Place and Time: Abingdon, January 19, 2017  from 19:00 for 19:30

Barn Room, Crown and Thistle (18 Bridge St, Abingdon OX14 3HS)

TITLE: Rocking the foundations of mathematics: logic, paradox, and the quest for consistency

Mathematics looks like the rock-solid foundations of the sciences. But is it really as safe and unshakeable as it seems? The development went through some crises and hit upon unexpected paradoxes and problems.

Logicians, philosophers, and mathematicians, among them Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, Kurt Gödel, and Alan Turing have worked on the foundations of mathematics. In the talk I will tell the story of grand programmes, their failures, feuds, and cunning arguments at the intersection of mathematics, logic, computer science, and philosophy.

Speaker: Volker Halbach

Volker Halbach is professor of philosophy at the University of Oxford. He specializes in logic and formal philosophy. For more information on the speaker see here.

We will have a members Christmas Party on December 15, 2016 from 19:00 to 22:00 in the Brewery Tap. Please register with the Secretary, if you plan to attend, so that we can order the right amount of nibbles.

Place and Time: Abingdon, October 24, 2016  from 19:00 for 19:30

Barn Room, Crown and Thistle (18 Bridge St, Abingdon OX14 3HS)

We will have an initial short talk followed by the AGM.

Talk Title : Dark Matter

Dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in physics. We know there is something out there twisting starlight and flinging stars around in galaxies, but we have never managed to detect it – it seems to be like nothing we know. In this talk, we will examine the evidence for dark matter and see what it tells us about this mysterious stuff, before considering some of the ways scientists are hunting for it and trying to discover what makes up 85% of the matter in the universe.

Speaker: Ms Kathryn Boast

Kathryn Boast is a graduate student at the University of Oxford. She is involved in planing and building the most sensitive dark matter experiment yet. She is also very active promoting women careers in science.

AGM Agenda

1. Apologies for absence
2. Minutes of last meeting
3. Matters arising
4. Chairman’s Report
5. Treasurer’s Report
6. Resolution to reduce membership fees
7.  Elections
   1. Officers
      1. Chair
      2. Secretary
      3. Treasurer
      4. Programme Organiser
   2. Ordinary Committee Members
8. ATOM Festival 2017
9. Any Other Business

Place and Time: Abingdon, October 27, 2016  from 19:00 for 19:30

Barn Room, Crown and Thistle (18 Bridge St, Abingdon OX14 3HS)

TITLE: Murder, Maggots and Mitochondrial DNA

Speaker: Ms Catherine Hale

Technological advances have led to an increased understanding of the potential of DNA analysis, broadening its impact across a wide range of fields.

The focus of this talk will be the application of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, specifically its role in species identification. This technique is used in a  number of areas, including forensic science, ancestry and conservation. Ms Catherine Hale

Catherine currently works in forensics, but developed an interest in mtDNA several years ago whilst undertaking a joint research project with the Royal Veterinary College and the Natural History Museum, London. The project, which will also be discussed tonight, compared molecular analysis methods to morphological identification methods for maggot species identification. Accurate identification of maggot species offers the potential to estimate a time of death, or the reveal if a body has been moved post-mortem.

Place and Time: Abingdon, September 22, 2016  from 19:00 for 19:30

Barn Room, Crown and Thistle (18 Bridge St, Abingdon OX14 3HS)

TITLE: The Weather in Space – The Sun’s Impact on Earth

Speaker: Richard Harrison, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL)

The UK has long been a world-leader in solar physics research, developing instrumentation that has flown on major space missions for many years. Our understanding of the Sun has been revolutionised in recent years, but it has also driven a parallel interest in the hazards of space weather to the extent that it is even listed on the UK’s National Risk register! Solar activity impacts the space environment around our planet and there are many activities underway to address this both on the research side and in terms of operational space weather forecasting. RAL has been at the core of these activities and has been involved in space observations of the Sun for over 50 years. This talk with briefly outline that history but will focus on the activity of our local star and its impacts on Earth.

Professor Richard Harrison is Head of RAL Space Physics Division and Chief Scientist for RAL Space. He has been a space scientist for 34 years specializing in solar physics research, with research interests in solar mass ejection processes, coronal structure and impacts on the heliosphere and near-Earth space. He is the Principal Investigator for space instrumentation aboard NASA and European Space Agency spacecraft and has been responsible for developing and operating space-borne instrumentation and aspects of space strategy and management continuously since 1992.