Chaos Computer Club - Electromagnetic Field 2026 (high quality av1)

It’s the End of RSA as We Know It (And I Feel Fine): An Introduction to Post-Quantum Cryptography (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 21:30:00 +0200

With the UK National Cyber Security Centre aiming for organisations to complete post-quantum cryptography (PQC) planning by 2028, and Google setting sights for a 2029 PQC migration timeline, the quantum future is no longer theoretical. This talk will bring you on a journey to understanding the mathematics behind today's encryption, how quantum computing threatens it, why data stolen today could be decrypted tomorrow, and how your organisation can start preparing now. With simple graphics and easily digestible concepts, this talk is suitable for all ages and scientific understanding! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/242-it-s-the-end-of-rsa-as-we-know-it-and-i-feel-fine

EMF Variety Night (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 22:00:00 +0200

Join a selection of EMF speakers and special guests for an extravaganza of variousness! Featuring: - Zoe Griffiths (maths compere extraordinaire) - Colin Wright (mathematician and juggler, breaking down the maths of juggling) - Rohin Francis (cardiologist and YouTuber, talking medical jargon) - Lauren Beukes (award-winning sci-fi author, reading a short story) - Neil Monteiro (space scientist and magician, showing off some space magic) - Gasman (with a behind-the-scenes chiptunes music demo) - Ayliean MacDonald (mathematician performing Towers of Hanoi: The Musical), and - Steve Mould (Blue Peter's favourite science demonstrator!) Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/191-emf-variety-night

Nerd Mentality: Duel! to the DEATH! (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 22:00:00 +0200

Merry Martyn PhD and QI Elf Joe Mayo have discovered they’re MORTAL ENEMIES. Their life expectancies suggest they’ll die in the SAME YEAR, but each is determined to prove they can outlive the other. Watch two nerds go head-to-head with competitive PowerPoints, use data to find YOUR nemesis, and ultimately Duel! to the DEATH! Joe Mayo is a QI Elf, one of the writers and researchers for the BBC’s QI. Their comedy is always full of wordplay, whimsy and infectious nerdy enthusiasm. They also run a murder comedy night called Corpsing, and was semi-finalist at LGBTQ+ New Act of the Year 2024. Merry Martyn PhD is not your average statistician. Equipped with a ukulele, Rubik’s cube and lesbian-panic, she maximises the laughter coefficient all throughout the UK. In 2024, she was a Finalist at West End New Act of the Year and won Edinburgh Fringe Queerovision. COME FIND YOUR MORTAL NEMESIS! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/289-nerd-mentality-duel-to-the-death

Why aren't we making video games for pensioners? (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0200

Video games have always been perceived as a medium for the young, but the average age of gamer is 36, games developers are dying of old age, gamers are already living with dementia and 96 year olds are winning Wii bowling e-sports tournaments! Why as an industry are we manufacturing 400 hour games experiences for younger audiences with an abundance of play when so many older people lack quality access to even a 400 second games experience? What would a game controller designed by a Centenarian look like? I discuss my career as an experimental games designer, educator and maker focused on bringing play to audiences marginalised by the games industry, such as young people with disabilities, communities in deprived areas and most recently, people aged over 65. Collaborating with Sheffield University, we explored designing approachable game installations for people living with dementia, encouraging them to build their own games controllers out of craft materials and the delight of giving pensioners their first experience of video games, tailored to local interests and rejecting industry norms. I will try to make the case why the elderly deserve to be catered for, where industry has succeeded previously, where we've failed, what our future holds and what we can do to ensure age doesn't limit access to play. We have to engage older audiences, designing radical new ways of play and interaction, and I believe that the ALT-CTRL (alternative controller) community is well placed to be a force for good in this field. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/43-why-arent-we-making-video-games-for-pensioners

John Robertson's The Dark Room (emf2026)

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 23:00:00 +0200

Welcome to John Robertson’s THE DARK ROOM – the legendary interactive comedy show that fuses improv, crowdwork and gaming to create an insane live-action videogame! “An hilarious, participatory cult classic” Neil Patrick Harris “hilarious game show” Independent ★★★★ “A Rocky Horror for nerds… reader, I howled” Telegraph, London Come watch, and if you want – play – the choose-your-own-adventure madness! The crowd is trapped inside an inescapable dungeon with a sadistic videogame boss! Pick increasingly surreal options off the screen and try to escape! If you win – you get money! If you fail – YA DIE! YA DIE! YA DIE! Now, will you: Find the Light Switch Go North? Abandon Hope? Be sworn at by a man wearing spiked armour and a lot of leather? (This option is permanently set to “On”) Now in its 14th year, this high-octane interactive show is the brainchild of comedian & cult leader John Robertson. Filled with stand-up, appalling prizes and more audience chanting than you’d get at a protest – The Dark Room is a gut-busting comedy experience for everyone. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/174-john-robertsons-the-dark-room

Expanded Radio Art (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:00:00 +0200

Dr. Magz Hall is a sound artist and radio art pioneer who treats the airwaves as a canvas. In her talk, she explains how she moves radio out of the studio and into the real world—turning everyday objects like trees, books, and shoes into miniature broadcasting stations. What the Talk Covers: Giving Nature a Voice: Magz shares how she uses "Tree Radio" to turn a living oak tree into a radio station. By plugging sensors into the bark, she broadcasts the tree’s internal biological sounds directly to people's FM radios. Art as Activism: She discusses her "Radio Air Garden," where she builds beautiful copper sculptures that help plants grow while simultaneously broadcasting sounds that highlight local air pollution. The "Secret" Airwaves: She explores the "hidden world" of wireless signals all around us, showing how she uses old radio tech to create modern immersive experiences. Hands-on Hacking: Magz explains her "DIY" approach—encouraging everyone to reclaim technology by building their own simple transmitters to share their own stories. The takeaway: Radio isn't just for news and music; it’s a magical, invisible tool we can use to connect with nature and our local communities in surprising new ways. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/126-expanded-radio-art

Narrative Animals And How To Tell Better Stories (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:10:00 +0200

Poet and activist Muriel Rukseyer said "The universe is made of stories not atoms". Some animal communication could be described as storytelling, crows maintain intergenerational grudges , elephants mourn their dead, and seek revenge, and orcas wear dead salmon as hats, but as far as we understand, we're the only animals who use allegory and metaphor, myth and imagination. Award-winning author Lauren Beukes digs into how stories shape who we are and who we could be, and looks at ways to tell better stories using practical and creative techniques Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/200-narrative-animals-and-how-to-tell-better-stories

Turning the EMFcamp 2018 badge into a radiotelescope (emf2026)

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 12:20:00 +0200

Both the Sun and Jupiter and strong radio noise sources, and can be detected with fair simple radios. I'll describe how I hacked the badge to control a simple radio, while predicting if the Sun or Jupiter are in the sky and recording a portion of the radio spectrum to detect radio emissions from Jupiter's magnetosphere. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/155-turning-the-emfcamp-2018-badge-into-a-radiotelescope

Mum, can I play Roblox? Navigating online gaming safety for parents and caregivers (emf2026)

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 12:10:00 +0200

Unlike most adults, I play videogames professionally with children online all day, every day. I play the games children love, such as Roblox and Fortnite, many of which parents are not interested in - either giving their children total freedom with them or banning them entirely. I will immerse adults in my world for 30 minutes and give them confidence in navigating parenting in this modern age. In this talk I will help caregivers to feel more confident in setting boundaries and limits for their child’s online gaming, by explaining the main sources of harm in some popular platforms. I give tips on how to discuss boundaries with children (especially when 'everyone in my class plays it!'), as well as describe ways I have seen children get around restrictions. I will share the games I will and will not let my own children play - and you may be surprised as to why. I will describe how I try to keep them as safe as possible online, while maintaining friendships. Young people are very welcome to attend alongside their caregivers to spark the discussion moving forward. Caregivers should be aware that there is talk of the harms in online gaming, but that these are sensitively covered. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/159-mum-can-i-play-roblox-navigating-online-gaming-safety

Building an MRI scanner for under £5k (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 20:00:00 +0200

I built an MRI scanner. In my garage. And it actually works. A year ago I decided to find out if you could build an MRI machine from off-the-shelf parts, at home, without a physics PhD or a hospital budget. Spoiler: you can. This is the story of that journey; the moments where it all clicked, the moments where it absolutely did not, and everything I wish someone had told me before I started. I'll walk you through the physics of how MRI actually works (I promise: no maths degree required, just curiosity), what you'd realistically need to build one yourself, and what we've managed to scan so far; from eggs to 3D printed models. If you've ever looked at a piece of technology and thought "but how does it actually work?" Then this talk is for you. Disclosure: I built this scanner as part of my work on a startup in the medical imaging space. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/207-building-an-mri-scanner-for-under-5k

The Machine That Says No: 1-Bit Music on the ZX Spectrum (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0200

How do you make music with a computer that barely wants to make sound at all? The 1982 ZX Spectrum has no sound chip, no DAC, and only a single on/off signal connected to a speaker. On paper, it is a terrible instrument. But it can be pushed into strange, rhythmic, surprisingly rich musical territory. Part illustrated lecture, part live performance, this session will use original hardware to show how pitch, rhythm and timbre can emerge from timing alone. Expect raw clicks, tones, fake polyphony, pulse-width tricks, arpeggios, Z80 assembly, and data-as-noise, alongside examples of Andy’s work. The ZX Spectrum becomes instrument, demonstration tool and awkward collaborator, doing its best to sabotage the performance while somehow making music. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/157-the-machine-that-says-no-1-bit-music-on-the-zx-spectrum

Menopause.exe:running_with_limited_resources "Hacking the Hormonal System Update" (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0200

