SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

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UBT - Timbo
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SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

Hi all

I am likely to be attending this:

A FREE talk about SETI by: Prof. Michael Garrett, University of Manchester, Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

To be held from 6:30pm-10pm on 21st January 2019 at:

The Albert Club,
39-41 Old Lansdowne Road,
West Didsbury,
Manchester
M20 2PA

Website for info:
http://didsburyscibar.co.uk/seti/

MENSA page for the event:
https://mensanorthwest.com/blog/scibar- ... l-garrett/

Facebook event page
https://www.facebook.com/events/1169775903173015/

Any forum members based 'oop North, fancy meeting up?

regards
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by Woodles »

Hi Tim,

Bit too far for me to go on a Monday night and expect to get there before it finishes :D

Mark.
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Chris Suddick »

I might try and get to this. It should dovetail well with another talk at Altrincham and District Astronomical Society on 4th Feb by Prof. Ian Morison of Jodrell Bank on "Are We Alone?" And there is bugger all on the tele to compete.

Chris.
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Chris Suddick »

I just clicked on the web link and found another reason to go... It's free admission! That'll attract hundreds from Yorkshire.

Chris.
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

Woodles wrote: Tue Jan 08, 2019 9:02 am Hi Tim,

Bit too far for me to go on a Monday night and expect to get there before it finishes :D

Mark.
Hi Mark

That's a shame - though it is quite a way up from your normal stomping ground !!

I'm not the organiser for this - it's been arranged by the North West branch of MENSA so I have no control over when and where it is being held.

regards
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

UBT - Chris Suddick wrote: Tue Jan 08, 2019 11:11 am I might try and get to this. It should dovetail well with another talk at Altrincham and District Astronomical Society on 4th Feb by Prof. Ian Morison of Jodrell Bank on "Are We Alone?" And there is bugger all on the tele to compete.

Chris.
Hi Chris

Excellent stuff...hope to see you there :-)

I'm not sure how we'll be able to recognise each other though...so, I might just make myself a name badge to wear on whatever T-shirt I have.

In fact, come to think about it, I still have some SETI 15th Anniversary t-shirts that were sent to me (on behalf of some UBT members, who then didn't make a purchase) from a couple of years ago...at least one of which is signed. I'll have to dig them out and put one on !!

http://www.ukboincteam.org.uk/newforum/ ... irt#p96915

If anyone is still interested in getting one, then please let me know - I'll update this later with the sizes I have :-)

regards
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

Hi all

So, a quick thought.

The above mentioned talk will be (mainly) about SETI, but I would also assume that some of those attending might not know anything about BOINC or even UBT.

And I think it might be a good idea to put together some flyers and leave them around in the bar (where the talk is being held).

So, question:
Apart from our logo (as above on the forum header) - what else can I put on the flyer about getting people involved and hopefully joining UBT?

Obviously there is this:

Image

But what else can I include? Any thoughts?

regards
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Chris Suddick »

Given the occasion and the audience I would have thought that specifically mentioning SETI would be a good idea. That would be the hook to catch their eye and get them interested. They can then discover the extra delights of BOINC at their leisure.

Chris.
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by Woodles »

Good point Chris :handgestures-thumbup:

And since UBT are number 1 in the UK for SETI, it might direct any interested crunchers our way.

Mark
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

Hi both

Thanks for the feedback.

Indeed, mentioning UBT and it's prowess in supporting SETI (#1 Team in UK, #1 on SETI project, #1 in RAC on SETI, #1 in terms of membership size in UK) would be the #1 drivers for the flyer...and could indeed tempt people to give it a go.

So, a bias on the flyer towards SETI makes a lot of sense.

Also the fact that from what I can see, Manchester University teams (of which there are a few) don't seem to support BOINC or SETI very well...so, without trying to cast a slur against MU, any current students attending might want to join UBT.

Also: I'll take along a USB flash drive with the latest versions of BOINC and if I can arrange it, a working laptop, with BOINC running SETI on it.

regards
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by Jeffers »

It's not that far a drive for me from Halifax (just need to cross the border from Yorkshire to Lancashire, scary!) so I might give it a go. I've no other commitments that night that I can see.... Just look for a balding bloke with a white beard! (and wearing braces (of the trouser variety!))
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by Woodles »

Jeffers wrote: Tue Jan 08, 2019 11:10 pmIt's not that far a drive for me from Halifax (just need to cross the border from Yorkshire to Lancashire, scary!)
You don't want to do that! :o
Jeffers wrote: Tue Jan 08, 2019 11:10 pmI've no other commitments that night that I can see.... Just look for a balding bloke with a white beard! (and wearing braces (of the trouser variety!))
Looking for something to do now? :D
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

Jeffers wrote: Tue Jan 08, 2019 11:10 pm It's not that far a drive for me from Halifax (just need to cross the border from Yorkshire to Lancashire, scary!) so I might give it a go. I've no other commitments that night that I can see.... Just look for a balding bloke with a white beard! (and wearing braces (of the trouser variety!))
Hi Jeff,

If you can make the trip across the border, then it'll be great to see you there :-)

And I'll try and protect you from any natives that might be looking for trouble ;-) (Lankys don't scare me, as my family are from the East End of London !!).

regards
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by Jeffers »

I can look after myself, thanks, I'm originally from Tyneside, remember?
Although us folk of South Shields aren't Geordies, they're the softies North of the Tyne. We are the "Sanddancers", presumably something to do with the lovely beaches on the coast our side of the Tyne.
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

UPDATE:

If anyone does fancy coming along please send an RSVP email to the organiser:

james.o@mensanorthwest.com

They will then know (roughly) how many will be attending.

regards
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

UBT - Timbo wrote: Tue Jan 08, 2019 1:56 pm
In fact, come to think about it, I still have some SETI 15th Anniversary t-shirts that were sent to me (on behalf of some UBT members, who then didn't make a purchase) from a couple of years ago...at least one of which is signed. I'll have to dig them out and put one on !!

http://www.ukboincteam.org.uk/newforum/ ... irt#p96915

If anyone is still interested in getting one, then please let me know - I'll update this later with the sizes I have :-)

regards
Tim
UPDATE:

I have taken two pics of the 15th Anniversary T-shirts I have left - see attachments:

I have ONE that is printed on the front and SIGNED on the back, by Dr Eric Korpela (*) and (I think) it's his wife. Offers are invited for this one.

