At Science At The Sabha in Chennai, delve into AI, neutrons, numbers and more

From the universe’s many wondorous objects to a fascinating pattern of numbers, and whether AI can possess superhuman strength, Science At The Sabha will have fascinating talks for participants of all ages

Have questions about science kept you up at night? 

Sure, it might be fun to scroll for answers online, but the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc) has a more enriching disquisition at hand. At the Music Academy on March 29, Sunday, the ninth edition of Science At The Sabha, organised by the institute will have four talks for the public. You do not need to be a science enthusiast or possess any specialised knowledge to appreciate the talks, which will delve into everything from neutron stars to AI. The event is open for all, and free to attend. 

“Every year, the idea is to invite eminent scientists working in India across various fields and have them talk about the work going on in their labs or research they are interested in. We want science to be accessible to the general public, and see an audience across a range of ages, from eight to 80 years,” says Varuni P , Project Scientific Officer, IMSc. 

This year, the sessions begin with Debarati Chatterjee from the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics delving into neutron stars in her talk Gravitational waves: Listening to the Cosmic Symphony. Early developmental processes and behavioural tendencies will take the centrestage in the talk From Fish to Feelings: How Early Life Shapes Who we Become by Amrutha Swaminathan from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvanthapuram. 

In S Viswanath’s talk on Tthe Secret Lives of Everyday Numbers, the mathematics professor from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences will help the audience discover a ‘miraculous algorithm’ and find answers to all your musings about AI and its superhuman abilities in the talk AI-Deus ex Machina?, by B Ravindran from IIT Madras. 

Sitabhra Sinha,  Professor, Physics and Computational Biology and Dean, Computational Biology PhD program says, “ We strongly believe that apart from doing cutting edge research in science, the science community has a responsibility to speak to the people about their work; explain what they are doing, why and what makes it interesting. There are certain topics that have always held wonder like astronomy for instance and every year, we have a mix of topics that are appealing as well as current,” he says. With an audience across age groups expected, he says that children in particular have always been the ones to ask the most fascinating questions to the speakers. “They come in with no preconceived notions and are eager to learn,” he adds.