - don't forget the shoe can be part of YOU
Body image,the brain's view -very surprising!
Do we really have Free will? Is it an illusion ? -- Is it really only " Free Won't"? -
What is consciousness & what's its role? - if any - no role is needed for it yet we all experience it as important
How is personality affected by -- Experience ,drugs /booze ,don't forget "The buffalo theory of Mind"- it's easily tested

3rd October-" Ancient DNA and Archeology ---What can we use it for ?"

Dr Keri Brown from Manchester University led us into a discussion on ancient DNA -- How do we get this DNA? Where from? Is it any use? . What can we do with it when we've got it ? Using genetic fingerprinting techniques often used in criminal investigations she addressed questions like Why did man go into agriculture from hunting ? Why did the Roman Empire collapse? These are the sorts of archaeological questions that can be now be addressed with a DNA approach An interesting evening illustrating the scientific method in principle and in practice and some of the dubious media practices practised in science reporting/TV.

5th September " TITAN landing- and Deep Impact -Shooting Comets" both this year events

Professor Ian Morison from Jodrell Bank returned to Knutsford SciBAr after his very successful visit in December on " Hunting Aliens" What an interesting job Professor Morison has straight from hunting Aliens to shooting comets. He brought us bang up to date on the results coming in from the very recent landing on Saturn's moon TITAN. .He also covered the other major astronomic human event -The "shooting" of a large copper? bullet into a comet, to find out what it's made of inside .The pictures were magnificent and Ian's exposition both humorous ,witty and very informative. Methane rain falling on and eroding mountains made of water ice at -170 C and forming rivers of liquid methane flowing to methane oceans-- fabulous ! The pictures of the explosion and our " missile" manoevring its way into the path of the speeding comet were sensational as was the close up photo of the " human face on mars showing it made of natural hills etc not made by any intelligence.

1st of August-- " Antimatter -- Does it matter ??"

Professor Roger Barlow of Manchester University high Energy physics Department led thediscussion on --where's all the antimatter gone -- Could we fly to another planet only to be anihilated when we find its made of antimatter -- What is this stuff that's not good for your health -- and where do we find it. -Can we use it for anything when we find it?. Roger started with a very clear succinct description of what antimatter was and the lively discussion continued with several "new theories" coming from the attendees which were put into context by Professor Barlow

4th of July --"ICE AGES -- should I buy a new anorak"

Dr Simon Robinson from Manchester University led this discussion on the history and causes of various Ice Ages and their impact on climate- are we heading FOR a new Ice age or heading out of one -how much time has earth spent in Ice Ages compared to more temperate times . Should we plant bananas in UK or buy real estate in the Sahara desert for when the icebergs drop into theMed. Can WE cause an Ice Age ? The conclusion was Yes ! Can we stop one ? No not really! You will have to buy a new anorak- El Nino and the gulf stream were discussed at some length . An incredibly wide ranging discussion with a man who had all the information

6th of June " A discussion on "CLONING" -- Will there ever be another you ?"

Dr Brian Lieberman from Manchester University St Mary's hospital led us into a discussion on CLONING and explained the principles and difficultieswith reference to studies of twins brought up separately. There did not seem to be many ethical issues raised by the group,The consensus seemed to be "what would be the point of cloning a human other than stem cell production to cure diseases". The current legislation which allows experiments on embryos up to 14 days old was not seen as a major constraint as the technology would have difficulty keeping embryos alive in the lab for more than 5/6 days

9th of May "Creative and Innovative thinking - How do scientists and inventors do it?"

Kevin Byron looked at how scientists and ourselves develop radical new ideasand at the techniques that can be used to flick our brain down strange and unusual paths to get a new level of creativity .how does the brain handle Counterintuitive ideas. Kevin Byron has been working in this area for several years financed by a research grant from NESTA(The National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts) A fascinating evening with demos of several counterintuitive mechanical devices which fooled everyone . I'm sure everyone learned something of use personally. " How to think off the beaten track without getting lost" + some interesting insights into statistics and motivation and what causes change - sometimes not what the experiments seem to show.

4th of April "DNA ! - It blows your mind ! - or does it?"

