Fascinating Futures Programme

Fascinating Futures Programme 11:00 – 11:15am RSE@ Inverness Introduction MacLean Room Sir Andrew Cubie FRSE Dr Rebekah Widdowfield, Chief Executive A brief introduction to the RSE@ Inverness programme and the Fascinating Futures Family Day. 11:15 – 12:00pm The Science of Star Trek MacLean Room Professor Dame Anne Glover FRS PRSE Professor Dame Anne Glover, President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, will explain through the medium of Star Trek, how a quality STEM education can provide young people with the ability to boldly go where no man or woman has gone before. She will describe how several sci-fi based tech gadgets, have been the inspiration for many of the modern technologies we use today, and demonstrate that STEM allows people to make imagination become reality. Chair: Sir Andrew Cubie FRSE 11:15 – 12:00pm Science Ceilidh: Getting Creative & Musical Chapel Room with Science Mr Lewis Hou Come find out all about the science of music, from the physics of instruments to the benefits of playing an instrument to your brain! With live music and hands-on demonstrations for families and adults, come along and maybe even try your hand at an Orcadian Strip the Helix or Canadian Brain Dance at the end! Introduction: Dr Rebekah Widdowfield 12:00 – 12.30pm Is There a Future for Tourism? MacLean Room Dr Sandro Carnicelli, University of the West of Scotland Tourism is a key human activity but issues concerning tourist behaviour and “overtourism” are gaining significant media attention and encouraging governments to close areas and protect communities. This talk examines tensions in international mobility and argues that the future of tourism needs to be just and sustainable with greater attention to equity. This talk will challenge our tourist-being and discuss the rights of local communities to host. It will help us to think about how to be better tourists not only in the future but now. Chair: Professor Stuart Monro FRSE 12:15 – 12:45pm Scottish Stories About the Sea Chapel Room Dr Anuschka Miller, SAMS Selkies are mythical Scottish creatures that are part seal and part human. In this session selkie woman Murdina will tell old and new stories about living below the waves. Introduction: RSE Staff 12:30 – 1:00pm Nurses – Fiction Versus Reality Marie Cameron, University of the Highlands and Islands In some ways Nursing has stayed the same for decades, but in many ways it is changing rapidly, with advances in science and technology contributing to these changes. In this talk we will look at some of the portrayals of nursing and medicine in fiction (including in television and films) and compare these to the reality of Nursing in the 21st Century. Chair: Sir Andrew Cubie FRSE 1:00 – 1:30pm Crime Squirrel Investigators: The Naughty Chapel Room Nut Thief Emily Dodd – Author Rosie’s secret hazelnut store has been ransacked and her best friend Charlie agrees to help her to find the naughty nut thief. Discover the different ways animals eat nuts with songs, science, woodpecker hip-hop and a water squirting squirrel. Suitable for age 4-7 years Introduction: Professor Stuart Monro FRSE 1:30 – 1:45pm Food For Thought Prize Giving MacLean Room Lucinda Bruce–Gardyne FRSE, Genius Foods The winners of our recent RSE Food For Thought Competition will be presented with their prizes by Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, founder of Genius Foods. Chair: Professor Dame Anne Glover FRS PRSE 1:45 – 2:30pm Science Ceilidh: Getting Creative & Musical Chapel Room with Science Mr Lewis Hou Come find out all about the science of music, from the physics of instruments to the benefits of playing an instrument to your brain! With live music and hands-on demonstrations for families and adults, come along and maybe even try your hand at an Orcadian Strip the Helix or Canadian Brain Dance at the end! Introduction: Sir Andrew Cubie FRSE 1:45 – 2:15pm Video Games: More Than Playthings MacLean Room Dr Andrew Reid, Abertay University Video games are a global, multi-billion pound industry with a media spotlight shining bright on harmful and damaging claims in recent years. However, games have been making positive contributions to people’s lives for generations, and continues to grow as one the most important industries for twenty-first century living. In this talk, Dr Andrew Reid will present how Abertay University is continually encouraging its students to apply their game development skills to societal problems, with reference to award-winning video games created by students. Chair: Dr Rebekah Widdowfield 2:15 – 2:45pm Scotland’s Big Flapper Skates In Trouble: How MacLean Room Can We Save Them? Dr Anuschka Miller, SAMS This talk explores how we can protect our marine environment in Scotland using the example of the little known but impressively large flapper skate that inhabits Scotland’s seabed. Marine Protected Areas are a relatively