Menopause is a hormone system update you didn’t ask for: no consent, no user manual, and no warning label. Once installed, it triggers a ripple effect across social, mental, physical, and work systems. Subtly rewriting routines and behaviors almost overnight. The system you once knew, which used to run seamlessly, now requires debugging, optimization, and at times a little creative patching. Menopause affects over 1 billion individuals worldwide, yet it remains poorly understood. Despite its universal impact, it is shrouded in myths and a pervasive enforced silence, leaving many unprepared for the changes it brings. This presentation reframes menopause as a hormone system update, exploring how it can subtly, and sometimes dramatically alters life experiences. Viewed through the lens of anyone who has ever had to troubleshoot a stubborn, unpredictable system, this presentation examines how this important life transition and why understanding these changes matter for you and your community. My aim is to have an honest conversation about this topic that empowers you with self-advocacy. Drawing on my own lived experience and as a certified menopause coach, this talk blends data, humor, and clear language to unpack what happens during menopause and why “just pushing through it” is not a viable workaround. I’ll highlight the latest stats, debug common myths, and reveal how menopause quietly affects your entire life. We can’t roll back the update, but we can optimize the system. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/153-menopause-exe-running-with-limited-resources-hacking-the

The restoration and running of a Foden 1928 6 ton steam wagon (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0200

Eastnor site owner James Hervey-Bathurst will be bringing his Foden steam wagon to EMF on Saturday 11am–1pm. Come hear him talk about the restoration of this magnificent vehicle. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/286-the-restoration

Foxdog Studios: Robo Bingo 2.0 (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 19:30:00 +0200

Bingo meets Tech meets Comedy. An interactive, smartphone powered comedy act like no other, fun for ages 8 to 8000. Experience a whole new side of bingo created by Foxdog Studios (Lloyd & Pete) and their robotic bingo mascot, Mr Bing. Expect chaos, games and laughs. Join the fun without leaving your seat as bingo cards are beamed to your phone using their own homemade software and play with their DIY robots. Claim your prize by tapping the button and blast “Bingo!” out the main speakers (but be ready to go to bingo jail if you cry wolf). After a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe and an award winning run in Adelaide, Australia - Pete and Lloyd are bringing bingo back to EMF. Bring a phone to join in, or share a phone with someone who has one! “The lo-fi tech wizardry is ingenious, and it’s irresistible fun to play along” Guardian As seen on BBC Click, CBBC Live Lessons, Channel 4 UK, featured in The Guardian, The Observer, WIRED Magazine UK and heard on BBC Radio 4 Extra. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/69-foxdog-studios-robo-bingo-2-0

An SRE's Guide to Camping in Extreme Conditions (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0200

Winter camping in the Alps sounds beautiful… doesn't it? That is, until the pipes freeze or the heating goes out when it’s -21°C outside. By day, I'm an SRE responsible for incident management, triaging alerts, and calling in subject matter experts when required. It turns out that those skills are transferable to handling real-life situations, too! In this talk, I’ll share a fun (slightly traumatic) guide to applying SRE thinking to camping. I'll talk about hacky fixes to resolve the immediate impact, the process of narrowing down the root cause, and the beauty of pattern matching in observability. You’ll see that monitoring, escalation, and redundancy aren’t just for data centres. They’re survival tools. If you’ve ever been on-call or just like a good disaster story, join me for this slightly chaotic, entirely true adventure in off-grid reliability. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/230-an-sres-guide-to-camping-in-extreme-conditions

Have you thought about your digital legacy? (emf2026)

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0200

Content warning: Contains frank conversations about death Death is inevitable, yet our digital infrastructure remains woefully unprepared for it. While traditional "Letters of Wishes" provide a static roadmap for executors, they lack the agency to interact with our complex, data-driven lives. This workshop introduces the concept of the Machine-Readable Letter of Wishes: a framework for post-mortem autonomy. By applying a "If This, Then That" (IFTTT) logic to digital legacies, we will explore how to automate final wishes across various services, ensuring data is handled with human dignity and precision. Traditionally, a Letter of Wishes is a physical document offering non-binding guidance to those named in a will. However, in an era of encrypted accounts, fragmented cloud storage and AI. Paper often falls short. This workshop moves from the philosophical to the practical: * Defining the digital legacy: Identifying the specific data points, social accounts, and assets that constitute a modern legacy. * Pipe mapping: Applying IFTTT methodology to personal wishes (e.g., "If I am inactive for 12 months, then transfer my photo archive to named person * Exploring autonomy: Discussing the ethical implications of automated execution and how it can alleviate the "administrative burden of grief" for executors. In the workshop people will gain a foundational understanding of how automation can protect digital rights and dignity, starting that important conversation that benefits individuals, their loved ones, and society. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/151-have-you-thought-about-your-digital-legacy

Scientifically ruining the interfaces in children’s shows (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:30:00 +0200

Previously, I used scientific research in the field of Human Computer Interaction to point out huge flaws in interface designs seen in film and tv. I’ve had two kids since then so all I see are kids shows now. Turns out the issues persist and the academic study of how we interact with technology has a lot to say about the design of Mickey Mouse’s club house. A light hearted talk to discuss interesting scientific theories through the silly lens of children’s tv shows. The audience do not need a working knowledge of any children's shows to enjoy! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/276-scientifically-ruining-the-interfaces-in-children-s-shows

How I became (nearly) as strong as the average untrained man (emf2026)

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0200

Imagine a world where were stronger. Imagine how much easier your life would be… how many fewer trips you would have spent lugging your camping equipment across the EMF carpark for a start! This talk could help make that world into your reality, and sooner than you think. In this talk I will outline my own journey from the girl picked last in sports to the woman deadlifting her bodyweight - which is way more achievable than you might think! I’ll outline the benefits of strength training at any age, talk through some common misconceptions, and offer practical tips for getting started (no meat smoothies or protein shakes required!). I will focus on strength training from the perspective of a female beginner, but people of all gender identities are welcome and most of the tips will be similar regardless. Interested, but worried that you might injure yourself, or that you can’t get to the gym enough, or that your body will change in ways you don’t like? This talk is for you. I’ll cover all of these topics and more, and hopefully persuade you that you belong in the gym too! Note I am an enthusiastic amateur and definitely not an expert or a professional. Strength training, like any sport, involves risks and any future lifting you decide to do will be at your own risk. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/160-how-i-became-nearly-as-strong-as-the-average-untrained-man

From zero to engineering superhero (emf2026)

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0200

Six years ago, I was an artist with no engineering qualifications, no formal technical training, and absolutely no business operating industrial robots worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Today, I lead robotics projects for companies around the world. This talk is a light-hearted cautionary tale of how curiosity, persistence, and an unhealthy number of browser tabs completely changed the direction of my life. Through stories of failure, career detours, imposter syndrome, accidental entrepreneurship, and one particularly unconventional job application I want to inspire others to chase their dreams. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/226-from-zero-to-engineering-superhero

Killing the astrophysical chameleon (emf2026)

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0200

Astronomical observations show that our universe is expanding faster and faster in all directions due to something we call ‘dark energy’ – but what exactly is it? There are many theories out there, and astrophysicists have an unlikely ally in the search – atomic physicists like myself. As part of my PhD research, I used lasers to trap and cool atoms to use as tiny sensors to search for new physics, including searching for evidence of a specific dark energy candidate, the chameleon field. In this talk I will give an overview of the physics behind dark energy and my experiment, explain how atomic physics experiments have applications across all sorts of fields, and why even though I ended up measuring zero, that’s still moving science forward. Note: no actual chameleons were harmed in the making of this talk. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/246-killing-the-astrophysical-chameleon

An Internet for the Solar System (emf2026)

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 11:40:00 +0200

This talk explores the emerging concept of “An Internet for the Solar System” — a networked approach to interplanetary communication that could transform how spacecraft, habitats, and missions share data beyond Earth. Starting with NASA’s LunaNet initiative, we will examine how principles from terrestrial internet infrastructure are being adapted for the unique challenges of space: extreme latency, intermittent connectivity, and vast distances. The session will introduce Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN), a key protocol framework enabling reliable communication where traditional internet models fail. We will explore how LunaNet envisions a federated system of lunar orbiters, surface relays, and Earth-based nodes working together as a scalable, interoperable network. A particular focus will be placed on ground infrastructure, including the role of commercial and community-accessible deep space facilities such as Goonhilly Earth Station. Once a cornerstone of satellite communications, Goonhilly is now re-emerging as a key player in deep space data links, supporting missions and opening opportunities for non-governmental participation in space communications. The talk will also consider future extensions of this interplanetary internet: Mars networks, autonomous routing between spacecraft, and the potential for open standards that enable wider access beyond national space agencies. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/45-an-internet-for-the-solar-system

RSRE Flex: reviving an innovative, remarkably odd British operating system that almost nobody knows about (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 17:30:00 +0200

1980: Royal Signals and Radar Establishment researchers realise Flex, a mould-breaking, comprehensively alternative vision of computing. Features: - All-hypertext interface (oddly never described thus) - Allusions to ancient Egyptian orthography - Unforgeable pointers for security - Write-once filesystem with nameless files (which you didn't mind) - Implementation in the (infamously) complicated language Algol 68 - First-class functions and typechecking everywhere (I'll explain what that means) - Memorable... hardware choices Today: Flex runs again for the first time in (probably) decades! In this spirited talk (for general audiences *and* OS geeks) I'll live-demo its unique "feel" while describing its origins, fate, and unlikely revival (hint: mouldy 8" floppies). I'll also call for help: maybe YOU know people and information needed to share it publicly. Ahead of its time, maybe ours too, or maybe outside of it: everyone should be able to try Flex. Hopefully this talk brings us one step closer! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/91-rsre-flex-reviving-an-innovative

What's in a number plate? (emf2026)