Professor John Quinn from Liverpool University led April's discussion on DNA – How does a cell know whether to make brains or bones-
– What does it mean to be “genetically predisposed” to say heart disease , high blood pressure or maybe to schizophrenia. He explained that sometimes the same very powerful chemical produced by DNA can control different functions in different parts of the body. Current technology aimed at blocking this chemical had the required effect but in addition affected its other role in other parts of the body producing side effects.His aim was to target not these powerful chemicals directly but their production processes so that he could target just the part of the body function he was aiming at -without side effects.There is clearly more than one chemical but quite a few of them play different roles in different parts of the body. He also explained what happens when a cell is " attacked" by alcohol etc -- It can sometimes turn on inappropriate genes to produce chemicals which modify our behaviour -- sometimes for the good sometimes for the bad . Inappropriate gene expression caused by outside factors affecting the cell can give bouts of " illness" until the gene behaves better again then the body returns to normal. Avery interesting evening

-7th March " Can machines IMAGINE?- not just think -Can they be conscious

In this session we were joined by one the foremost researchers into electronic consciousness who very kindly came up from Imperial College London to lead our discussion- Emeritus Professor Igor Aleksander. Professor Aleksander is also researching an electronic version of the mammalian visual system using neural networks. His book “ Impossible minds outlines his “ ideas for building a “Conscious” machine . Can only humans be conscious -What about dogs? -Insects ? -bacteria ? -robots? -Silicone chips ? Five underlying principles required for consciousness were discussed- together with questions like "Conscious of what?"How wouild you know it was conscious? - what about " feelings"?or "Qualia " eg the experience of "Redness" or "Greenness"-The session was probably our best discussion yet ,with a lot of wide ranging views expressed.-Prof aleksander's new book -"The WORLD in my Mind - my MIND in the World" will be published in April 2005

-7th Feb "What is the Universe made of? "charmed Quarks" "? bits of string ?

The February 7th discussion led by Dr Fred Loebinger from the High Energy Physics department at Manchester University covered the history of FUNDAMENTAL particles --atoms electrons neutrons quarks gluons leptons--we found that they weren't fundamental. We looked at today's indivisible particles and how will they fare in the future. There was a time when we could explain everything we had observed( even via telescopes and microscopes) in the Universe with only 3 particles( proton neutron and electron ) No others were necesary Then we found another one - which we didn't need but which we had to explain ,Damn ! Now we have just 6 quarks and 6 leptons + their antiparticles + the force particles it's not a lot to explain everything from a human to the centre of a star but it should be less . Hence "Grand unified theories"& "Theories of everything" .Do we really think The Universe is made of bits of string -well I do !

31st January2005 "Our future in the Cosmos" by Professor Michio Kaku--- -----of

New York City University. This was an event at the London Planetarium advertised in the Discussion group. A superb evening of parallel universes multiple times in the same universe , wormholes , strings, branes,the LiSA project which plans to photograph the BIG BANG itself. The photo alongside is me (Dave Thompson) with Michio kaku and his new Book" Parallel Worlds"

10th Jan 2005 Adrian Bull Head of Energy Policy Studies at BNFL.as well as being a Committe Member of the NW Branch of the British Association for the Advancement of Science,
He led a discussion on 21st century energy needs - Likely sources of renewable and non renewable energy including nuclear energy ,their contribution to the UK's energy requirements and the issues that arise from such an analysis like : - "Do we have enough?" ---"Is it secure?"--- "How long will it last?" ........ Some of the attendees had installed home made renewable energy sources in their homes but agreed we have no option but nuclear in the short term until technology solves the energy problems with ,say,fusion power

6th Dec 2004 Hunting for Aliens Prof Ian Morison led a discussion on the search for extra terrestrials -- Are they likely to be there -where should we look - How will we know and what will we do if we find them. The discussion was rated "excellent" on the evaluations by ALL attendees

8th Nov 2004 Nanontechnology Professor Paul O'Brien led the discussion on Nanotechnology . Engines, pumps & scissors the size of molecules-built in billions at nearly zero cost -- How will they affect mfg/health/. 65 people attended