LECTURE: Life In the Universe

DeVore

Life in the Universe: a series of free lectures

A series of free public lectures on the theme 'Life in the Universe'
will be
held in Dublin, Cork and Galway during September and October. The
series will
kick off in Dublin on Saturday, 1st September when Dr John Gribbin, the
popular
science writer, will give a lecture on STARDUST: The cosmic connection
between
Life and the Universe.

Dr Gribbin will explain how all life on Earth, including ourselves, is
made from the ashes of stars. Every chemical element in the Universe
except hydrogen and helium has been scattered across space by huge
stellar explosions and has been recycled into new stars, planets and
our own bodies. He will also discuss recent scientific developments
that
support the idea that life may be a common occurrence throughout the
Universe.

Dr Gribbin's lecture will be held in Theatre L of UCD Arts Block on the
Belfield campus at 8.00 p.m. on Saturday, 1st September. Places for
the free lecture may be reserved by sending an email to
knolan@seti.it-tallaght.ie or by phoning 087-238-6141.
Full information about the series of lectures may be found on the
website www.liu.ie.

Dr Duncan Steel who is reader in Space Technology at the University of
Salford
will lecture in Galway (Friday, 21st Sep.) and Dublin (Saturday, 22nd
Sept.) on
The beginning and end of life on Earth. In 1990 Dr Steel started the
first
Southern Hemisphere search programme for near-Earth objects (NEOs) that
pose a
serious threat to life on Earth. Many mass extinctions in the past have
been
triggered by cataclysmic explosions caused by the impact of large
asteroids or
comets. On the other hand, comets may have delivered the basic building
blocks
of life to the early Earth.

In Cork and Galway in early October the speaker will be Prof. Chandra
Wickramasinghe, the director of the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology.
Prof.
Wickramasinghe is a distinguished astronomer who has made important
contributions to the theory of cosmic dust. In 1974 he first proposed
the
theory that dust in interstellar space and in comets was largely
organic.
With Sir Fred Hoyle he has advocated the panspermia theory that organic
molecules from space triggered the development of life on the early
Earth.

The lecture series is supported by the STI Awareness Programme of Forfas
and is
run in conjunction with a competition for teenagers in Europe. The Life
in the
Universe Competition is open to young people between the ages of 14 and
19 in
any of the 23 participating countries. The entries can be of a
scientific or
artistic nature. A scientific entry could be a talk, a newspaper, a
website or
a video documentary. An artistic entry could be a poem, a play, a
painting,
music or sculpture. The closing date for Irish entries is Wednesday,
10th
October and the Awards Ceremony will be held in the Royal Dublin Society
on
Thursday, 16th October. The prizes will be presented by Mr Noel Treacy,
TD,
Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce. The winners from each
country
will travel to CERN near Geneva to participate in the Super Contest,
8-11
November. The overall prizes in each category will be trips to see the
launch
of an Ariane rocket at the ESA launch site in French Guyana, South
America and
to visit the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Cerro Paranal in Chile,
South
America. Full information about the Competition may be found on the
websites
/www.liu.ie/ and /www.lifeinuniverse.org/.

For further information about the Lectures or the Competition please
contact
Mr Kevin Nolan, School of Applied Science, Institute of Technology,
Tallaght,
Dublin 24.
Mobile: 087-238-6141, Email: knolan@seti.it-tallaght.ie.

WhiteWashMan

damn, makes me wonder why i ever left.
i love these things.
went to great one about nuclear fusion and cold fusion in dcu a few year back.
interesting as f*ck.
must get to few of these sorts of lectures over here in london

oh, and onther thing. i love scientific TLC's. the VLT, very large telescope. cool!
i mean in a world of tlc's its nice to have easy simple ones, like BFO stars. ie, big f*ck-off stars and stuff
deadly

amen

Great. Where can I get more info about the lectures in UCG ?

WhiteWashMan u went to DCU ?
What year/course ?

Bob the Unlucky Octopus

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by WhiteWashMan:

must get to few of these sorts of lectures over here in london
</font>

Most major universities in London have politicians and leading academia who give open-door lunchtime lectures (you can even bring your own lunch to most of the UCL/UCH ones).
I've got a list of open-door lectures conducted at UCL(Science, anthropology, medicine, and law), LSE(Politics/Economics) and SOAS(Language, Culture, etc.) and Kings(Technology/Education/Law). There's also Imperial College if you like (ugh!) physics or engineering topics.

The one nice thing about living in London is that famous people, Nobel Laureates and the like delight in spreading interesting topics around opendoor lunchtime lecture theaters. I'll post a list when I get back from this sun-drenched vacation on the West Coast (ahhhh the Pacific, how I love you...)

Bob the Unlucky Octopus

---

My name is Dr. Gathermole Lipharvest the Third...the other two died of embarassment.

WhiteWashMan

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by amen:
Great. Where can I get more info about the lectures in UCG ?

WhiteWashMan u went to DCU ?
What year/course ?</font>

i did aplied physics in 92, left in 95. never finished. maths was just too darn hard, and besides, since id borrowed money from the bank for my first 3 years, the nice bank manager wanted it back, so i then had to work for about 5 years to pay it all off.
and just as i leave.......they bring in free university. tis typical, but what do you do.
and bob, yes, i still love the physics, so thats what id be interested in
when are you going to come done to guildford where we can harrass shinji into buying us a few pints?

Bob the Unlucky Octopus

Good to hear wwman- my flatmate is doing physics at Imperial College- I'll get a list of guest lectures offa him, even introduce you two if you want to talk physics(just make sure I'm not in the same borough first )

As for pints- I'm back in the UK this Thursday night, I've been trying to get mugs, mart and Shinji down to the pub for a while- we'll deffo organize something as soon as I get back. I know just the pub- cheap(ish) beer, palatable Guinness, and great ****tails. Plus, a big screen to watch the sports- good stuff. And no, it's not that f4g-hole The Globe.

Bob the Unlucky Octopus

---

Tonight's guests include: The Reverend Unseemly Dogposture, and friend; Dame Miss Celia Gnomestrangler, and gnome; and the Women's Over-80 Nudist Auxillary Rock-Climbing squad...and what a site they are...

WhiteWashMan

cool, im bak in dublin this weekend, and im unavailable the weekend after, but castor troy will be accross the weekend after, so we might pop up to london, or down to guildford, whater, for a meet up. so i can put a face to the person i chastise in future
as for the lectures, that would be great, but to be honest it would have to be something special to make me go to london for an everning
unless female company can be provided where i might rest my weary head for the night

Winning Hand

Now I hope that they will spend equal lengths of time at this lectur discussing the other "theory" of life in the universe (creationism).

amen

WWMan I started AP in 90 and Graduated in 94

I probally know you!!!

Anyway Devore where can I find more about this lecture on in Galway ?