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0200

Why are Irish number plates so much longer than British ones, despite the population being much smaller? What letters can you use on a Greek number plate? How do you drive a Japanese-registered car abroad, when the number plate is full of kanji and kana? Why do some people give Belgian cars with five-character plates a wide berth? Are those supercars with Arabic number plates you see in West London even legal? I've always been a bit obsessed with vehicle registration plates. I like spotting the hidden information in them, but I also like seeing the decisions encoded in their formats, and how those have played out over time. Everywhere seems to have come up with its own solution to the same problem, they're all different, and seemingly innocuous decisions can have significant impacts later on. These superficially trivial identifiers turn out to be much more than that, intersecting design, politics, information encoding, and even questions of identity. They're also, I hope to show, fun, and can make us all feel better about having to live with the consequences of bad choices we made in the past. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/48-whats-in-a-number-plate

You Are Part Virus: How Biological Viruses Hack Cells (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 12:20:00 +0200

Molecular biology is cool,* and often the most interesting way to study a system is to see where it fails or how it gets hacked. Viruses enter, subvert and exploit the finely tuned molecular machinery of cells, rewiring systems to convert them into a virus factory; over a few billion years of a co-evolutionary arms race, they’ve developed some great exploits. Some are elegant and clever, some are messy but impressively functional, a few are just baffling. A lot like the folks at EMF. Using a few of my favourite viruses as case studies, we’ll build a simple mental model of how cells work and then break it. We’ll see how viruses cram surprising amounts of information into tiny genomes by overlapping their code, how they hijack the cell’s machinery to take control of its internal processes, and how they defy biology’s “central dogma”. Finally, I’ll describe the viruses that have inserted themselves into the human genome, becoming permanent and functional parts of our own DNA. This is a fast, accessible introduction to a few fun corners of molecular biology and virology, from someone who has spent their career studying and working with viruses. No biology background is needed. If you like learning about intricate systems and the strange ways they can be exploited, you’ll find plenty to enjoy in virology. *For, admittedly, idiosyncratic definitions of “cool” Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/149-you-are-part-virus-how-biological-viruses-hack-cells

Mind Your Language: How to Translate a Video Game and Why (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 18:50:00 +0200

Video Games are commonly in English, German, Japanese and many other languages.. but what about less spoken languages? Whilst I was working as the Lead Sound Designer on a AA game, I also ended up being the Welsh Language Lead on the project, with the help of a small team I chose the insane challenge of translating a AA video game into Welsh + Voice Acting with no prior experience in doing so and also re-learning the language at the same time, a task that I knew would be massive, but turned out to be even bigger than I thought. This talk unpacks the process of translating, casting and recording/editing dialogue for what would turn out to be the biggest video game to have ever been translated into Welsh with Voice Acting. This talk also goes into why more games should include smaller languages and why projects should consider more cultures. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/80-mind-your-language-how-to-translate-a-video-game-and-why

Repair Cafés: Come for the Soldering, Stay for the Stories (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:40:00 +0200

What is a Repair Café and why should you take part in one? Fighting against the throwaway society, Repair Cafes bring together local people with broken or worn items and volunteer fixers with the skills to repair them. We fix things like clothes, furniture, appliances, electronics and toys. If you’re a maker at EMF then your skills with a soldering iron could be valuable - or so you’d think. But you’ll find that it’s much more about how to take things apart (and put them back together again), finding what’s broken, and just having a nice chat with someone while you do it. Our café has been going for 3 years. We’ve repaired hundreds of items, saved tonnes of waste from landfill and donated thousands of pounds to local charities. I’ll share stories of the most interesting repairs, successful and less successful. And of the people who run the café as well as the visitors Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/152-repair-caf%C3%A9s-come-for-the-soldering-stay-for-the-stories

Cognitive biases: The bugs, features and zero‑days of the human mind (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0200

Our brains are extraordinary: fast, intuitive and endlessly creative, but they also come with quirks, shortcuts and predictable bugs. These “cognitive biases” shape everything from the food we order to the technologies we build, often without us noticing. In this talk, we’ll explore some of the most surprising and entertaining biases that influence our everyday decisions and what they reveal about how humans actually think. This isn’t a list of flaws. It’s a tour of the elegant, messy, deeply human heuristics that help us navigate a complex world. By understanding these patterns, we can design better tools, make smarter decisions and be kinder to ourselves and others when things don’t go to plan. Expect demos, relatable examples and practical takeaways you can use the moment you leave the tent. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/97-cognitive-biases-the-bugs-features

Ctrl+Alt+Defeat: The big AI pushback (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:20:00 +0200

Protests and marches. Graduates booing commencement speakers. Self-driving cars set on fire. Why are people so angry about AI? Well, plenty of reasons, and some of them very obvious, but why is there pushback right now and how is it happening? It so happens we've just run a survey on exactly that, and we have some answers – and more questions. Like: what is the future for a technology that an increasing number of people love to hate? Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/199-ctrl-alt-defeat-the-big-ai-pushback

Using the railway network as a flatbed scanner (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:20:00 +0200

I've been taking extremely wide photos by pointing an industrial linear camera out the window of a moving train and stitching together the several thousand lines captured per second after the fact. I'll talk about the pains of measuring the speed and collecting each line fast enough to produce a coherent image, as well as the problems of processing and displaying such wide images. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/74-using-the-railway-network-as-a-flatbed-scanner

Awe and Wonder in the Sky (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:00:00 +0200

A story-driven talk about the hidden science of light and the sky, told through encounters including searching for glow worms and chasing comets. And a #RobotWars Easter egg. Starting in the air around us, we travel upwards into the sky and finally in to space. Between these two stories are the bits of science we often walk under without noticing: why the sky changes colour, what darkness reveals, how light behaves, and how small observations can lead to much bigger questions. Part travel story, part natural history, part engineering-minded curiosity, this 30-minute talk is an invitation to look up — and to notice more. It's related to the speaker's new book "Up - A Scientist's Guide to the Magic Above Us' which will be available to purchase on the day (and Lucy will signing books after the event). The book is also available as an audio book and e-book. 15th July - for one day only - the e-book will be 99p on Amazon. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/89-awe-and-wonder-in-the-sky

Juggling: Surprisingly Mathematical (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 15:30:00 +0200

We have notations for music, language, and dance, but when a notation was developed for juggling there were some surprising discoveries. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/60-juggling-surprisingly-mathematical

If you can dream it: building a pop-up escape room (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 18:10:00 +0200

We love escape rooms, and it's awesome how the industry has evolved to provide ever more impressive and immersive experiences. Some of the top escape rooms today are huge warehouse-spanning installations with six-figure budgets. But what if they didn't have to be? Last year, our team had the opportunity to build a pop-up escape room. We wanted to match the creative ambition and capacity for wonder demonstrated by the biggest and best escape rooms in the world; implemented with the scrappy enthusiasm, inherent impermanence, and modest budget of an amateur theatre production. What we built turned out to be a real dream. Over our five-month run, our core team (gradually bolstered by dozens more volunteers) provided a unique and delightful experience for over six hundred visitors of all ages, including twenty children, two babies, and one dog. We received amazing feedback, tremendously kind reviews, and hugely encouraging industry recognition. In this talk we'll cover how we turned our ideas into reality, what went to plan, what went wrong, and what we learned. Most importantly, we hope to show what is possible and perhaps inspire other projects, because we'd love to see more escape rooms in the world. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/229-if-you-can-dream-it-building-a-pop-up-escape-room

3D Modelmaking "for girls" - The overlooked engineering skill of pattern cutting (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 15:10:00 +0200

What exactly is involved in making garments, costumes, pattern cutting and sewing? And why won't you see it on the curriculum of an engineering or technology degree? How has pattern cutting changed throughout history and why do a lot of people see it as 'women's work'? What's craft, what's art, what's engineering? What does a toy gorilla come to life really look like? Can I have a life sized, screen accurate mannequin version of Ryan Gosling? Find out all this and more.......accept that last one, which is no you can't - but it does exist. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/213-3d-modelmaking-for-girls

Data Visualisation: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and the Beautiful (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 22:10:00 +0200

(Alt title - Look at this Graph: How to make Visualisations to be Proud of) You probably encounter at least one data visualisation every day - whether that's in the news, in your own projects, or just scrolling through r/dataisugly. But what makes a visualisation good or bad? Data visualisation lets us leverage the powerful parallel processing abilities of our visual cognition system to understand data in an intuitive way. However, this system is also subject to bias, leaving us vulnerable to misunderstanding if the visualisation is designed poorly. As Tim Harford puts it, it is not always the "ugly" visualisations that are the most misleading, but the "beautiful". In this talk I will discuss some classic dataviz rules of thumb, as well as newer research that may challenge these heuristics (spoiler alert: pie charts might not be as bad as you think!). I'll also discuss some ways you can make your own visualisations beautiful, interesting and trustworthy, using the R package ggplot2 as a worked example. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/241-data-visualisation-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly

LoRa from Space (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 15:50:00 +0200

This talk is about my personal experience in assembling and testing the satellite payloads as well as working with LoRa based satellites. I have so far assembled and tested 10 payloads that are installed in 6 satellites currently orbiting the earth. More payloads have been assembled and tested but not yet launched. The talk will include plenty of photographs and a couple of short videos covering the different stages of the build and testing. It goes through how we take a collection of parts to a usable device to that is used for a satellite IoT service. This would be a family friendly talk giving an insight into what goes into getting small satellites into low earth orbit. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/49-lora-from-space

Reverse Engineering 007: Nightfire (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0200

A talk discussing how a small team of people have begun to decompile, reverse engineer and rewrite 007: Nightfire, a PS2/Xbox/GameCube game from 2002. It'll have discussion of Nightfire specifically: - What we've learned about the game so far - Pitfalls - link-time optimisation, missing symbols - Ghidra for reverse engineering + transposing knowledge across platforms - The tools we've built so far - Code injection into an emulator for testing - Where we're intending the project will go - What we're still missing / how you could contribute There'll also be discussion about game reverse engineering more generally: - How to start a reverse engineering project from scratch - Importance of community / how much of a time commitment a source decompilation would be - Operating in an intellectual property grey zone / the role of reverse engineering in preservation Concluding with a live demonstration, if the demo gods permit it. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/277-reverse-engineering-007-nightfire

