PINT OF SCIENCE
FESTIVAL
Creation Through Destruction
The phrase “creative destruction” appears at first glance to be contradictory – aren’t the two processes the complete opposite of each other? More often than we realise, these two processes go hand-in-hand: to build up something new, one must first break down something else. In this evening, we will learn about how scientists create novel climate change solutions and promising nanotechnology through destruction!
Wednesday 22 May - Doors open at 6.30pm - Event starts at 7.00pm
The Pit - 21 Lor Liput, Singapore 277733
Jacob Martin
PhD Student, University of Cambridge
Confessions of a pyromaniac: combustion science for climate solutions.
What does combustion have to do with solving global warming? Why does it matter how we burn things? What things could we burn to combat climate change? What even is a flame and how does it work? Come along to hear these questions, and any other burning questions you might have, answered by a combustion scientist. Jake will bring you up to date on the latest research on biofuels, clean combustion and using charcoal to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, as well as all the fundamentals of fire and some experiments for you to try at home. It’s going to be a blast!
Marcelo Barbosa
Researcher, University of Porto and CERN
From particle accelerators to our everyday world: the use of radioactive atoms as friendly "spies"
The development of quantum mechanics during the 20th century revealed a strange and unique reality where we began to examine the universe on the atomic scale. By performing high-energy experiments in ever-increasing particle accelerators (such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN), it has been possible to observe and discover the most elementary particles which are the building blocks of all matter in the universe! In this talk, I will briefly show what studies are performed using particle accelerators in places like CERN (which people unnecessarily fear and misunderstand) and how I use radioactive isotopes produced with their aid to study promising nanomaterials for technological applications.