Taking science to the bar

[00:00.36] Are bars places just to meet friends and chat casually about mundane things? Not any more.

[00:08.12] Scientists have been organising periodic lectures and experiments in bars in several cities in nine countries.

[00:16.88] In May, hundreds of them took part in a festival called Pint of Science.

[00:23.15] British neuroscience researcher Michael Motskin started the festival with a colleague three years ago in the UK.

[00:31.91] But you don't have to be an egghead to follow a discussion.

[00:36.67] Motskin says: "We ask top scientists to present their scientific discoveries in a down-to-earth setting over a drink or two.

[00:45.18] We want to give everyone a chance to pick the brains of the UK's most brilliant academics, away from the stuffy laboratory or lecture theatre."

[00:55.20] And what do they discuss? Topics range from dark matter to climate change.

[01:00.96] The science in films such as Star Wars, Star Trek and Interstellar has also proved popular.

[01:07.72] And a young physicist even demonstrated how a model of the universe can be built from plastic Lego bricks.

[01:15.23] An audience with a taste for a more practical experience might enjoy the lecture given in a pub in Soho, central London.

[01:23.50] It was about the effects of beer on the human body.

[01:27.50] One might argue that a bit of alcohol helps people relax, freeing their imaginations so that they are better able to contemplate the wonders of the universe.

[01:37.77] That would make the pub the ideal venue for science - and a handy place to be if you make a big discovery and want to celebrate.

[01:47.29] Back in the 1950s, scientists James Watson and Francis Crick announced their discovery over a pint at The Eagle pub in Cambridge.

[01:57.30] And what did they discover? Well, just a little thing called the double helix structure of DNA.

[02:03.81] It eventually won them a Nobel Prize.

[02:06.57] Champagne please!