Stranger than Fiction

What if zombies weren’t just the stuff of horror movies, but a key to understanding the human brain? Their mindless aggression, lack of coordination, and insatiable hunger mirror real life neurological disorders, revealing the roles of key regions of the brain. This talk explores what happens when brain function goes wrong—shedding light on both the fictional undead and the fascinating complexities of our own, very real minds. And who knows? If we can build a zombie brain, maybe one day we can even learn how to treat a real-life zombie outbreak...

How far would you be willing to go to save your own life? This talk challenges you to reflect on how much you would be willing to compromise on your moral values, in the face of survival. Deep dive into the hit Netflix series, Squid Game, and explore how these deadly children's games were perfectly crafted to erode the moral compass of its "players". Grapple with the character arcs of Seong Gi-Hun and the Frontman using a psychological lens, to uncover the darker side of human behaviour.

Dinosaurs are often shown in books and films as fearsome, bloodthirsty brutes with a hatred for us humans, but is this really accurate? This talk will explore how fiction and pop culture have shaped our understanding of dinosaurs - and not always in the best of ways... Let's challenge our idea of these mythologised monsters from our screens and pages of novels, and learn to love the real animals that lie beneath.