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Science in the Café
2005 CALENDAR
The listings are arranged chronologically with the most recent one on top.
Click on the DATE for more details.
| DATE |
PRESENTER |
TITLE |
| 14-Dec-05 |
Dr Christian Joachim
A/P Chandrasekhar Natarajan |
The Ultimate Miniaturization Of A Machine |
| 5-Dec-05 |
Dr Rolf Landua |
AntiMatter – Angel or Demon? |
| 30-Nov-05 |
Mr Malcolm Tham |
The Science of Wine Appreciation |
| 18-Oct-05 |
A/P Seah Kar Heng |
NUS Formula SAE Race Car Project |
| 21-Sep-05 |
Prof Pierre-Louis Lions |
Why Is Mathematics Needed! |
| 13-Sep-05 |
Prof Noel Sharkey |
Robots On The Loose |
| 26-Jul-05 |
Prof Colin Humphreys |
Science & the Miracles of Exodus |
| 30-Jun-05 |
Dr Catherine Coleman
Mr Josh Simpson |
Space Science/Exploration & Arts |
| 17-Jun-05 |
Dr Steve Haake |
Sports Science & Engineering |
| 8-Apr-05 |
Mr Edouard Brasey |
A Contemporary Future – Jules Verne As A Man Of Vision |
| 5-Apr-05 |
Dr Kevin Fong |
Mars – The Next Small Step |
DETAILS
Date of Café
Presenter, Organisation / Sponsors
Title : Synopsis |
14 December 2005
Dr Christian Joachim, CNRS, France / French Embassy Singapore
A/P Chandrasekhar Natarajan, IMRE, A*STAR
The Ultimate Miniaturization of a Machine : There is no physical limitation to the miniaturization of a machine down to the scale of a single molecule, or conversely, to monumentalize a molecule until it becomes a machine. A few prototypes of uni-molecular machine are already under testing – like the molecular wheelbarrow or the molecular atom cleaner. A few other molecules have been designed and used as experimental physical nanodevices like gear molecules or the series of the Lander molecules to play with metal surface standing waves. Other molecules are at their early design and synthesis stages like the Morse manipulator molecule, the motor molecule or the ½-digital adder molecule. We will discuss the latest news about nanotechnology and nanoscience pointing out what may happen in 10 to 20 years from now after, for example, the end of the Moore’s Law on micro-electronics, or, if one succeeds in fabricating autonomous nano-machines, to explore the insides of a living cell.
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5 December 2005
Dr Rolf Landua, CERN, Switzerland / Swiss House Singapore
AntiMatter – Angel or Demon? : Dan Brown's book ‘Angels or Demons’ has highlighted the strange world of CERN and the bizarre properties of antimatter – What is real and what is fiction? Is antimatter the energy source of the future, and possibly a dangerous weapon? What is the interest of scientists in antimatter – and why do we exist thanks to a small difference between matter and antimatter? As our speaker was portrayed in Dan Brown’s book "… as the scientist who produces 1g of antimatter …", you will be receiving "the goods" directly from the original point of view.
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30 November 2005
Mr Malcolm Tham, Wine Resources
The Science of Wine Appreciation : Wine Appreciation is not just about swirling the wine, sniffing it or slurping it. There are many scientific principles behind this simple but yet wondrously complex beverage.
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18 October 2005
A/P Seah Kar Heng, Mech Engrg, NUS
NUS Formula SAE Race Car Project : Professor Seah Kar Heng, Faculty Advisor of the NUS FSAE (Formula Society of Automotive Engineers) Race Car Project since its inception in 2001, will relate how this exciting and popular project was begun. He will describe the various competitions in which the team has participated, the process of designing and building the cars, as well as show videos of the NUS student-built cars in action. There will also be videos that detail how NUS engineering students fabricate their cars in the NUS workshop. Prof Seah will also explain the use of computers in the designing of the cars – from computer simulations, to calculating the stresses on various components of each car.
