Cranleigh School Abu Dhabi is hosting the Open Minds seminar 'Carrots, Spiders and Red Salt: A fascination with light capture in biology'
Presented by Professor Anthony Watts, Biochemistry Department, Oxford University and held in association with the Oxford & Cambridge Society, UAE.
From the earliest organisms on earth until the present day, light has pervaded almost every aspect of life. Evolution has developed rather few ways in which light is captured and utilised, but each of these involves an intricate combination of chemistry, physics and biology – even today some aspects are still beyond our understanding.
Here, the rather well known link between the chemistry of coloured foods (carrots – do you see better if you eat them?), and vision in higher life forms will be explained in demonstrations and practical ways. A tantalising and controversial link will be made between single-celled organisms that live in extreme conditions in coloured salt beds, and the human eye that perplexed Charles Darwin, so much so that he was forced to produce a second volume to the 'Origin of the Species' to explain visual evolution, called 'Organs of Extreme Perfection and Complication'.
This public engagement seminar, with practical demonstrations and Q&A, is aimed at teenagers and adults. No background science is needed.
If you are a Cranleigh parent or teacher, please bring your security pass/name badge. Other guests will be asked to show ID and sign in.
