Did the Classic Maya really predict the end of the world on 21 December 2012? What caused them to record a date that would occur over a thousand years into their future? This lecture will review a variety of apocalyptic prophecies, specially the one for this year, in the light of scientific research into the formation, development and eventual destruction of entire solar systems, including ours.

We live in an era of abundant data, and more data is being opened up to the world every day. More and more of us are handing over detailed personal and location data via social media and smartphones. How can researchers use this data to model and understand the way our cities and societies work? What do physics and maths have to offer? And how can we use this data to improve people’s lives?

What is it about exile that inspires photography? This talk explores the earliest known exile photography, created in the studio formed by Victor Hugo’s family and friends in their exile on the Channel Island of Jersey between 1852 and 1855. In these years, the Hugo group turned exile into a photographic project, and in doing so, they transformed the history of photography.

In the nineteenth century, mainstream medical opinion suggested that abstaining from alcohol was a health risk. The advent of insurance policies for abstainers helped to chip away at this certainty, as well as encouraging policyholders to think about their health. This lecture will discuss how, by the start of the twentieth century, the medical profession had begun to do very well out of insurance, despite the ambiguities of assessing drink-related problems.

What does ‘sustainable energy for all’ mean? How much energy, ‘sustainable’ over what period, and who are the ‘all’? If this ambitious goal is achievable, then how can it be done, and by when? And who will pay for achieving it? To mark the UN International Year of Sustainable Energy for all, this lecture explores the environmental, economic, and social issues raised by these questions and the implications for public policy.

Alzheimer’s disease affects an estimated 400,000 people in the UK – that number will double over coming decades without treatments to delay or prevent disease. We are now able to ‘see’ the earliest brain changes of Alzheimer’s disease, which can appear years before first symptoms, opening up the possibility of presymptomatic trials. With serial imaging and videos of patients and at-risk individuals this lecture considers the potential and problems for such trials.

What is it about exile that inspires photography? This talk explores the earliest known exile photography, created in the studio formed by Victor Hugo’s family and friends in their exile on the Channel Island of Jersey between 1852 and 1855. In these years, the Hugo group turned exile into a photographic project, and in doing so, they transformed the history of photography.

For centuries, scientists have sought help from artistic practice as a visual aid. This lecture will explore case studies from the 18th to the 21st century, to show that artists have often participated in the growth of scientific knowledge by disturbing and questioning concepts that scientists take for granted. Would current artist in residence programmes benefit from adopting a more sustained critical role, in light of this history?

Is slavery confined to the past? Sadly not. Instances of grave labour exploitation exist in present-day Europe and elsewhere. This lecture will discuss abuses of labour conditions suffered by domestic workers, victims of trafficking and others. It will explain why their situation is akin to slavery, and will set out the steps that have been taken in law to protect the human rights of these workers.

There will be over a billion prescription items dispensed in England in 2012, costing the NHS over £9bn. Most of these will be for patients with chronic conditions, yet we know that perhaps up to half of these patients will not take their medicine as prescribed. This lecture explores some of the reasons behind this, and outlines the development of a new NHS service to help patients with their medication.