Videos, blogs and photos from past events

Videos

Volcanoes without Borders: seismically imaging beneath Paektu/Changbaishan Volcano, North Korea/China

Mt. Paektu/Changbaishan Volcano lies on the border of North Korea and China. Despite being responsible for one of the largest eruptions in the last few thousand years, it has been little studied due to its location. Dr Hammond’s talk describes a unique collaboration between North Korean, Chinese, UK and US scientists and what it’s revealed about the activity of this volcano.

Read the blog about this lecture

Self-representation

Our self-representation has many different facets, including properties of the mind (thoughts and beliefs) and properties of our bodies (body image, visualisation and experience, and physical appearance).

Keeping the earth habitable

The Earth has been inhabited for almost 90% of its existence, implying that its climate and environmental chemistry have been stable for around four billion years. This talk examines the mechanisms that have led to this stability.

Human Irrationality

Professor Oaksford examines how error appears to emerge when working memory and language are involved in reasoning.

ExoMars Rover landing site

The European Space Agency planned to launch the ExoMars Rover in 2018 to further Mars exploration. The choice of landing site had to balance engineering constraints with scientific goals.

Cognitive training and wellbeing

This talk discusses cutting-edge work on how training cognitive flexibility can help improve resilience in the face of life's stressors with benefits for our mental wellbeing.

Protein machines

In this talk Professor Saibil shows how proteins can be used by our immune system to kill pathogens or by pathogens to take over our cells for their own replication.

How the brain recognises faces

We encounter and recognise many different faces every day, despite this being a complex process. Professor Eimer examines how the brain processes faces and discusses why some people have difficulties.

Can mindfulness meditation training improve self-regulation in adolescents?

This talk presents behavioural and neuroimaging results that show mindfulness meditation training can lead to improved cognitive control and emotional regulation across the ages.

Crystallography: past, present and future

Professors David Moss and Paul Barnes trace the history of crystallography from its beginnings to the present and beyond. The talk describes the role that Birkbeck has played in the development and use of crystallography in the past 60 years.

Climate change and human evolution in South Africa

Dr Philip Hopley's talk describes how past climate changes have shaped our evolutionary history. He will present new evidence for the environmental context of human evolution in Africa.

Sodium channel structures and cardiovascular and neurological diseases

Professor Bonnie Wallace’s talk describes investigations into the properties of sodium channels. Knowledge of their mechanism allows us to understand the underlying basis of many diseases and possible treatment.

Blogs

Read all of our Science Week blogs.

Structural and functional interactions in the regulation of human gene expression

Dr Clare Sansom reports on Birkbeck’s 2018 Rosalind Franklin Lecture, delivered by Berkeley’s Professor Eva Nogales, a distinguished scholar in electron microscopy research.

How can cognitive neuroscience build resilience in breast cancer patients?

Bethany Chapman, PhD candidate at Birkbeck, attended Professor Derakshan’s Birkbeck Science Week talk on Thursday 21 June.

Film screening: Resistance

Dr Clare Sansom, Senior Associate Lecturer in Biological Sciences, writes on the screening of Resistance, which took place as part of Science Week 2017.

Understanding how and when Antarctica became a frozen continent

This blog was written by Giulia Magnarini, Birkbeck graduate in Planetary Sciences with Astronomy and PhD candidate in Earth Sciences at UCL.

Film screening: Life story: The race for the double helix

This post was contributed by Professor Nick Keep, Executive Dean of the School of Science, after attending the 2016 film 'Life story'.

Analysing the Moon and looking inside: Extra-terrestrial material in 3D

This post was contributed by Dr Jennifer Harris, postdoctoral researcher, after attending two Science Week 2016 events: Analysing the Moon and Looking inside.

Attention machine: The science of cinematic perception

This post was contributed by Sofia Ciccarone (Master's student of Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology at Birkbeck).

Visualising the inner workings of the living cell

This post was contributed by Clare Sansom, senior associate lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Redesigning biology

This post was contributed by Dr Clare Sansom, Senior Associate Lecturer in Birkbeck’s Department of Biological Sciences.

The hidden complexities of routine behaviour

This post was contributed by Guy Collender, Communications Manager, Birkbeck’s Department of External Relations.

Earthquakes in Italy: The role of the historical record

This post was contributed by Bryony Stewart-Seume, of Birkbeck’s Department of Biological Sciences.

The latest findings in autism research

This post was contributed by Guy Collender, of Birkbeck’s Department of External Relations.

Photos

Science Week 2018

A selection of photos from our 2018 talks, including the 2018 Rosalind Franklin Lecture.

Science Week 2017

A selection of photos from our 2017 talks and film screening, including the 2017 Rosalind Franklin Lecture.

Science Week 2016 - MERLiN lab tour

In the Mace Experimental Research Laboratories in Neuroscience (MERLiN) we use different techniques to investigate perceptual, motor, cognitive and emotional processing.

Science Week 2016 - talks

A selection of photos from our 2016 talks.

Science Week 2016 - Petrology lab tour

Photos from Earth and Planetary Sciences' tour of their new petrology lab. The Petrology lab demonstration revealed the microscopic details of metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks.

Science Week 2015 - talks

A selection of photos from our 2015 talks.

Science Week 2015 - electron microscopy lab tour

These photos were taken during the Electron Microscopy lab tour. The lab demonstration showed how macromolecular machines are imaged, revealing how they work and move.

Science Week 2015 - BUCNI lab tour

Photos from the Birkbeck-UCL Centre for Neuroimaging (BUCNI). This lab demonstration used MRI to visualise and understand neural activity related to different motor and cognitive processes.

Science Week 2014 - talks

A selection of photos from our 2014 talks.

Science Week 2014 - X-ray Crystallography lab tour

In the Birkbeck lab, macromolecular crystallography is used to reveal the structures of proteins and DNA, the engines and coding material of life.

Science Week 2014 - cognitive neurofeedback lab tour

Photos from our cognitive neurofeedback lab tour during Science Week 2014. In this demonstration participants were shown how they could enhance their mental abilities by training their brainwaves.

Science Week 2013

A selection of photos from our 2013 Science Week lectures.