Science Public Lectures

"The unnatural natural:plastic alternatives and the problems they pose"

Thursday 18th July 2019, 6pm

Thomas Stanton
School of Geography, University of Nottingham

Plastic pollution pervades marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments, and is even present in the atmosphere. Across these systems plastic, in its many guises, is known to exert a variety of complex pressures on the environment. As awareness of these pressures has grown, efforts have been made to reduce our reliance on plastic by industry, governments, and the general public. Substitution of plastic for more ‘natural’ products is one way in which society can reduce its plastic consumption. However, whilst plastic substitution reduces one anthropogenic burden on the planet, the potential environmental, economic, and social consequences of using plastic alternatives are seldom considered. This lecture will explore the varied problems that plastic pollution poses, the role of the three Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle – in reducing plastic pollution, and whether or not a fourth r – replace – is really the solution that some have claimed it to be.

Time: 6-7 pm

No admission charge and no need to book in advance!

Location: B1 Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, University of Nottingham, University Park campus, Nottingham NG7 2RD. ( Map)

The Science Public Lecture series is support by the British Science Association Nottinghamshire Branch.

Upcoming talks

DATE	SPEAKER	TITLE
July 18th	Thomas Stanton	The unnatural natural:plastic alternatives and the problems they pose

Past Events 2018/19

June 20th	Prof David Walker & Pro David Needham	The appliance of science:using reverse engineering to improve the treatment of childhood brain cancers.PowerPoint presentation
May 16th	Dr Julian Onions	The far side of the moon:is it just aliens?
Apr 25th	Prof Stephen Harding	National DNA Day:Nottingham's Discovery of Hyrdrogen Bonds in DNA and Re-evaluation of the 1948 Creeth two-chain model for its structure
Mar 21st	Dr Markus Bauer	How Expectations About the World Structure our Perception
Feb 21st	Dr Ana Valdes	The role of the Gut Microbiome in nutrition and health
Jan 17th	Dr Matt Brookes	Quantum Sensing the Brain: Introducting a New Generation of Brain Scanning Technology
Dec 6th	Derek Woodroffe	S Brief Introduction to Tesla Coils - With Demonstrations
Nov 15th	Dr Anastasios Avgoustidis	Understanding the Origins of the Universe
Oct 18th	Dr Jessica Wardlaw	Slavery from space:Searching satellite images to end modern slavery

Past Events 2017/2018

Sept 20th	Sr Simon Ferneyhough	Remembering What and Where:Changes in Visual Memory across the Lifespan
Aug 16th	Prof Nate Szewczyk	Using Worms to Study muscle adaptation in spaceflight
July 19th	Dr Alvaro Garcia	Smart and Multifunctional Roads
June 21st	Dr David Quain	Cuckoo Collaborative, a different sort of MSc project!
Mar 15th	Prof Gisli Jenkins	Can Breathing Scar Your Lungs?
Feb 15th	Dr Louise Lansbury	Influenza:a century of challenges from an ever-evolving enemy
Feb 1st	Prof A Padilla	1+2+3+4+5+..=1/12 and other mathematical orders
Jan 18th	Dr Richard Campion	Physics and scuba diving
Dec 7th	Dr Craig Sturrock	3D X-ray vision
Nov 16th	Dr Hannah O'Regan	Who's eating who?Hominins and carnivores in human evolution.
Oct 19th	Dr Markus Eichhorn	Lasers in the Jungle
Sept 21st	Dr Angus Davison	Body asymmetry:How I made a 'shellebrity' snail.
Aug 17th	Dr Jing Yang	3D bioprinting:a new tool for making replacement tissues and in vitro models.
July 20th	Dr Ruman Rahman	Darwin's Oncology Legacy
June 15th	Dr Rebecca Dewey	I can see what you hear
May 18th	Professor Frazer Pearce	Adventures in the Goldilocks Zone: the search for other earths
Apr 20th	Professor Philip Moriarty	When the Uncertainty Principle goes up to 11
Mar 16th	Dr Mandy Roshier Dr Steve North	Bits and Bytes: when horses meet computers
Feb 16th	Julian Onions	Things that go bang in the night (sky)
Jan 19th	Claire Sycamore	Thinking outside the (pill) box): alternative drug delivery strategies

