It’s inevitable, isn't it? One day robots will take over the world, either through some kind of violent rebellion, or through the back door - by taking all our jobs. Aren't we throwing caution to the wind by ignoring this threat? By explaining some of the basic principles behind artificial intelligence and robotics, Nick will try to convince you that all those science fiction writers are wrong, and whilst robots will have a large part to play in our future, you don't need to worry about the effect they'll have on our existence.

Nick Hawes is a Reader in Autonomous Intelligent Robotics in the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham. His research is in the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to create intelligent, autonomous robots that can work with or for humans. He is a passionate believer in public engagement with AI and robotics and was selected to give the Lord Kelvin Award Lecture at the 2013 British Science Festival.

Arguably, sexually deviant behavior is becoming more socially acceptable in western cultures. Popular trends such as 50 Shades of Grey selling 100 million copies worldwide is a clear indicator that a very large proportion of the general public welcome ‘kink’ into the mainstream media. Though that particular book series is certainly not representative of what many people now refer to as the ‘Kink Community’ it is a significant adjustment from previous decades.

With the rise of the internet individuals with unusual sexual interests can very easily find websites and communities dedicated to specific kinks. The creation and growth of these online communities have enabled researchers to break through these restrictions to start asking more questions about the aetiology of kink. 

This talk will outline how we define and measure sexually deviant behaviour and describe the current literature including Elisa's own research.

Why do doctors sometimes render their patients unconscious? What is a "medically-induced coma"? Do anaesthetists really do crosswords once patients are asleep? How do you know when to stop CPR? And how do you determine somebody is dead? And why does anaesthetics have anything to do with intensive care?

If you've ever wondered about any of these things, this talk is for you. Raj hopes to remove some of the mystery around anaesthetics and intensive care, two of the least well-understood but most exciting specialities in modern clinical practice.

Dr Rajin Chowdhury is an anaesthetic and intensive care registrar working in Sheffield and South Yorkshire. He qualified from the University of Sheffield in 2010 where he is an Honorary Clinical Teacher. He began specialty training in anaesthetics in 2013 and is now dual training in both anaesthetics and intensive care to become a consultant in 2022-3.

He works regularly with unconscious patients. This includes elective and emergency anaesthesia in the operating theatre and management of the "medically-induced coma" on the intensive care unit.