Not the Christmas Lectures
Every year Warwick hosts a much-loved series of Christmas Lectures to inspire children about science and engineering. We’re bringing the highlights to this year's Family Day on a specially built open air stage on the Piazza. Here's what to look out for...
10.30-11.00am
Virus Hunters - the Stage Show!
Saskia Bakker and Ian Hands-Portman
Department of Life Sciences
Viruses are everywhere! How do we know they're there when we can't see them? How many are there and should we be worried? The numbers are staggering, the acting appalling and the answers astounding - be amazed, be very amazed by 'Virus hunters - the stage show'.
11.00-11.30am
Can You Hear that Star Singing?
Tish Mehta and Dr Anne-Marie Broomhall
Department of Physics
How can we listen to the songs of the stars to learn about the secret behaviour inside our Sun and other stars? Join us on a musical journey as we explore the flowing plasma at the centre of our solar system and answer your brightest burning questions! Debuted at the Warwick Christmas Lectures 2018.
12.30-1.00pm
How to Survive in a Cartoon Universe.
Dr Rachel Edwards
Department of Physics
Imagine you've been sucked down a wormhole down to a parallel universe – a cartoon universe! Where Wiley Coyote runs off a cliff but doesn't fall down until he stands still. Where My Little Pony, Spongebob and Pikachu all live. What physics tricks would you need to fit in?
1.00-1.30pm
The King, the Cream and the Randomised Control Trial
Dr Celia Brown
Warwick Medical School
The king is suffering from a nasty rash and wants to try a new wonder cream. But his pageboy is concerned. The cream is not yet proven to work and with many others in the Kingdom also suffering from the rash, the potential for harm is huge. If the king uses the cream, everyone else is likely to follow suit. What is to be done? Luckily the pageboy studied epidemiology at university…
1.30-2.00pm
We Could Be Heroes!
Evé Wheeler Jones
WMG
Batteries are everywhere! In our homes, our cars and in our pockets. Find out how they work, what they are made from and how you can make your own battery at home. Help us answer the most important question of all - can batteries save our planet?
3.30-4.00pm
Ready for the Real Feels?
Dr Liz Blagrove
Human brains are often compared to computers; incredible machines, capable of processing billions of signals every single moment! Our brains are truly amazing but they aren’t just about data like computers are.
What makes humans special is their ability to think sophisticated thoughts and feel complex emotions at the same time. Discover what emotions are, how they make us 'human' and ultimately why our brains and bodies need emotion to do their jobs properly. Explore how we feel emotion, how we show it (or not!) and how we use our feelings to improve the ways we make decisions, communicate with each other and look after our own health and well-being.
4.00-4.30pm
Seeing Inside The Body
Professor Adrian Wilson
Department of Physics
You’ve probably seen pictures of the inside the human body such as x-rays. Without the discovery of x-rays around 100 years ago the only way we could see inside people’s bodies would be by cutting them open! Physicists did the research to enable us to see inside the body like we do today and medicine would be much trickier without it!
With the help of volunteers from the audience we will explore why x-rays can be used to form medical images but light cannot. Find out how sound waves also can also be used to produce medical images known as ultrasound images and understand why both these and x-ray images are needed.