Public lecture - The Complexity of the International Food Trade Network - Norwich 13:00 Friday 18th September

Professor Jozsef Baranyi

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Jozsef Baranyi will give a public lecture entitled The Complexity of the International Food Trade Network on Friday 18th September
Time: 13:00
Venue: United Nations Association, Friends Meeting House, Upper Goat Lane, Norwich NR2 1EW

Abstract:
With demand for food to increase by 50% by 2030, the current global food distribution system compromises food tracebility, which has an impact on its chemical and microbiological safety.
During a food poisoning outbreak, the first and most important task is to identify the origin of the contamination. Delays in this task can have severe consequences for the health of the population and incur social, political and economical damages with international repercussions. However, the International agro-Food Trade Network (IFTN) is less and less suitable to track the origin of food products.  A case in point was the consequences of the three weeks delay in identifying the origin of the E. coli contamination in Germany in June 2011.
An interdisciplinary approach is needed to better understand the IFTN.  Such an approach is entirely within the means of science and technology, if supported by detailed and systematic data to monitor and control food flows.  The issue no longer affecting just single countries, but the global livelihood of the human population. International organisations, such as the United Nations and the European Union, are essential to the efforts to collect and monitor data on the food trade networks.

Galaxy Community Conference 2015 - Norwich (4-8 July)

The 2015 Galaxy Community Conference (GCC2015, http://gcc2015.tsl.ac.uk/)
is being held at the Sainsbury Lab in Norwich, United Kingdom, 4-8 July.
GCC2015 is an opportunity to meet with 200+ others working at the forefront
data-intensive biomedical research. The 2015 edition of GCC includes more
than ever before (http://gcc2015.tsl.ac.uk/programme/):
 
- Coding and Data Wrangling Hackathons (and a colocated BioJS Hackathon
too)
- Two days of training offering 18 sessions on 15 topics in up to 5
parallel tracks, covering topics ranging from analysis to administration to
tool development.
- A two day meeting featuring accepted talks, poster presentations,
keynote talks, vendor exhibits, lightning talks, birds-of-a-feather
meetups, and plenty of networking.
 
Early registration is now open (but closes Friday, 22 May, *which is this
Friday)*. Registering early saves you 40%. Registering now ensures you'll
get a spot in the hackathon and training sessions of your choice.
 
Galaxy is a data integration and analysis platform for the life sciences.
It is an open source project and is available for free on the web, for
local, and installs, and on cloud infrastructures. It is deployed around
the world, and used for research across the tree of life. See
http://galaxyproject.org/ for more.
 
Finally, there are also many other events going on before and after
GCC2015, and GCC itself ends right before ISMB / ECCB starts in Dublin.
See https://wiki.galaxyproject.org/News/NearGCC2015 for a complete list.
 
Hope to see you in Norwich!
 
Dave Clements, on behalf of the GCC2015 Organising Committee
 

Of interest to Primary & Secondary Schools:

16th March 2015, 17:07 Astro-Pi in the maths classroom by Steve Lyon

In partnership with the United States, Russia, Japan and Canada, Europe is sharing in the greatest international project of all time - the International Space Station. The ISS has enough room for its crew of six persons and a vast array of scientific experiments. It’s a lab and a home… in space!
Tim Peake is due to go to the International Space Station in November 2015 and spend six months there carrying out scientific experiments. He will be the first British ESA astronaut to visit the Space Station.
A team of leading UK Space companies, Raspberry Pi and the UK Space Agency have joined forces with Tim to offer young people the chance to devise their own app or experiment. The best of these will be taken to the ISS as part of Tim's mission and run on the Raspberry Pi computers he’s taking with him.
So – what would YOU do with a tiny computer on-board the space-station, equipped with lots of sensors, inputs and outputs? Your ideas can win great prizes for your school, no programming necessary! And to help you get started, we’ve provided lots of ideas and background learning materials.
Secondary school students can win more prizes by coding their solution in Python. Lots of help is available, so don’t worry if you’ve never written any code!
To find out more, go to astro-pi.org but hurry – Tim’s training is almost complete and your idea must be ready to fly too!

The astro-pi competition is a great opportunity to bring the excitement of space travel to your subject. Teachers of science, maths, computing and more will find resources and ideas for the classroom, helping you enrich learning for all students and prepare teams for the competition.

Hubble 25th Anniversary

Just sharing this as it may be of interest:

Dear All,

As part of Hubble's 25th anniversary celebrations we have two initiatives

that might interest list members.

