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What weighs more than all mammals on earth? Is larger than all mammals and vertebrates? Larger than all living things we can see? Welcome to the hugely abundant world of microbes! Pour a pint, pull up a pew, and put revulsion aside for an evening as we discover the important role of the tiny microbe (including their vital role in the clean up of huge marine environmental disasters) and discover the fascinating microcosm that we share everything with. Plus prizes to be won in our interactive quiz! Please note that this event is not accessible for those with impaired mobility.
Behind the scenes look at the science to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The film Deepwater Horizon, starring Mark Wahlberg, is a dramatisation about the gruesome ordeal that over one hundred crew members faced in their battle to survive an inferno of sweltering heat on the doomed Deepwater Horizon oil rig. But the scientific frenzy that followed in the ensuing months was just as dramatic. This talk will present some of the big science done on the spill, what remains to be uncovered, with anecdotes on the craziness that went on behind the scenes. What have we learnt, and are we better prepared to face the next big spill?
Going viral: an ocean of viruses
One litre of seawater can contain 100 billion viruses. With a hundred times more viruses on Earth than there are stars in the universe, what are these viruses doing, and should we be worried? The majority infect ocean microbes, but, being so small, it’s easy to forget they are there. New techniques have taught us much about marine viruses in the last 20 years, but we still have more to discover about how they shape ocean ecology. This talk will dive into the fascinating secrets of an invisible microbial world and reveal the important roles marine viruses play in the oceans.
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