Stuff I learned at the Science Festival this year

[daibhidc]

1) If a science writer tells geneticists "I'm writing a book to explain to people how genes actually work", they will reply "When you find out, let us know."

2) There's a long list of people who "invented algebra", including Omar Khayyám, who may have come up with the binominal theorem.

3. The best strategy for reducing CO2 emissions actually involves burning more gas than "carrying on as normal" for a while because it would replace coal. However, this does not justify fracking, because we'll still be using less gas in the long run, and certainly not fracking the UK, which has already replaced most of its coal.

4) The hypothetical Prestwick Spaceport would apparently be particularly well-suited to launching things into polar orbit, which would seem to deal with one objection I saw online; that it's in completely the wrong position to launch things into geosynchronous orbit. I'm still sceptical, though.

5) It is possible for a comedian and science-populariser to get his message across even when he's completely misjudged how much time he has and ends the lecture almost disappearing in a flurry of paper.

6) You know that flowchart about whether you should ask a question following a presentation, and one of them is "Does your question involve pointing out the results of your own study?" Well, "Does your question involve summarising your own science fiction novels?" is even worse. Especially if it also breaks "Could you write your question on Twitter?"

Comments

[rhiannon-s.livejournal.com]

I dunno about a spaceport in Prestwick. I mean imagine if we made contact with space aliens and then had to bring them home to Prestwick. I don't see that making a good first impression.

[gordon-r-d.livejournal.com]

Ooh, which comedian. I spent a lot of my last trip to the Edinburgh Festival attendsing science comedy stuff and alwaysa on the lookout for more.

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

Rob Newman[1]'s Entirely Accurate Encyclopaedia of Evolution. He's back for the Fringe later this year with The Brain Show.

[1]Formerly of Newman and Baddiel, before Frank Skinner, in his own words, became the Yoko to their Lennon and McCartney.

[gordon-r-d.livejournal.com]

I'll have to look out for him, haven't seen any of his work since Mary Whitehouse Experience/Newman & Baddiel.

[john_amend_all]

Prediction's always hard, especially about the future. I happened across a 1958 Pathé film on YouTube this evening, explaining that the railways were moving from coal to oil as a stopgap, but in future it was going to be all electric and fed from the nuclear-powered grid...

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

Yep, that sounds about right.

"In the 1950s, every science book had an early chapter invisibly titled "Lets have a good laugh at the old farts in togas" (reality in those days being Zeta, a nuclear power station that would produce so much electricity they'd pay us to use it)" - Terry Pratchett