The Darwin 2009 Festival

Cooperation among nations in a crowded world. Professor Lord Robert May (University of Oxford, UK). Summary: Arguably the central unsolved problem in evolutionary biology from Darwin's time to ours is how cooperative behaviour appeared, and has been maintained, in complex human societies. But still-increasing numbers of humans, each with an increasing ecological footprint, create problems that must be addressed cooperatively. I will sketch some of the paradoxes inherent in this problem.

Evolutionary basis of ageing. Professor Cynthia Kenyon (University of California, San Francisco, USA). Summary: Scientists have long thought that ageing 'just happens'. Yet because of their genes, different species have different lifespans. From the roundworm C. elegans, we now know that ageing is regulated, by specific genes. These genes also influence life span in mammals, including humans. This system, and its evolution, will be discussed.

Global populations

Understanding and changing the world beyond 2050. Professor Lord Martin Rees (University of Cambridge, UK). Summary: By 2050, we will all be increasingly empowered by technology that potentially offers huge benefits to the developing and the developed world. But these same advances will pose novel ethical dilemmas, and render our ever-more interconnected world vulnerable to new and disruptive threats. Demands for energy, food and water could irreversibly degrade the Earth's biosphere unless new technologies can be adopted by then. Scientific understanding will have greatly expanded. In particular, we can expect progress towards settling questions that would have fascinated Darwin: How and where did life begin? And has life emerged and evolved elsewhere in the cosmos?

The future for the environment on planet Earth. Professor Sir Brian Hoskins (Imperial College London and University of Reading, UK). Abstract: The activity of humans has led, over time, to local and regional changes in their environment. However, in the latter part of the twentieth century, their impact on the global environment became apparent with the appearance of the stratospheric ozone hole and the increasing evidence for global warming. In this talk, the current status of global environmental problems will be assessed and the outlook for the rest of the twenty-first century and beyond will be discussed.

Voice of Darwin (in morning sessions). Terry Molloy is an actor, director, producer, trainer and corporate presenter. He is the voice of 'Mike Tucker' (the milkman from hell) in The Archers (BBC Radio 4), and has appeared on TV in Dr Who as the Doctor's nemesis 'Davros', creator of the Daleks, from 1983 to 1989, continuing through to today on audio CDs. He is currently appearing as Charles Darwin in 'Re: Design' by Craig Baxter.