The inner workings of the human brain remain a scientific enigma, but there is a growing consensus that the time is right to employ the formidable computer power now available to us to try to unlock some of the brain's secrets.

I am trying to understand how neurons build their wonderful tree-like shapes. These shapes are important for how networks function. My lab exploits the genetics of the fruitfly Drosophila and gowing proteins from jellyfish and coral to watch neuron trees growing live during metamophosis.

The disconcerting scale of recently discovered forged paintings underscores the need for sophisticated technical methods to unravel fakes. The lecture will draw on celebrated forgery cases to introduce and illustrate the relevence of a selection of traditional and cutting-edge analytical tools.

Artists have studied the nature of visual perception for hundreds of years, and experimented with different methods of depicting visual experience. Drawing on this art history and relevent vision science, this lecture will introduce some novel ideas about how we see the word and how it can artistically be represented.

Theodor Billroth and Johannes Brahms were two German boys born in the early part of the 19th century. Their backgrounds could not have been more different and at first sight their subsequent careers would appear to have been worlds apart.

One would become the leading surgeon in Europe and Internationally renown whereas the other would become the greatest chamber music and symphony composer since the days of Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn.

But their most productive professional years in Vienna brought them together with the development of an unique friendship based primarily on their love and appreciation of music. This association was constructed on a mutual foundation of science and art

Much controversy has surrounded proposals to develop shale gas resources in the UK, with fears over groundwater pollution featuring prominently in the polemic. Yet we have previously disturbed the subsurface by mining to a far greater extent than fracking could every achieve. What does that experience teach us about what it - and isn't - likely to happen?

The Cardiff Lipidomic Group uses mass spectrometry to discover and characterise new bioactive lipids generated by circulating immune cells. To date we have identified over 100 new lipids and are ow determining their role in cardiovascular disease, thrombotic disorders, would healing and skin inflammation. Our basic science discovery research is leading to development of new anti-inflammatory and pro-coagulant agents.

Crystalline solids are typically portrayed as static arrangements of atoms, interred forever in lifeless regularity. This lecture will dispel this myth, taking the audience on a journey from the birth of crystals to the remarkable range of transformations and dynamic processes that they can undergo during their lifetime, many of which have vitally important consequences in the role of crystalline materials in the world around us.

Diatoms (marine plankton) use elements from seawater to contruct their silica-based cell wall. This presentation will provide a context for modern observations of change by using diatom ecology and th chemistry of the cell wall to investigate past variations in meltwater input to the Antarctic costal regions.

Healthcare services are under significant pressure to deliver more with less. Mathematical and simulation models can help the NHS move towards optimally configured services and improved patient outcomes.

The cardiovascular benefits of exercise training are well known. It has been suggested that "exercise is medicine" and should be proscribed accordingly. However, is it possible to overdose on exercise and have too much of a good thing?

Chemistry in the second half of the 20^th century was dominated by complex organic synthesis and an increasing knowledge of the understanding of the molecular world brought about by the advances in quantum chemistry. This was the basis of a mutually beneficial partnership between academic and industrial chemists, particularly in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. In the 21^st century it is clear that this era in the history of Chemistry has ended. The 'new' chemistry that is slowly emerging is reaching into many areas of human endeavor and will deliver on the 20^th century claim that chemistry is at the center of many disciplines through its almost unique ability to combine fundamental knowledge with practical advances.

The Organising Committee invite you to the Cardiff Scientific Society Annual General Meeting hosted at CUBRIC2. With refreshments from 18:30 PM.