Professor Brian Walker, Professor of Endocrinology, delivers the third lecture in the 2015 Our Changing World series entitled, The Obesity Pandemic: Winners and Losers in Adapting to Affluence. Recent decades have seen a rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity, starting in the most affluent regions but now affecting low-middle income countries. This obesity pandemic has been attributed to increased food intake and decreased energy expenditure, and blamed for a parallel explosion in type...

Professor David Robertson, Professor of Applied Logic, School of Informatics, delivers the second lecture in the 2015 Our Changing World series, entitled The Data Revolution in Global Healthcare. Over the next decade, data science will change dramatically the practice of healthcare and it’s basis in medicine. This lecture will give a view of what it might mean to combine medical drivers with global data opportunities. Recorded on 6 October 2015 at the University of Edinburgh's George Sqaure...

Professor Sethu Vijayakumar, Professor of Robotics, delivers the first lecture in the 2015 Our Changing World series, entitled Sharing Autonomy (and responsibility): The robots are ready, are you? Learning and self-adapting robots have finally arrived. This lecture will look at technological advances in robotics that have made this leap possible, and open a discussion on the trade-off between autonomy and control that we are willing to admit to reap maximal benefits. Recorded on 29...

Professor Mark Rounsevell, Professor of Rural Economy and Sustainability, delivers the eighth lecture in the 2014 Our Changing World series, entitled Climate Change: Where Are We Going? This lecture maps out the progression of climate change impact and adaptation studies with a focus on land-based sectors. It highlights that single-sector studies risk either over- or under-estimating the effects of climate change, and the capacity of society to cope and adapt to such changes. Recorded on 11...

Professor David Battisti delivers the seventh 2014 Our Changing World lecture, entitled Climate change and Global Food Security. This is also a Carnegie Centenary Professorship public lecture. David Battisti is Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Director of the Joint Institute for Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean at the University of Washington. This lecture explores the likely impact of climate change and volatility on food production and availability in the foreseeable...

Professor Charlie Jeffery, Senior Vice Principal and Professor of Politics delivers the sixth 2014 Our Changing World lecture entitled Scotland - After the Referendum. This lecture explores the fallout of the referendum vote and asks 'what next?'. It looks at the challenges of the political timeline - with a UK election fast approaching - but also at the differing views of people in Scotland and England about how their nations' relationship should develop. Recorded on Tuesday 28 October...

Dr Alice Street, Chancellor's Fellow in Social Anthropology delivers the fifth 2014 Our Changing World lecture entitled Rethinking Infrastructures for Global Health. This lecture was previously advertised as "Rethinking Infrastructure and Development: What We Can Learn From “Off-the Grid” Living" Recorded 21 October 2014 at the University of Edinburgh's Appleton Tower.

Professor Chris Speed, Chair of Design Informatics, presents the fourth lecture in the 2014 Our Changing World series, entitled "Dancing with Data". This talk speculates upon a future time in which objects will begin to interact with us in different ways. Such an enquiry is part of what is being described as an Internet of Things. The term, Internet of Things, refers to the technical and cultural shift that is anticipated as society moves to a ubiquitous form of computing in which every...

Michele Belot, Professor of Economics and Director of the Behavioural Laboratory at the University of Edinburgh (BLUE), presents the third lecture in the 2014 Our Changing World series, entitled "Behavioural Economics and Health Behaviours". The last century has seen a dramatic increase in "lifestyle" diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. The rapid change we have experienced in modern technologies and availability of food has led to substantial changes in our...

Professor David Newby, Director of the Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility, presents the second lecture in the 2014 Our Changing World series, entitled "Air Pollution and Heart Attacks". Air pollution is one of the leading causes of heart attacks and death world-wide. This is principally caused by nano-particles generated by the combustion of fossil fuels and vehicle engine emissions. Although the highest levels of air pollution are seen in developing countries, even modest levels of air...

Professor David Gally, Personal Chair in Microbial Genetics, presents the first lecture in the 2014 Our Changing World series, entitled "Survival in the Antibiotic Resistance Era". The discovery and clinical application of antibiotics is one of the amazing human success stories of the 20th century. Many of the terrifying bacterial diseases have been kept in check and hundreds of millions of lives saved. However, our heavy use of these amazing molecules has come at the cost of selecting...

