Agile Rabbit

Slides available here: glsr.it/creativitycode

Will a computer ever compose a symphony, write a prize-winning novel, or paint a masterpiece?

New developments in AI are shaking up the status quo, as we find out how many of the tasks humans engage in can be done equally well, if not better, by machines. But can machines be creative?

In this talk, based on his bestselling book, Marcus du Sautoy examines the nature of creativity, as well as describing how algorithms work, and the mathematical rules underpinning them. He asks how much of our emotional response to art is a product of our brains reacting to pattern and structure, and exactly what it is to be creative in mathematics, art, language and music.

Marcus finds out how long it might be before machines come up with something creative, and whether they might jolt us into being more imaginative in turn.

Politicians assert that their views reflect the will of the British people, especially when it comes to Brexit. In this special talk, the President of the British Polling Council examines the evidence behind these claims. It takes place on the last day of the extension to Article 50.

Professor John Curtice is the political scientist always at the centre of election night broadcasts for the BBC. He accurately predicted the results of the results in 2005, 2010, and 2015.

Theresa May said that in pursuing Brexit she was delivering ‘the Brexit people voted for‘. Opponents of Brexit, often take the contrasting view that voters were misled during the EU referendum, and now that they are more aware of the supposed downsides of leaving the EU they should be given the chance to register their second thoughts in a second ballot. Professor Curtice examines the statistics behind both arguments.

When police unglued Farhana Yamin from the forecourt of the Shell building—during recent climate protests—she became a figurehead of the Extinction Rebellion movement. The Climate Change lawyer appeared on front pages across the world and deftly handled interviews on programmes such as Newsnight.

For this Agile Rabbit talk, Farhana argues that now is the time to rise up and rebel. Activism, she asserts, is key to affecting meaningful action that will combat Climate Change.

Farhana’s work against Climate Change goes further back that recent protests. She worked on the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, the Paris Agreement between 200 nations, and represents small island nations affected by Climate Change in international legal cases.

There was hope that governments would follow scientific expertise when making long-term strategic policy. Farhana argues that governments’ resistance against real action makes activism necessary. Individual lifestyle adjustments make little difference, and governments must now lead—and protest will persuade them to.

Do you wonder if altering your diet, cutting down on flights, or declaring a climate emergency makes any difference to climate change? This lively discussion with world-leading speakers from politics, business, activism, and science, moves beyond superficial responses to the vital question ‘Can I do anything about climate change?’

Many of us are inspired to act against Climate Change. But can small individual actions ever make a real difference, or do we need radical activism to bring meaningful change? Perhaps a systems based approach is needed, so the most beneficial outcome is also the easiest.

Agile Rabbit is delighted to welcome Cath Senior from the Met Office; Piers Forster, lead author of IPCC reports and member of the Committee on Climate Change; Molly Scott-Cato, our region’s Green MEP; Danny Chivers, poet, activist and writer; and Steffen Boehm, Professor in Organisation and Sustainability at the University of Exeter. Ritula Shah from the BBC’s The World Tonight chairs the discussion.

Finally, Banco de Gaia closes the event with a musical piece commissioned by Lovelock Centenary.

In this timely talk, Professor Tamsin Ford discusses mental health and its relationship to education. She gets behind the headlines, asking if there is a mental health crisis for children and young people.

Tamsin has been part of the team that carries out the official national, annual survey of children’s mental health since it began. Her research informs policy for health services and schools in the UK.

Recently, Professor Tamsin Ford was awarded a CBE for her pioneering work on the mental health of children. We’ll discover how her vital research has found its way into the real world—impacting the services for children and young people.

Recent groundbreaking discoveries support the view that our universe is part of a larger cosmic structure: a multiverse. Gravitational anomalies in the structure of our universe are ‘tugs’ exerted by other universes. These exciting theories are indicated by the work of our speaker, Professor Laura Mersini-Houghton. She’s a super-star scientist whose been interviewed by Jeremy Paxman, worked with Stephen Hawking and appeared with Morgan Freeman on Through The Wormhole. Predictions of her multiverse theory have been successfully tested by the Planck satellite and at CERN by the Large Hadron Collider, genuinely making new contributions to our understanding of nature of space and time, dark energy, and quantum physics.

We are living through disruption to politics and society. Increasingly this is delivered by individuals proudly claiming their rights to free speech.

Should individual rights always take precedence over collective, social responsibility? Despite its flaws, do we need to defend political correctness in a turbulent world?

Explore South West launches with a lively public panel discussion on the topic “Is there anything left to explore in the 21st century?”.

“The glory-seeking adventurer of old is giving way to explorers who want to understand the planet rather than dominate it.” This is how The Economist heralded the New Age of Discovery.

Panel members will explain why the need to explore has never been more urgent and relevant, and how, in their own work they are contributing to a greater understanding of our planet through their discoveries.

Chaired by Ritula Shah, BBC Radio 4 presenter, The World Tonight. Panel members include Faraz Shibli, Johanna Wadsley, Sam Lee & Niall McCann.

This Friday night lecture preludes a one day seminar the following day: Explore South West at Exeter University, for anyone planning expeditions and field research overseas, with a focus on self-led student projects.

The discussion is followed by a performance by folk singer and naturalist Sam Lee.

The sale of shark meat in fish and chip shops was dramatically uncovered by a team at the University of Exeter, led by Dr Andrew Griffiths. Andrew will tell the story behind his headline-grabbing work that recently identified threatened sharks on sale to the British public. The wonderful diversity of sharks and rays around the UK and their decline are Andrew’s passion. He will describe how genetic approaches – based at looking at a shark’s DNA – provide unique insights into the ecology and conservation of this animal that we find so fascinating.

Helen spent a year living in an Owambo homestead in the remote North of Namibia. There, she conducted anthropological and biblical research into the relationship between African Traditional Religion and Christianity. An inexperienced fieldwork researcher at the outset, Helen encountered many highs and lows and, despite her best efforts, was challenged by the circumstances on numerous occasions. Helen was welcomed into a wonderful host family and community.

In this talk, Helen will tell tales from the year, illustrating the unpredictable and challenging nature of fieldwork, as well as what she has learned for her next expedition.

Previously this series of talks was under the branding of Intrepid Explorers Exeter