Today started with a lecture on “What Computers Tell Us About the Mind”. One speaker from the University of Glasgow presented his research on face recognition. He made the interesting point that we experience no difficulty recognising faces we have seen before, but when it comes to unfamiliar faces we find it much harder.

Today was a tour day, with one in the morning and one in the afternoon!

Day two began with a tour of the universe, again with Dr Maggie. I should mention that she has been awarded an MBE by the Queen but – I’m sure you will agree – the fact she has a Blue Peter badge is much more impressive! Her talk involved building a rocket from baking powder and vinegar, a great Blue Peter make!

Sundays are always good for a walk and that’s what I did. I joined a field trip to the RHS Wisley Gardens with the objective of finding out more about how climate change will affect the English gardens. Well, “will” does not seem to be the appropriate tense for the verb since, according to a gardening expert who was with us, it is already happening.

The British Science Festival 2009 begins! It promises everything from Darwin to dishonesty labs, microscopes to memory, covering everything from the microscopic virus to the entire milky way.

After crossing a flooded Scotland, I finally arrived at my destination: The University of Surrey in Guildford, England. I was given the keys to my room, met Emma who I was going to share this experience with, and had a cup of tea while chosing the talks I wanted to attend the next day.

Autumn is a great time to learn more about fungi with many organised walks throughout Scotland. Fungi plays a vital role in keeping soil healthy, providing plants with the nutrition they need, and they are attracting more and more of us out to the great outdoors.

Dr Andy Taylor, mycologist at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute in Aberdeen, talks to BBC Scotland Outdoors about some of the fungi found in Scotland and explains the dangers they can pose.

It is with great regret that the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute can confirm an employee has died while working in Ethiopia. Professor Simon Thirgood, 46, from Aboyne, Aberdeenshire died at the weekend when the building he was in collapsed following a storm. [continue reading ... ]

Crime fiction will come face to face with science fact on Tuesday 8th September as the work of best selling crime writer Stuart MacBride is put under the microscope by a group of real-life CSIs. [continue reading ... ]