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Open mic for science communication

Science Showoff promises “open mic for all communicators of science” and aims to be

a place where people from all the bits of the science communication industry could share their latest work, in a performance-based way, and then chew it over with a pint in hand (or a whisky in hand). We also wanted it to be democratic, with space for people we see all the time, as well as people we’ve never seen perform before.

Science Showoff will run its fifth night in London in the evening of Tuesday 7th February. The gig is free with a collection for London Wildlife Trust. There are ten acts covering a range of sciences and here are three I would be most looking forward to (if I was anywhere near London):

Katie Steckles, who is well known in maths communication, will present a session on Fibonacci and the Golden Ratio:

A lot of people have heard of the Golden Ratio, but many, even those who have read Dan Brown books, might not know exactly what it is. I will give several illustrative explanations, using stuffed rabbits and slagging off TV presenters, and hopefully give you some idea of why I think it’s incredibly lovely.

Helen Arney, one third of Festival of the Spoken Nerd, promises:

I’ll be trying out a new singalong song that encompasses time, space, mathematics and philosophy. Features live powerpoint!

Rhys Phillips, who featured on the Travels in a Mathematical World Podcast episode 63, talking about lightning:

Rhys “Lightning” Phillips will be looking at what happens when planes are hit by lightning and showing cool videos of things going bang in a lightning lab! He’ll also be pondering on why song writers think that lightning is frightening.

Full line up: Science Showoff 5 (will make you get down) LINE-UP ANNOUNCED(1 February 2012).