Due to the Covid-19 situation, Lecture Meetings will be held by Zoom until further notice.
All meetings are on THURSDAYS at 8:15pm.
Members of the public are invited: some Zoom invitations will be available for those not in the Society: send an email with HSS Talk in the subject line to
info@hampsteadscience.ac.uk before a meeting to get an invitation.
| Date | Subject (Standard Info) | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
8:15 pm |
This talk discusses the use of a portable Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) instrument to gather 3D information about forest structure. We create a virtual forest model that we use to validate satellite vegetation products and estimate previously elusive tree properties. |
(NPL) |
8:15 pm |
The talk will cover the history of insecticide use and development, the potential risks and benefits and alternatives to conventional chemistry. The speaker will go into some detail on the very public debate about one particular type of insecticides, the neonicotinoids, and their potential effects on bees. Including her views on how policy making can become skewed and doesn’t always use the best scientific evidence. Although she will try to make the case for using insecticides, she will also acknowledge that we should be using them in the most responsible way and trying to phase them out and find better alternatives to protect our crops without damaging non-target species and the wider environment. For this she will draw on examples of the work being done in her Department at Rothamsted, including biological control, biopesticides, the use of 'natural' chemicals, plant breeding and genetic manipulation. |
(Rothamsted Research) |
8:15 pm |
Why we are living longer than ever before, and the discoveries that may allow us to live for hundreds of years "The first person to live to be 1,000 years old is alive today" – Aubrey de Grey, biomedical gerontologist For most of human history average lifespan has not exceeded 40 years. Average lifespan in the UK is now over 80. Our generation (COVID notwithstanding) is the healthiest, longest lived, best fed and safest that has ever lived. We can describe ageing but the mechanisms underlying the process are poorly understood. Research into ageing and the methods by which it can be slowed, stopped or reversed are now legitimate and mainstream. There is evidence to suggest that ‘curing’ ageing may be a viable approach to treating medical conditions associated with ageing, thus delaying death. |
(formerly of the Royal London Hospital) |
8:15 pm |
||
8:15 pm |
*** DEFERRED TO NEXT SESSION *** and replaced by Spaceborne Telescopes: The Past, Present and Future |
(University College London) Spyridon Grammenos (Surrey Satellites) |
8:15 pm |
(TBD) | |
8:15 pm |
(University College London) | |
8:15 pm |
(TBD) | |
8:15 pm |
(National Physical Laboratory) | |
8:00 pm |
Last updated 16-Nov-2020