44 culture science festival
cambridgeindependent.co.uk/culture
March 1-March 7, 2017
events
Science inspires art that rocks
Reading our minds Can scans reveal what goes on in our minds? Professors Barbara Sahakian, John Pickard and Molly Crockett and Dr Julia Gottwald discuss what brain scans tell us, what they may tell us in the future and what impact fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) may have on society – one of the must-see talks at this year’s Cambridge Science Festival. As our ability to read thoughts using brain scans improves, the team of experts looks at the ethical issues. Location: Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Avenue, CB3 9DA Cost: Free Time: 7.30pm-9pm, Monday, March 13
Television history This year marks the 80th anniversary of the first live BBC TV broadcast. The event was reconstructed for BBC Four by Dallas Campbell and engineers Hugh Hunt and Danielle George. Dr Hunt shares the story of TV inventor John Logie Baird and the cast of singers, jugglers and dancers who performed on that first night of television. Location: Babbage Lecture Theatre, New Museums Site, Downing Street, CB2 3QZ Cost: Free Time: 5.30pm-6.30pm, Friday, March 17
Dipak Mistry, below right, and artwork inspired by the collaborations
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rt and science will combine as three contemporary artists – Gillian McFarland (paper and glass), Ione Parkin (paint and mixed media) and Alison Lochhead (metal) – collaborate with astronomers and planetary geologists to stage an exhibition at this year’s Cambridge Science Festival. The female artists’ works are interpretations of the universe and include painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing and glass blowing. The exhibition, called Creativity and Curiosity: Artists and Astronomers, includes work developed by the artists as a response to their continuing contact with planetary geophysicists and astronomers from a number of academic institutions, including the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. Last year, Creativity and Curiosity secured a grant from the Royal Astronomical Society towards a touring exhibition as it is hoped the artworks will tour the country after their appearance at the Cambridge Science Festival. The exhibition will be launched in Cambridge on Monday, March 13, as part of the Science Festival, and will be officially opened by Professor Martin Barstow, professor of
astrophysics and space science at Leicester University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. Dipak Mistry, co-founder of Acuity Arts Limited, is working on the project with the artists and astronomers. He told the Cambridge Independent: “The artists are basically giving their interpretation of what astronomy is. They’re responding to things they hear about astronomy and the discoveries that are being made. “A lot of astronomers tend to spend most of their time sitting in front of a computer – they don’t look through telescopes anymore – and they’re finding it really exciting seeing what the artists have created.”
Pictures: Joanne Withers
On Monday March 13 and Tuesday March 14, the Yusuf Hamied Centre at Christ’s College will host the exhibition. On the Tuesday there will be a panel question and answer session with the astronomers and the artists. “We’ve got a good bunch of people who are prepared to talk about what they find exciting,” said Dipak, who recently made a programme for Cambridge TV about public art in the city. “I think astronomy seems to be quite a hot topic and it’s on the agenda with many schools as well.” Dipak has been involved in a number of arts and technology projects around Cambridge. He added: “I think artists don’t
often get an opportunity to engage with business in a meaningful way, and businesses are often focused on just doing business, so they find that quite interesting. “I’m interested in the tech and science side of it, and this is the first of a range of projects going on over the course of the year.” Creativity and Curiosity: Artists and Astronomers takes place on Monday, March 13, from 10am to 9pm, and Tuesday, March 14, from 10am to 9pm, at the Yusuf Hamied Centre at Christ’s College. ■■ Cambridge Science Festival runs from March 13-26. ■■ Visit sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/ and creativityandcuriosity.com.
Team of experts explores why AI robots could be ‘racist’ Some of the world’s leading technologists are coming together to debate and discuss issues surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. AI has been described as ‘racist’, from an AI beauty contest that judged white features to be
the most attractive to unintended racial profiling by police camera software. This year’s event will look at why this is the case. PhD student Agnes Cameron, along with a panel of leading thinkers in the area, investigates how we get around this issue.
She said: “Working with AI, these issues are difficult to resolve. Neural information systems are not transparent and cannot be easily ‘edited’ or even have certain features of the eventual system explained. “Part of what we need to do is
create a more critical dialogue around the use and limitations of AI systems, and the way that large data sets are obtained and controlled.” ■■ To book for any of the events, visit sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk or call 01223 766766.