As mentioned yesterday, it was the London European Club (LEC) who introduced me to Pint of Science - as they've introduced me to so many things. Excellent idea, a science talk in a pub - and cheap, to boot! Happily, last night's talk was closer than the night before's - I had to get me to Shoreditch. Which meant a bus - the Tube would've been slightly quicker, but not much.
I had a choice of buses, settling on the 242. And I actually beat it to the stop, for once! It was going to be a bit tight, but the walk at the other end seemed short - and sure enough, we got there with five minutes to spare, and all I had to do was backtrack to the pedestrian crossing (rare, around here!) and take the next left. Reassuringly, a sign for The Water Poet stood at the entrance to the laneway, and there it was, the first pub just down a bit on the left.
Wow, such decor! I actually look pictures on the way out, because I had so little time..
..and the event was well-signposted, unlike Monday's!
Pity we were in the cellar.. and a much smaller space than Monday's! This one probably did fill completely - certainly, by the time I arrived, I had trouble finding a seat. I ended up a few rows from the front - and in from the aisle, which meant I hadn't a hope of seeing properly. I managed about a third of the screen if I sat still - leaning got me most of it, in the end, but I never managed to get a full view. One of those cases where you wish people in front would remove their heads..
Picked up a Pint of Science beermat, which was placed on my chair. I'll have to start a collection of interesting beermats.. Anyway, also unlike Monday, techie problems abounded last night, with some disconnect between the computer at the back, where the slides were displaying, and the screen, where they were not. Cue poor Dr Karim Malik, our first speaker, who did have a great sense of humour, attempting stand-up while they fiddled around, making sure everything was connected. (In the end, they figured out it was a display problem, with the slides being on a different monitor to the one that was being projected onto the screen.)
So, back to Karim. A reader in theoretical cosmology at Queen Mary, he talked to us mainly about cosmological inflation. The universe, he said, didn't start with a "big bang".. just an initial period of very rapid expansion. (So what's the difference - the bang?) The numbers, as ever, are unimaginable - the universe increased in size by a factor of 10^30 (1000000000000000000000000000000) during a period of approximately 10^-35 seconds (0.00000000000000000000000000000000001 seconds) - hard to measure precisely. So essentially, practically instantaneously, it went from nothing to a whole universe. Phew!
He told us little else, honestly - I got the impression that he'd rather have been speaking in maths, but was determined (or had been told) to keep maths out of it. So the most we got by way of an equation was ä > 0. I wish he'd focussed more on this, actually - it's quite a phenomenal result. ä represents the acceleration of the universe, y'see. If it were slowing down, ä would be negative. So.. the universe's expansion is.. speeding up! Huh. Not that he told us, but when matter in the universe was packed closer together, gravity slowed down the acceleration, and now it's speeding up because things are spaced further apart, and gravity has less of an effect. Oh, and because of "dark energy".. He also spoke about some powerful telescopes, and how Britain's involvement with the European ones is being threatened by Brexit.
Actually, with him, the Q+A was more interesting. People did ask interesting questions, and he was a wee bit more forthcoming. He did have this obsession with seeing the universe as a box (small box, grows to bigger box..). Every time people asked conceptual questions, he referred them back to the box. ("You're forgetting the box..") He excused himself (and the theory) by explaining that cosmologists in general would prefer to be noodling around with equations. The equations show that the universe is homogeneous, isotropic, and infinite. And if someone asks a cosmologist "But what does that mean?" the answer is "Ehh.."
A couple of interesting questions - and the Pint of Science goody bags last night were given out for the most interesting questions! which I thought was nice. First prize went to the girl beside me - her boyfriend was obviously bored out of his tree, and only stayed because she wanted to, but was dead impressed when she got a prize. Her question? "If the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into?" A brief explanation was given at the time, but the mc - also a cosmologist - took it upon himself to come down to her at the interval, to explain that the equations didn't require it to be expanding into anything. So you don't have to think about it. (Not sure she got anything from that, but I'm sure the goody bag was a consolation.) The other winning question was "How do you tell dark matter and dark energy apart, given that they're both dark?" Karim had pointed out that although we can't see dark matter, we can see its gravitational effect. And again, the goody bag will have proved a consolation for any remaining gaps in the lady's knowledge.
