London events for people with curious minds.
Monday 21 May
CURSES: According to long-held popular daftness, one of the British Museum's mummy cases is cursed. A talk at the Petrie Museum in UCL examines the folklore surrounding the artifact. FREE, 6.30pm
SURROUNDINGS: The second floor bar of The Driver in King's Cross is the place to be for a Same.As event about surroundings, from the very local (Londonist editor M@ on the hidden landscape of the King's Cross area) to the very big (cosmology from Andrew Pontzen). FREE, 7pm
GEEK FUN: The latest Festival Of The Spoken Nerd is almost sold out, but limited seats and standing room are available for the shows tonight and tomorrow. Expect the usual mix of "comedy, science, maths, geeky songs, special guests, interactive experiments, maybe some things that go bang...". £12/£10/£8, 7.30pm
Wednesday 23 May
VIRTUAL MUSIC: The Science Museum's making a lot of noise about its new temporary installation. A 'virtual Philharmonia orchestra' will be unveiled today, allowing you to conduct, play or compose along with a projected version of the ensemble. Interesting idea, and we're curious to see how it works with multiple people entering the space. FREE
RADIATION: One year on from Fukushima, Wellcome Collection explores the effects of radiation on human health. FREE, 1pm
SPACE BEER: A talk about the compounds and chemistry of space might seem a little dry to some tastes. So Imperial's astrophysics group bring things down to Earth by using beer as a guide to interstellar molecules. FREE, 6.30pm
MEDICINE: This year's Roy Porter lecture on the history of Parkinson's Disease is delivered by Dorothy Porter at the Wellcome Library. FREE, 6.30pm
TUBE WALK: Join author of Walk The Lines Mark Mason for a trivia-filled walk along the route of the Piccadilly Line through central London. Along the way, learn how Michael Portillo escaped the paparazzi, which US president had a wife with the middle name Kermit, and why there are no flowerbeds in Green Park. £8/£6, 7pm
HERDING: Flockings, migrations, herding and animal-human movements are the unlikely order of the day at a new pop-up cinema in Stratford. Sugarhouse Studios comes from the same stable as the Cineroleum and Folly for a Flyover and will screen a series of films about migrations, followed by talks from zoologists and sociologists. £5, 7.15pm
Thursday 24 May
GEOCACHING: Go on a treasure hunt around Greenwich using the latest handheld GPS technology. This geocaching event forms part of the London Mapping Festival. FREE, 3pm
MEDICINE: It's 50 years since the drug thalidomide was withdrawn after it was found to cause death or impairment of foetuses. Wellcome Collection has a panel event to discuss the drug and its impact on families. FREE, 7pm
SPORTY STUFF: The excellent (and we're not using that word lightly) Played in Britain series of events in Clerkenwell's Gallery moves on to discuss the swimming pools of London, with a particular focus on Olympic pools. Turn up early for an accompanying exhibition about the history of sport in London. £8, 7pm
Friday 25 May
LATES: The Natural History Museum puts on its monthly Lates evening, with a chance to enjoy the museum into the evening. FREE, but some exhibitions are on a pay ticket, until 10.30pm
DOUGLAS ADAMS: Celebrate Towel Day, commemorating Douglas Adams, with an evening of Vogon poetry at Hackney Picturehouse. £5/£3 in costume or with towel, 7.30pm
COMICS: London Comic Con runs at Excel until Sunday. Guests include Anthony Daniels (C3P0) and Danny DeVito. Ticket prices vary
Saturday 26 May
HERITAGE TRAIN: A chance to ride a steam train along a lost part of the Tube network, as the section of line between Epping and Ongar reopens for a special heritage weekend. Ian has all the details. Prices vary.
TECH: Spend Saturday afternoon contemplating the future of technology at Birkbeck College. FREE, 2pm
GEEK PUB CRAWL: The Thinking Bob meetup group is organising a sci/tech-themed pub crawl around central London. Solve this clue to find the first pub: "Sounds like NASA has a problem with a faucet." FREE, 3pm
ANIMATION: Yet another event at Wellcome Collection in a busy week for the venue sees a screening of the recent film Tchaikovsky and a discussion of the stop motion animation used to create it. FREE, 7pm
Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments or tip us off about future events via [email protected]
