Tag Archives: Helen Czerski

Sea Shambles update

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Things have changed (but not the event date) since my March 3, 2020 posting about the Sea Shambles event in London’s (UK) Royal Albert Hall. It will now be livestreamed by the Royal Albert Home (series) and The Stay at Home Festival on May 17, 2020.

[downloaded from https://cosmicshambles.com/words/news/sea-shambles-at-home-guests]

You may recognize Cobie Smulders (fourth from the left) from her stints on television (How I Met Your Mother and Stumptown) and in the movies (the Avengers films). Here’s a little more about her from her IMDb (Internet Movie Database) entry, some of which helps to explain her presence,

Cobie Smulders was born on April 3, 1982, in Vancouver, British Columbia, to a Dutch father and an English mother. As a girl, Cobie had set her sights on becoming a doctor or a marine biologist. …

…

Is a certified scuba diver and former model.

Here’s more about the updated Sea Shambles event (from the Cosmic Network Shambles May 17, 2020 event page),

With the live version of Sea Shambles sadly unable to go ahead for obvious reasons, it’s time to bring a rejigged version of the show direct to you on the same date and time, May 17th [2020] at 7:00pm [BT]. [For those of us on the west coast of Canada, that would be 11 am {PT}.]

Among the exciting names who will be joining hosts Robin Ince, Helen Czerski and Steve Backshall on the night are physicst Professor Brian Cox, astronaut Chris Hadfield, actor and ocean advocate Cobie Smulders, rock band British Sea Power, science broadcaster Liz Bonnin, poet Lemn Sissay, comedian Josie Long, marine biologist Helen Scales, singer-songwriter Jim Moray, performer and rapper Ben Baily Smith, actor Samuel West, climate scientist Dr Tamsin Edwards, comedian Katy Brand, writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes, actor Rufus Hound, violinist Dunja Lavrova, laserist Seb Lee-Delisle, performer David McAlmont, singer/songwriter Grace Petrie, actor Reece Shearsmith and musician Steve Pretty. And, of course, we’ve got a bunch of surprises up our sleeves too…

So join us on a celebratory online voyage of discovery of our own blue planet and how we are best placed to protect it. We might not be on stage but we’re still bringing everything you’ve come to expect from one of the Cosmic Shambles Network’s signature variety shows. Including running over. This is set to be a 3 hour + extravaganza.

Lucy Noble, Artistic Director of the Royal Albert Hall, said: “We’re so excited to present this special version of Sea Shambles as part of the Royal Albert Home series. We would have loved to welcome audiences to the building to experience this spectacular show, but at the moment of course that’s not possible. This ‘at home’ version is the next best thing, with a truly staggering line-up of guests from the worlds of science, comedy and music.”

The show will be free to watch but as with all the shows during the Stay at Home Festival there will be a tip jar where people can leave a tip to help artists and venues hit hard by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis as well the Royal Albert Hall charity itself. With all our profits from the original live show set to go to marine charities we’ll also be highlighting and encouraging donations during the show to our three chosen charities, Bite Back, Surfers Against Sewage and Oceana.

Here’s a link that will get you to the livestreamed event on May 17, 2020 at 11 am (PT): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBQmdbVeoKw#action=share

One last thing, Tara Lohan has written a May 7, 2020 article for The Revelator about a groundbreaking international treaty for protecting the high seas (Note: A link has been removed),

Most of us have never been to the world’s immense last wilderness and never will. It’s beyond the horizon and often past the limits of our imaginations. It contains towering underwater mountain ranges, ancient corals, mysterious, unknown forms of life and the largest seagrass meadow in the world.

Yet it begins just 200 nautical miles off our shores. Technically referred to as “areas beyond national jurisdiction,” these remote expanses are known to most people simply as “the high seas.”

Their vast, dark waters encompass roughly two-thirds of the ocean and half the planet and are the last great global commons. Yet just 1% are protected, leaving these vital but relatively lawless expanses open to overfishing, pollution, piracy and other threats.

That could change soon.

In 2018, after more than a decade of groundwork at the United Nations, negotiations officially began for a new treaty focused on conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in the waters beyond national jurisdiction.

…

Sea Shambles in London, UK on May 17, 2020 (one night only)

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Should you be in London (UK) in mid May 2020, you might want to check out a special event, Sea Shambles, at the Royal Albert Hall. Here’s a bit of a preview,

Here’s more about Sea Shambles on May 17, 2020 from the Cosmic Shambles Network event page,

Due to popular demand we are BACK at the Royal Albert Hall with a brand new event. Our biggest and most spectacular show EVER!

Following the success of 2018’s hugely popular Space Shambles, The Cosmic Shambles Network are excited to announce their return to The Royal Albert Hall in 2020 with a brand new sea themed spectacular which is destined to be their biggest show ever.

On May 17th 2020 The Cosmic Shambles Network and the Royal Albert Hall will take you on a celebratory voyage of discovery into the depths of our blue planet and how we can protect it, with a spectacular new show, Sea Shambles. Anchored by co-host of The Infinite Monkey Cage, Robin Ince with physicist and oceanographer Dr Helen Czerski, naturalist and wildlife presenter Steve Backshall and many very special guests, we’ll be turning the entire main auditorium of the Royal Albert Hall into a virtual underwater playground with everything you’ve come to expect from The Cosmic Shambles Network’s signature variety shows, including special effects, puppetry and so very many lasers.

