Astrobiologist Dr Sean McMahon from the University Of Edinburgh joins us for a fascinating talk ‘How To Find A Fossil On Mars’. Discover how scientists search for signs of ancient life beyond Earth, what fossils on Mars might look like, and the cutting-edge missions and techniques helping us uncover the Red Planets hidden history. A must-attend for anyone curious about life in the universe and the future of space exploration.

Join us for our FINAL meeting of the season. UFOs (or UAPs) are practically ubiquitous in popular culture, but is the Earth being frequented by beings from other planets? With all the reported sightings and alleged abductions, surely there must be something going on? Well, possibly, but are there other more terrestrial explanations to consider? Brian Eggo from Glasgow Skeptics takes you on a light-hearted and near-light-speed journey through some of the best stories of sightings and abductions while shamelessly using them as a vehicle to promote critical thinking and scientific scepticism.

We are very excited to welcome Astronomer Royal from Scotland, Professor Heymans to the club.

“Mum, do you think we could be inside a computer game?”  My kids love delaying bedtime by asking me tricky questions, and this particular existential crisis left me utterly lost for words.  To try and find an answer, I've been throwing all the physics I know at the problem.  As the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, I'm used to creating giant maps of the Universe that transport us 10 billion years back in time.  But what if all the ancient light that I've spent my entire career collecting is just a series of computer impulses in an elaborate simulation of my own reality?  I know how to simulate an entire Universe of galaxies: have I been naive to think a future scientist couldn’t create a complete virtual world much closer home?

Today I'm going to share the journey I've taken to understand how one day we might simulate our own lives.  We'll look at the laws of physics that govern the Universe and delve into the inner workings of your computer and artificial intelligence.  I'll ask why philosophers feel so challenged by the concept of living in a predetermined virtual world, when it's clear that interactions on the smallest and largest scales in our Universe can be mathematically defined. By exploring the intersections of physics, astronomy, and philosophy, I'll be inviting you to reconsider what is ‘real’.

The ΛCDM model has been the standard model of cosmology for nearly two decades. It is based on the idea that the Universe began with the Big Bang and has been expanding ever since. According to this model, about 95% of the Universe is composed of dark matter and dark energy—components whose physical nature remains unknown.

In this talk, Phd Student in Cosmology at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, Hong-Gang will give a brief overview of how our understanding of the Universe has evolved, from the ideas of ancient Greek philosophers to modern cosmology. I will discuss how we arrived at a model in which most of the Universe is still mysterious, and what the future may hold for our attempts to understand it.