1) We are offering high-quality large-format (around 3x3m) prints of

Hubble’s anniversary image for display at European-based science centres,

museums, planetariums, nature centres and other informal education venues

interested in doing an event or unveiling on the 23 April 2015 in

celebration of the anniversary.

More information and application form here:

https://www.spacetelescope.org/Hubble25/imageunveilings/

2) If you are interested in making short films and in winning a piece of

Hubble's actual solar array - which spent 3 years in Space - then we also

have a short film competition "Ode to Hubble".

The competition is for videos of three minutes or less and as long as they

are Hubble-inspired in some way can take any form you like.

More information and application details here:

http://www.spacetelescope.org/Hubble25/odetohubble/

Let me know if you would like any further details and please share and send

to anyone you think might be interested.

Many thanks,

Georgia

--

Georgia Bladon

+44 (0)7816291261

gr.bladon@gmail.com

Public Outreach Officer - ESA/Hubble (

georgia@partner.eso.org)

Editor-in-Chief - International Astronomy Union CAPjournal

(georgia@partner.eso.org)

Crowdfunding Astronomy Education

Universe Awareness are raising 15,000 EUR through a Kickstarter campaign to send the education kit "Universe in a Box" to underprivileged communities around the world.

Rewards are available from as little as 5 EUR and there are many astronomy resources on offer if people pledge to the campaign. These include EarthBall (an inflatable globe without national borders) and Universe in a Box itself (a toolkit for teachers and educators to make astronomy and space science accessible) .

Universe in a Box is a physical toolkit with the materials necessary for implementing more than forty astronomy-related activities for 4-10 year olds. Activities range from explanations of the seasons to stories behind constellations to the scale of our solar system. With the money from the campaign we will send more than 160 boxes around the world to communities who couldn't otherwise afford them, as well as providing training so that the materials are implemented effectively.

Please check out and share our campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unawe/universe-in-a-box

Abi Ashton
Universe in a Box project
Universe Awareness International Office, Leiden University

2014 International Schools Essay Competition: What does 'sustainable living' mean to you?

This is potentially of interest to school-teachers - perhaps they could do an essay on Food Security ?


2014 International Schools Essay Competition: What does 'sustainable living' mean to you?
We are pleased to announce that the theme of the 2014 International Schools Essay Competition and Debates is ... What does 'sustainable living' mean to you?

Schoolchildren around the world (age 7-17) are invited to enter the Primary and Secondary categories. Trophies will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes in each category, and one overall Grand Prize winner will receive an amazing free trip for up to three people. Learn more here ...

Online registration is now open and Teacher Champions have until 10th February 2014 to submit children's essays. Schools/teachers – register here

Schools will be notified in early April 2014 and invited to attend the International Schools Debates at the Living Rainforest (UK) on 7-10 July 2014.

The 2013 International Schools Essay Competition (Who is responsible ... are we ready to take responsibility for the future of our planet? ) received 831 entries from 65 countries. Schools from 15 countries attended International Schools Debates in the UK and Seychelles, and the Grand Prize was awarded to Cho Su bin of Jeju, South Korea.

Please help us spread the word to schools!
Further info:
Karl Hansen (Director)
The Living Rainforest | Trust for Sustainable Living, Hampstead Norreys, Berkshire, RG18 0TN, UK
T: +44-(0)-1635 202444
F: +44-(0)-1635 202440
W: www.livingrainforest.org

European Antibiotic Awareness Day Competition 2013

Have you got an innovative approach to teaching? Would you like to share this with others?

If so, then why not take part in the e-Bug competition to support European Antibiotic Awareness Day?

To enter, send us a video recording, YouTube link or written lesson plan with photos of how you inform your students about antibiotics, to e-bug@phe.gov.uk>.

There are great prizes on offer for the winning teacher and for their school, so get your thinking caps on as the deadline for entries is July 26th.

Visit  http://www.e-bug.eu/games_home.aspx?cc=eng&ss=1&t=e-Bug%20Games for more information.

Claire

Claire Joyner

e-bug Project Assistant

Public Health England | Primary Care Unit | Microbiology Department | Gloucester Royal Hospital | Great Western Road | Gloucester | GL1 3NN

e-mail:  claire.joyner@phe.gov.uk

Tel:         0300 422 5067

www.gov.uk/phe>   Follow us on Twitter@PHE_uk

Free online astronomy course

This may be of use to people with an interest in astronomy:-

In an exciting initiative, Curtin University invites you and your students to join us in our first free online study subject.

