September 2, 2010
A Tasty Brain
Carefully carving through the surface of the shiny, quivering pink cortex with his scalpel, neuroscientist Guy Billings traced out a small area of the marvellous human cerebrum. “This,” he said, “is Broca’s area – crucial for the ability to produce language. People who have suffered damage to this region have lost the ability to speak.” The crowd peered in for a closer look.
“Let’s just cut that out then,” said Guy, and plopping the pink shiny piece onto a plate, he handed it out with a shiny pink spoon. It was instantly devoured (and declared delicious).
August 25, 2010
Green Man: Jelly Brains
In a lovely pop up presentation with a quivering jelly brain (plus a dozen miniature pannacotta brains), neuroscientist Guy Billings took us through the anatomy of our marvelous cerebrums.
It truly is an amazing construction – and we certainly do not use “10 per cent” of it, as popular myths would have us believe.
Rather, we use the entire thing – as a number of unfortunate individuals have discovered. At the mercy of curious mid 20th-century neuroscientists, famous individuals such as HM had small chunks of their cortex removed in misguided attempts to cure severe depression, epilepsy and other crippling conditions.
As we discovered, those little bits were quite necessary. HM was left with no short term memory – as Guy put it, “a human goldfish”, unable to remember anything for longer than a few seconds.
Thankfully the rest of us in the garden in Wales had ours intact, and could enjoy carving up a pannacotta model in lieu of the real thing to learn about the structure of the most complex object in the known universe. Safer, and tastier, than the real thing.
August 19, 2010
Green Man Festival, August 20-22
The sublime Brecon Beacons beckon. Catch us August 20 to 22 in Einstein’s Garden.
Sounds of the Universe: Lewis Dartnell & Andrew Pontzen
Walks: Friday 1330 & 1630, Saturday 1100, 1400 & 1715, Sunday 1300 & 1545
Talks: Friday 1630 w/ Andrew & Sat 1330 w/ Lewis, Yurt Stage
Hear the the bassy reverberations of the surface of our Sun, the eerie shrieks of Jupiter, and feverish radio pulses from the cores of dead stars. Plus a talk on astrobiology with Lewis on Saturday.
The Synaesthesia Game: Guerilla Science & Coney
Saturday 1215 and Sunday 1345, Yurt Stage
The Professor has made a brain – but it has synaesthesia: it hears sounds when it sees colours. Come see what it thinks you sound like to look at. Unlike anything you’ve seen – or heard – before.
Flavour Feast: Becki Clarke & Rachel Edwards Stuart
Friday 1530, Saturday 1630, Sunday 1745, Workshop Tent
Celebrate the manifold facets of flavour with our sensory smorgasbord. Sample from our menu of taste tests with expert food scientists and explore the tantalizing mysteries of your senses.
Jelly Brain Dissections: Guy Billings
Friday 1530, Saturday 1630, Sunday 1745, Workshop Tent
Come for a cuppa and a slice of delicious jelly, set in the shape of your marvellous cerebrum. We will dissect, discuss and digest the most complex thing in the known universe: your mind.
Liars Picnic: Lynsey Gozna & Rachel Taylor
Friday 1900 & Sunday 1445, Yurt Stage
How good are you at spotting a lie? Forensic psychologists will teach you to spot the telltale signs. Then put your newfound shifty skills to the test in a lying match. Prizes for the finest fibbers. Cheating is compulsory – no exceptions.
July 7, 2010
Lovebox: Exposed To The Elements, July 16-18
Photograph yourself in another dimension, eat some brain and learn to lie. Catch us all weekend rain or shine at a smattering of shaded picnic benches near the Gaymer’s bandstand at the Lovebox music festival in London’s Victoria Park.
Photography in Five Dimensions, Friday July 16 1430-1500
If parallel universes exist, what might they look like? Anab Jain and Jon Ardern of cutting edge design collective Superflux explore the possibilities with their 5th dimensional camera.
Flavour Feast, Friday July 16 1500-1530, Saturday July 17 1300-1330, and Sunday July 18 1300-1330
Come celebrate the manifold facets of flavour with our sensory smorgasbord. Sample from our menu of taste tests with expert food scientists and explore the tantalizing mysteries of your senses.
Liars Picnic, Friday July 16 1530-1600, Saturday July 17 1330-1400, Sunday July 18 1400-1430
How good are you, really, at spotting a lie? Forensic psychologist Lynsey Gozna will teach you to spot the telltale signs. Then put your newfound shifty skills to the test in a lying match. Prizes for the finest fibbers. Cheating is compulsory – no exceptions.
Jelly Brain Dissection, Friday July 16 1600-1630, Saturday July 17 1230-1300, Sunday July 18 1230-1300
Get to grips with the most complex thing in the known universe: jelly, set in the shape of your marvellous cerebrum. Neuroscientist Zarinah Agnew will be on hand to help you dissect, discuss and digest it.
Biohacking Live! Friday July 16 1630-1700, Saturday July 17 1430-1500, Sunday July 18 1430-1500
What does synthetic biology have in store for us? Will super slime moulds take over the earth? Designer Tuur and synthetic biologist James will give us an idea, performing live biohacking with yoghurt and electricity.
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