The Mind of a bee!See Professor Lars Chittka's talk for the society "The Mind of the Bee" from January 2021. Bees have a diverse instinctual repertoire that allows the functioning of the beehive like a smoothly oiled factory, with different workers specialising in comb construction, climate control system, defence and foraging for nectar and pollen. However, the richness of bees’ instincts has traditionally been contrasted with the notion that bees’ small brains allow little behavioural flexibility and learning behaviour.
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The Origins of GenocideWhen he receives an invitation to deliver a lecture in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, international lawyer Philippe Sands begins a journey on the trail of his family’s secret history. In doing so, he uncovers a series of unlikely coincidences that lead him halfway across the world, to the origins of modern international law, in the 1945 ‘moment’ and at the Nuremberg trial. ‘East West Street’: on the origins of genocide and crimes against humanity, on the individual and the group. See Prof Philippe Sands lecture for the Royal Phil.
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SOCIETY INAUGURATION0n the 5th November 1802, three Glaswegian gentlemen, John Roberton, William Douglas, and Peter Nicholson, acting on behalf of a number of others in the city who were ‘interested in the prosperity of the Trades and Manufactures of their country’, and anxious for ‘the improvement of the Arts and Sciences’ ...
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Our New HomeWe are really excited to be moving into our new home (as soon as conditions allow) in the brand new James McCune Smith lecture theatre, part of the new development at Glasgow University. There we will have the latest facilities for our talks and social activities.
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The climate emergency in Scotland – what can we do about it?
Pete Smith, Director of Scotland’s Climate Change Centre of Expertise
Climate change is an existential threat and time to tackle it is rapidly running out. In light of this, the UK and Scottish Governments have both declared a climate emergency.…
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Is vitamin D the ‘sunshine superstar’ or is it all media hype? Professor Susan Lanham-New
Vitamin D is an extraordinary nutrient – indeed it is not a ‘vital-amine’ in the true sense of the word but instead a prohormone. It is the only nutrient where…
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‘The EU without Britain: Never Closer Union?’ Professor Vernon Bogdanor
Was Brexit an aberration or does it reveal real weaknesses in the European Union? The European Communities, forerunner of the European Union, were founded by the Treaty of Rome in…
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Mission Economy : a moonshot guide to changing capitalism – Professor Mariana Mazzucato
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, capitalism was stuck. It had no answers to a host of problems, including disease, inequality, the digital divide and, perhaps most blatantly, the…
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The human scale: technology and leadership in times of crisis – Misha Glenny
What happens when technological, political, biological and economic change outstrips the capacity of humanity to comprehend that change? Humans face a challenge of scale which has reached a moment of…
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The Mind of the Bee – Professor Lars Chittka
Bees have a diverse instinctual repertoire that allows the functioning of the beehive like a smoothly oiled factory, with different workers specialising in comb construction, climate control system, defence and…