Spicy Antiques Roadshow: Uranium Glass and Radioactive Relics (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:50:00 +0200

In this talk I’ll introduce the history, science and art of uranium glass. It’s something that’s been around for more than a hundred years and is still made today. I’ll explain how uranium glass gets its glow under UV light, whether or not it’s safe to own (spoiler alert: absolutely safe) and why it exists in the first place. I’ll explore some of the history of uranium glass and its origins and I’ll demonstrate the glow of different types of antique glass -not just uranium. But uranium glass isn’t the only thing to set off a Geiger counter in an antiques shop. We’ll look at other radioactive antiques you might find in a shop, at a car boot sale or even in your nana’s house. From ceramics to clocks and even fossils, radioactivity can be detected in lots of unexpected places! I’ll talk about the safety of these objects as well (spoiler alert 2: some are not quite as safe as uranium glass). I’ll be available afterwards for questions. I’ll have a Geiger counter and a Radiacode spectrometer with me along with some of my collection of uranium glass and radioactive antiques. And you can hear the satisfying ‘click click click’ as we scan all the items! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/222-spicy-antiques-roadshow-uranium-glass-and-radioactive-relics

Film Is Not Dead: Live Developing on Stage (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 16:50:00 +0200

Watch as I develop a roll of black-and-white film live on stage, taking it from exposed film to visible negatives and scanned digital images in real time. The roll will contain photos shot around EMF earlier that day, with a volunteer taking the final frames live during the session. A lot of people think photographic chemistry is effectively magic, but developing film is really just a sequence of straightforward steps, timings, and temperature control — much closer to following a recipe than performing an arcane art. As the chemistry works, you’ll learn how black-and-white film development actually works, why it’s much easier and more accessible than most people assume, and how analogue photography connects surprisingly well with modern maker culture, including all the modern ways for scanning and sharing your film photos. By the end of the talk, you’ll (hopefully!) see freshly developed negatives projected live on screen. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/78-film-is-not-dead-live-developing-on-stage

How to complete Half-Life 2 in 1 hour (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:30:00 +0200

A presentation explaining inner workings of the source engine, and how they are exploited by speedrunners use to try to finish the video game Half-Life 2 in the fastest time possible. The source engines other-worldly physics provides a fascinating and mathematically defined world that speedrunners have come to understand and manipulate in ways that were never intended by the creators of the game. Exploiting (and understanding) this engine has led to "runners" learning skills that are unique to source engine games, and extremely fun! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/81-how-to-complete-half-life-2-in-1-hour

Classifying Tactile Paving Crimes Using D&D Alignment (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:40:00 +0200

Tactile paving (those bobbly bits of pavements you find around crossings) has been with us since the 90s and is now ubiquitous, but it's not working as well as it should for the blind and partially sighted people who need it. Its use is controlled by a government guidance document but this is not legally binding and it does not cover lots of features that are now common on our streets. This leads to widespread instances of tactile paving 'crimes', where the paving either doesn't do the job it is supposed to or doesn't follow the guidance, or both. We're going to explore this issue by using the Alignment system from Dungeons & Dragons to classify these different crimes based on their position on the Good/Evil and Lawful/Chaotic axes. We will review photos of tactile paving collected from across the UK (to spot crimes) as well as videos of blind and partially sighted people using it (to understand the jobs it's supposed to do). Hopefully thinking about the problem in this way might help build consensus to one day write some better guidance. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/245-classifying-tactile-paving-crimes-using-d-d-alignment

Modern Facial Reconstructive Surgery - Computer design, 3D printing and custom implants. (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 16:10:00 +0200

Content Warning: mid-surgery photographs, blood How can modern technology help with removing a large facial tumour and transplant the patient's leg bone to their face to replace their missing jaw? Come to this talk and find out! I am an Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon and we are the interface between medicine and dentistry, we have to be qualified as both a doctor and a dentist and operate on the face, jaws and neck. We commonly deal with facial trauma, deformity, removing head and neck cancer and reconstruction of the space left behind (taking tissue from elsewhere on the body to do so). I'll show you what I get to do for a living and why you might need to see myself or a colleague. Then we'll explore how modern medical imaging, 3D scanners, computer aided design and 3D printing is changing the face of modern surgery. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/35-modern-facial-reconstructive-surgery-computer-design

How Network Rail Plans Train Timetables (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 16:50:00 +0200

How are train timetables put together? Find out how Network Rail, the organisation responsible for running and maintaining Britain's rail network, fits together different kinds of trains into a single timetable, and how the competing demands of freight trains, stopping trains and express passenger trains are weighed to allocate limited space on the tracks. In this talk I will draw on my own experience of train planning to demonstrate how Network Rail uses graphs to plan the movements of trains, how different types of trains fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and how we build a timetable to make sure that trains don't crash into each other! I am an Operational Planning Specialist for Network Rail who has worked in Capacity Planning (aka, train timetabling) for the past six years and will explain what Network Rail's Capacity Planning team does, how the rail industry puts timetables together, the technical challenges, and how we try to keep multiple different parties happy. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/146-how-network-rail-plans-train-timetables

A technician in Antarctica - Working at the end of the world (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 17:30:00 +0200

I have spent my career working as an electrically biased technician supporting scientific and engineering research. In 2022/23 a post-COVID malaise led me to put in a speculative application with The British Antarctic Survey. Sometime later I was flying into Rothera Research Station, Antarctica. Before arriving, I had dreams of being surrounded by Antarctic wildlife such as penguins, seals and whales. I hoped I would be able to ride a snowmobile and engage in snow-covered adventures. I knew that this was somewhat far-fetched as this is just a job, albeit in the most hostile environment on earth. To my surprise I found that, while there were long days of working hard there were also ample opportunities to be surrounded by wildlife and engage the activities I dreamed of. I was even a co-pilot on a project to one of the UK’s most remote Antarctic outposts, the Sky-Blu Field Station. I saw orcas swimming in unison to create a wave to knock seals from an iceberg – just like in the first episode of Frozen Planet! At the end of my adventure, I left Antarctica on Boaty McBoatface for a 5-day voyage across the most dangerous seas on earth. My talk is reliant on sharing the amazing photos I took while I was there. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/34-a-technician-in-antarctica-working-at-the-end-of-the-world

Lightning Talks (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 20:50:00 +0200

This time is reserved for Lightning Talks - signup details to be published soon. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/376-lightning-talks

Signalling on the London Underground (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 20:00:00 +0200

A deep dive into the history and technical innovations that have facilitated the (usually) speedy transit of millions of daily passengers across London. We begin with a short history of the network, cover the differences required for tunnel based signalling under a bustling capital, explore some amazing inventions to handle rising passenger demand, and finish with the current state of communications based train control which has been gradually displacing traditional fixed signalling on the underground. The author is a volunteer at the London Transport Museum but this talk is not affiliated. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/36-signalling-on-the-london-underground

PolyGen - Inside the game (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 18:20:00 +0200

This talk is about how the PolyGen game works, see inside the units, a breakdown of how all the bits hang together. This is a combination of a talk and hands-on opening the units up and seeing inside them. A chance for people to ask questions, play around with the insides of the units. For those playing PolyGen this will be an opportunity to capture a special "talk only" unit. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/293-polygen-inside-the-game

So AIs are lying to us now, huh? (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 18:50:00 +0200

As AI systems are getting smarter, safety researchers are increasingly concerned by a new capability of these models - they are getting very good at lying. This behaviour is seen both in and out of evaluation settings, and has a fascinating range of root causes. In this talk, we'll investigate the phenomena of AI deception across a broad range of scenarios. Discover how chatbots lie for your own good, when models strategically hide their capabilities, and why ChatGPT is better than you at Avalon. We'll cover how researchers are training model organisms designed to be good at deception, and how this helps us to detect scheming in the wild. Most importantly, we'll attempt to answer the question: how worried should we be about all this? Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/154-so-ais-are-lying-to-us-now-huh

A Brief History of the QR Code, and other scannable things (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 19:30:00 +0200

QR Codes! They're everywhere, and after this talk you'll see them everywhere. They've invaded every part of modern life - but how did they get there? (Have they always been here, in secret?) This talk will cover the history of scanning things that contain information such as the barcode, covering not just one but TWO whole dimensions of scanning. Where was the first barcode (spoilers, it involves trains)? Is it true that barcodes caused a conspiracy in the 1980s? We'll learn what competitors are there for the QR code and why they failed under the might of the QR. We'll explore why the QR code so pervasive in modern society and what makes them so good. This presentation will generally be light hearted and whimsical, and will contain several jokes, some serious security advice, but generally be light entertainment. There will be no AI imagery or text. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/234-a-brief-history-of-the-qr-code-and-other-scannable-things

Hacking a mobility scooter for features and lights (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 18:10:00 +0200

Following the talk "Remote controlled chaos cart" at EMF 2024, I have been inspired to do my own take on the same idea. But instead of starting with a trolley and a hoverboard, I decided to start with a mobility scooter. I have ME/CFS, and get to use a mobility scooter most of the time while out and about. But they are fundamentally boring vehicles, and could use a little adapting to be more fun. They are also 24v vehicles, and it is amazing just how many 12v devices can be used at 24v. After starting with a USB charger, I moved on to lights, and then a foot pedal for speed control. Arduinos were involved and sacrificed. A diversion was had when my motor failed, but I then returned to adapting the horn, and then having to transfer much of the stuff to a new scooter when a second motor failed and couldn't be replaced. The takeaway is somewhere along the lines of "Just because you have to use a mobility scooter, it doesn't have to be plain, boring, and can be hacked for interesting features". Mine certainly is now. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/86-hacking-a-mobility-scooter-for-features-and-lights

