WE ARE told that Omega-3 is good for our health but a researcher has found it has another effect – boosting the impact of cannabis in those who use it.
Prof Roger Pertwee of the University of Aberdeen has also discovered a way to dial, either up or down, the body’s response to cannabis and other substances that chemically act the same way in the body. His work represents just one of about 250 scientific events and presentations taking place this week in Birmingham at Aston University during the British Science Festival 2010.
It will bring 350 leading scientists from around the world to Birmingham where they will meet the public and explain their varied research work.
Always entertaining and eclectic, the festival is one of the biggest “public understanding of science” events in the world. Its organisers in the British Science Association expect up to 75,000 people between today and the festival’s close next Sunday 19th September.
There is also a separate schools programme that will see about 3,000 students attending events during the festival.
“Better lives through science” is the theme chosen for the 2010 event and this theme was addressed at the press launch by the president of British Science Association, Lord Sainsbury.
He stressed the importance of helping the public to understand the issues surrounding scientific research. He mentioned as an example the controversy sparked by genetically modified foods despite the benefits this technology could deliver in terms of world hunger.
The press launch also included a tempting selection of the presentations that will feature during the festival, including Prof Pertwee’s work with cannabis and its chemical response in the body.
In a second presentation, Dr Craig Jackson of Birmingham City University offered a controversial view about the failure of initiatives meant to help capture serial killers. In particular, Dr Jackson was dismissive of forensic psychology and behavioural profiling, saying they were at best harmless but at worst misleading and unhelpful to murder detectives.
These techniques had been popularised on television and in films and yet they offered little or no value to those attempting to track down the serial killer.
In another presentation, Dr Ross Hatton of the University of Warwick described his efforts to develop more efficient solar cells. The sun could deliver far more energy than any other source, provided a way was developed to convert sunlight into electricity.
Dr Hatton has developed a new way to do this using “see-through metal films”. These gold films would be lightweight, flexible and tough, and could be integrated into everyday objects such as tables or bags to charge up your mobile phone or mp3 player.