I didn't feel like a drink at the interval - it was just too cramped. We were entertained by a very dubious Indian PhD student, who performed some stand-up. Oh dear. Well, I admired his pluck. And then we had Jessie Durk, a PhD student at Queen Mary, whose talk - and, I bet, PhD - centred on the "lumpiness" of the universe. In other words, the standard cosmological model assumes a smooth universe, and she's looking into what happens if you add some lumps. She'd even 3D-printed a model of what she was talking about! (i.e. she had the universe in her bag). In a breathlessly enthusiastic talk, she asked us to, eh, compare chunky and smooth peanut butter. (So what if you don't like peanut butter..?) She had a terrible habit of saying the same thing over and over, but never mind, she'll improve. And her message at the end, about the passion of scientists for their work, was a valuable one.
And so home - ironically, I could choose a bus going in either direction! I chose the 8, which would drop me convenient to Tesco. And damned if it wasn't raining when I got off - so much for Google Maps' prediction of no rain before midnight! Tonight, London Literary Walks is off to Highbury. And so am I. Despite the fact that it's promised to rain all day - well, it's supposed to have lightened off by evening.
Tomorrow, I was booked for free comedy in Hammersmith, with Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon & Greenwich, Random London, and London Live Comedy. Something, frankly, that I usually cancel - and eventually, I got an email advertising a film showing that night. Well, I'd rather go to a film! Did the film list, and eliminated oh, so many films that aren't showing that day - or not at a time I can manage (it's also the only evening this week that I have a late meeting). Left at the top of the list is I Am Not Your Negro, a documentary about race in America. Its IMDB rating has actually gone up! which is always unusual. Showing in a few places in town, but the Curzon Bloomsbury is the handiest for me to get home after. Not to mention the cheapest, showing as part of the Thursday DocHouse programme. I'm keeping an eye on how it's booking -seats are starting to fill.
On Friday, I saw that London Social Detours (a side-shoot of Ken's Events) were charging £3 to go to the free jazz concert at the Royal Academy. So I was going to go on my own. Free. But then the LEC advertised a Norwegian Dixieland concert at Jamboree.. well, that sounded like more fun, so now I'm going to that instead.
On Saturday, I'm doing something local - a guided walk on Residents, Rascals & Riots, in Holborn. With London for a Tenner or Less. Got a message that that group was closing as well - but with a raft of new events suddenly advertised, I guess someone took it over.
On Sunday, London Dramatic Arts (LDAM) is headed out of town. We're going all the way to Northampton, to see a couple of Shakespearian plays, one directed by one of her members. Richard II, to be precise, with Titus Andronicus to whet our appetites. No-one has signed up apart from me, but what the hey I've never been there, so it'll be interesting. Managed to dig out my Rough Guide to England too, when I was in Ireland over the weekend - might photocopy the bit on Northampton!
On Monday, I'm off to Ugly Lies the Bone, at the Lyttleton.
On Tuesday, I'd booked with Funzing UK for an Infinitease Burlesque Show. In Leytonstone, so if anything better came up in the meantime, I was up for it! That's a terribly long way out. Anyway, the other day I got an email about cheap tickets - apparently there's a burlesque festival on - in Hackney, which is a bit closer. And a lot cheaper. So now I'm going to that instead - Funzing can be cancelled up to 48 hours in advance without penalty.
Next Wednesday was supposed to be the Man with the Hat's last event, but he had to cancel. Instead, I discovered that the UL Alumni Association (UL is my alma mater) is holding a talk on Brexit that night. And I was going to go to that - but lo, Funzing came up with something better! So now I'm going to Urban Legends of London.
The 25th, Crick Crack is back - at Crouch End Arthouse again, unfortunately. It's just so far! Still going, of course - the more especially because it's Michael Harvey! He's worth the trip. Then I'm back to Ireland for the Bank Holiday weekend again - and taking the bank holiday, this time!