new tool to improve marine conservation in Scotland and much research goes on to explore how to make them work effectively. This presentation is part of the EU Interreg VA project MarPAMM that gathers missing information on protected marine habitats and species and develops monitoring tools and management plans. Chair: Professor Stuart Monro FRSE 2:45 –3:15pm Balloon to the Moon Chapel Room Gill Arbuthnott, Author Why did a sheep make the first hot-air balloon flight? Do you have what it takes to be an astronaut? Which animal was the first to see the far side of the moon? Will you ever have that holiday on Mars? Join Gill Arbuthnott to find out about the history of space travel, from the balloon flight that started it all, to the Apollo moon landings and beyond. Introduction: RSE Staff 2:45 – 3:15pm A Taste of Plants MacLean Room Dr Madalina Neacsu, The Rowett Institute This talk highlights the Scottish Government funded research carried out at the Rowett Institute, Aberdeen, UK. The research focuses on sustainable (plant based) sources of protein, their efficacy to meet nutritional demands as part of a balanced and healthy diet and their potential to developing bioactives-rich functional foods and ingredients aimed to tackle major health problems such as non-communicable diseases. Chair: Dr Rebekah Widdowfield 3:15 – 3:45pm Making Human Brains in a Dish MacLean Room Professor David Price, University of Edinburgh Scientists have now developed ways to turn cells scraped from our skin into mini-brains floating in a dish of liquid. The mini- brains have been called “brain organoids” and they are no bigger than your thumbnail. They are most similar to the brains of unborn children early in their first trimester. Why would scientists want to make brain organoids? One reason is that they can be used to test how brain development can go wrong; obviously, we can’t find this out by experimenting on unborn children! I will discuss this and other matters related to brain organoids and their uses. Chair: Professor Dame Anne Glover FRS PRSE 3:30 – 4:00pm Can’t-Dance-Cameron: A Scottish Chapel Room Capercaillie Story Emily Dodd, Author Cameron the capercaillie is the worst dancer in the Scottish Cairngorms, but maybe with the help of his new friend, Hazel the red squirrel, he’ll learn some great moves! Can’t-Dance-Cameron is a brilliant story about believing in yourself, full of fun actions, sounds and dancing. Suitable for age 4-7 years Introduction: RSE Staff 3:45 – 4:30pm Fascinating Futures - Open Q & A MacLean Room Various Speakers – Chair: Professor Dame Anne Glover FRS PRSE A panel of speakers from our Fascinating Futures Family Day will answer your questions about the Future. Get your thinking caps on and test them out! Prize Giving: Mr Lewis Hou, RSE Innovator’s Public Engagement Prize 2018 Innovator’s Prize to Mr Lewis Hou, Founder and Director of the Science Ceilidh, and Science Education Consultant, for his innovative and original contributions to public engagement, particularly in thinking creatively about combining arts and sciences through his Science Ceilidh which has engaged over 5000 people around the UK with science and folk festivals and collaborations with Cancer Research UK, ScienceGRRl and various science festivals, including the Edinburgh International Science Festival. Chair: Professor Dame Anne Glover FRS PRSE 4:00 – 4:30pm Your Brilliant Brain Chapel Room Gill Arbuthnott, Author Explore the workings of your brain in this interactive event with Gill Arbuthnott. Do all animals have a brain? Just how good is your memory? Can you really trust what you see? And do you have a superpower? Come along and find out about the workings of the amazing organ that we all take a bit too much for granted. Introduction: RSE Staff Interactive Displays – Available All Day Sole Searching with the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science Dr Heather Doran and Catarina Sobreira Join us to make your own forensic footwear marks and contribute to our huge Citizen Science project. Our mission at the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science is to raise standards of forensic science used in our courts. To do this we need your help! You can chat to us about our work in forensic science research at the University of Dundee and how you find out more and get involved. Young Engineers and Science Clubs Scotland 2019-20 Programme Melanie Riddell, Programme Manager Young Engineers and Science Clubs Scotland (YESC) is Scottish Council for Development and Industry’s Scotland wide nursery, primary and secondary school education programme. For more than 30 years; with support from Scottish Government, Education Scotland and our industry partners, YESC has played a leading role in developing resources, competitions and events to grow interest and spark enthusiasm in STEM subjects and careers.

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