Cafe2006

2006

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Science in the Café

2006 CALENDAR
The listings are arranged chronologically with the most recent one on top.
Click on the DATE for more details.

DATE	PRESENTER	TITLE
3-Nov-06	Mr Josh Simpson	The INFINITY Project
4-Oct-06	Temasek Polytechnic	Putting a Singaporean on the Moon by 2050
17-Aug-06	Prof Patricia Vickers-Rich	Dinosaurs Out In The Cold
9-Jun-06	Prof John R "Jack" Horner	Can We Make A Dinosaur, And If So, How Would We Do It?
2-Jun-06	Dr Sue Hendrickson	Sue on SUE
25-May-06	Prof Claude Nicollier	Working On The Hubble: An Astronaut's Experience
19-Apr-06	Mr Greg Roberts	Surprise! Creating Spontaneous Play in Public Spaces
23-Mar-06	Dr Geil Browning	E = mb² : Emergenetics = Merging Brains & Behaviour
8-Mar-06	Mr Vladimir Todorovic	Searching for New Paradigms in Various Manifestations of Emerging Technologies

DETAILS

Date of Café
Presenter, Organisation / Sponsors
Title : Synopsis

3 November 2006
Mr Josh Simpson, MegaPlanet
The INFINITY Project : From a flash of inspiration in 1976, Josh has since been “hiding Planets” around the world – wherever his travels take him. With his pilot’s licence, he used to drop his “Planets” from the window of his plane. Now thanks to his Infinity Project, more than 1,700 participants have hidden planets in locations around the globe (since 2000). Will he be leaving a few in Singapore as well? Josh likes the idea of reaching totally new audiences for his glass creations – not just socially or culturally different audiences but potentially, peoples separated by time. Thus, some of his glass Planets will be found; while many will span time to be uncovered by future generations who will surely marvel at the what and wonder about the why. His Planets are inscribed with the Infinity (:) symbol only and are given to people who will propose why, when and where they want to hide it. If selected, your name and the approximate location of your hidden Planet will be posted.

4 October 2006
Mr Teo Sze Cheng, Mr Wee Hian Teck, Mr Lo Hing Loon & the Students of
Diploma in Business Process & Systems Engineering, Temasek Polytechnic
Putting a Singaporean on the Moon by 2050 : The Space Race. Will Singapore be left behind? Spain, England, France, the Netherlands and a number of Asian countries all have active space exploration programmes. How about Singapore? We propose that it is not only technologically possible considering Singapore’s reputation and track record for innovative technical aggressiveness and state-of-the-art development, but the benefits for Singaporeans will be tremendous. But the time to start is now! We should implement a space exploration programme NOW if we are to put a Singaporean on the Moon within the next ??? years. But how? In this discussion, we shall share our findings and try to identify qualified local talent (people and companies) that can make this happen, as well as provide a taste of how genuinely informed Singaporeans are about ‘space’ in general. Come and join us for what promises to be a most lively, thought-provoking and truly innovative session.

17 August 2006
Prof Patricia Vickers-Rich, Monash U
Dinosaurs Out In The Cold : Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich forms the very successful team with Dr Thomas H Rich, discovering and writing about the Dinosaurs of Darkness (of the southern polar region), maintaining a long-standing relationship with National Geographic Society and its support for programmes such as the Dinosaur Dreaming annual “dig” of the (southeastern coastal) Inverloch-Flat Rocks fossil site (where Australia’s first dinosaur fossil was found). This highly productive site has been scoured every summer since 1994 and invites Friends of Dinosaur Dreaming public volunteers to join in each expedition. Come share Professor Pat’s dinosaur-hunting experiences.

9 June 2006
Prof John R "Jack" Horner, Museum of the Rockies, Montana State U
Can We Make a Dinosaur, and if so, How Would We Do It? : One of the America’s best-known paleontologists, Jack discovered his first dinosaur fossil when he was 8 years old. He has made some of the most important, recent dinosaur discoveries, theorised and written several books about them. He served as a technical advisor for such movies as "Jurassic Park - The Lost World" and "Jurassic Park III". While suffering from undiagnosed dyslexia, Jack said that his brain worked best when it could "hunt, poke and dig around" through science. It was through digging around that Jack made his first great discovery. Most recently, Jack discovered the largest T. rex to date at 10-13 tonnes, with 5 other T. rex fossils in the Hell Creek area in Montana. Jack had suggested that this “King of Dinosaurs” was really more of a scavenger than a predator.

2 June 2006
Dr Sue Hendrickson, Explorer
Sue on SUE : Sue Hendrickson is a self-taught fossil hunter (specializing in fossil inclusions in amber), marine archaeologist, adventurer and the ultimate explorer. In South Dakota in 1990, Hendrickson found "Sue", the remarkable Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil now displayed at Chicago's Field Museum. T Rex Sue is the largest and most complete fossilised skeleton discovered to date. Sue Hendrickson has found fossils, artifacts, and shipwrecks around the world - including fossilised whales in the Peruvian desert, 24-million-year-old, amber-encased butterflies and other insects in the Dominican Republic. While working with Frank Goddio, they discovered Egyptian and Napoleonic treasures sunken in the Alexandria River in Egypt (including the ancient city of Alexandria and what is believed to be Cleopatra's palace!). On yet another dive, Chinese porcelain and other treasures were discovered on a 400-year-old sunken Spanish galleon (the "San Diego") off the Philippine coast.

25 May 2006
Prof Claude Nicollier, NASA-ESA / Swiss House Singapore
Working on the Hubble: An Astronaut's Experience : The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), a joint NASA/ESA effort and a magnificent “Discovery Machine”, is one of the most successful and productive scientific instrument of the recent past. Launched in 1990 with the Space Shuttle but initially suffering from a significant optical problem, it was visited a total of 4 times for the installation of an optical corrector in 1993, then for taking it through various repair and improvement steps. The chosen concept of a telescope designed to be visited regularly and worked on in the space environment has proven to be challenging but very effective. This lecture will cover the design and maintenance philosophy of the HST, as well as the work done on the first and the third servicing missions. Some insight into the scientific results obtained with the HST will also be provided.

19 April 2006
Mr Greg Roberts, PlayMotion! USA
Surprise! Creating Spontaneous Play in Public Spaces : Greg will jump, leap, and dance – all this while describing the path that has led him to his current exploration: creating dynamically interactive, large scale play spaces of light and sound that respond to your every movement.

23 March 2006
Dr Geil Browning, Emergenetics International / Emergenetics Asia
E = mb² : Emergenetics = Merging Brains & Behaviour : "Nature via nurture": who you are today is a result of traits that have EMERged from your life experiences, plus the GENETICS that rule our very own "stuff of life". Building on the split brain research ... about people's patterns and strengths in thinking and behaviour. "Great Minds do not think alike!" ... "whole body thinking", "gut brain" and enhancing one's intelligence.

8 March 2006
Mr Vladimir Todorovic, LaSalle-SIA College of The Arts
Searching for New Paradigms in Various Manifestations of Emerging Technologies : Covering experiences and mappings of various powerful technologies experienced and analyzed through the methodologies of a new media artist. Sublimity of a tomahawk missile, experiencing the presence on the nanoscales, Lacanian explorations of computer games, will lead us to a dis-utopian form for new and contemporary art and science research model.