Past Events 2016

Dec 8th	Prof. Stewart Martin	Breast cancer: a researcher's perspective
Nov 17th	Prof. Peter Mitchell	Being Sherlock Holmes: Reading minds from clues in Behaviour
Oct 20th	Prof. Omar Almaini	Surveying the Distant Universe
Sep 15th	Sarah Pierce	Open Air Laboratories: Collecting Data on Our Doorstep
Aug 18th	Tim Colman	Mineral Exploration – Looking for a Very Small Needle in a Very Big Haystack
Jul 21st	Dr Jennifer Martin School of Medicine	MindTech: Harnessing Technology for Better Mental Health
Jun 16th	Dr. Helvi Witek Research Fellow School of Mathematical Sciences	Gravitational Waves II: The Universe's Symphony
May 19th	Dr. Thomas Sotiriou Associate Professor & Reader School of Mathematical Sciences and School of Physics & Astronomy	Gravitational Waves I: From Newton's law to black holes and space-time ripples
Apr 21st	Dr. Imogen Richens Ask for Evidence Ambassador Sense About Science	Why everyone should Ask for Evidence
Mar 17th	Dr David Lathbury Astute Chemical Development Consultancy	The past and future role of organic synthesis in drug discovery
Feb 18th	Dr Andy Bennett FRAME Laboratory	Beyond Animal Use in Human Biomedical Research
Jan 21st	Simon Haydn	The story (and technology) behind Bloodhound SSC

Past Events 2015

DATE	SPEAKER	TITLE
Jan 15th	Prof Penny Gowland Physics & Astronomy UoN	From Star Trek to Medical Imaging- the Physics of MRI
Feb 19th	Dr. Wang QI Architecture and Built Environment UoN	Feathers - A Dinosaur vision for Wollaton
Mar 19th	Florence Annan PhD student Clostridia Research Group, Life Sciences UoN	How to make Jet Fuel (and other useful things) from Greenhouse Gases
Apr 16th	Dr Bettina Wolf Associate Professor Biosciences UoN	Chocolate - The Taste Sensation
May 21st	Prof. Roger Bowley Emeritus Professor of Physics UoN	George Green’s contribution to MRI: How a Nottingham Miller contributed to a Nobel Prize Invention
Jun 18th	Dr. Clare Burrage Particle Theory Group UoN	The Dark Side of the Universe
Jul 16th	Heidi Richardson, Nicola Edwards and Georgina Roberts Nature England	Protecting our Marine Environment
Aug 20th	Dr Erik Murchie Associate Professor and Lecturer in Crop Science UoN	Photosynthesis: the Engine of Food Production
Sep 17th	James Nightingale PhD student UoN	Viewing the Universe in Light of Gravitational Lensing
Oct 15th	Dr Lisa Yon Lecturer in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine UoN	Elephant Welfare and Behaviour
Nov 19th	Prof Richard Leach Mechanical, Materials & Manufacturing Engineering UoN	Metrology for additive manufacturing: the key to tight tolerances
Dec 17th	Dr David Feary School of Life Sciences UoN	From Algae to Coral to Algae to Wherever Now!

Past Events 2014

DATE	SPEAKER	TITLE
Jan 16th	Sophie Morris PhD Student	From the cock-eyed squid to the dark side of the Universe: Asymmetry in Nature.
Feb 20th	Prof. Gill Stephens Professor of Bioprocess Engineering	From chewing gum to chemicals…
Mar 20th	Dr Tony Padilla School of Physics & Astronomy, UoN	Black Holes & Extra Dimensions
Apr 24th	Prof. Ivan Powis Professor of Chemical Physics	The Beauty of Symmetry: A disagreement between Art and Science?
May 15th	Dr. Andrew Rollinson Research Fellow, Engineering	Small-scale Biomass Gasification - Power from Woodchips
Jun 19th	Dr Ho-Kei Chan ERC Research Fellow Computational Nanoscience	Oranges and Fullerenes, Packed like Sardines
Jul 17th	Jenny Lord Eminate	The Future of Food
Aug 21st	Dr Tahir Ahmed	A Yardstick for our Solar System
Sep 18th	Dr Richard Hill Senior Research Fellow Physics & Astronomy UoN	Levitation
Oct 16th	Prof. Philip Moriarty Physics & Astronomy UoN	Can we do 3D Printing with Atoms?
Nov 20th	Julian Onions PhD student Physics & Astronomy UoN	Making a Universe from Scratch
Dec 18th	Dr. Emily Lawson Research Fellow Geography UoN	Managing Urban Flood Risk the blue-green approach

