It is not often you go to the pub and find yourself listening to someone who genuinely knows what they are talking about, but Wednesday 26 June at the Lord Anson will see experts in their field share their knowledge in two captivating lectures.

The University of Sydney has partnered with Raising the Bar to bring physicist Zdenka Kuncic and astrophysicist Geraint Lewis out of the lecture hall and into our local pub.

Raising the Bar is a worldwide initiative aimed at making education a part of our popular culture.

Founded in New York City in 2015, Raising the Bar invites top academics to lead fascinating talks at local bars and cafés, making knowledge accessible for the wider community in an engaging way.

The initiative has expanded globally to cities such as San Francisco, London, Hong-Kong, Sydney, Melbourne and now Orange.

The lectures are free, but register your interest here: www.rtbevent.com/dubbo-orange

6pm:  BUILD A BRAIN - tantalising glimpse into the possibility of synthetic intelligence in the not-too-distant future.

Is human intelligence the only kind of intelligence there is? Physicist Zdenka Kuncic believes it’s not. To her, intelligence is something that can be constructed, if we just put our minds to it.

Zdenka suggests that if artificial intelligence is going to be successful, it’s going to need the sort of cognition we have. The capacity to think, learn and adapt. To have self-awareness and sensory input. To be self-reliant. Things that the human brain does effortlessly.  

So how do you have intelligence without a brain? You build a synthetic one.

Join Zdenka as she provides a tantalising glimpse into the possibility of synthetic intelligence in the not-too-distant future.

For Zdenka, physics underpins everything – every part of human existence is subject to the laws of physics. She likens being a physicist to wearing 3D glasses – it allows her to understand everything she sees at its most fundamental level.

Zdenka is interested in harnessing the interdisciplinary capacity of physics research, and her research is focused on the intersection between physics and medicine and biology. She is an elected fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics and was awarded an Australia-Harvard fellowship in 2017. 

7pm: WAITING FOR THE END OF TIME – take a cosmic journey through space and time, through galactic collisions and hyperactive black holes and onto the death of the last star.

What is the future history of the universe? Will there be stars in the sky for ever? And will humanity roam the cosmos for eternity? 

Join astrophysicist Geraint Lewis for a cosmic journey through space and time, through galactic collisions and hyperactive black holes, and onto the death of the last star and the answers these and other important questions. 

Born and raised in Old South Wales and with a passion for astrophysics, Geraint Lewis spends his time unravelling the dark-side of the universe.  His research on cosmology, gravitational lensing and galactic cannibalism has proven why the universe is just right for complexity and life and has led to him publishing a number of world renown books.