A short history of arcades and arcade machines (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 18:10:00 +0200

Arcade machines have a rich history, at times at the forefront of technology, and often the most bizarre machines. Machines that delivered electric shocks (supposedly therapeutic) and working automata models of executions or hen pecked husbands (titled ‘Is Marriage worth it’). The first seaside arcade opened in Blackpool in 1894, under the newly built tower. The machines were all clockwork automata scenes, with an attendant constantly rewinding them. Arcades became widespread after the craze for Edison’s Kinetoscope, the predecessor of ‘What the Butler Saw’ machines. Kinetoscopes were a sensation – the first time anyone had seen moving images of any sort, so ‘Kinetoscope parlours’ sprang up in every city centre. Once cinemas got established the craze faded and the parlours diversified – adding fortune tellers, ball runs, shooting games and of course one armed bandits. The arrival of computer games in the 1980s shook everything up. At first very popular in arcades but soon eclipsed by cheaper to play home computer games. Most city centre arcades have since closed, though many seaside arcades survive with ‘redemption’ machines. These spit out tickets when you win. Before leaving you take all your tickets to the desk to ‘redeem’ a prize. The talk will be illustrated by photos and videos of the old machines and also some of Tim’s own arcade machines influenced by their history. Tim has made over 40 arcade machines and now runs two arcades. The talk will include some of Tim’s machines that were particularly inspired by the history. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/127-a-short-history-of-arcades-and-arcade-machines

Building and rebuilding and rebuilding an online radio (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:00:00 +0200

I’ll be speaking about my tiny online radio station I've been in the process of reviving. Initially I built it as a virtual 'club' for my friends in lockdown and later I adapted it into a place where friends/friends of friends/random people on the internet could stream live and pre-recorded shows. It ran quite happily for a few months then limped on annoyingly for a little bit after that so I decided to take a break which ended up being a few years long. This year I realised I missed it a bit so I'm bringing it back and trying to improve the bits that need improving. There have been peaks! There have been troughs! There have been thwarted attempts at mixing and beatmatching! Come to my talk and I will tell you all of this and more (please come to my talk) I’ll also be looking for people who’d like to broadcast a show at some point to come and chat after the talk. Broadcasts can be any format you like—music, spoken, performance, live or pre-recorded—and one-offs or recurring shows are welcome! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/195-building-and-rebuilding-and-rebuilding-an-online-radio

Chasing Eclipses throughout the Cosmos (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0200

Solar eclipses are one of the most magnificent sights on Earth. Whether it’s the spine-tingling midday twilight during a total solar eclipse, or watching the Moon taking a “giant bite” out of the Sun during a partial event (like the one we’ll experience in August 2026!), these alignments have captivated people for millennia. But what about eclipses beyond the Earth? Recently, The Artemis 2 crew experienced something no other human beings have - an hour long total solar eclipse. Thanks to their trajectory during their lunar flyby, they were able to slowly move through the Moon’s shadow, whereas Earth-bound observers only get a few minutes of totality. In this talk, we’ll explore what eclipses look like on other planets and discover whether our planetary neighbours experience the same “perfect” eclipses as we do. We’ll also venture further out into the cosmos to investigate what other chance celestial alignments can reveal about the Universe. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/123-chasing-eclipses-throughout-the-cosmos

Shapes and Smoke Rings (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 16:40:00 +0200

This is shape, but not as you've seen it before! Join Zoe in this engaging, family talk to explore the curious world of shape. We'll be dipping our toes into the mind-bending world of topology (with ideas for activities you can try at home), exploring how geometry changes when you're not on a flat surface (with the audience taking part in a fun trick), and learn the maths and science behind an exciting smoke rings demonstration. This exciting talk is suitable for anyone age 8+. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/67-shapes-and-smoke-rings

Store, Carry, Forward: The Networking Genius of Pigeons (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 16:20:00 +0200

Pigeons - what are they good for? Quite a lot, actually. In this talk, we'll be winging it together as we look at the history of moving information around via feathernet connection, homing in on how pigeons work, and (bird)seeding ideas for why we might still need pigeon post in future. On our journey, we’ll look at… - heroic pigeons of the past and the people who fancied them - how pigeons work, and why this makes them useful - how pigeons compare to the internet, including ‘IP over Avian Carrier' - how to stop your data being eaten by a hawk And there'll probably be puns. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/223-store-carry-forward-the-networking-genius-of-pigeons

So you want to go to space? (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 15:50:00 +0200

This humorous talk, needing no prior knowledge of rocketry or space travel, will take a walk through different ways humans have considered getting to space. From things that actually work, to the things that could theoretically work if you ignore things like safety or the rest of humanity, via things that should work but only on other celestial objects. With pictures, diagrams, and increasingly abstract sketches. While some of the ideas may seem a quite sci-fi this will only cover things people have (semi) seriously considered and have known physics. No hyper drives, wormholes, or dilithium crystals here. You won’t believe number 8. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/161-so-you-want-to-go-to-space

Combi Boilers Suck, My Plumbing Pipe Dream (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 15:10:00 +0200

Get a house they said, it'll be fun they said. Well, not on a icy February morning when you step into the shower and it runs ice cold, it isn't. Modern UK plumbing is based around combi-boilers, which is the plumbing equivalent of flying a fighter jet with no ejection seat - when things go wrong, oh boy do they go wrong. They provide a lovely standardized plumbing system in a box, greatly reducing the gubbins needed in your house; but they lack any flexibility, or backup plan. My crazy plan is to cram into a small house: the facility to heat water conventionally (via a boiler), and via thermal solar, ...and via a solid fuel burning back boiler, ...and an electric heater. Needless to say, none of this is 'standard', so a magical system in a box won't work. This is where that February morning comes to bite, the old boiler decided to pack-up a month ahead of schedule, before any of this new stuff was ready. I can assure you, the old 1940s way of heating water with a kettle is a right royal faff. By the end of the talk, you'll know exactly why combi boilers suck; what this vented nonsense is; what gravity has to do with anything; stuff about zones; what my secret s plan is, and why not y; and why, technically speaking (the best kind of speaking), it is illegal to remove a heatpump system in the UK if you don't like it. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/75-combi-boilers-suck-my-plumbing-pipe-dream

Building a tiny paging network (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:20:00 +0200

Beep! A Brief History of UK Paging — and How to Build Your Own Transmitter Before smartphones, before SMS, before push notifications — there was the pager. For three decades, paging networks formed the invisible backbone of British communications, keeping doctors on call, field engineers reachable, and a generation of teenagers mysteriously popular. This talk traces the arc of paging in the UK, from the launch of the first commercial paging service by British Telecom in the 1950s through to the golden era of consumer paging in the 1980s and 90s. We'll look at the major networks — PageOne, Vodafone & BT — and the protocols that underpinned them: POCSAG, the workhorse standard developed at the Post Office Research Centre, and FLEX, Motorola's higher-speed successor. We'll touch on why paging quietly outlasted the first wave of mobile phones in critical sectors, and why a small but dedicated community still relies on them today. Then we get hands-on. Using an ESP32 and an SX1262 LoRa module — total cost under £15 — I'll demonstrate a working POCSAG transmitter built entirely with open-source tools like RadioLib. We'll send a real message, to a 30 year old pager and show how it can be useful today. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/47-building-a-tiny-paging-network

The Marvellous Mouse-powered Music box (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:20:00 +0200

It started when I stupidly promising my 8 year old that if the mouse brought in by my cat made through the night, we could keep it. It ended with a beautiful rendition of Toccata in D played solely by the rising star Mr Cheesey and the contraption I attached to his wheel. In this talk, I’ll cover the ideas behind the plans, the designing and development of the music box wheel, the challenges of actually making it into a real machine (when some of there parts didn’t even exist) that actually worked and the creation of a YouTube platform showing Mr Cheesey (and his co-star Daphne) running around on their mouse wheel and turning a little hole punch music box covering all the (non-copyrighted) classics. I'll also include structured diagrams explaining how the contraption works in case anyone has a similar idea they want to realise. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/210-the-marvellous-mouse-powered-music-box

Sensing Our World: From Your Badge to the Future of Robotics (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:10:00 +0200

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are the tiny, unseen sensors that connect our digital and physical worlds. They're in our phones, our cars, and even in the Tildagon badge you're holding. But how do these microscopic marvels actually work? In this talk, Harald Koenig of Bosch Sensortec will demystify MEMS technology. We’ll start with a hands-on example: the BMI270 Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) right here on the Tildagon. With the help of an enlarged 3D-printed model, we'll explore its mechanical design and see how you can use it to bring your own Tildagon projects to life. Then, we’ll transition from this single sensor to the bigger picture. Imagine giving this same sense of awareness to a machine. This is the new frontier in robotics. We'll explore how MEMS sensors are becoming the 'nervous system' for robots, enabling them to: • Grasp and Interact with the delicacy of a human hand. • Navigate and Position themselves with unmatched precision. • Stabilize their platforms on even the most challenging terrains. Join us for an impulse into how MEMS are not just sensing our world, but actively shaping the next wave of intelligent machines. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/131-sensing-our-world-from-your-badge-to-the-future-of-robotics

Why is the hacker scene so damn queer? (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:30:00 +0200