On the 30h, LDAM are at the Olivier to see Common. So am I.. on a cheap Travelex ticket, which I booked direct with the venue. So I'll be avoiding them, since they don't appreciate that.
On the 31st, free comedy in Hammersmith was up again (temporarily), with the above groups, plus London Art Comedy & Culture Lovers (another offshoot of Ken's Events). But yay, it's now been replaced by another Funzing event - a Luxury Chocolate evening! Helen's popping along, too. The code Fun_Day10 got us a 10% discount.
On 1 June, I eschewed the free comedy in Hammersmith for the Ghosts & Executions Tour, with London for a Tenner or Less - even though that guide wasn't great the last time, so I cancelled this previously, he's better than that free comedy! Oh, and the code WELLBEING30 got me 30% off this. How it qualifies as "well-being" I don't know, but I'm not complaining!
Then I'm off down to Helen for the weekend - she told me about this Living History Festival, and I said yes please!
The 5th, I'm back to Soho Theatre with the Crick Crack Club, for something called The Frog Princess - Punked. Ben Haggerty, the mc and co-founder of the club, told us the other night that there's going to be a full punk band - goodness, who would've thought that Sally Pomme Clayton had a hidden punk side!
And the 6th June, I'm with the LEC, to see the Images Ballet Company at the Arts Depot.
It was actually the London European Club (LEC) that alerted me to Pint of Science - and good on 'em! Science talks in pubs are an excellent idea - and they're cheap. The LEC were off to a talk on power, yesterday. Buy your own ticket, as usual - but when I checked out the website, I found some others I'd rather go to! So I ended up booking a talk on quantum physics - more appropriate to my background, and something I'm far more interested in.
Made my way down there in the evening - it was happening at The George IV, in Chiswick. Checking my route, it seemed I hadn't a hope of making it by bus from the office in under an hour! Who wouldha' thought it was so far out?! Of course, this is the furthest east I've been based - the places I've been before would have been much more convenient for it. Well, Tube it was. Piccadilly Line, then change to the District Line at Baron's Court (or Hammersmith).
As I made my way to the platform in Leicester Square, an indistinct announcement (is there any other kind?) said something about a delay on the Piccadilly Line westbound - something about a signal failure in Hammersmith. Hmm - at this stage, I didn't have another option. So I continued to the platform, and in due course a train arrived - I got a seat, always a surprise. And when we eventually got to Baron's Court, there was a long delay.. When a District Line train pulled in at the adjacent platform, our kind driver said we might be better off taking it, because of the delay on the Piccadilly Line. Which was what Google Maps had already suggested. Clever of them.
And so I did - passing Stamford Brook on the way, and the house beside the tracks that was my first home in London - and got to Turnham Green. Where it was pissing rain. Well, it wasn't a long walk to the pub.
A sign outside told me I was in the right place - but there was no indication inside, and I had to ask. Turned out to be in the "Boston Room" - no access directly from the pub, you have to go through the courtyard. There, there was a sign - and passing though the doorway, I found the desk, where they checked off my name and gave me a Pint of Science sticker. Goodee!
So then I joined the queue at the bar. Now, there was a terrible delay - and the guy behind me was incredulous, saying it was never like this! Methinks the pair on bar duty were a bit inexperienced. Anyway, my (slightly expensive - well, this is Chiswick) glass of wine finally in hand, I scouted around for a seat, eventually squeezing my way through packed tables to the row of seats at the edge of the stage. I ended up just at the corner, to one side.
This function room is essentially a barn with some chandeliers in it. And some artwork, on the walls. They have tried, but the whole thing just looks thrown together. A bar at the entrance, toilet facilities, booths along the walls. It serves its purpose.
And, to be fair, all the technology worked tonight! which isn't always a feature of talks I've been to. I was glad the mc wasn't giving the presentations - he has a really bad speaking style. A scientist rather than a performer, I think - and most of the audience had the appearance of bespectacled students, probably working in the field, out for a social evening that could be considered part of their studies. Well, I guess not many of the common public would choose this subject over the myriad of more accessible ones on the same night. The talk had been advertised as sold out, but I did spy several empty seats - maybe they cried off because of the rain, and it being so cheap. Still, I believe they do hold back some tickets to be sold on the night.
