Week In Geek: 23-29 January 2012

M@
By M@ Last edited 146 months ago
Week In Geek: 23-29 January 2012


London events for people with curious minds.

Monday 23 January
PERCEPTION: Can we always believe what we are seeing? Can our perception of the world around us be manipulated? Two of many questions of perception addressed at tonight's Cafe Scientifique event at the Royal Society. FREE, 6.30pm

Tuesday 24 January
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT: Dr Nick Lane delivers UCL's Lunch Hour Lecture, postulating that complex life was a freak of nature and might be very rare indeed throughout the cosmos. FREE, 1.15pm

SCIENCE ON STAGE: Science Showoff returns to the Wilmington Arms for an evening of quickfire stage acts drawn from across the sciences. Check out the acts...looks like fun. FREE, 7.30pm

Wednesday 25 January
SCIENCE MUSEUM LATES: The Science Museum once again throws open its doors into the late evening, allowing adults only to roam its fascinating halls, perhaps with a glass of vino in hand. This month's theme is space science. FREE, 6.45pm

SPORTS SCIENCE: We're going to be seeing a lot of this kind of thing in the run-up to the Olympics. Tonight's event at the Royal Institution looks at the athlete training and technology behind basketball, both Olympic and Paralympic. FREE, 7pm

MAGIC: Why did our Middle Ages ancestors hold magic in such thrall, burning witches at the stake while also dabbling in alchemy and numerology? A pair of would-be mystics, including Radio 4's Quentin Cooper, pull some rabbits out of Wellcome Collection's hat tonight. FREE, 7pm

PHYSICS ODDNESS: Nic Harrigan of Imperial College presents his new show on the oddities of physics, presumably from two separate locations at the same time with a cat that's neither alive nor dead. £10/£5, 7pm

DRINKS: The first meetup of the year for the Geekpub group, who basically meet at a bar to talk tech, gaming and general geekery. New members are particularly encouraged to come along to this month's meet, at Namco Station on the South Bank. FREE, 7pm

Thursday 26 January
OPTIMISM: Find out why a cheery, positive outlook might be crucial to our species' survival at a Science London event tonight, upstairs at The Lamb on Lamb's Conduit Street. FREE, 7.30pm

Friday 27 January
NATURAL HISTORY LATES: Aping the Science Museum's Wednesday event, the Natural History Museum tonight stays open till 10.30pm, with an evening particularly geared up to an adult audience. FREE, 6pm

CULT HORROR: The surprisingly cavernous Genesis Cinema on Mile End Road hosts a Brit horror double-bill of Witchfinder General followed by The Wicker Man. £8/£5, 6.30pm

GENETICS: What can we learn about our ancestors from our DNA? Archaeologists and genetics come together at the Dana Centre to reveal all. FREE, 7.30pm

Saturday 28 December
SCI-FI: Another chance to join the London Sci-Fi/Fantasy Meetup Group for some beers at the Mad Hatter, Southwark. FREE, 5pm

DEATH: Tying in with the Southbank Centre's current festival of death, the very much alive Sandi Toksvig delivers an eponymous memorial lecture, themed around all things morbid. £20, 7.30pm

Booking Ahead
After a sell-out success at the Bloomsbury Theatre, Festival Of The Spoken Nerd has announced a new date on 2 February. The trio of geek funsters will be at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket with special guests UCL chemistry professor Andrea Sella and comedian Kent Valentine. Book now, as tickets sell fast.

Last Updated 23 January 2012