#LSF11 | 22 Oct - 'Material World', @BBCRadio4 at @NMMGreenwich

22 OCTOBER
17:00 - 18:00

MATERIAL WORLD: SPECIAL RECORDING
Presented by Quentin Cooper

National Maritime Museum

Romney Road, Greenwich SE10 9NF

Greenwich, Cutty Sark

Quentin Cooper

Described by the Times as both “the world’s most enthusiastic man” and “an expert on everything from pop music to astrophysics”, and by the Daily Mail as someone whose “wit and enthusiasm can enliven the dullest of topics”, Quentin hosts a diverse range of events in Britain and beyond as well as appearing regularly on radio, TV and in print.

He’s best known for presenting the UK's most listened to science programme, The Material World on BBC Radio 4 – described as “the most accessible, funny and conversational science programme on radio” by the Radio Times and “quite the best thing on radio” by Bill Bryson.

Quentin is much in demand to host conferences, chair panels, facilitate debates, conduct interviews, give talks, MC events, and run science communication and media skills workshops. Among organisations he’s worked for regularly and recently are the Royal Society, BBC Training, the British Council, the Wellcome Trust, the British Science Association, Lego, the European Commission, the Institute of Physics, NESTA, the London School of Economics, many universities, most UK and European science festivals, various national governments and several UK research councils.

BBCRadio4

bbc.co.uk/science

DESCRIPTION

Radio 4's weekly science programme, Material World, comes to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, with an outside broadcast presented by Quentin Cooper. This event celebrates amateur science and do-it-yourself discovery.

'So You Want to Be a Scientist?' - the search for the BBC's Amateur Scientist of the Year - is back. Last year, the award was won by 69 yr old grandmother Ruth Brooks, who measured the homing distance of her garden snails. Entries are open to find next year’s budding amateur scientist, and if you’re lucky enough to be selected as a finalists, you’ll be teamed up with a professional mentor to turn your idea into an experiment.

At today’s event, some of last year’s hopefuls get the chance to test out their questions with the aid of performance troupe Guerilla Science. Take part in their aroma challenge to see how much you can tell about someone just from their smell. And spot the mystery guest who may hold the secret of art appreciation. They are joined by astrophysicist Dr Lucie Green from this year’s judging panel.

Plus, astronomer and Sky at Night presenter Chris Lintott talks about his Zooniverse - the online portal where citizen scientists can take part in real research - from hunting supernovae to analysing weather patterns. As part of their Planet Hunters project, volunteers have recently discovered two new planets outside our Solar System.

By analysing data from NASA's Kepler Space Observatory, the amateur astronomers helped to spot the exoplanets which lie between the constellations of Cygnus and Lyra. One of the new planets is just two and a half times the size of the earth and has a solid surface, making it a possible home for extraterrestrial life. The second is a gas giant, more like Jupiter, and orbits its parent star every 50 days.

Book tickets » bbcscientist.eventbrite.com

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