Ideas worth spreading

Andy Powell, of Hack Oldham

ALIENS, insects wearing 3D glasses and Tinder dating were just some of the varied topics discussed during the borough’s second TEDxOldham conference.

Several acclaimed speakers took part in the event and spoke to an eager full house at Oldham Library’s newly-refurbished performance space.

TED is a non-profit internationally-known brand which started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: technology, entertainment and design.

Since then, its scope has widened to include independently organised TEDx conferences, a series of local, self-organised events under the banner of “ideas worth spreading”.

Tim O’Brien, a professor of astrophysics in the School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Manchester and associate director of Jodrell Bank Centre for astrophysics, gave a talk entitled “Where are all the aliens?”

The lively presentation explained the conditions needed for a planet to support life and whether it was possible that extra-terrestrial lifeforms had visited earth.

He also looked at how scientists search the stars for other beings, such as using radio telescopes to listen for signals and how future developments, such as the Square Kilometre Array multi-radio telescope project aiming to be built in Australia and South Africa, will make it easier to locate alien signals.

Vision

He said: “Although there is little good evidence to support the idea that aliens have at some point visited earth, we hope that at some point we will be able to answer the question “are we alone in the universe?”

Other presentations from the event included Jenny Read, Professor of Vision Science at the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University, explaining the implications of recent discoveries involving 3D vision in insects.

Her “Man, Mantis and Machine” project involved creating 3D glasses for a Praying Mantis to better understand its vision.

Professor Read said: “Better understanding of their simpler processing systems helps us understand how 3D vision evolved, and could lead to possible new algorithms for 3D depth perception in computers or drone technology.”

Self-confessed “theatre envelope stuffer” Jacqueline Hall gave a talk on her experiences using the dating app Tinder and her tips on the pitfalls of online dating, such as excessive social media stalking and travelling from Manchester to Leeds for a date.

However, her witty tale ended with a serious call for better mental health services for men after she noticed how a number of her Tinder dates experienced depression or anxiety but were reluctant to find support.

She said: “We need to encourage people to be more open as mental health is still a taboo subject, particularly among young men.”

Delighted

Web developer Andy Powell, founder of Hack Oldham, explained how the idea had grown and now has 50 members.

He said: “We are now looking to grow into a bigger space and want to encourage more people to come and share their passions with other people.”

Organiser Gareth Wood said he was delighted at how the event turned out and hoped people enjoyed the interesting, humorous and poignant topics discussed.

“It was amazing to watch people enjoy the variety of talks we had on offer and the atmosphere was fantastic throughout the day,” he said.

“We’ve also had a great response on social media with over 950 people streaming the conference live online.”

He added that plans are already in place for a third TEDx conference in the not-too-distant future.