New Scientist Live: What we are most looking forward to seeing in 2023

New Scientist Live, the world’s greatest festival of ideas and discovery, is returning to ExCeL London from Saturday 7 until Sunday 8 October, with a dedicated Schools’ Day on Monday 9 October. There is a stunning line-up of more than 50 speakers, five stages and a wide array of exhibitors and experiences. Whether you are interested in deep oceans, distant galaxies, mental health, technology or ancient humans, there will be something to entertain and educate you, but here is what seven members of the New Scientist editorial staff are most looking forward to seeing there.

Alison Flood
Comment & Culture Editor
This is my first time at New Scientist Live and there’s so much to choose from, but I’ll definitely be at Claudia Hammond’s talk on the science of kindness, in the hope of picking up some tips. I’m also looking forward to Alice Roberts’s history of Britain through burials and to Lucy Cooke’s myth-busting look at female animals. My kids will be coming along too and are very excited about seeing Maddie Moate in the flesh – Maddie’s Do You Know? has been a staple in our house for years. And I have to mention Laline Paull, the brilliant author of our recent New Scientist Book Club pick Pod. This novel is told from the perspective of a dolphin, and she will be telling me about how she managed to imagine herself into the mind of a cetacean. Come and join us, and the book club while you’re at it!

Graham Lawton
Staff writer
I’d really like to see University of Cambridge psychologist Sander van der Linden’s talk on psychological vaccines against misinformation – it’s a topic close to my heart, having just written a feature on it. Unfortunately, I can’t because I’ll be on a different stage at the same time, interviewing Feargal Sharkey about his tireless campaign to clean up Britain’s rivers. So, I’ll have to watch Sander on catch-up after the show. But once I’m done with Feargal (I think he’ll be doing most of the talking), I’ll head over to the Universe Stage for Amy Smith and Mike Cook’s talk on generative AI, which I really ought to know more about.

Obomate Briggs
Video editor/social video intern
This will be my first New Scientist Live in London and I’ve been looking forward to it ever since I started! There are so many amazing talks on offer, but I am particularly looking forward to the talks on the Future Stage and discovering how science will shape the coming decades. Having wanted to be a forensic scientist in a past life and working recently on a video project about artificial intelligence and forensic anthropology, I am excited to learn more from Niamh Nic Daeid about how cutting-edge technology can be used to investigate crime scenes.

Chris Simms
Assistant news editor
For me, and my children, the highlights of New Scientist Live tend to be the experiences, and I can’t wait to take a ride in cutting-edge virtual reality, see the 7-metre model of Mars created by artist Luke Jerram, meet Spot the robotic dog, marvel at the night sky in a pop-up planetarium and try a flintknapping workshop. Assuming we’re not too worn out, top of my list of talks to see are former colleague Sally Adee on the Mind & Body Stage revealing the surprising role of electricity in our bodies and physicist Jim Al-Khalili talking about how thinking scientifically can help navigate today’s world, which should be mandatory viewing for everyone, and particularly politicians.

Leah Crane
Physics & space reporter
I’m travelling all the way from Chicago for New Scientist Live this year, and I absolutely can’t wait. On Sunday, Chelsea Whyte and I are putting on the first-ever live episode of New Scientist’s newest podcast, Dead Planets Society, where we take our wildest ideas about how to tinker with the cosmos and invite expert scientists to put our flights of fancy under the scrutiny of real physics. In the live episode, we’re going to try to make the worst possible world for life, and I couldn’t be more excited. Ironically, I’m also hosting the Our Planet Stage on Monday, where we’ll have some fascinating talks on the best planet for life (as far as we know). Plus, we’ll be talking directly to an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

Sam Wong
Assistant news editor
I’m thrilled to be hosting the Our Planet Stage on Sunday, where we have a cracking line-up. Alice Roberts will no doubt draw a big crowd for her talk about the ancient people of Britain and what we can learn from their burials and DNA. I’m excited to hear Kit Franklin describing the future of food production, and how technology can reduce the environmental impact of farming. I’m also looking forward to Simon Sharpe’s talk on how we need to rethink our response to climate change – hopefully some fresh ideas will leave us feeling inspired and optimistic.

Abigail Beall
Features editor
Having visited the Parkes radio telescope in Australia earlier this year, I’m particularly looking forward to Emma Chapman’s talk on astronomy. Parkes is a radio observatory that was used to help track Apollo 11 astronauts on their way to the moon – and happens to be home to the huge 64-metre dish from the 2000 film The Dish. These days, its main use is spotting and studying rapidly rotating neutron stars called pulsars. With the recent news about radio observatories like Parkes finding a background hum of gravitational waves that permeates the universe, I can’t wait to hear what Emma’s going to share about the radio universe and the future of radio astronomy.