Bluedot Festival 2022
After postponing Bluedot 2021 due to the pandemic, Me, Human will return for Bluedot 2022 with Live Science Experiments, Soapbox Shorts and ‘adults only’ Psyched! talks: ‘You Make Me Sick‘ and ‘Blah Blah Blah‘
NORWICH SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2021
Check out coverage of Me, Human events at Norwich Science Festival from Birkbeck, University of London and the University of Westminster. Team members conducted Live Science experiments, Soapbox Shorts and an ‘adults only’ Psyched! show
Fascinating live science experiments, soapbox short, and an ‘adults only’ Psyched! talk show all created and delivered by the Me, Human team educated visitors on the human brain and behaviour.
A team of 22, ranging from secondary school children to senior academics from Birkbeck and three other universities, recently led a number of events at Norwich Science Festival, an annual celebration of science that offers hands-on science activities for all ages and levels of knowledge.
Birkbeck academics who also attended the event were: Professor Natasha Kirkham, Dr Simon Green and Dr Georgina Donati from the Department of Psychological Sciences; Dr Lisanne Schroer and Dr Brittney Chere from Birkbeck’s Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development; and Cosmin Stamate from the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems.
The events were centred around the Me, Human project, founded in 2019, that explores who humans are and how they are connected to the natural world. Me, Human is a multi-institutional project for citizen science research, public engagement and mentorship, with team members based at Birkbeck; University of Westminster; City, University of London and University of Kent (Canterbury).
Visitors participated in over 10 short experiments about their brains and behaviours. 
Our Hand to Mouth great ape puzzles made their public debut at Norwich Science Festival.
Live science experiments, short talks, and panel discussions by experts inspired visitors by giving them insights into the cutting-edge research being done into the evolution of human social and communication abilities. A series of fun experiments revealed to visitors how their two brain hemispheres affect movements and decisions, and visitors came away with an understanding of how ancient vertebrate brain traits still underpin some of our most human unique behaviours.
Between our Live Science experiments, Soapbox Shorts and our sold out Psyched! show, we estimate we saw over 2000 visitors in two days. We want to thank Natalie Bailey, Director of Norwich Science Festival, and Professor Ben Garrod for getting us involved – and we cannot wait for next year!”
You Versus the Zoo
We had a great 2 days with collaborators at Twycross Zoo engaging with the public about great apes and the research project. Visitors to the zoo were encouraged to take part in the puzzle box challenge, to see if they could solve the problem like the great apes could.
The research project, Hand to Mouth: The Role of Tool-Use in the Evolution and Development of Language, is funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