Past Events 2013

DATE	SPEAKER	TITLE
January 17th	Dr. Sean Carroll	The Particle at the End of the Universe: The Hunt for the Higgs and the Discovery of a New World
Feb 21th	Dr. Philip Oldfield	Rethinking the Tall Building: The Importance of Climate, Culture, Context
March 21st	Dr. Susannah Lydon	A Prehistory of the World in Ten Fossils
April 18th	Prof Ian Connerton	Bacteriophage Control of Bacterial Pathogens: My Enemy's Enemy is my Friend?
May 16th	Dr. Steve Dunham	How do Viruses Cause Disease? Lessons from our Feathered Friends and Other Animals
June 20th	Caterina Lani	The Cosmic Web and its Inhabitants
July 18th	Prof. Jerry Roberts	Global Food Security-Is there a role for GM crops?
Aug 15th	Dominic Jones AWE	“Radiochemistry: Real Life CSI - the importance of understanding nuclear isotopes when advising UK emergency response organisations”
Sept 19th	Dr. Richard Alexander	Exoplanets: Hunting for Other Worlds ( Presentation Slides)
Oct 17th	David Wilkinson IoP Regional Officer	Less Lethal Weapons
Nov 21st	Dr Mike Fay University of Nottingham Nanotechnology Centre	Nanotechnology - Hype, Fear and Reality
Dec 19th	Dr Ian Fisk University of Nottingham Food Scientist	The Flavour of Food

Past Events 2012

DATE	SPEAKER	TITLE
Jan 12th	Dr. Daniele Fantin	The Space Shuttle Story
Feb 23rd	Dr. Mike Clifford	How to Get Down from a Yak
March 15th	Dr. David Cook	A perfect pint: How to construct the flavour of beer.....
April 19th	Prof Sir Peter Mansfield	Snap Shot MRI - The Early Years
May 17th	Dr. Helen West	Dung Beetles and Their Battle Against Drugs
June 21st	Dr. Will Carroll	Allergy
July 19th	Prof Clive Roberts	Seeing the Nanoworld: New Solutions for Healthcare
Aug 16th	Dr. Trevor Drage	Energy in a Carbon Constrained World
Sep 20th	Dr. Rob Stockman	Nature's Chemical Warfare Agents: From Poison Arrows to magic Bullets
Oct 18th	Professor Alan R. Palmer	The Bionic Ear and Brain
Nov 15th	Dr. Barry Lomax	Where have all the flowers come from?
Dec 13th	Prof. Mike Merrifield	A seasonal canter through some scientific questions related to Christmas.

Past Events 2011

Jan 27th	Brady Haran	Internet Stars: The Secret Life of Sixty Symbols
Feb 24th	Prof. Philip Moriarty	Rolling molecules, switching atoms, and touching electrons.
March 24th	Dr. Hanni Lux	Substructure and Streams in the Milky Way: Unravelling Galaxy Formation
April 28th	Markus Hammonds	Supernovae and Stellar Fireworks
May 19th	Dr. David Walker	The Nottingham Cave Survey
June 16th	Prof. Roger Bowley, Prof. Philip Moriarty, Dr. Meghan Gray, Dr. Frazer Pearce, Dr. Anne Green, Dr. Paul Saffin	Open Question Panel
July 21st	Prof. Peter Beton	Graphene - conducting sheets with the thickness of a single carbon atom
Aug 25th	Ian Kimpton	Symmetry in Nature
Sep 22nd	James Clewett	Granular Dynamics
Oct 20th	Dr. Keith Smith	How to destroy the Earth
Nov 24th	Prof. Alfonso Aragon-Salamanca	Galaxy Formation and Transformation
Dec 8th	Dr. Chris Lintott	News from the Cosmos: 2011's astronomical headlines

Past Events 2010

Jan 21st	Dr. Ed Copeland	LHC and the Early Universe
Feb 18th	Dr. Meghan Gray	The Violent Lives of Galaxies
March 18th	Dr. Anne Green	WIMP Hunting: The Search for Dark Matter
April 22nd	Dr. Tony Padilla	Parallel Worlds
May 20th	Dr. June McCombie	The Chemistry of Space
June 17th	Fernando Buitrago	History of Space Exploration: Looking for New Horizons
July 22nd	Dr. Graeme Candlish	Black Holes
Aug 19th	Dr. Frazer Pearce	Global Warming
Sep 23rd	Prof. Michael Merrifield	21st Century Telescopes
Oct 21st	Dr. Steven Bamford	Galaxy Zoo and the Zooniverse
Nov 18th	Dr. Omar Almaini	Quasars and Active Galaxies
Dec 16th	Arianna Cortesi and Federica Maglioni	Sounds of the Universe

School of Physics and Astronomy

The University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham NG7 2RD

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