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  8. HITS Faculty Public Lecture

    Nick Lane is Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London. His research is on how energy flow has shaped evolution, from the origin of life to the evolution of eukaryotic cells with downright quirky traits such as sex. The Earth teems with life: in its oceans, forests, skies and cities. Yet there is a black hole at the heart of biology. We do not know why complex life is the way it is, or, for that matter, how life first began. In this talk Lane will show that the answer lies in energy!

  9. Professor Robin Dunbar Public Lecture

    Friendships are a primate speciality, and have evolved to buffer us against the stresses of living in large social groups. They have a bigger effect on our psychological health and wellbeing, as well as our physical health and wellbeing, than anything else. Friendships are, however, extremely expensive to create and to maintain, both in terms of their time cost and in terms of their underpinning neurobiology. In this lecture, Ill explore the behavioural, cognitive and neurobiological bases of friendships, and show how we use these as a basis for forming mega-communities.