Blogs

Last week at The Science Exchange saw another fine serving of both science and cinema, thanks to SCINEMA 2012. The night kicked off with an enthusiastic crowd being taken on a road trip of a different kind. Film maker, Kate Webbink, took us on a journey that ... Continue Reading »

The movie Titanic has been released again, and this time it incorporates 3D technology. Cinema fans have flocked to see the re-created blockbuster, often oblivious to the painstaking work that James Cameron's team put into the transformation. His people have scanned and photographed the wreck to create computer generated scenes to ... Continue Reading »

How long do you spend watching TV, reading stories in books or newspapers, listening to your friends spin everyday experiences into an entertaining tale? We are all natural storytellers, and we all like listening to them. Since ancient times we have used stories to teach lessons and record ... Continue Reading »

The winner of the 2011 SCINEMA Best Film was The Light Bulb Conspiracy, by Cosima Dannoritzer of Spain.  An investigative piece, TLBC details how “planned obsolescence” is incorporated into just about every product we buy.  This includes not only a technical planned obsolescence – where products deliberately have a ... Continue Reading »

Well partially it is a result of planned obsolescence.  Believe it or not, the lifespan of a light bulb in 1920 was longer than it was in 1950.  The humble light bulb was the originator of planned obsolescence, when manufacturers make products wear out quickly so that people have to ... Continue Reading »

Over the past few weeks I’ve been involved in the organisation of public screenings for the 2011 SCINEMA Festival of Science Film.  The festival showcases science dramas, docos, animations and shorts, and in 2011 SCINEMA received over 400 entries from 35 countries including entries from professional ... Continue Reading »

Gut feeling, a woman’s intuition, following your heart, having a sixth sense... the English language is littered with plenty of allusions to reactions and decision-making that appear in no way related to using one’s head. Science appears, too, to maintain that ideas about the heart harbouring emotional intelligence have no scientific ... Continue Reading »