At the first glance sexuality doesn't have much to do with technology. But understanding the history and interlinking between both fields is helpful to understand both scenes better. As everything involving humans, things are a bit blurry, terms and concepts change and with these also the understanding. In philosophy there is a concept "hermeneutical circle" which means, you go around a subject from different perspectives and often end up where you started but in that process you learned more about the subject and have some better understanding of the broader topic. That is what I hope to achieve with this talk. In that regard I will try to show that there are good arguments why queer folks early on used the internet above average. I will also try to work out why queer folks designed tech in some specific way. And how these (early) developments become subject of scrutiny when nearly every human on earth (or in the orbit) is on the internet and big business basically has taken over the internet. How regulating the internet for a majority might harm some minorities. And help others. The development I see lately is rather paradox. I feel like queer people are slowly vanishing from the internet and tend to do more things offline then the average. Where the internet once was a safe space for queers it seems now the offline world might be that safe space nowadays. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/232-why-is-the-hacker-scene-so-damn-queer

Tell Stories. Save the World. (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:50:00 +0200

Stories shape the future. The stories we grow up with influence what we believe is possible, who we think we’re allowed to become, and what kind of world we imagine ourselves living in. But storytelling isn’t limited to books, films, or television. Every interface tells a story. Every layout nudges human behaviour. Every hack provokes a reaction. Everything we build changes the way people experience the world around them. This talk explores the hidden power of narrative in art, technology, design, and hacker culture. Drawing on everything from representation and role models to UX and science fiction, Kestral Gaian argues that everyone building anything is already basically Shakespeare. Because if stories shape what people believe is possible, then telling better ones might be one of the most powerful hacks we have. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/162-tell-stories-save-the-world

Two Hobbyists, a Hedgehog Rescue, and an Exciting Hedgehog Tracking Project (Project HEDGE) (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:20:00 +0200

What began as a simple curiosity about what happens to rehabilitated hedgehogs after release slowly evolved into a long-term wildlife tracking system built from homemade electronics, trial and error, and a surprising amount of night time garden surveillance. Using RFID tags, cameras, solar power, tiny computers, and increasingly ambitious homemade electronics, the project aims to track the movements and behaviour of rehabilitated hedgehogs after release. The long-term hope is to grow the system into an open-source citizen science platform that other wildlife groups, makers, and curious hackers could build, adapt, and expand themselves. Expect muddy field deployments, low-power electronics, strange bugs (both software and biological), unexpected toad visitors, occasional spider jump scares, questionable design decisions, and practical lessons learned while building technology that has to survive weather, wildlife, and volunteers armed with screwdrivers. The data collected is now helping support wider wildlife research and improve understanding of hedgehog rehabilitation and behaviour. Underneath all the electronics, the real goal is simple: gathering better data to help hedgehogs survive and thrive. Caution: this talk contains dangerously high levels of hedgehog cuteness, surprising wildlife stories, and a few simple ways people can help hedgehogs in their own gardens. If you enjoy scrappy engineering, open hardware, wildlife, or watching hobby projects escalate dramatically, this talk is for you. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/209-two-hobbyists-a-hedgehog-rescue

Behind the Curtain: Inside the Hidden Tech of Live Theatre and Events (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:30:00 +0200

What happens when the lights go out, the flames shoot up, and the performer flies over the audience? None of it is magic - it’s a remarkably deep stack of engineering, software, and controlled chaos, and almost none of it is visible to the audience. This talk pulls back the curtain on the technology powering professional theatre and live events - from West End productions to outdoor festivals. We’ll cover the full picture: how sACN and Art-Net carry hundreds of DMX universes from console to fixture; how show control systems tie lighting, audio, video, and automation together with sub-millisecond precision; how stage rigging and flying systems work (and what actually keeps performers safe in the air); how pyrotechnics are engineered for precise timing, reliable ignition, and zero-failure fault tolerance; and how modern video infrastructure - PTZ cameras, SDI, AV-over-IP - comes together live with no second takes. Along the way we’ll dig into the networking and software glue that holds it all together: AES67 audio-over-IP, timecode, OSC, MIDI show control, video-over-IP, and the eternal cursed nightmare of clock synchronisation. Whether you’ve wondered what’s actually in that rack at side of stage, or you want to understand how the world’s largest productions are really engineered, this talk is for you. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/53-behind-the-curtain-inside-the-hidden-tech-of-live-theatre

💚 Our Family's Electrotech Journey 🌞🏡🔌⛽️🚘️ (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:40:00 +0200

The story of how we went all electric, ditched fossil fuels, disconnected our gas supply and stopped burning stuff, and how you can too. Our experience of converting a ~100 year old semi-detached house to modern clean living, and electrifying other parts of our lifestyle, such as travelling without flying. Advice on switching to (and charging) electric vehicles, solar panels and home batteries, insulation, induction hobs and heat pumps. Mistakes made, lessons learned, what we'd do differently next time and how much it saves us. How to monitor, control and automate your low carbon tech with open energy monitor and home assistant. Tips for making things work together well and play nicely with each other. The perils of cloud integrations and vendors shutting down systems. Also covering self-built (and bought) air quality monitors for citizen science and environmental monitoring of the changes in air pollution. How to make projects such as Sensor Community and pull the data into your local home management system. Discover how to be greener, healthier, safer, more resilient/secure, spend less money and have fun geeking out on it along the way. Learn from our real-world experience in this electrifying talk. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/82-our-familys-electrotech-journey

A 3 million dollar question: how fast does a muon wobble? (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0200

The Muon g-2 experiment recently made the most precise measurement ever carried out with a particle accelerator: how fast muons "wobble" when put near a magnet. This measurement is so precise, it opened up gaps in our understanding of the universe, and was awarded the $3M Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2026. As one of the researchers involved, I'll explain what a muon is, how the experiment worked, what it told us, and how such an esoteric measurement went right to the heart of the Standard Model of Particle Physics and how the strange quantum universe really works. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/173-a-3-million-dollar-question-how-fast-does-a-muon-wobble

The Ship in a Bottle: Printing a Hermetically Sealed Sea Scooter in One Go (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 12:20:00 +0200

What happens when you combine 3D printing with the high-stakes world of marine engineering? You get a sea scooter that is born, not assembled. In this session, we explore the design and fabrication of a fully functional underwater vehicle featuring a unique constraint: a single-piece, hermetically sealed hull with zero holes. No drive shafts, no charging ports, and no external switches. This talk dives into the 500-hour journey of overcoming the physics of water pressure and the logistics of "mid-print assembly." We will discuss the engineering of a contactless magnetic gear drive system, the integration of inductive charging through a plastic hull, and the heart-stopping moment of dropping a fully powered drive system into a 3D printer mid-job. Most waterproof electronics rely on O-rings, gaskets, and seals—all of which are common points of failure. This project sought to eliminate those failures by creating a "monolithic" hull. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/54-the-ship-in-a-bottle

A Window into the Capsule: EVE Online's Politics of Betrayal (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 12:20:00 +0200

EVE Online is a 23-year-old space MMORPG famous for espionage, betrayal, million-dollar virtual battles, and being the galaxy's most elaborate Excel expansion pack. What does it take to become a political mover and shaker in this world? Over two decades inside EVE's cutthroat politics, I've gone from the frontlines to the CEO's chair, via counter-intelligence and alliance leadership. I'll unpack what drives the infamous metagame: friendships, alliances, diplomacy, and a shifting political landscape shaped by a community I've watched grow from an adversarial, macho culture into something far more willing to call out chauvinism and bigotry, even from its cultural figureheads and media personalities. My real life has shadowed my EVE one, and the game has rewarded me with hard-won skills as an engineer, leader, and now corporate decision-maker. The heartbreak of betrayal is real and ever present, yet I keep coming back, because something here makes the pain and the work worth it. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/306-a-window-into-the-capsule-eve-onlines-politics-of-betrayal

The Astronaut Protocol (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:40:00 +0200

Astronauts experience cognitive impairment, bone loss, muscle deterioration, depression, and continence challenges. Nobody calls it failure. Space stays aspirational on purpose. The language, the problem-solving, the refusal to accept the inevitable — these are deliberate choices made by mission teams who understood that how you frame a problem changes whether you can solve it. Dementia care never got that memo. The Astronaut Protocol draws on sixty years of space science to challenge our expectations of longevity, caring, and cognition. The same disciplines that underpin space exploration — neuroscience, physiology, psychology, human performance — inform how astronauts and their mission teams work the problem. When we do the same, something shifts — we start to see what's possible, draw on research evidence to make better decisions, and discover that astronauts and their mission teams might be the role models we never knew we needed. This talk is for the curious, the people who like to pull things apart and understand how they work, the problem-solvers — and anyone who has dementia on their radar. If you're looking for something constructive — not relentlessly positive, but genuinely practical — this is for you. There is rigorous science. There are stories you won't see coming. Dementia carries a gravity that space travel never had to. This talk is an invitation to put that gravity down — and look up. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/94-the-astronaut-protocol

I make things in schools, you can too (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:40:00 +0200

If you remember me from "I gave up investment banking to become a digital artist", you'll know that I've spent the last 17 years being an artist. Over that time I've worked in a lot of schools doing making activities: concrete relief casting in a nursery, constructing willow Fibonacci towers with secondary maths students, designing paper mushrooms in a primary, writing haiku about water, organising giant multi-school lantern parades. My experience is that young people are increasingly struggling with the confidence and basic skills to make. Primary schools are becoming art-free zones, with limited resources and teachers struggling with their own confidence. It sounds bleak, but the exciting news is that you can make a huge difference in a young person's life by getting involved. I'm going to talk about what's going wrong and how we all might fix it. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/280-i-make-things-in-schools-you-can-too

The guidebook to successful alien contact - lessons from fostering rescue dogs (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:50:00 +0200

What can fostering rescue dogs teach us about first contact with aliens? A lot. Through the stories of dogs, including brothers Percy and Alfie (think ‘Twins’ Schwarzenegger and DeVito levels of familial resemblance), we'll discover lessons that apply equally to dogs, cats, people, and extraterrestrial encounters. From building trust and creating safe spaces using Feng Shui, to understanding behaviours in their context, and realising when humans are the challenge. Guaranteed to include cute dog pictures (and the odd cat picture). Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/224-the-guidebook-to-successful-alien-contact

