December 1, 2011
Intergalactic Travel Bureau @ BBC Stargazing
Come find us at our Intergalactic Travel Bureau at Stargazing LIVE, hosted by the BBC in Charlton Park in Greenwich, London, this Tuesday January 16, 2012.
Read more about what our friendly agents will have in store for you in this New Scientist write-up of the last time our bureau was open for business, at the Royal Astronomers’ Ball in October.
March 15, 2011
Dirt Banquet
Working in partnership with experimental food artisans Bompas & Parr, we will host a Dirt Banquet inside a spectacular secret London location.
This unprecedented feast of filth will showcase dirty delicacies, such as radioactive cheese serum, imu cooked pork, Islay whiskey, fermented natto, and an aphrodisiac dessert - each course inspired by the physical, biological, ethical, architectural, social, political and temporal dimensions of dirt. Full menu to be announced a week before the date.
Eminent experts will accompany each course, feeding our guests with ideas about the nature of dirt: anthropologist Val Curtis will guide us through the evolution of disgust, and epidemiologist Elizabeth Pisani, author of The Wisdom of Whores (catch her fantastic TED Talk here), will speak on sexuality. This edible adventure will provide diners with an unprecedented culinary experience that promises to be both thought-provoking as well as surprisingly appetizing.
You can buy tickets here.
This event is part of the Wellcome Trust’s fantastic and filthy Dirt season of events.
February 14, 2011
New Scientist Culture Lab
Published today in the New Scientist’s Culture Lab.
“Indeed, the audience seemed to be having a right old time, the atmosphere far more boisterous than the same discussion would have been had it been staged in a university lecture hall rather than a life-drawing class at a festival.”
Indeed!
November 27, 2010
Secret science in the cuckoo’s nest
As the nights got longer we left our summer themes of hedonism, escape and the wonders of the universe behind, choosing instead to delve into the history of psychiatry and our states of mind with the folk @Secret Cinema.
Getting acquainted with the psychosurgical side of mid-20th century psychiatric practices was eye-opening and downright disturbing. We interviewed practicing psychiatrists who had personal experience of actually administering ECT from the 1970s to now about their experiences. Responses ranged from “it’s horrible to administer” to “we only use it as a last resort,” but ultimately “we can’t deny that in some cases it is life-saving.”
Listen to Maurice and Mark share their thoughts on ECT.
In the context of the film, ECT was used as punishment – no anaesthetic, no muscle relaxant, no consent. These humane touches were developed in later on. Mark informed us that seizures induced by electricity applied to the brain could sometimes result in a broken spine as back muscles (the most powerful in the body) contracted so hard they fractured vertebrae…
Doctor Jon as seen through the waiting room blind
The connotations between this use of electricity for punishment (as seen in the film) make ECT seem very dark indeed. As to exactly how ECT works, a range of theories exist, but no one is really sure. Our investigations into lobotomy practices of the period to inform our lobotomy training session were even more worrying…
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