The Hampshire Skeptics Society

(Paper by Erik Meilak, Neil J. Gostling*, Pauline Provini, Colin Palmer and Markus O. Heller.)

Archaeopteryx might just be the most important fossil ever found. It was hailed as the ‘proof’ of Darwin’s evolution by Natural Selection when it was discovered just 2 years after On the Origin of Species had predicted the existence of such fossils.

While the feathers and wings were unmistakably bird features, to the 19th Century scientists who first observed is, it had characteristics that were not like any living bird, a long bony tail, three separate and clawed fingers, and a beakless tooth-filled jaw demonstrated a direct link between dinosaurs and birds.

For all of its “birdiness”, the dinosaur traits meant that it wasn’t a ‘fully formed bird’. How did it achieve the quality, most associated with birds, flight?

Lacking a large sternum, for big wing muscles, and a less mobile shoulder, how could it get off the ground?

In order to assess how Archaeopteryx could have taken off, we turned our attention to its closest relatives, birds themselves.

Bio

Dr Neil Gostling is an Associate Professor in Evolution and Palaeobiology. He is an evolutionary-developmental biologist (Evo-Devo) by training and a palaeobiologist by research.

He has used this diverse background to answer questions from the evolution of animals to the development of root systems.

Currently, Neil is working to address questions about the origins of avian flight, and the diversity of dinosaurs in southern England.

Neil contributes to the teaching of evolution and palaeobiology across the Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually on the 4th Wednesday of every month,  at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester.  Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.

Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).

The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.

You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.

Corvids, such as crows or ravens, have been an ongoing source of public fascination. They are also common subjects of scientific attention, due to their advanced cognitive abilities, but until recently little attention has been paid to the subjective nature of their inner lives.

Here, Dr Browning talks about some of her team’s recent work, using a five-dimensional framework for animal consciousness to investigate the potential nature of corvid minds, and how it can inform ethical interactions with these birds.

Bio

Dr Heather Browning is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Southampton. She specialises in animal sentience and welfare.

Prior to her current position, she worked as part of the Foundations of Animal Sentience project at the London School of Economics, producing a report for DEFRA reviewing the evidence of sentience in cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans that led to an amendment of the UK’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act to include their protection.

Alongside her academic career, she has also worked as a zookeeper and animal welfare officer.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually on the 4th Wednesday of every month,  at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester.  Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.

Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).

The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.

You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.

The Soldier in Later Medieval England (www.medievalsoldier.org) is a pioneering project to create an online database of soldiers serving the English crown in its late medieval wars, involving close collaboration between historians and computer scientists.

It is the largest medieval database online and has had millions of hits since its launch back in 2011.

How did historians find all those soldier names? And how easy was it to create the online interface?

What can the database it tell us about our ancestors and what it was like to be a soldier 600 years ago?

Bio – Anne Curry

Anne Curry is Emeritus Professor at the university of Southampton as well as Arundel Herald Extraordinary. She is a leading expert on the Hundred Years War and has published many books and articles on both sides of the Channel.

She has a particular interest in Henry V and the battle of Agincourt, and was consultant to the new museum at the battlefield. She  was also involved in the HLF funded project to find the Bosworth battlefield.

She has been involved in several online projects and is currently working on a biography of Joan of Arc.

Bio – Jason Sadler

Jason Sadler is a Professorial Enterprise Fellow within Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Southampton, co-director and IT lead at the GeoData Institute, directing data management and software development activity.

As a Computer Scientist with over 30 years’ experience in a wide variety of the languages, tools and techniques of Software Engineering, Jason has specialised in delivering projects in areas of environmental and geospatial data management and infrastructure, open data, standards and open source technologies.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually on the 4th Wednesday of every month,  at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester.  Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.

Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).

The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.

You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.

Working with – rather than against – nature to ‘solve’ hazards created by climate change is a very appealing idea. Measures such as headwater woodland and peatland restoration, beaver reintroduction, leaky dams, urban greening, and salt marshes have all been used in the UK.

But do these projects really work?

Are they a cost-effective alternative, complementary to, or over-sold alternative to conventional hard engineering?

This talk goes beyond the rhetoric to examine scientific and economic data about the effectiveness of nature based solutions in defending communities from floods, droughts, and heatwaves. Given the pace and severity of climate change impacts, we want to be sure that our responses are evidence-based, so people, homes, and businesses are better prepared for the next extreme weather event when it comes.

Bio

Rob Wilby is a Professor of Hydroclimatic Modelling in the Department of Geography and Environment at Loughborough University. His main research interests are about interactions between climate and hydrology as these can give us too much, too little, or too dirty water.

His career has spanned time at Severn Trent Water, the Environment Agency, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder Colorado, and various universities (Derby, Kings College London, Lancaster, and Loughborough).

