Time Travelling with Nerds

The fourth in the series of our casual science communication events (Inuyama Nerds)* was held during the 12th PWS symposium and the CICASP 10th anniversary tribute. Using different concepts and approaches, three invited speakers shared their views on the meaning of time and wondered about possibilities of travelling through time. From the astrophysics of wormholes and space–time fabric, to the biological meaning of time and the evolution of life, we wondered about and played with the paradox of time travelling.

Participants brought their own ‘time machines’ to take the rest of us to a different era, accompanied by the sounds of old classics of movies and pop music. We had a fun quiz to make us leap through centuries and arrive at the present with a small timepiece collection.

A big thank you to the staff of the Japan Monkey Centre for supporting this event!

*If you are affiliated with Kyoto University and you would like to join us for Inuyama Nerds, contact us for further information.

 

Dean Hester (math teacher and robotics coach at Nagoya International School) presenting the concept of time travelling through wormholes and by bending the four-dimensional fabric called space-time. [Photo credit: Yuta Shintaku (Japan Monkey Centre)]

 

Audience (including Kyoto University students, PRI interns and former CICASP Professors) enjoying an evening of fun science, good food, and camaraderie. [Photo credit: Yuta Shintaku (Japan Monkey Centre)]

 

Paleontologist Susumu Tomiya’s (PRI) talk focused on the evolution of life, having described the three critical moments in the evolution of mammals and their rise following the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs [Photo credit: Raquel Costa].

 

PRI/PWS graduate student Shenwen Xu sharing her thoughts on the concept of time from a cognitive perspective and her curiosity regarding time travel [Photo credit: Raquel Costa].