Professor Michael Northcott, Professor in Ethics, presents "Fair Trade or Free Trade? Competing Moral Economies in a Changing World". In this lecture Professor Michael Northcott explains how the ideas and methods of Adam Smith and other political economists underwrite the global 'free trade' project. He contrasts these with the principles and practices of 'fair trade', and in particular the ethical emphasis in fair trade on transparency in producer-consumer relationships and on traceability...

Professor David Hume, Professor of Mammalian Functional Genomics, Director of The Roslin Institute and Research Director, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, presents "The Genes in our Food". There are very few "natural foods" and if we relied on them as a sole source of nutrition, the current world human population would collapse. Almost everything that we eat is GM as a result of human intervention. Modern technologies have revolutionised the ways in which...

Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh and Chairman of the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine, presents "The Quest for New Therapies by Stem Cell Research". Research with stem cells can be expected to lead to new therapies in several different ways. It is now possible to take a few cells from the skin of a patient and simply by the introduction of four specific proteins give those cells the potential to form all of the different tissues of the body...

Dr Liz Grant, Deputy Director Global Health Academy, presents "Palliative Care: A Global Development Challenge". Palliative care is a global challenge that with enormous impact on us all, in economic and in human terms. This lecture is part of the University's "Our Changing World" public lecture series, which examines the global challenges facing society, and the role of academia in meeting these challenges: http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/edinburgh-global/academies/changing-world This lecture...

Professor Lord Robert Winston delivers an Enlightenment Lecture entitled "Medicine, Ethics and Society". This lecture also forms part of this year's Our Changing World series. www.ed.ac.uk/news/2013/enlightenment-131013 Recorded on Monday 21 October at the University of Edinburgh's McEwan Hall.

Professor David Finnegan, Head of the Institute of Cell Biology, presents "The Human Genome: Everybody Has One". Despite the complexity of the human genome, we inherit about 3 billion precisely ordered units of information from each parent, it is now possible to determine individual genome sequences rapidly and at low cost. This lecture discusses the implications of this for us as individuals, and for society as a whole. This lecture is part of the University's "Our Changing World" public...

Professor Paul Palmer, Professor of Quantitative Earth Observation, presents "A Brief History of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide". In this talk Professor Palmer will discuss measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide and how they a) are used to understand the nature and geographic origin and fate of carbon dioxide, and b) can be used to underpin the development of effective emission reduction policies to mitigate the effects of future climate change. This lecture is part of the University's "Our...

Professor Ian Bryden, Chair in Renewable Energy, presents "Sustainable Technology: Meeting Our Future Needs and Aspirations". This talk will cover what is meant by sustainable engineering, including what is meant by engineering itself. Professor Bryden will introduce some of the tools used to assess sustainability and then considered the increasingly difficult issues associated with long term development. This lecture is part of the University's "Our Changing World" public lecture series,...

Dr Michael Shaver, Chancellor's Fellow in the School of Chemistry, presents "The Intertwined World of 'Peak' Oil, Renewables and Sustainability". In this lecture he looks at both petroleum resources and renewable feedstocks as sources of our chemical needs, and the relationship between energy and sustainability. This lecture is part of the University's "Our Changing World" public lecture series, which examines the global challenges facing society, and the role of academia in meeting these...

Professor Mary Robinson, the seventh President of Ireland and the former High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations, presents "Human Rights in the Modern World". In 2010 she set up the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice to advocate for and educate the world about those most affected by the changing environment, namely the world's poorest and more marginalised communities. Recorded on Tuesday 20 November 2012 at the University of Edinburgh's McEwan Hall.

Professor Ian Deary, Professor of Differential Psychology in the University's Department of Psychology and Director of the MRC Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, presents "Ageing World, Ageing Mind". Recorded on Tuesday 13 November 2012 at the University of Edinburgh's Appleton Tower lecture theatre.

Professor Paul Digard, Chair of Livestock Immunology in the University's Roslin Institute, presents "Epidemic to Pandemic: The Ever-changing World of Viruses". Recorded on Tuesday 6 November 2012 at the University of Edinburgh's Appleton Tower lecture theatre.

Professor Mona Siddiqui OBE, Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies in the School of Divinity and Assistant Principal for Religion and Society, presents "Religion, Rights and the Secular Space". Recorded on Tuesday 30 October 2012 at the University of Edinburgh's Appleton Tower lecture theatre.

Dr Paul Kelly, Reader in Neuroscience in the School of Biomedical Sciences, presents "The War on Drugs". Recorded on Tuesday 23 October 2012 at the University of Edinburgh's Appleton Tower lecture theatre.