Two speakers, both professors in the field of quantum physics, both in casual shirts and jeans, both jovial. The perfect choice for a public talk on a complex subject! First up was Professor Vlatko Vedral, of Oxford; his theme was the extension of quantum theory to - well, everything! As he explained to us, quantum mechanics are essentially random, and one of the main characteristics of quantum behaviour is the ability to exist simultaneously in more than one state. The speaker can be standing simultaneously at both sides of the stage, the cat is simultaneously both alive and dead. (As he remarked, what Schrödinger had against cats, he doesn't know.. he'd have used dogs, himself, he's a cat person..)
Well, they've observed it for subatomic particles. ("Observed" is the wrong word - "detected" would be better, since the very act of observation resolves the system to exist in one state or the other.) His aim is to extend it for larger objects, and for living objects - they think they've found something like it in photosynthesis, and are currently trying to replicate quantum behaviour in bacteria.
Ah, I love quantum physics - even when you get completely lost (as you do), it sounds so cool..
At the interval, sundry people huddled together to attempt the table quiz. I didn't get my hands on a copy, but wouldn't probably have made much headway anyway - there was an old photo, in which you had to identify a few famous physicists. Einstein was the only one I'd have managed, with his shock of white hair. And there was a question as to how many atoms would fit in the full stop at the end of this question. Hell, I think I remember that as an actual exam question, back in the day! (Answer was approximately 10^15, although they accepted any answer within the order of 100 either way. And of course, it depends on the font!)
The second talk had Professor Winfried Hensinger, an even more enthusiastic chap, telling us about the advances in quantum computing. The basic idea is that, while a classical computer processes information in binary code, a quantum computer uses atoms. Which can, as we know, exist in more than one state at the same time. So, where a classical computer can process one bit of information, a quantum computer with n qubits can handle 2^n simultaneous states. Mind you, if you want an actual answer from the machine, these are going to resolve to n bits of information - like a classical computer. It'll just have gotten to that answer literally a billion times quicker - say, something that would take a classical computer something like the age of the universe to solve, a quantum computer could work out an answer to in a couple of weeks.
So, what magic does he have in his quantum computer to achieve this? Well, atoms, of course. Trapped ions, to be precise - and he showed us how to achieve this. And what a basic machine looks like, as he emphasised that quantum computing is where classical computing was, fifty years ago. But he's developed the blueprint. Watch this space..
A fascinating evening - and confirmation, if it were needed, of the value of international cooperation. Vlatko has British citizenship now, but was born in Serbia, and Winfried is German. Brexiteers, take note - you can't afford to damage this kind of international connection.
And it was handier to get home - I got the bus straight there. It was a nostalgic journey - en route to the bus stop, I passed the Tabard..
I've been to just a couple of plays there: the first time when I lived within walking distance, and the last time - ahh, that was with the Man with the Hat, last year. I remember us going in, while he sat alone, outside in the cold, waiting for latecomers. And we remarked how good he was to us. I drove, on that occasion - the only one of his that I did end up driving to: nearly had a coronary driving through the Hammersmith gyratory for the first time. (On a side note, his groups have now finally closed - and sadly, all mention of them has gone from Meetup. Not from this blog, though.)
Through Shepherd's Bush, and all those streets that I pounded, looking for an alternative place to live, and an escape from horrible flatmates. Past the Vue, which I went to many's the time - it was the closest (by foot) from my old London office. Through Notting Hill, where I've also been to the cinema a few times. There was a diversion, which phased a few people - clever Google Maps had predicted it though, and it didn't affect me. And finally, to the city centre, where I disembarked to the sound of Paint It Black - a small band was busking, and had attracted something of a crowd, one guy dancing. Yup, I like the centre best!
Tonight, I'm off to Pint of Science again - this time, Across the Universe (cosmology). Also sold out. Rock on.. in completely the other direction tonight. Spitalfields, it seems. Much quicker to get to - even by bus!
