Blurred Lines: Boundaries between Man and Machine

The vital role of creative imagination is often overlooked in the way we present science, but without it there could be no new theories of how the universe works. In a whistle-stop tour of the secret lives of science projects, we find a deep commonality with art, music and novel writing in an adventure that brings the ‘Two Cultures’ together in a common celebration of creativity, and touches on one of the essential attributes that make us human.

Mind-reading, through modern mentalists like Derren Brown, has remained ever popular. Since the origin of the concept in the late 1800s, claims for the existence of clairvoyance have not been supported by scientific evidence. Although science is yet to prove the ability of the brain to gain information about an object, person, or place through means other than the known senses, research using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technology provides demonstrations of thought identification; in some sense, mind reading. Can fMRI technology this evening turn everyone into Mind-readers?

Robots are becoming part of our everday lives, from making cars and cleaning the house to assisting with surgery and exploring areas too dangerous for humans to enter. But can we trust them to be safe? In this talk we look at ways that Mathematics, Computer Science, and Software Engineering can play a part to ensure that robots behave in the way we expect them to. We discuss groups of robots working together and the problems and solutions related to working with them. We show the power of these techniques live in action. Using frogs. And the audience. What could possibly go wrong?