SCIENCE FESTIVAL FEATURE
BOOKING INFORMATION Box Office: 0131 220 6220
INNOVATIONS isn’t just the name of a little magazine tilled with datt gimmicks that talls annoyingly out of your Sunday papers. It’s also a series of demonstrations featuring some of the most important inventions trom the last 250 years. Get to grips with a live-teet tall him or take part in a Velcro tug-ot-war, and you’ll begin to see another side of those everyday items we tend to take for granted Innovations Demonstration, Adam House, Man 1—Fri 5 Apr.
Advance ticket sales and general inlonnation about the Edinburgh lntemational Science Festival is already available by telephone or post at 149 Rose Street, Edinburgh, Ell2 MS. The box office will be open for counter sales every day from Friday 29 March-Tuesday 16 April at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Chambers Street, 10am—5pm (Mon-Sat) and noon-5pm (Suns).
Tickets tor lectures will be on sale at each venue SO minutes prior to an event starting, providing it has not sold out. Concessions are available to pensioners, the unemployed and students, unless otherwise stated.
I Assembly Rooms 50 George Street. 1—5 Apr, 10am—5pm. The hands-on exhibits of the Princess Street Gardens Discovery Dome relocate to the Assembly Rooms alongside the Science Assembly Exhibition and a display of dinosaur eggs. I Adam House Chambers Street. 29 Mar—l4 Apr. 10am—5pm. Plenty of hands- on activities in the ‘Science Works’ venue. which also houses the Sci-Fun Roadshow. MadLab and the Science Shop. Entry is free. although most workshops carry a small charge.
I Old College South Bridge. 29 Mar—l6 Apr. The University of Edinburgh‘s Old College lecture theatres and Senate room play host to a variety of talks and events. I Royal Museum ot Scotland Chambers Street. 30 Mar—l4 Apr. The Festival‘s Education Centre is the focus for half-day and full-day children‘s workshops. It‘s also home to the Science Playcentre for 3-6-year-olds.
l Royal Botanic Garden lnverleith Row. 30 Mar—16 Apr. As well as the ongoing ‘bioSCIENCE in Scotland‘ hands-on exhibition and the wonderful array of plants on permanent display. the Garden is the centre for many ofthe Festival‘s
NUCLEAR WEAPONS haven’t been consigned to history, despite the passing of the Cold War era. Baroness Thatcher’s concerns over the technology available to second-rank dictators and the French government’s recent underground tests at Mururoa have brought the nuclear question back onto the agenda. Ever since the bomb made its debut at Hiroshima, scientists have worried about the long term effects on the environment, and in this talk, Alan
Walker from the University of Edinburgh . ' ‘i nammoficmcd events.
reviews current international treaties , r ‘ ' . .
and prospects for the future. ‘ :tsjiencggnK/[me Yeapnnlcg‘s S"?! Nuclear Weapons: Past, Present, But Jr fins. ~ ar— .0 8% amj- Pm: What Faun-9?, old college lecture ._ Have Megafun With Computers at this
‘.
Theatre 2, Tue 2 Apr, 5pm. large interactive show which ‘ " demonstrates the many uses of computers
and lets you take control. Manipulate a mouse with a giant joystick or star in your own MTV video.
INTERNET SECURITY is a current hot topic. because in Cyberspace
everyone can hear you type. From the tiniest message across the office e- I She", Tums The world expert on mail to top secret digital documents buried deep in the sy stems of the .[dcmity In The Age Of The lntemet~ World B: n' s) ‘ ) )l 2' ll l’WIl ‘r‘ hol ls th ‘ k '\ . .
1 k‘ ( md ( c} “ H L L L k L- _, ' discusses the boundaries between selfand
to back those files. Hackers (those who break and enter systems lot the long:
of exploring them). crackeis (those
who break into systems for the hit/.7.
of breaking and entering) and
phreakers (those whose hack of
choice is the phone system) have been around as long as there have been phone systems and computer networks. As have those who attempt to protect their systems by any means necessary. PGP — or Pretty Good Privacy — is just the latest
in a long line of encryption methods designed
to maintain security on the lnternet.
Authored by American civil rights advocate
Phil Zimmerman. it's widely reckoned to be uncrackable with one source reporting it would take even the most powerful computer chip 10.0(X).0()0.000.()0() years to try all possible keys. Not that that‘s likely to put the hacking fraternity off. After all. what's a couple of thousand years when
you‘re cracking code. (lillie Carr)
How Secure Is The Internet”, ()lll College Senate Room. Mon / Apr. 5pm.
machine. Royal Museum of Scotland. Tue 2 Apr. 7.30pm.
I 3-D Edinburgh Fly through a computerised model of the city‘s landscapes. Edinburgh College of Art. Grassnuirket. Thurs 28. 5.30pm; Fri 29. I 0am and [1.30am
I Stand-Up Lap-Top Recent Artificial Intelligence studies have revealed the computer's punning sense of humour. Kim Binstead tells how her program constructs jokes. Old College Lecture Theatre 2, Wed 3 Apr. 6pm.
I Edinburgh’s First ‘Science Festival' Not the modem event, but the huge International Exhibition of 1886. Flip back in time and hear about the wonders that packed The Meadows over a century ago. 01d College Lecture Theatre 2. Sat 30 Mar. 2.30pm.
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The List 22 Mar-4 Apr 199619