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Rana Husseini, an award-winning journalist, human rights activist and author of "Murder in the Name of Honour" - joins BOLDtalks Woman 2013 to present on her efforts in fighting the practices of 'honour killings', advocating stronger punishments for its perpetrators.

This talk will be followed by Marina Cantacuzino's talk on her effort of encouraging victims of different crimes to meet and forgive their perpetrators.

Both talks will be followed by a moderated panel discussion that will open a a debate on whether those that commit such crimes should be severely punished or forgiven.

As all BOLDtalks events are interactive, the attendees will also be able to join this debate, before drawing any conclusions.

BOLDtalks Woman 2013 is held on Saturday May 4th, at Madinat Theatre. 

"Every particle is either a boson or a fermion” explains Dr. John Ellis, former CERN theorist and currently professor at King's College in London, who also presented at BOLDtalks 2010 on the world's biggest and most expensive experiment - the Large Hydron Colider. Dr. Ellis further explains that “all known particles spin like small tops, with the known bosons that carry the fundamental interactions – such as the photon, the quantum of light that carries the electromagnetic force – spinning at twice the rate of the fermion particles that make up matter particles such as electrons and quarks.”

A practical application of the spin of nuclear particles is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a technique used for the early detection of a number of diseases. In order to produce high-resolution images of organs to facilitate medical diagnoses, MRI analyses the alignment of nuclear spins.

Since the newly discovered particle decays into pairs of known bosons, it is certainly also a boson. However, we also see that it does not spin the same way as a photon. If it were a Higgs boson, it would not spin at all. This is what physicists call a scalar boson, and it would be the first elementary scalar boson ever seen. However, the possibility that the new particle spins at a larger rate than a photon cannot be yet claimed.

Either way, the newly discovered particle would be the first of a new class of particles. Will this change our everyday lives? The question has no immediate answer because history tells us that any practical application – such as the above example of MRI – might take years to develop or might never really happen. However, whatever the future brings, physicists can already see that the new particle holds important information that will provide new insight into the workings of the Universe. Nature still holds many mysteries, and understanding this one may unlock the doors to others.

Dr. Joh Ellis joins BOLDtalks 2013 to explain the exact meaning of this breakthrough discovery, and what it might mean for future science in understanding what the Universe is made of.

BOLDtalks 2013 is scheduled for March 2nd, at Madinat Jumeirah Theatre, Dubai.

I wonder how often do they get it right, or maybe – wrong!

In 1962 Decca’s A&R have rejected the Beatles, then unknown, on basis that the ‘guitar groups are on the way out’, only a year and a half later to realise that they’ve made the biggest mistake in musical history!

Interestingly, a year later, George Harrison felt sorry for Dick Rowe, head of Decca’s A&R, so he gave him a tip on an upcoming band the “Rolling Stones” that they’ve signed the same year.

This case makes one wonder just how many great-would-be-bands or artists never made it because of one individual’s misjudgment, while tons of commercially driven music and unoriginal bands dominate today’s music charts.

Interesting topic for discussion...

A great selection of 50 explanations about our behavior that you never thought about. A great read, highly recommending.

However, an average participant would probably not be able to tell the volume of preparation required for a one day event. Probably not even realise the time-scale of over eight months of preparations.

But once all the pieces are put together - its a an absolute pleasure witnessing the final product unveiling before you in a time span of only few hours.

Is it worth it? Absolutely! Every minute of preparations.

We look forward to meet all the participating members of the community at BOLDtalks 2012, and make sure you give us a shout!

See you all Saturday 25th Feb!

Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.
The Soviet Union prompted the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop Eastern Bloc emigration westward through the Soviet border system, preventing escape across the city sector border from East Berlin to West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of east and west. Soviet and American tanks briefly faced each other at the location during the Berlin Crisis of 1961.
After the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc and the reunification of Germany, the building at Checkpoint Charlie became a tourist attraction. It is now located in the Allied Museum in the Dahlem neighborhood of Berlin.
 
Come and hear Vern Pike, the first officer in charge of Checkpoint Charlie, telling a remarkable tense story about series of incidents that have taken place that resulted the creation of the notorious Berlin Wall.