PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR THIS MONTH ONLY WE WILL BE STARTING HALF AN HOUR EARLIER THAN USUAL AT 7:00PM.

Alom Shaha will talk about how his experiences as a secondary school science teacher led him to write The Young Atheist's Handbook. He'll explain how the original idea came about and how he ended up writing a very different book to the one he first envisaged.

As well as writing the book and working as a Physics teacher, Alom has performed various roles in the production of TV shows about science. He is also known for the presentation of live science shows and his regular public speaking. These efforts in the field of science communication have lead to him being recognised with a fellowship from the National Endownment for Science Technology and the Arts, Nesta.

You can now sign up to the Facebook event for this talk.

The notion that one can judge a person’s character on the basis of their facial appearance is an idea that dates back to the ancient Greeks and for a short period, the practice of physiognomy was considered scientific. Despite the fact that this ancient practice has long been discredited, the idea that one can “read” a person’s character simply by looking at their face still persists within folk psychology. In fact, this belief and our natural tendency to judge people on the basis of facial appearance has a surprisingly pervasive effect on all of our lives.

In this talk Kathryn Ford will look at the modern face of physiognomy trying to answer questions such as; why do we judge people as soon as we see them? How accurate are these judgements? And does facial appearance effect how people are treated within the criminal justice system?

Warning: This talk will involve some discussion of rape.

Kathryn Ford received a BSc in Neuroscience and Psychology from Keele University in 2011 and an MSc in Evolutionary Psychology from Brunel University in 2012.

Dr Graham Smith has worked within government science for over 20 years. By using the example of badger management for bovine TB, which has four different government led approaches within four countries of the British Isles, he will present how science has been used within government environmental decision making.

We all seem to expect that when presented with the facts of the case, everyone will come to the same decision. Well, lets take a look at the facts and see if that is true.

Tannice firstly aims to take you through different definitions of autism, cultural representations and the results of her survey, asking over 700 people about their perceptions of what causes and ‘cures’ autism (spoiler: we don’t know and, currently, nothing).

The second part of the talk focuses on ‘the bad’ and ‘the ugly’. Tannice will briefly cover the MMR scandal, but this is not the main focus of her ‘bad’ or ‘ugly’ section: the subject that Tannice reserves the most ire for is the toxic and sometimes downright dangerous ‘treatments’ many children must endure. Asking the question ‘what’s the harm?’ has never been more important.

The third part of the talk is for ‘the good’, focusing on ABA or Applied Behavioural Analysis; the gold standard for aiding those on the spectrum. From Kim Peek (the inspiration for rain man) to Jenny McCarthy (an anti-vaccination campaigner), this talk will give you a broad overview of Autism, Autism interventions and why cultural representations of Autism are usually wrong. You’ll also find out why a horse died when he was being treated in a chamber normally reserved for divers suffering from the bends.

Find out more on her website: www.tannice.co.uk

Follow Tannnice on Twitter @Tannice_

 “You can’t believe everything you read in the papers.”

Everyone knows this, but few people realise this truism extends far beyond the celebrity pages and gossip columns, and spills into ‘real’ news. Here, the near-invisible influence of PR companies is often pivotal in deciding what news gets told, and how it gets reported. By taking a brief look at the history of modern journalism, and using real examples taken from recent headlines, Michael Marshall will show why you really, really can’t believe everything you read in the papers.

Michael Marshall is the co-founder and vice-president of the Merseyside Skeptics Society and appears on the “Skeptics with a K” and ‘Be Reasonable’ podcasts. Besides organising the national and international 10:23 Campaign against homeopathy, he writes about the often-unsuspected role of PR in modern media. Michael has written for The Times, The Guardian and The New Statesman, and has lectured as part of the Sheffield Hallam University Journalism degree.

Ben Goldacre once called him ‘a mighty nerd from Liverpool’, and the self-proclaimed psychic Joe Power once called him something very rude and unprintable.

Photo by Al Johnston.