University of Cambridge

A technology breakthrough that started in Cambridge has brought us to where we are able to decode the entire DNA sequence of 100,000 genomes to determine mutations that cause rare genetic diseases and cancer. Dr David Bentley, Chief Scientist at Illumina, and Professor Mark Caulfield, Chief Scientist at Genomics England, discuss how this promises to revolutionise the way we practise medicine.

The Antarctic is a difficult place to do science. Keeping a research ship moving is tricky in a vast expanse of frozen ocean. In addition, the ship needs to stay safe and efficient while executing research projects in a remote and hostile environment. Achieving this demands timely and reliable information to be accessible to everyone operating in sea ice. Available information has evolved from ice charts, to satellite imagery, sea ice forecasts and even surveillance by small drones. Andrew Fleming, British Antarctic Survey, describes the information derived from satellite data, how space borne technologies have revolutionised marine operations and consider which new satellites are required as ship traffic increases in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Very rarely, people with epilepsy have mystical experiences during their seizures. This may be why the ancients called epilepsy the Sacred Disease. Dostoyevsky had such seizures and wrote about them in The Idiot. Professor Alasdair Coles and Dr Joseph Tennant describe modern day examples of people with these unusual seizures, and what they can teach neuroscience, psychology and theology.

In recent years the debate about the harms and benefits of breast cancer screening has become increasingly polarised. This expert panel discussion will consider the complexities of this debate from four different disciplinary perspectives. Dr Sian Taylor Phillips, an epidemiologist who works with the UK National Screening Committee, will provide insights into the challenges of interpreting the evidence base; Professor Fiona Gilbert will give a clinical perspective and describe new technological options in breast screening, Professor David Spiegelhalter will discuss the challenges of communicating complex risk information to the public in screening programmes and Dr Hogarth will provide a social scientist’s perspective on how the mammography debate has developed since the 1970s.

Rose Giles reads the opening page of Casino Royale, a first edition of which features in Tall Tales: Secrets of the Tower, a free exhibition at Cambridge University Library from May 2-Oct 28, 2018.

This was Fleming’s first Bond novel and the only one to feature his own artwork. The relatively small initial print run (4,750 copies) and the fact that Fleming himself designed the dust jacket means that first edition copies have changed hands for tens of thousands of pounds.

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Julian Fuller reads an extract from Lonely Londoners, featuring in Tall Tales: Secrets of the Tower at Cambridge University Library.

The novel was one of the first books to focus on poor, working-class blacks following the enactment of the British Nationality Act 1948 and the arrival of the 'Windrush Generation'. The book was a major step towards the recognition of the new, multicultural London of the 1950s.

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Mark Purcell reads a poem from Ye Comical Rhymes of Ancient Times, first published in 1862. The volume features eccentric poems and displays elements of the casual racism which abounded at the time. The volume is on display in a free exhibition at Cambridge University Library, Tall Tales: Secrets of the Tower.

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Louise Williams reads this short practical pamphlet, from the Tower Collections at Cambridge University Library, which encourages people to take up chicken rearing. The author, a Mrs Woodrow of Harrow, notes that rearing chickens is ‘One of the least expensive, most enjoyable, scientific, interesting, and healthy hobbies that can be undertaken.’

Tall Tales: Secrets of the Tower runs from May 2-October 28, 2018.

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David Marshall reads an extract from The Liar by Stephen Fry, one of the books featured in Tall Tales: Secrets of the Tower at Cambridge University Library.

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A fact that scientists rarely mention is that space really, really wants to murder you. While this is upsetting, it does at least want to kill you in interesting ways! Dr Michael Parker explains his personal top ten most exciting ways that space can obliterate tiny, fragile humans.

Dr Michael Parker grew up in the Lake District, did his undergraduate degree in theoretical physics in Durham, then a PhD in astronomy in Cambridge. He worked as a postdoc in Cambridge for 18 months, now he's an ESA research fellow, based at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Madrid.