Tomorrow, London Literary Walks is off to Highbury. And so am I.
On Thursday, I was booked for free comedy in Hammersmith, with Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon & Greenwich, Random London, and London Live Comedy. Something, frankly, that I usually cancel - and eventually, I got an email advertising a film showing that night. Well, I'd rather go to a film! Did the film list, and eliminated oh, so many films that aren't showing that day - or not at a time I can manage (it's also the only evening this week that I have a late meeting). Left at the top of the list is I Am Not Your Negro, a documentary about race in America. Showing in a few places in town, but the Curzon Bloomsbury is the handiest for me to get home after. Not to mention the cheapest, showing as part of the Thursday DocHouse programme. I'm keeping an eye on how it's booking -seats are starting to fill.
On Friday, I saw that London Social Detours (a side-shoot of Ken's Events) were charging £3 to go to the free jazz concert at the Royal Academy. So I was going to go on my own. Free. But then the LEC advertised a Norwegian Dixieland concert at Jamboree.. well, that sounded like more fun, so now I'm going to that instead.
On Saturday, I'm doing something local - a guided walk on Residents, Rascals & Riots, in Holborn. With London for a Tenner or Less. Got a message that that group was closing as well - but with a raft of new events suddenly advertised, I guess someone took it over.
On Sunday, London Dramatic Arts (LDAM) is headed out of town. We're going all the way to Northampton, to see a couple of Shakespearian plays, one directed by one of her members. Richard II, to be precise, with Titus Andronicus to whet our appetites. No-one has signed up apart from me, but what the hey I've never been there, so it'll be interesting. Managed to dig out my Rough Guide to England too, when I was in Ireland over the weekend - might photocopy the bit on Northampton!
On Monday, I'm off to Ugly Lies the Bone, at the Lyttleton.
Next Tuesday, I'd booked with Funzing UK for an Infinitease Burlesque Show. In Leytonstone, so if anything better came up in the meantime, I was up for it! That's a terribly long way out. Anyway, the other day I got an email about cheap tickets - apparently there's a burlesque festival on - in Hackney, which is a bit closer. And a lot cheaper. So now I'm going to that instead - Funzing can be cancelled up to 48 hours in advance without penalty.
The 24th was supposed to be the Man with the Hat's last event, but he had to cancel. Instead, I discovered that the UL Alumni Association (UL is my alma mater) is holding a talk on Brexit that night. And I was going to go to that - but lo, Funzing came up with something better! So now I'm going to Urban Legends of London.
The 25th, Crick Crack is back - at Crouch End Arthouse again, unfortunately. It's just so far! Still going, of course - the more especially because it's Michael Harvey! He's worth the trip. Then I'm back to Ireland for the Bank Holiday weekend again - and taking the bank holiday, this time!
On the 30h, LDAM are at the Olivier to see Common. So am I.. on a cheap Travelex ticket, which I booked direct with the venue. So I'll be avoiding them, since they don't appreciate that.
On the 31st, free comedy in Hammersmith was up again (temporarily), with the above groups, plus London Art Comedy & Culture Lovers (another offshoot of Ken's Events). But yay, it's now been replaced by another Funzing event - a Luxury Chocolate evening! Helen's popping along, too. The code Fun_Day10 got us a 10% discount.
On 1 June, I eschewed the free comedy in Hammersmith for the Ghosts & Executions Tour, with London for a Tenner or Less - even though that guide wasn't great the last time, so I cancelled this previously, he's better than that free comedy! Oh, and the code WELLBEING30 got me 30% off this. How it qualifies as "well-being" I don't know, but I'm not complaining!
Then I'm off down to Helen for the weekend - she told me about this Living History Festival, and I said yes please!
The 5th, I'm back to Soho Theatre with the Crick Crack Club, for something called The Frog Princess - Punked. Ben Haggerty, the mc and co-founder of the club, told us the other night that there's going to be a full punk band - goodness, who would've thought that Sally Pomme Clayton had a hidden punk side!
And the 6th June, I'm with the LEC, to see the Images Ballet Company at the Arts Depot.