Titled Discovering the Universe through Science and Technology, the subject focuses on astronomy and will explore topics such as the evolution of the universe, the future of astronomy and the role technology plays in new discoveries.

The subject can be used as a unique teaching tool to get your students excited about science. Students will benefit from innovative features such as the use of a night sky simulation, and learn from scientists involved in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, a multibillion-dollar development that will build the most powerful radio telescope in history.

Discovering the Universe through Science and Technology will be delivered through the Open Universities Australia platform Open2Study and runs for four weeks from 1 July. Enrolments are now open.

The subject requires two to four hours of study per week, and a basic understanding of mathematics is desirable. Students who successfully complete the subject will receive a certificate of achievement they can use to demonstrate their interest in and passion for science.

To enrol or to find out further details about the subject and its modules, go here https://www.open2study.com/subjects/astronomy-discovering-the-universe-through-science-and-technology

Launching Maths in Europe (@MathsInEurope) portal and Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013

Launching of the European portal for Mathematics on Facebook and Twitter. The web addresses arehttps://www.facebook.com/EUMaths andhttps://twitter.com/MathsInEurope, respectively.  Our Twitter name is @MathsInEurope. 

You can help us spreading the word by forwarding this message to your contacts, 'liking' our Facebook page , following and re-tweeting our Twitter feed.

This week we will be releasing Christmas Maths. The portal will be sharing maths news and maths media (no pun intended). 
The target age is younger adults and teenagers, including teachers and anyone with curiosity. If you teach we encourage you to share the info with your students. We are measuring how quickly we get to 1m 'likes'.

We invite you to join us promoting Mathematics in wider Europe: we encourage you to post messages in our Facebook page, mention us on Twitter and make us aware of the great things that are being done in mathematics across the continent.

To begin with we are collating information about UK activities under the theme Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 (http://mpe2013.org/) for the main website Mathematics in Europe (http://www.mathematics-in-europe.eu/). 

Cool Food Planet resource by @EUFIC

Educational resource on health, nutrition & food safety created by European Food Information Council:

 

About Cool Food Planet

Cool Food Planet is an educational website where children, aged 6-12 years, can learn about health, nutrition and food safety. Educating children about nutrition is one of the most important steps towards good health and helping them to grow to their potential.
Cool Food Planet is designed for children to use independently. However, information is also provided for parents and teachers to help them support children’s learning in the classroom and at home.
Cool Food Planet does not feature any food or drink brands on the website.

About EUFIC

Cool Food Planet is a product of the European Food Information Council (EUFIC). EUFIC is a non-profit organisation which provides science-based information on food safety and quality and health and nutrition in a way that promotes consumer understanding.
EUFIC extensively researched children’s perception of nutrition and their internet usage to inform the website design and to ensure it delivers children’s educational needs in a fun and engaging way. All the content is developed in partnership with science, nutrition and teaching professionals to ensure it is reliable and relevant.

EUFICs priorities:

• Enhance public understanding of nutritional quality and food safety.
• Raise consumers’ awareness of the active role they play in safe food handling and choosing a well-balanced and healthy diet.
• Educate, engage and empower parents to take responsibility for their own and their kids’ health and to develop good lifetime nutritional habits.
• Provide scientifically sound, useful and constantly updated information gathered from credible science and nutrition professionals.

4th-10th October is World Space Week

Those interested in space and European efforts especially may find this of Interest:

 

4th-10th October is World Space Week. The UK Space Agency are holding a series of 'Tweet the Expert' one hour twitter Q&As each day from 15.00-16.00. Twitter followers are invited to tweet a range of space experts, including European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake, who will be answering questions on their areas of expertise each day.

Please join us on twitter (@spacegovuk) for the event where ever you are and feel free to pass round details to anyone you think might be interested.

During the live period, simply tweet your question to @spacegovuk and the @ of the expert you want to ask, e.g. “@spacegovuk @astro_timpeake What is your daily routine? #wsw2012”.

Or send us your questions now either via twitter @spacegovuk, facebook or email steven.watson@ukspaceagency.bis.gsi.gov.uk and we will put them to our experts via twitter. Again, please make sure you indicate who you want to ask.

The hashtag for the event will be #wsw2012.

You can find more information on our website here: http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency/news-and-events/2012/Sep/tweet-the-expert-world-space-week-4th-10th-october-2012  

I hope you can join us!

