Cheltenham Science Festival and the University of Warwick: What if the future was closer than we thought?

Published May 2015

What if the future was closer than we thought? Our academics shared their research into the future of science and technology at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Science Festival in June 2015.

From 2nd to 7th June 2015, the Warwick What If? marquee played host to scientists and members of the public as they discussed the big ideas and questions raised by a different scientific theme each day of the festival, from big data to robotics, psychology to hacking.

Have you ever thought about exploring hidden structures within crystals? Want to know why our scientists are turning the world’s megacities into experimental labs? What about exploring why faces are so important to everyday life? In the run up to the Festival, participants from the Faculty of Science shared their thoughts about the future of science research.

Behavioural Scientist Professor Nick Chater looks at the science behind risk
Virologist Professor David Evans explains the history and future of Ebola
Kath Garnett and Colin Williams from Warwick's Cyber Security Centre examine the future of robotics
Physicist Gavin Morley asks, "Can we build a quantum computer?"
Associate Professor Emma Uprichard discusses the future of data science
Chemist Matt Gibson explains how freezing could help humanity
Doctoral researcher Diane Levine asks, "What if cyberbullying is an overrated phenomenon?"
WBS Research Fellow Adrian Letchford asks, "What if data science can solve our future?"