Take Better Pictures with SCIENCE! (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0200

They say that the best camera is the one you have with you, and while anyone can point and shoot a cell phone at something and walk away with a decent snapshot, to make a good image, a little knowledge of math and physics goes a long way. The problem is, words like "math" and "physics" can be just as intimidating to a creative as "art" is to someone with a more analytic approach to the world. Combine that with a discipline full of old white dudes who gatekeep photography by talking about megapixels and fast glass, and many people put down the idea of creating great photos and just settle for good enough images. But photography is for everyone! It is the marriage of art and science! In my talk, I'll briefly discuss how a camera sensor works and what the exposure triangle (aka "The Triangle of Doom") is, and then we'll get into the practical tips for using the science of light and a bit of art theory pulled from math (golden ratio, anyone?) to create kick ass images with any smart phone, point-and-shoot camera, smart glasses, or toy camera. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/90-take-better-pictures-with-science

Automated Game Hacking: Adding Procedural Generation to a Classic RPG (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0200

Ever wanted to replay your favorite game like it's the first time? We'll dive into the unique game design and balance challenges I encountered while building a randomizer for Final Fantasy I: Dawn of Souls. Game randomizers use procedural generation to automatically create a rom hack. I'll also break down how I reverse-engineered the game's scripting language to transform it into a true open-world adventure. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/100-automated-game-hacking

Teaching alt.ctrl and Learning playfulness (emf2026)

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:40:00 +0200

The field of Alternative Controllers offers a unique way of experiencing video-games. Although all the major console manufacturers have made ventures into this world (Playstation Move, Microsoft Kinect and Nintendo Wii) with relative success, the heart and soul of these type of games are much more alive in the weird and experimental creations of individual developers, hackers and artists. Teaching classes on Alternative Controllers has led me to a few of interesting insights, which I would like to share regarding how these games are created and why. Not the technology itself, as I’m sure most of the audience would know what an Arduino is, but rather the approach I have developed over the years (which includes a lot of cardboard, dumpster diving and flea markets), the importance of bringing the digital world we created into the physical world we inhabit and, perhaps most importantly, how these types of games are actually a celebration of our innate inner playfulness, which seems to me to be so critical to embrace in today’s world. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/99-teaching-alt-ctrl-and-learning-playfulness

What does a quantum computer actually do? (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 20:40:00 +0200

Inside a trapped-ion quantum computer, what really happens when you run a program? This talk follows a single calculation end-to-end. From ions being loaded and cooled in a trap, through a sequence of laser pulses that implement quantum gates, to the final measurement that produces a result. Along the way, we’ll unpack how qubits are physically realised in atomic states, and how carefully controlled interactions between light and atoms are used to answer the question we asked. Rather than treating the system as a black box or leaning on analogies, we’ll connect each step directly to what is happening in the hardware. The aim is to demystify the stack and build a concrete picture of how a trapped-ion quantum computer actually runs a calculation in practice. This talk grew out of my own attempt to understand the physics after joining a quantum computing startup as an electronic engineer with limited prior exposure to the field. It’s an effort to turn a vague, abstract topic into something tangible, by walking through it from beginning to end. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/42-what-does-a-quantum-computer-actually-do

Controlling Drones with Satellites (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:40:00 +0200

Ownership and usage of drones has skyrocketed over recent years, with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimating that 8% of people in the US own a drone (nearly 27 million people) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority stating that there are over 500,000 drones registered in the UK for commercial or recreational use. At the same time, satellite usage for all kinds of purposes has also increased drastically — most famously with the introduction of Starlink broadband services which has approximately 10 million users worldwide. Both of these have become hot topics within industry with all kinds of new start-ups, technologies, innovations, etc. being revealed constantly. So, what would happen if we mushed them together? In this talk I’ll explore the technical details of a number of existing satellite communication (SATCOM) systems, how these technical details play into controlling drones, the fundamental problems of controlling drones with satellites, and some potential solutions for these problems; ideally without making it out of the reach of those who aren’t as rich as Jeff Bezos! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/243-controlling-drones-with-satellites

North Korean agent looking for a job (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:40:00 +0200

Since COVID, there has been a surge in fraud as a result of remote work. And naturally, the DPRK wants to be in on it. When I opened up some remote roles a while ago I was flooded with thousands of applications, that looked somewhat similar. I then did what any cyber security professional would do: I did some deep digging into the operation. Uncovering greenscreen computer vision usage to pass identity verification Laptop mules on US soil Use of questionable VPNs and KVMs to control remote devices Exposing what they would do when they get access to your internal tools Why they do it and the degrees of damage they are willing to do. Exposing some never talked about before details about the investigation that resulted in 29 property searches, 5 arrests and imprisonments of enemies of the state. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/215-north-korean-agent-looking-for-a-job

Cursed Objects: making interactive horror props (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:20:00 +0200

How do you scare someone safely? How do you build terrifying interactions that are still inviting to try? We've been making novel interactive props using a wide array of technology, uncovering a design language for spooky interaction that has also highlighted how easy it is to make something unintentionally funny, or too difficult to understand, or too frightening to have a go, or too complex to build. It's a complex brief but has yielded a simple set of design questions and approaches that are valuable for any kind of making for audiences, putting the artist's intentionality at the centre of the making process. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/158-cursed-objects-making-interactive-horror-props

Lightning Talks (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:50:00 +0200

Who are the Hacky Racers? (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:20:00 +0200

Hacky Racers is a low cost DIY small electric vehicle racing series - www.hackyracers.co.uk We started in 2018 after some of our founders saw the Power Wheels Racers for Adults series in the US and thought we could do something similar in the UK. We’ll go through the basics of how to get started - from those stupid ideas, where to start to source your components along with the various construction/assembly options & techniques, along with our rogues photo gallery. We have a base set of build rules, including some basic safety items of which we can give a quick over view. The vehicle theme is down to your imagination (and/or stupid idea!) We attend any event that will have us around the country that has grass (and sometimes tarmac/concrete) that needs a make-shift track imprint leaving behind - Electromagnetic Field, Everything Electric, National Kit Car Show, Santa Pod drag strip to name but a few. We generally attend events in spring to autumn. Winter generally is the off season for building your next creation. Come and watch our non-contact Motorsport UK registered racing series (yes we don't believe those parts either) that will run throughout the 3 days of EMF on our track in front of Null Sector Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/212-who-are-the-hacky-racers

High-Power Rocketry on the Cheap (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:30:00 +0200

Rocketry is an expensive hobby. There are things you can do for cheap, but cutting costs too much can impact safety, or more importantly: fun. This is a guide for how you can have as much fun as possible, as safely as possible, without breaking the bank. I'll take you through my journey running an under-funded uni rocketry society, competing on <10% of the budget of our peers, and later how I continued with the hobby on my own. We'll touch on materials, manufacturing, makerspaces and more on our trip into the clouds; cross our fingers that our ejection charges and parachutes deploy at apogee; and venture into electronics both commercial and DIY to log our altitude and pop our main chute. Rocketry is an incredibly multifaceted hobby with so much to explore and such a great community. My hope for this talk is that I convince a few more makers to try it out by covering the breadth of the hobby in enough detail to make it approachable. Specific content includes: - What are the engineering challenges? - Material Science & Composites - Manufacturing methods - Recovery - Electronics, commercial and DIY - How you can get involved in the hobby Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/52-high-power-rocketry-on-the-cheap

Photographing lightning with a DIY lightning trigger (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:50:00 +0200

Last year I went on a storm chasing road trip, aiming to capture some photos of lightning. I had a DSLR camera, a microcontroller, some wires, a light sensor and some spare time. How hard could it be to make my own lightning trigger? And would it even work? A beginner-friendly guide to creating electronics with lightning-fast reaction times, and an excuse to share some holiday pics. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/41-photographing-lightning-with-a-diy-lightning-trigger

Reconstructing a 19th-Century Riverside Community with Historical GIS (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:30:00 +0200

I am a genealogist who uses maps and technology to explore how people lived. Historical GIS (HGIS) applies GIS tools to historical sources to understand how places and communities changed over time. In this presentation, I will show how I used HGIS to aid genealogical research by integrating QGIS with 1840 tithe maps, OS maps, OpenStreetMap data, and census records to trace households and buildings along a Hampshire riverside street from 1840 to 1921. The aim is to provide an overview of HGIS in genealogy, including aligning historical maps with modern coordinates, linking people to properties, and answering questions through a single spatial view. After creating the core map, I focused on linking people to specific properties over time. I imported a colour map scan into QGIS, traced buildings, and connected them to census records and parish registers. This involved addressing challenges such as name variants, multi-household properties, and short-term moves within the same area. I also encountered surprises and limitations, including the feasibility of reconstructing a census enumerator’s route in a close-knit community. Once mapped and interconnected, patterns emerged that are not immediately obvious from the documents alone. Properties such as inns and boatyards showed long-standing kinship ties among households, with related families moving between nearby buildings and maintaining connections over decades. I will share how integrating maps with records clarified who lived where, highlighted clusters of work and occupation, and gave a detailed view of how this riverside community evolved over time. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/87-reconstructing-a-19th-century-riverside-community

Tree Grafting in the Personality Disorder Wing (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:50:00 +0200

What happens when you put a therapeutic tree nursery inside a high-security prison? This talk covers the practicalities and surprises of setting up and running horticultural programmes in custodial settings, from negotiating with security to working alongside people with complex and often severe mental health conditions. We'll look at why plants and growing things seem to reach people that other interventions don't, what the evidence says about horticulture and behaviour change in the criminal justice system, and what it's actually like to spend your days doing something that feels faintly absurd and occasionally profound. No horticultural or clinical background required. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/92-tree-grafting-in-the-personality-disorder-wing

The Hidden Maths of Knitting (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0200

