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Join us for an unforgettable night to delve into the depths of the universe and discover what DNA and solar flares have in common, and how maths can help us find the answer. You will also learn about the fascinating struggles the human body faces when leaving the earth, and how science is being used to solve these problems. It is going to be a one-of-a-kind night with magical demonstrations, which promise to be out of the world!
Maths and Knots
Dr Simon Willerton
(Senior Lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Statistics)
Knotting and linking occurs from the scale of DNA to the scale of solar flares. Mathematicians like to think about what is the common essence of various kinds of knots that can appear, so they think of ideal knots without such inconveniences of thickness or friction. This leads to interesting questions about the nature of the space we live in. How can you measure knottiness? How can you tell if a knot is really knotted? I will give an introduction to some of the things that mathematicians think about and illustrate it with some mildly magical demonstrations!
To infinity and beyond: can man travel to stars?
Dr Gordon Cooper
(Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science)
The adventures of Tim Peake on the international space station have led to an increased focus of travelling into space in the minds of the British public. In this talk I will investigate how travel in the microgravity environment encountered in space impacts on our bodies. This ranges from the struggle to leave Earth’s atmosphere to the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the body and how scientific advances have attempted to overcome these problems.
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