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21 September 2005
Prof Pierre-Louis Lions, École Polytechnique / French Embassy Singapore
Why Is Mathematics Needed! : … a frequently asked question! Let’s consider some of the many examples of the very important application of Mathematics in Science and Technology, and their context in each of these examples. And the equally important issues of mathematical education and formation …
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13 September 2005
Prof Noel Sharkey, U of Sheffield / British High Commission
Robots on the Loose : Robots are in our lives whether we like it or not. Mechanical creatures have filled us with "awe and wonder" at least as far back as ancient Greece. This talk takes us on a lively walk through the world of artificial creatures from 280BC to the present. We travel from the water-powered automata of the ancients through the Islamic mechanics on to the colourful machines of the 17th and 18th Century Europe. But our focus is on the robots of today – the fiction and the reality. What do they mean to us? Will they replace us or are we already robots?
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26 July 2005
Prof Colin Humphreys, Cambridge U / British High Commission
Science & the Miracles of Exodus : Prof Humphreys' hobby is reconstructing what really happened in ancient historical events using modern-day science. He will tell us about his adventures and discoveries when writing his book, The Miracles of Exodus: A Scientist Reveals the Extraordinary Natural Causes Underlying the Biblical Miracles which was published in 2003. The paperback edition was published in 2004.
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30 June 2005
Dr Catherine Coleman, NASA / US Embassy Singapore
Mr Josh Simpson, Josh Simpson Contemporary Glass / US Embassy Singapore
Space Science/Exploration & Arts : Dr Coleman, Mission Specialist, Shuttle Columbia, will "focus on my 2 space (shuttle) missions, and also talk about the space station, Mars and some of my recent adventures in living in Antarctica and in our undersea habitat." Mr Josh Simpson, a well-known glass artist and Dr Coleman’s husband, has many inspirations on imaginary planets and “megaworlds” which had required his own creations of new glass formulae just to find the right hues. He had himself suspended over a pool of spent nuclear fuel rods to photograph the intense blue of the Cerenkov radiation, a colour he wanted to simulate in his glass. He has made resemblances of celestial maps, children’s planets, …
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17 June 2005
Dr Steve Haake, U of Sheffield / British High Commission
Sports Science & Engineering : SportsPulse is a consortium project aiming to make South Yorkshire a world-renowned centre for the research, development and commercialisation of innovative sports products. The University of Sheffield, through SERG, is leading the project, which is part funded by the EU ERDF. SportsPulse uses the expertise of all its partners to push back the boundaries of sports science and technology to create the next generation of advanced sports equipment, develop medal winners of tomorrow, and build a hothouse for ideas and innovative solutions in sport. Through its links with UK Sport (Performance) SERG carries out research for several Olympic and Elite Sports teams.
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8 April 2005
Mr Edouard Brasey, / French Embassy Singapore
A Contemporary Future - Jules Verne as a Man of Vision : 2005 being the centenary of the writer/novelist Jules Verne ... Is he "the father of science fiction novels" or the reporter of the contemporary future? How did he invent our future?
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5 April 2005
Dr Kevin Fong, U College, London U / British Council Singapore
Mars – The Next Small Step : "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind!" said Astronaut Neil Armstrong as he stepped onto the surface of the moon and into history over 3 decades ago. More than 400 people have since ventured into space but there still remain only 12 astronauts who can claim to have stood on the surface of another world. At the start of the 21st Century, we turn our attention to Mars in search of evidence that life is not a characteristic unique to Earth. But Mars will not yield its secrets easily and conclusive answers to these fundamental questions are likely to ultimately demand that we embark upon human expeditions to this planet. The problems of protecting human crews engaged in this next generation of off-world expeditions represent some of the most exciting challenges facing science and technology in the century to come. The architecture of these missions can only be guessed upon but this, for us as a species, will be our next small step.
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