Best wishes,

Madeleine

Madeleine Russell | Projects and Events Officer | UK Space Agency | Department for Business, Innovation & Skills | madeleine.russell@ukspaceagency.bis.gsi.gov.uk | http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency | http://twitter.com/spacegovuk | http://www.youtube.com/user/spacegovuk

The UK Space Agency is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and is at the heart of the UK efforts to explore and benefit from space.

Thursday 4th October - Space Science - Prof Matt Griffin @ Principal Investigator for the Herschel-SPIRE instrument

Friday 5th October - The ESA Astronaut Corps - Tim Peake @astro_timpeake European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut

Saturday 6th October - Space Exploration - Ralph Cordey @RalphCordey Head of Robotic Exploration Business Development

Monday 8th October - Space Security and Near Earth Objects - Richard Crowther @spacegovuk Chief Engineer at the UK Space Agency

Tuesday 9th October - Space Careers - Emma Lord @spacegovuk Director of Policy and Operations at the UK Space Agency

Do not forget this....World's Biggest Memory game.

Biology week may be of interest to those studying or involved in the Life Sciences:

 

13-19^th October is the first ever Biology Week, with events running across the country to celebrate the life sciences. 

One of the most exciting events is scheduled for 2.30 pm on Friday 19^th October, when we’ll be attempting to set a Guinness record for the World’s Largest Memory game.  Everyone is welcome to take part, from schools and universities to individuals. 

The event will highlight the importance of research into memory and the brain, which continues to improve our understanding of diseases like Alzheimer’s and helps us understand what it is to be human.  It’s also guaranteed to be a lot of fun!

We’re on the hunt for participants: if you can gather at least 25 people together at 2.30 pm on 19^th October then you can join the record attempt!

You can also support the event by acting as an independent witness – if you’re able to visit a school or other venue to verify the record attempt, then we’d love to hear from you.

To get involved, either as a participant or witness, please contact the Society of Biology on: intern@societyofbiology.org

Solvay Conference photo colourised.

A magnificent moment if the history of Science (from the fifth Solvay Conference in 1927)
29 icons of science in one photo

UK Science Funding Opportunities Resource

As a little experiment with Blogger I have created another new blog.
This doesn't (and is unlikely to have many posts, but it aggregates RSS feeds from a variety of UK Science Funding Bodies (Including the Research Councils plus EU). This may be useful to PIs looking for new funding sources.
If anyone knows of an RSS feed or STFC funding opportunities that I could add to the site, I would be really happy. I've had to insert an ugly iframe to their web-page...

Build your own Mars Science Lab in LEGO!

OK seriously cool science project for schools or just plain interested pupils - 
One of the Curiosity engineers has published details on building a LEGO replica of the #MSL
An act of pure genius!

See the LEGO web-site for more details.

Free Earth Observation data from European Space Agency

This might be a starting point for a interesting school project...

How to get Earth observation data

How do you go about obtaining ESA Earth observation data products for your own use? The answer depends on the type of Earth observation data needed.

Free dataset

Most of the ESA Earth observation datasets are available on the Internet free of charge. Access is granted after user registration through the Earth Observation Principal Investigator Portal, which also provides the detailed content of the free datasets. 

Science - It's a Girl thing

The EU has started a campaign to encourage girls into science careers and have a web-site here.
On Twitter (see #sciencegirlthing) and the press, there has been quite a bit of controversy about a video trailer that they released (and after reactions pulled it - a copy is, as far as I know, still on YouTube - use that Google  interweb-thingy...).
I've tried to stay out of the debate as, video aside, the web-site has merit as does the good intention.
EU's viewpoints are here in this FAQ.

I would still have the person who put a lipstick in the Science logo taken away for a good talking-to (which is a kinder fate that some other commentators would suggest) , but it is really important to get all school-children interested in science. 
Not just for careers - science shapes and permeates our modern world. Major decisions are made and without an understanding of the scientific issues it is difficult, if not impossible, to have informed inclusive public debate. So scientific literacy is a vital citizenship skill.
Please do not let the controversy influence you, visit the web-site and reach your own verdict...
(Its a people thing).

International Womens Day marked with Google Doodle

Todays Google doodle celebrates the fact that today is International Womens day where we acknowledge womens contribution to our society. Also, organisations such as Oxfam are highlighting the fact that in countries experiencing extreme poverty, women often suffer the most.