The Science, Technology and Medicine team have held a number of events for researchers and the public. Here is a summary of a few of the highlights of these events, with links to podcasts and other media where available.
The Performing Brain: a moving story
Cancer Research: Lost in translation?
The Performing Brain: a moving story
This collaborative event, hosted by the British Library and UCL Neuroscience, involved researchers from UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and UCL Institute of Neurology, bringing the audience together with neuroscientists, musicians and dancers to explore how fantastically changeable the brain is, giving us the extraordinary ability to adapt and learn throughout life. Interactive demonstrations gave the audience the opportunity to learn to fingerspell and beatbox, and hear some amazing stories of performers who excel against all odds! You can hear a podcast of the event here.
 |  |  |
Cancer research: Lost in translation?
Hosted in partnership with the NCRI Informatics Initiative, we brought together researchers, clinicians, funders, policy-makers, journalists, press, patient groups and the public with the aim of addressing the challenges associated with translating findings from cancer research.
Find out what our expert speakers had to say about some of these challenges and their solutions with these videos (via You Tube:
What one thing could be done to improve communication of findings?
What are the challenges in moving research findings from lab to clinic?
Sustainable cities
In partnership with the Natural Capital Initiative and sponsored by the Science Council, Sustainable Cities explored how science can inform policy to ensure sustainable urban development. The panelists' talks are available as a podcast* and below are videos of their thoughts on: 1. the challenges facing sustainable urban development over the next decade and 2. how science can inform sustainable urban development policy:
| Ken Livingstone | Question 1 | Question 2 |
| Malcolm Smith (Arup) | Question 1 | Question 2 |
| Lorna Walker (CABE) | Question 1 | Question 2 |
| Peter Wilder (the Landscape Institute) | Question 1 | Question 2 |
| William Bird (Natural England) | Question 1 | Question 2 |
*a thunderstorm interrutpted the recording, so part of Ken's and Lorna's talks are missing from the podcast.
Life long health and wellbeing
In partnership with the Medical Research Council and on behalf of the funders for the Cross-Council Initiative in Lifelong Health and Wellbeing (LLHW), this workshop brought together members of 10 newly funded Collaborative Development Networks (CDN) to synthesise participants’ experiences and knowledge with the ultimate aim of building research capacity and capability of the CDNs for the future.
Speakers included:
- Prof Ian Deary, University of Edinburgh
- Prof Nick Tyler, University College London
- Prof David Hawkes, Imperial College London
- Angela Barnard, INVOLVE
- Dr Lee-Ann Coleman, The British Library
Do You Hear What I Hear? Your Brain and Sound
The Performing Brain :: A moving Story - YouTube video (playing time: 1:05:58)
The event was a collaborative venture between the Science Technology and Medicine team at the British Library; UCL Neuroscience and UCL Ear Institute, working closely with researchers from UCL Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences (SH&PS) and the charity, Deafness Research UK. This awe-inspiring evening of interactive science was aimed at all ages, exploring how the brain perceives sound and interprets speech and music. Highlights included:
- a lively demonstration of how the ear works by Tobin May (Deafness Research UK’s Bionic Ear Show presenter)
- Dr. Ifat Yasin (Ear Institute) explaining how the brain interprets sounds with a live performance by Rebecca Smith (Orchestra of the City)
- the acapella stylings of The Harmonettes (pictured above)
