The month ahead

Pub fights, neuroscience, and summer kids' camps
July 21, 2010
Natural Hysteria in South Kensington
If scientists found a pill to make people less violent, would it be OK to put it in the water supply? Or should it be banned because it violates human nature, and human rights? Come and hear Katerina Deligiorgi discuss how far we should go with cosmetic neuroscience, on 27th July at The Wheatsheaf in central London. It’s pub argument without the fisticuffs (bigi.org.uk/events/cosmetic-neuroscience/). If the combination of bitter and evidence-based banter proves intoxicating then Sceptics in the Pub may be the organisation for you. On 17th August, in Leicester, science writer Martin Robbins will discuss “Bad Science in the Developing World,” encompassing Haitian homeopaths and Aids denialism. Discover your local branch and its programme of events at skeptic.org.uk/events/skeptics-in-the-pub Parents anxious to park their children somewhere improving for the school holidays could try the Mad Science summer camps, dotted around the country. You can book them into Spy Academy, Funky Forensics and Electrifying Electricity for£35 a day. Schemes operate in late July and August; for more information go to www.madscience.org. Finally, if you prefer to wear your intellect lightly, head to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, on 30th July, for Natural Hysteria, a comedy-fest cum quiz featuring Whose Lice Is It Anyway?, What’s My Spine? and Have I Got Poos for You. The puns may flow freely but the tickets cost £12 from www.nhmshop.co.uk.