Since completing his PhD in 1991, he has been involved in numerous consultancy projects in over 40 countries worldwide. His forthcoming book aims to gather these varied researcher-practitioner experiences in: “The Climate Adaptation Guide“.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually on the 4th Wednesday of every month,  at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester.  Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.

Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).

The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.

You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.

Satellite launches and re-entries are changing the chemistry and physics of the middle and upper atmosphere.

Scientists are now detecting the chemical footprints of launches in the atmosphere. And, dealing with end-of-life space vehicles via “just burn it up” may clear orbits, but it risks trading orbital debris for atmospheric pollution.

A solution would be to use circular economy principles like we aim to do for waste on Earth.

Ian’s talk will discuss how this can be done.

Bio

Ian Williams is a Professor of Applied Environmental Science in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton, UK. He has an established track record in the field of environmental pollution and waste management. His work at Southampton has focused on pollution, waste- and carbon-related issues.

Ian has published extensively in books and peer-reviewed journals as well as producing over 100 commercial project reports. He has a long track record of holding positions as an External Examiner for taught and research degrees, service on external bodies, sitting on the scientific and organizing committees of several international conferences, working on national and international task groups, and as a trustee and director of charities and companies.

Ian has received a number of awards for his activities, including: the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s Campus Sustainability Research Award 2018, the International Solid Waste Association Publication Award in 2016 and 2017, the Institution of Civil Engineers Baker Medal in 2010 and awards from the Chartered Institute of Wastes Management (Waste Regulation Award 2010, 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15; James Jackson Award 2006, 2015/16, 2016/17; J.C. Dawes Award 2016) and the Primary Engineer Macrobert Gold and Silver medals. He is a fanatical fan of “the Scarlets” rugby team.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually on the 4th Wednesday of every month,  at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester.  Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.

Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).

The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.

You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.

Behavioural impacts on health are much discussed when it comes to noncommunicable diseases – the adverse consequences of obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and much more.

However, behavioural barriers are also a major, often underestimated, driver of poor healthcare outcomes for treatable, communicable diseases.

Rachel Coyle from the Behavioural Insights Team will talk through three case studies that illustrate this problem and set out some potential solutions.

She will illustrate the problem from difference angles, tackling vaccine uptake, adherence to medication regimes, and how we combat the rise of antimicrobial resistance.

She will highlight how addressing these challenges requires more than clinical solutions; it demands a deeper understanding of human behaviour, including how habits, beliefs, social norms, and system design influence everyday health decisions.

Rachel Coyle

Rachel is Chief Executive Officer at the Behavioural Insights Team, an applied research and innovation consultancy that specialises in social and behavioural change. BIT was founded in 10 Downing Street as the world’s first government institution dedicated to incorporating a scientific understanding of human behaviour into public policy, programs and products. Today, it works around the world, using behavioural science, data science and robust impact evaluation to design and evaluate solutions to social challenges.

BIT now forms part of Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation. As part of her role, Rachel sits on Nesta’s executive team and supports Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence in using technology to make public engagement faster, more inclusive and more engaging.

Rachel is a trustee at the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, a UK charity that is a major steward of the natural world in South East England. She started her career at the UK Ministry of Defence, and in 2013 was appointed a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for Services to Defence.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually on the 4th Wednesday of every month,  at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester.  Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.

Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).

The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.

You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.

If you believe Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the Internet, then Mel Croucher invites you to think again.

He will reveal a story of two men who met only once. One was a pacifist, the other was a Nazi. One man’s vision was to harness all the world’s data for peace, and long, long ago he built a world-wide-web to deliver exactly that. He called it The Mundaneum. The other man’s vision was to harness information to control the masses, and in 1944 he achieved that too then attempted to destroy all records of the Mundaneum. He nearly succeeded, but not quite.

Mel will take you on the pathway that led him to the evidence that the Internet was conceived in 1891 and fully functional by 1934, when it embraced telephony, radio, television, data discs, remote terminals and millions upon millions of interactive files. He will then explain how and why the Mundaneum and its creator were erased from history, along with parallels of today’s online information wars.

Bio

Mel Croucher is the acknowledged founder of the British computer games industry. He was originally an architect, but moved into the world of computerised entertainment to smuggle his music past an unsuspecting public.

Twice winner of the Game Of The Year Award, he pioneered software broadcasts via radio, geocache games, the first computer-generated movie, the first AI virtual companion and the first million-user viral marketing campaign.

He is the author of text books, computer manuals, fiction and non-fiction, and more than a thousand of his columns and investigations have appeared in print over six decades. His 2024 book Mundaneum is published by Extremis Publishing.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually on the 4th Wednesday of every month,  at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester.  Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.

Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).

The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.

You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.

We often assume we understand our own environmental impact, but recent research suggests we may be viewing waste through a kind of blindfold. This talk explores how that blindfold forms, what happens when it is lifted, and how clearer messages can support more sustainable choices.

