Café Scientifique Manchester

Talking computers are vital if you're a blind computer user. Blind people become expert in auditory cognition and interaction. This expertise has transferred to the digital tools used to access computers, mobiles and other devices. Indeed, when it comes to technology usage blind people have become uber users - expert in digital interaction enabling increasingly meaningful interaction with tools and services in everyday life, work and study.

In doing so, blind users often find ways around badly developed electronic devices and resources, providing insights and challenges for designers and developers.

This talk will give insights into these extra ordinary digital tools and the people who use them, discussing how neurophysiology points the way to enhanced auditory comprehension, and discusses how 'auditory display' is helpful to everyone... how this extra-ordinary interaction informs the ordinary.

Primates are unusual mammals, with around 25% of the species found in monogamous family groups. In contrast, across all mammals,  monogamy is much rarer, with an estimated 3% of mammals being monogamy.  This compares with monogamy in more than 90% of bird species. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of monogamy, including its role in protecting females and their offspring from unrelated males. I will review our recent work on the topic and compare it to contrasting results simultaneously published by other researchers. Finally, I will propose how the evolution of monogamy in primates may or may not shed light on the human evolution.

Despite being encouraged not to ‘judge a book by its cover’, we often form opinions of other people based on their appearance, and person perception forms an integral part of social interaction. Research suggests that we are able to accurately rate a person’s personality or other important characteristics (e.g. sexual orientation) based on physical appearance alone. This occurs when we have access to relatively limited information such as when viewing static facial photographs or even when observing other species. Particular aspects of our appearance e.g. facial symmetry and teeth may be especially informative and reveal specific information about our past. Furthermore, our physical appearance influences our behaviour, with recent research suggesting that hip width predicts women’s sexual behaviour. Join this session as Dr Gayle Brewer discusses the information revealed by our appearance and how our bodies influence our behaviour.