Join Robin, Helen and Steve as they set sail with an all-star cast of scientists, comedians, performers and musical guests (we’ll reveal some, not all – don’t be greedy – very soon…) for a one night only event you’ll never forget.

Tickets on sale NOW!

As always we want to make these unique events as accessible to as many people as possible and so we’ve made sure there are 100’s of tickets starting at just £10!

As part of the event we will also be once again collecting for The Trussell Trust Food Banks and raising money for selected ocean charities.

Usually I’d include the link to the page where you can purchase tickets in the text about the event but this time, I’m directing you here. From there you’ll be directed to a seating chart where you can see which seats are available to you based on whet you are willing to pay for the seat. There’s more but it’s probably best you investigate for yourself.

As happens, I got interested in the group behind this ‘shambles and found this About Cosmic Network Shambles,

The Cosmic Shambles Network, was created in 2017, by comedian Robin Ince and Trent Burton of Trunkman Productions.  It was borne out of The Incomplete Map of the Cosmic Genome (which started back in 2013) and Utter Shambles (2010), later Book Shambles (2015).

The Cosmic Shambles Network creates and curates podcasts, digital content and live events for people with curious minds. People who want to find out more about our universe through science, art, history, philosophy, music, literature. People who believe ignorance is not bliss. People who want to keep on discovering and learning about our wondrous universe and who want to have a laugh while doing it. People who believe that it is indeed our curiosity that makes us human.  We believe we can never stop learning – science will never be finished and that’s exciting. The Cosmic Shambles Network brings together the world’s leading scientists, comedians, writers and performers to create entertaining content fuelled by curiosity. The approach is fun, real, accessible. Amongst the shambles there’s something for everyone.

Enjoy! One more thing, I notice that the Space Shambles event of 2018 featured Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut.

Graphene ink image wins top prize in UK national science photography competition

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Credit: James Macleod, University of Cambridge

That prizewinning image in the above reminded me of the manhole covers in Vancouver, Canada.

Credit: Daderot 20 June 2015 [downloaded from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manhole_cover_-_Vancouver,_Canada_-_DSC07640.JPG]

An April 3, 2017 news item on phys.org announces about the prize winner,

An image of spectacular swirling graphene ink in alcohol, which can be used to print electrical circuits onto paper, has won the overall prize in a national science photography competition, organised by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

An April 3, 2017 EPSRC press release, which originated the news item, provides more detail about the winning entry and the competition,

‘Graphene – IPA Ink’, by James Macleod, from the University of Cambridge, shows powdered graphite in alcohol which produces a conductive ink. The ink is forced at high pressure through micrometre-scale capillaries made of diamond. This rips the layers apart resulting in a smooth, conductive material in solution.

The image, came first in two categories, Innovation, and Equipment and Facilities, as well as winning overall against many other stunning pictures, featuring research in action, in the EPSRC‘s competition – now in its fourth year.

James Macleod, explained how the photograph came about: We are working to create conductive inks for printing flexible electronics and are currently focused on optimising our recipe for use in different printing methods and for printing onto different surfaces. This was the first time we had used alcohol to create our ink and I was struck by how mesmerising it looked while mixing.

The competition’s five categories were: Eureka and Discovery, Equipment and Facilities, People and Skills, Innovation, and Weird and Wonderful. Other winning images feature:

  • A 3D printed gripper which was programmed to lift delicate, geometrical complex objects like a lightbulb, pneumatically rather than using sensors.
  • A scanning electron microscope image showing the surface of a silicon chip, patterned to create a one metre ultra-thin optical wire, just one millionth of a metre wide made into a spiral and wrapped into an area the size of a square millimetre.
  • Researcher Michael Coto with a local student in Vingunguti, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, testing and purifying polluted water using new solar active catalysts.
  • An image captured on an iPhone 4s through an optical microscope that shows the variety of textures appearing on the surface of a silicon solar cell, not dissimilar to pyramids surrounded by a sea of dunes in a desert, but with the size of a human hair.
  • Tiny biodegradable polymer particles resembling golf balls being developed to target infectious diseases and cancers. Only 0.04mm across, they form part of scaffolds which are being studied to see if they can support the growth of healthy new cells.

One of the judges was physicist, oceanographer and broadcaster, Dr Helen Czerski, Lecturer at UCL, she said: Scientists and engineers are often so busy focusing on the technical details of their research that they can be blind to what everyone else sees first: the aesthetics of their work. Science is a part of our culture, and it can contribute in many different ways. This competition is a wonderful reminder of the emotional and artistic aspects of science, and it’s great that EPSRC researchers have found this richness in their own work.

Congratulating the winners and entrants, Professor Tom Rodden, EPSRC‘s Deputy Chief Executive, said: The quality of entries into our competition demonstrates that EPSRC-funded researchers are keen to show the world how beautiful and interesting science and engineering can be. I’d like to thank everyone who entered; judging was really difficult.

