Binge-drinking teens, catastrophic megafloods, and the importance of touch

In addition to talks and debates at the University of Liverpool, there will be a host of events throughout the city as part of the European Capital of Culture celebrations.

Each year, the Festival generates hundreds of media stories – last year, there were around 150 articles in the UK national newspapers, almost 300 regional newspaper articles, more than 165 radio broadcasts and over 20 TV broadcasts, as well as significant international coverage. This year will be no exception.

Here is just a taster of what’s to come at the Festival…

•Sustainability through science – the BA Presidential Address with Sir David King

•What am I eating exactly? – How much do we really understand about what’s in our foods?

•Txt crimes, sex crimes and murder: the science of forensic linguistics

•Fat of the land or land of the fat? – Can science solve the problem of Britain’s ever-expanding waistlines?

•The importance of touch – from artificial fingers to pleasurable stroking

•How Britain became an island: catastrophic megafloods in the English Channel

•The cultural evolution of human groups

•Alcohol, binge drinking and cognitive processes: why are some young people drinking heavily, and what long-lasting effects could it be having on their brains?

The BA will be operating a Press Centre at the Festival from 8-11 September, sponsored by AstraZeneca, providing desk space, access to telephones, internet PCs and interview rooms with ISDN lines. Registered journalists will have access to embargoed speakers’ papers online a fortnight before the event and will be able to attend press conferences with the key speakers at the Festival.

To register for access to speakers’ papers and to the Press Centre itself, please visit www.the-ba.net/pressregister. Registration is now open.

Please note that there will also be a press launch for the Festival on 4 September 2008 in the Dana Centre, London, where key speakers from the Festival will be previewing their talks.

For further information about the BA Festival of Science, including an online programme and information on accommodation in Liverpool, visit www.the-ba.net/festivalofscience.

The Press Centre at the BA Festival of Science is sponsored by AstraZeneca. This year’s BA Festival of Science is organised in partnership with the University of Liverpool. It is supported by the Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills, the Liverpool Culture Company and the Northwest Regional Development Agency.