The first study shows that many people are unaware of the true scale and type of plastic they use. When participants counted their actual waste, the blindfold slipped: they saw their impact more clearly and became more concerned and more willing to engage in action.

The second study looks at how decades of advertising have normalised disposable living, reinforcing this blindness by presenting convenience as the default and obscuring the waste it creates.

The third study demonstrates that targeted messages can remove the blindfold in everyday decisions, such as choosing a cup for a takeaway drink. When cafés ina field study highlighted the personal benefit of bringing a reusable cup, such as saving money, customers were more likely to avoid disposables.

Together, these studies suggest that people are not uncaring about waste, but often lack clear cues and feedback. When visibility improves and messages emphasise practical personal benefits, more sustainable behaviour becomes much more achievable.

Bio

Kate Whitman, Ph.D., is a Research Fellow at the University of Portsmouth (UK). A behavioural economist with a background in the creative industries, she explores the psychological mechanisms and cultural factors involved in decision-making and designs interventions to encourage positive behavioural outcomes.

Through experimental research, she seeks to deepen understanding of human behaviour in ways that improve business practices and inform public policy. Her work spans behavioural and experimental economics, behavioural interventions, the creative, games and sports industries, deviant behaviour, corporate social responsibility, environmental psychology, gender biases, moral reasoning, and social decision-making. She is currently applying these interests to develop interventions that promote more sustainable behaviours and address social issues such as social disconnectedness and gender pay gaps.

Standard Stuff

Talks are usually on the 4th Wednesday of every month,  at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester.  Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.

Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).

The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.

You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.

The Future of Personalised Healthy Ageing

Join us for an event exploring the cutting edge of Longevity Medicine – where evidence-based science meets personalised care to help you live not just longer, but better.

Deborah Evans

Deborah Evans is a pharmacist and the owner of REMEDI HEALTH in Winchester.

She served three years on the English Pharmacy Board of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and was appointed a Fellow of the RPS in 2013, a Faculty Fellow in 2015 and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health in 2016. She led the national, award-winning Healthy Living Pharmacy (HLP) pathfinder programme, which helped shape the direction of community pharmacy in England.

With a strong passion for women’s health, Deborah is an Independent Prescriber specialising in sexual and reproductive health, menopause care, weight management and travel medicine. Deborah has recently taken her passion for preventative health further and developed as a specialist in Longevity Medicine.

Deborah is married, has four children and three grandchildren, and lives in Winchester. She is passionate about health and wellbeing, and keeps active through working out, cycling, walking and yoga.

What the talk will explore

• What Longevity Medicine is — and how it differs from conventional care
• The risks to health and what we can do to reduce heart attacks, strokes, cancer, dementia and metabolic diseases such as diabetes
• The role of advanced diagnostic testing in revealing your unique ageing blueprint
• How we assess and support hormone balance, metabolic health, inflammation, cardiovascular risk and biological ageing markers
• Tools to enhance your healthspan (not just lifespan) – including activity, nutrition, supplements, hormone optimisation, weight management and lifestyle strategies
• Insights into sleep therapy, stress reduction and how to maintain mental sharpness

You can safely ignore this if you’ve read it before

Talks are usually on the 4th Wednesday of every month,  at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester.  Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.

Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).

The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.

You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.

 

“Have you been naughty or nice?

St Nicholas brings good children rewards, but he has a companion who has
different clients.

Krampusnacht, usually celebrated on December 5th, involves dressing up as the demonic creature Krampus, and roaming the streets frightening hildren with chains and bells.

Come and discover this central European creature whose popularity is rising again.

Close your eyes and wish for gifts … if you dare.

Brief Bio

Deborah Hyde is an author, presenter and producer who has written for periodicals such as The Guardian and The Fortean Times, and who specialises in the subject of weird belief.

For ten years, Deborah was Editor-in-Chief of The Skeptic and is a fellow of The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

She makes frequent TV appearances, being a regular contributor to ‘Strange Evidence‘ and ‘Mysteries at the Museum‘, and has presented sceptical insights in two of BBC iPlayer’s most successful recent podcasts ‘Uncanny‘, ‘The Battersea Poltergeist‘ and ‘Lady Swindlers‘.”

You can safely ignore this if you’ve read it before – but this one is on the 2nd Wednesday in December!

Talks are usually (December is always an exception) on the 4th Wednesday of every month,  at 7:00 for 7:30, at The Winchester Club in Winchester.  Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.

Admission is £5 which also gives you an entry in the book raffle. We take cash and major cards (cards preferred).

The event is in two parts – the talk and then a Q&A after the interval. We encourage you to support the venue by indulging in the available drinks before and during the event.

You are also welcome to join us for a drink in the bar after the event.