These stunning images are a great way to engage the public with the research they fund, and inspire everyone to take an interest in science and engineering.

The competition received over 100 entries which were drawn from researchers in receipt of EPSRC funding.

The judges were:

  • Martin Keene – Group Picture Editor – Press Association
  • Dr Helen Czerski – Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London
  • Professor Tom Rodden – EPSRC‘s Deputy Chief Executive

Ada Lovelace Day tomorrow: Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014

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Tomorrow you can celebrate Ada Lovelace Day 2014. A remarkable thinker, Lovelace (1815 – 1852) suggested computers could be used to create music and art, as well as, other practical activities. By the way, Her father was the ‘mad, bad, and dangerous to know’ poet, Lord Byron who called her mother, Anna Isabelle Millbank (she had a complex set of names and titles), the ‘princess of parallelograms’ due to her (Millbank’s) interest in mathematics.

Thanks to David Bruggeman and an Oct. 8, 2014 post on his Pasco Phronesis blog, I’ve found out about some events planned for this year’s Ada Lovelace Day before the fact rather than the ‘day of’ as I did last year (Oct. 15, 2013 post).

Here’s more from David’s Oct. 8, 2014 post (Note: Links have been removed),

In New York City, one of the commemorations of Ada Lovelace Day involves an opera on her life.  Called Ada, selections will be performed on October 14 [2014].

You can find out more about the opera and the performance on David’s blog post, which also includes video clips from a rehearsal for the opera and comments from the librettist and the composer.

Ada Lovelace Day was founded in 2009 by Suw Charman-Anderson and it’s been gaining momentum ever since. While Charman-Anderson’s Ada Lovelace website doesn’t offer an up-to-date history of the event, there is this about the 2012 celebration (from the History of Ada Lovelace Day page),

… In all, there were 25 independently-organised grassroots events in the UK, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden and the USA, as well as online.

This year’s event includes:

Tuesday 14 October 2014

Ada Lovelace Day is an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

Write about an inspiring woman in STEM

Every year we encourage you to take part, no matter where you are, by writing something about a woman, or women, in STEM whose achievements you admire. When your blog post is ready, you can add it to our list, and once we’re properly underway, you’ll be able to browse our list to see who inspires other people!

Ada Lovelace Day Live!

Tickets are now on sale for our amazing evening event [in London, England], featuring mathematician Dr Hannah Fry, musician Caro C, structural engineer Roma Agrawal, geneticist Dr Turi King, TV presenter Konnie Huq, artist Naomi Kashiwagi, technologists Steph Troeth, physicist Dr Helen Czerski and hosted by our inimitable ALD [Ada Lovelace Day] Live producer, Helen Arney!

This event is free for Ri  [Royal Institution] Members and Fellows, £6 for Ri Associates, £8 for Concessions and £12 for everyone else. Buy your tickets now, find out more about the event or see accessibility information for the venue.

Ada Lovelace Day for Schools

The support of the Ri has this year allowed us to put together an afternoon event for 11 – 16 year olds, exploring the role and work of women in STEM. Speakers include sustainability innovator Rachel Armstrong, neuroscientist Sophie Scott, mathematician Hannah Fry, roboticist and theremin player Sarah Angliss, engineer Roma Agrawal, and dwarf mammoth expert Victoria Herridge, and is hosted by our very own Helen Arney! Tickets cost £3 per person, and are on sale now! [London, England] Find out more about the event or see accessibility information for the venue.

The organizers are currently running an indiegogo crowdfunding campaign (Ada Lovelace Day Live! 2014) to raise £2,000 to cover costs for videography and photography of the events in London, England. They have progressed to a little over 1/2 way towards their goal. The last day to contribute is Oct. 27, 2014.

One last tidbit, James Essinger’s book, Ada’s Algorithm, is being released on Oct. 14, 2014 in the US. The book was published last year in the UK. Sophia Stuart, in an Oct. 10, 2014 article for PC Magazine about the upcoming US release of Essinger’s book, wrote this,

A natural affinity for computer programming requires an unusual blend of arts and sciences; from appreciating the beauty of mathematics and the architectural composition of language via a vision for engineering, coupled with a meticulous attention to detail (and an ability to subsist on little sleep).

Ada Lovelace, considered to be the world’s first computer programmer, fits the profile perfectly, and is the subject of James Essinger’s book Ada’s Algorithm. Ada’s mother was a gifted mathematician and her father was the poet Lord Byron. In 1828, at the age of 12, Ada was multi-lingual while also teaching herself geometry, sketching plans for self-powered flight by studying birds and their wingspan, and imagining the future of aviation 75 years before the Wright Brothers’ first flight.

“In the form of a horse with a steamengine in the inside so contrived as to move an immense pair of wings,” she wrote in an April 7, 1828 letter to her mother.

Don’t forget, Ada Lovelace Day is tomorrow and perhaps in honour of her you can give your imagination permission to fly free for at least a moment or two.

Happy Thanksgiving today, Oct. 13, 2014 for Canadians of all stripes, those who were born here, those who are citizens (past and present), and those who choose to be Canadian in spirit for a day.