The IET London - Teddington group, together with the National Physical Laboratory and Kingston University this year collaborated to bring together "Watts for Christmas?" - a collection of Science, Engineering and Technology Lectures which took place at NPL in Teddington on 5 December 2013.
Watch videos of all of the talks below, and find out how to power a car with a candle, how computers can interact with your brain and why a random guess may not be so random after all!
If you attended the event, please tell us what you thought by adding your review of the lectures
Christmas Candles
Dr Michael de Podesta from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
We all love to see candles burning in a window at Christmas - but did you know each flame is an astonishing world of metal-melting super-high temperatures? Or, that a typical candle contains ten times more energy than a stick of dynamite - and more energy than 250 AA batteries?
Cyborgs: Ghosts of Christmas Future
Professor Kevin Warwick from the University of Reading / IET
How can the use of implant and electrode technology be used to create biological brains for robots, enhance human abilities and reduce the effects of certain neural illnesses? Professor Warwick will explain how technology, including a link between a biological brain and a computer, has been used to profound effect. He will consider the future in which robots have biological brains and in which neural implants link the human nervous system with technology and the internet.
Measurement Curiosities
Professor Andy Augousti from Kingston University
How good are you at estimating? How many presents will you have under your Christmas tree this year? Or how many baubles and chocolates will be hanging on the tree itself? We will explore your ability to estimate collectively. Plus - random numbers. Are they really so random? When does randomness break down? It's not when you might expect!