I have TWO that are printed on the front and plain on the back - I paid about GBP 15.00 for these.

All three are about the same size which I would say is LARGE, going on X-LARGE.

First Come, first served !!

I'll take these along to the meeting, in the hope of selling them, (as I already paid for them back in 2014, as part of the SETI FundRaising campaign) and they've been in a suitcase since after I moved house). But if anyone wants one, then please reply to this posting BEFORE 3pm on Monday 21st January 2019, as after this, I'll be making my way up to Manchester.

If any are left after the meeting, then I'll update this message.

regards
Tim

(*) = Dr Korpela is Director of SETI@home:

Bio page:
https://seti.berkeley.edu/people/Eric.html
.
Home page:
https://purcell.ssl.berkeley.edu/~korpela/
.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by Woodles »

Hi Tim,

I'll take one if it's going spare.

If you get a better offer at the meeting then no problem.

Mark
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

Woodles wrote: Sun Jan 20, 2019 8:15 pm Hi Tim,

I'll take one if it's going spare.

If you get a better offer at the meeting then no problem.

Mark
Hi Mark

Thanks for the message.

Which one do you want? Plain or signed ? (The signed one is the one I'll take offers on... :-) The plain ones cost me abt £15 each, so that's all I want back.)

And you (and any other forum member) has priority over anyone at tonights talk...so if all three are allocated today to forum members, then I don't need to take any along with me !!

If you can advise before 3:30pm, that would be helpful. (Otherwise, I'll just have to guess which one you might want ;-) )

regards and thanks again
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by Woodles »

Hi Tim,

I'll go for an unsigned one please, the uneducated yobs I normally hang around with wouldn't even know what SETI means never mind who Eric Korpela is :o

Have fun at tonights talk :)

Mark
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

Woodles wrote: Mon Jan 21, 2019 2:00 pm Hi Tim,

I'll go for an unsigned one please, the uneducated yobs I normally hang around with wouldn't even know what SETI means never mind who Eric Korpela is :o

Have fun at tonights talk :)

Mark
Hi Mark

OK - sold !!

Can you ping me a msg with a delivery address please - it's fairly light so I can pop it in a jiffy bag and post it.

re: Meeting

I'm rather looking forwards to it...it's being "sponsored" / organised by the NW Mensa group so there might be a few Mensa people I know who could be going... Plus any excuse to go somewhere new for a brew or two !!

regards and thanks
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

Hi all

I'm offline now until tomorrow - a quick drive up to Manchester and maybe a nice curry on the Curry Mile ;-)

I will update if the T-shirts are still available, tomorrow.

regards
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Timbo »

Hi all

So, the meeting took place as arranged and maybe 30-40 people turned up :-) (which was more than I was expecting) and it was good to meet forum members Jeffers and Chris (Suddick) who also came along.

Prof Garret gave a nice talk for just under an hour, covering all sorts of matter, including the development of the universe over the last 14 billion years, the range of cosmic objects (including exo-planets) "out there" that are being discovered now that may be in the habitable zone, the likelihood of any other intelligent civilisation (other than life on Earth) forming in that time, and whether it (or any of it's artefacts) can be found. And of course that human life has only been around for about 10,000 years, and we've only had the capability to actually search for non-Earth based life for a few decades...which is nothing compared to the 14 billion year age of the Universe.

Strangely at no point was the Drake Equation mentioned...!! But the Prof did indicate that on balance, statistically, there should be life, esp based on how life had evolved on Earth, having started (as single cell organisms) very soon after the Solar System formed (4 billion yrs ago) although it did take a lot longer for multi-cellular lifeforms to emerge.

The Prof also talked about:

* the Breakthrough Listen project, of which he is involved, and which is funded to the tune of $100m by Yuri Milner.

https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/1

* the e-Merlin project, which is based in the UK.

* and of course the Square Kilometer Array, which is Headquartered at Jodrell Bank, even though the actual telescopes are based in South Africa and Western Australia.

Thereafter, followed a Q&A session, where the assembled audience were able to ask various questions.

I had introduced myself to both the Mensa organiser, James as well as the Professor before the talk, in the hope of maybe getting a few mins to talk to the audience...but in the end, it was only once an audience member asked about SETI@home that I had a chance to invite people to ask me about it, after the talk was over. (And I clearly didn't want to be seen to be jumping on anyone else's bandwagon, after they had given up their time to organise/present this talk).

(A few of my flyers were taken, so we might see a couple of new forum members register in due course).

Sadly, I wasn't able to interest anyone in T-shirts, so the two I have left are still available ;-)

So, a good hour or two of an interesting talk and chats with people, the Guinness was nice and a quick curry was indeed had afterwards, at Mughli on the Curry mile :-)

regards
Tim
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by UBT - Chris Suddick »

It was a pity that the talk was conducted in a working bar and thoroughfare. I was amazed that the speaker was able to talk through all the distractions without so much as a single pause. I guess he lectures to students frequently and is probably very used to it.

Chris
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Re: SETI talk - 21st January 2019 in Didsbury, Manchester

Post by chriscambridge »

A nice write up about the evening Tim; it all sounds pretty interesting.
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