Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2013 - Video

How are artists translating or materialising digital works for gallery and physical situations? Professor Collins shows a snapshot of works coming out of the Slade and the Slade Centre for Electronic Media in Fine Art (SCEMFA) over the past decade that explore the material of the digital. This lecture explores a range of groundbreaking perspectives and manifestations.

Following their successful ascent of Mount Everest in 2007, UCL’s Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment (CASE) Medicine will be returning to Everest in March 2013 to continue with their novel approach to medical research. Their work aims to investigate the effects of low oxygen on the human body, with the ultimate goal of identifying mechanisms that may lead to the successful treatment of critically ill patients. Dr Ned Gilbert, marks 60 years since Hillary attained the summit by setting out what they hope to achieve at Everest this Spring.

The last ten years have seen increasing emphasis on the importance of offering healthy women choice in where they give birth. However, to date, the evidence on the quality, safety and costs of different settings has been limited to small scale and inadequate studies. The ‘Birthplace in England’ research project was undertaken to inform those who plan, commission and deliver maternity services. This lecture will discuss the results of the research and the implications they have for shaping maternity policy, as well as some of the challenges in undertaking such large-scale research in an environment where strong personal views are held.

Public participation in scientific research is not new. Many people are involved in scientific activities in their free time, from bird watching to weather or astronomical observations. Moreover, trends in education and technology are ushering in a new era of citizen science. The lecture will cover the history of citizen science, explore the current trends and demonstrate a model for extreme citizen science, in which any community, regardless of their literacy, can utilise scientific methods and tools to understand and control their environment.

Barack Obama won a second term as US president with the support of women, the young, blue collars, African Americans and Latinos. The Republicans, in contrast, retained the support of their habitual white base that is mainly middle aged and older and largely Protestant, in essence representing America's demographic past. The United States remains a politically polarized nation. The Republican party's control of the House of Representatives still enables it to block many of the president's initiatives and as a consequence, Prof Iwan will argue that it is difficult to see the United States making great progress in the next four years towards solving its fiscal and debt problems, tackling climate change, and renewing a schools system on which the nation depends for its future human capital.

The world’s first underground railway, the Metropolitan, steam-powered and running underneath Euston Road, opened in January 1863. The early history of underground travel in London was beset by the problems of asphyxiation, inadequate lighting, accidents, explosions and crime; countered by the opportunities for improved connectivity, speed and intimacy. This lecture will focus on the 19th and early 20th century history of the Underground, as seen through the lens of UCL’s local station.

Bletchley Park is the historic site of secret British codebreaking activities during World War II and the work carried out there by Alan Turing and others led to the birth of the modern computer. How did we get from Bletchley Park to modern software engineering? Dr Black will discuss how the use of social media can leverage capability in very diverse areas, from campaigning for a historical site to improving the quality of software.