When someone mentions knitting, it’s unlikely that the first word to spring to mind is “mathematics”, but it turns out that fibre arts such as knitting and crochet have strands of mathematics woven into their very fabric. This talk is a journey through the history, geometry and topology of knitting. Learn how crochet allowed us to visualise complex mathematical surfaces long before they could be studied with 3D computer models. Discover the careful computations behind beautiful knitted creations. Find out how the same punchcard technology that programmed early computers and took humans to the moon had its origins in weaving and is still used today in modern domestic knitting machines. Warning: this talk may provoke a desire to own more knitting machines than you currently do. No prior experience of knitting or maths is necessary to enjoy this talk, and yet there will be new ideas for even the most mathematically inclined fibre artists present! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/84-the-hidden-maths-of-knitting

Marine Energy: Electronics overboard! (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:20:00 +0200

There's no shortage of power in the marine environment, but how do we turn it into something we can use? And how can we measure what's happening in this energetic environment when water and electronics generally shouldn't be mixed? A quick tour of wave and tidal power, and how we can measure the power available at sea - including some examples of how that works (or doesn't) in practice from prototype testing and research. Featuring specialised instrumentation with a hefty price tag, some rather more DIY Arduino and Raspberry Pi solutions - and reluctant use of a grappling hook. Examples drawn from work carried out while employed at Swansea University, with permission. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/150-marine-energy-electronics-overboard

The Orphan Source Incident (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:50:00 +0200

What is an orphan source? What was the orphan source incident in 2024? Why were we so worried? Were there any legal ramifications? What has happened since? Based on experience working in the nuclear industry, this talk will tell the story of the orphan sources, where they came from, why we were so concerned, what happened next, and why the best intentions sometimes lead to radiological incidents. No blame has been attached to anyone involved in the original incident, and aside from the original manufacturer and the regulators, nobody will be identified in the talk. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/46-the-orphan-source-incident

Internet of Baby - the privacy implications of a smart nursery. (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:40:00 +0200

IoT baby monitors, smart bassinets, connected toys, and AI-powered parenting apps promise peace of mind and convenience for tired parents of wee children. But behind the reassuring notifications and cutesy designs lies an ever expanding ecosystem of microphones, cameras, biometric sensors, cloud analytics, and behaviour profiling systems collecting data about children - before they even have started solids! This talk explores the privacy implications of modern baby IoT devices: what data is collected, where it goes, who profits from it. I will examine real-world breaches, insecure ecosystems, children's data gathering, and the consequences of normalising surveillance from infancy. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/220-internet-of-baby-the-privacy-implications-of-a-smart-nursery

Project CETI: How to Decode the Language of Other Species (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:40:00 +0200

Project CETI is an interdisciplinary research project that uses new techniques in data collection, analysis, and artificial intelligence to understand what sperm whales are saying to each other. The project includes researchers from multiple universities and institutions around the world, spanning disciplines across marine biology, robotics, cryptography, artificial intelligence, and more. This talk will give an overview of our aims and plans and highlight some of our most exciting breakthroughs - including identifying sperm whale 'vowels', and capturing the first ever audio/video recording of a sperm whale birth. We'll also discuss our approach to responsibility and ethics when it comes to use of technology to engage with other species. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/244-project-ceti-how-to-decode-the-language-of-other-species

Mountains, Rescues, and Risks (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0200

It's human nature to ignore or downplay risk until it actually happens - but how do you handle it in a high-consequence environment? How do you take a situation that has already been dangerous for one person and insert ten more safely? For some reason, groups of people worldwide volunteer to do backcountry rescue - in mountains, canyons, deserts, and more. In these hostile environments, ignoring risk isn't an option; so how do we manage it, embrace it, and work with it? What does it take to turn a dangerous situation into a safer one, and what does this share with other fields where life-safety is a critical feature? How is technology both helping and hindering us? Join us for an overview of mountain rescue, mission successes, near-misses, successful failures, and why exactly a bunch of mostly-competent idiots give up a lot of their free time to pull people out of nasty situations. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/211-mountains-rescues-and-risks

Middle Rage - Social Media and the War on Democracy (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:40:00 +0200

What happens when the people we think of as “having it all sorted” start being quietly pulled towards extremism online? This talk from the SMIDGE project shines a light on an often-overlooked group: the middle aged. This includes some of the most powerful people in the world CEOs, influencers and politicians. For most however, middle-age looks very different: juggling jobs, children, ageing parents, mortgages, and a constant stream of news, advice, and opinions online. Far from being “sorted,” this stage of life is full of pressures including health worries, financial strain, and caring responsibilities. So, when something appears online that promises a clear explanation, a simple answer, or someone to blame, it can be hard not to pay attention. The problem is that the systems shaping what we see are not designed to inform us but are designed to keep us engaged. AI-driven content is becoming more convincing by the day, blurring the line between what is real and what is not. What starts as an innocent search for diet tips or money advice can lead down a path towards more extreme, emotionally charged content. Not suddenly, but step by step. This talk explores why the “invisible middle” matters both as a group vulnerable to misinformation, and as one with real influence over how ideas spread. Because if we want to understand radicalisation today, we cannot afford to ignore the middle aged. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/129-middle-rage-social-media-and-the-war-on-democracy

SMolSTM: an open hardware scanning tunnelling microscope for creating single-molecule circuits (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:20:00 +0200

As the energy consumed by datacentres grows, finding energy-efficient alternatives to conventional electronics becomes increasingly urgent. Molecular electronics offers a different idea of what a device can be: using synthetic chemistry, custom molecules can be designed for specific applications, utilising fascinating nanoscale phenomena such as quantum interference. These single-molecule devices can “self-assemble” into larger structures for energy-efficient sensing, memory, and computation. The nanostructured nature of single molecules offers endless possibilities, and difficulties: wiring molecules into circuits requires sub-nanometer (< 0.000000001 m!!!) precision. The scanning tunnelling microscope (STM), which explores surfaces at the atomic scale using quantum tunnelling, could become the multimeter of molecular electronics, but commercial STMs are extremely expensive and not optimised for these experiments. This talk describes the development of an open-hardware STM for single-molecule “break-junction” experiments (SMolSTM). The design was developed over several years, from a prototype built in a shed during the COVID-19 pandemic to a precision instrument currently in use in a state-of-the-art low noise research facility. This STM is orders of magnitude less expensive than commercial alternatives and can be made using hand tools and 3D printing, yet achieves exceptional performance in single-molecule experiments. The flexibility of open hardware allows experiments which are impossible on existing systems. This talk will introduce molecular electronics, outline a multi-year journey in DIY STM development, and describe some experiments using SMolSTM (e.g. measuring the resistance of a single gold atom!). This work was conducted in part at Lancaster University as part of an EPSRC funded research project. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/219-smolstm-an-open-hardware-scanning-tunnelling-microscope

Sonus ex nihilo (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:20:00 +0200

Join me on an audible journey through the history of electronic audio synthesizers. You'll learn how popular analog synths from the 1970s operate, how to change the sounds they make, as well as how the accidental discovery of FM synthesis in 1967 changed the sound of the 1980s. We'll cover oscillators, filters, resonance, and how recent chip decapping and reverse engineering efforts revealed the long-hidden tricks of clever Japanese engineers. Everything will be explained from (more or less) first principles, with live audio demos throughout to help illustrate concepts: no electronics, DSP, or music background required. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/71-sonus-ex-nihilo

An Appreciation of Ecological Sanitation (or Turds for Nerds) (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:10:00 +0200

Our modern sewage system relies on vast amounts of water and this causes huge problems. Perhaps the greatest being that the anaerobic microbes that break down human waste in water are inefficient, produce greenhouse gases, and then waste ends up in the rivers and seas producing algal blooms and foul smells. Whereas their descendants on land (aerobic microbes) are extremely efficient and only produce CO2, H2O and organic matter. So what went wrong? I will describe the history of the modern sewage system and how it broke the natural nutrient cycle, causing pollution, health problems and costing a lot of public money, and then conclude with the maths, chemistry and biology of a micro self-sustaining aerobic sewage system on a houseboat. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/73-an-appreciation-of-ecological-sanitation-or-turds-for-nerds

The Hassle Hurdle: a philosophy to hack ADHD (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:10:00 +0200

Eight years ago a 5 second bit in a YouTube video led me to develop a generalised philosophy on how to design coping mechanisms for my ADHD: The Hassle Hurdle. Ever since then I've been continuously using and improving the philosophy to manage the symptoms of my ADHD, and my quality of life in general. In the talk I'll introduce the three rules of the philosophy, how they came about, and suggest ways of implementing them. The talk will then cover some common lessons and pitfalls that I've discovered along the way, before finishing with some recommendations of practical tools, software-based tools and finally some 'Oh no I'm too good at computers and can bypass any distraction blocking software I try' tools. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/236-the-hassle-hurdle-a-philosophy-to-hack-adhd

Hacking APRS to warm my camper van whilst I’m still in the pub (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:50:00 +0200

This brief talk will describe a personal remote-control protocol that can be run over APRS and potentially other similar location messaging protocols. APRS is an amateur VHF/UHF ad-hoc, wide area, resilient digital mesh network relaying position information. Amateur APRS networks operate using AX25 packet radio at 144 & 432MHz and can have a similar range per node to UHF LoRa and Meshtastic networks. I designed this protocol to remotely operate appliances in my house or my van, all within the terms of the amateur licence, without the use of public cellular networking or Internet WiFi nodes. My requirement was for a cheap off-the-shelf means to relay data two ways from inside a pub to my camper van 2-3 miles distant. The talk will include a description of the overlay protocol and its implementation using a Raspberry Pi Zero and a cheap Baofeng handy talkie (HT). I will explain how a couple of simple Bash scripts running over Direwolf on the Pi translate my adapted APRS messages and then are used to control a wide range of electrical appliances. The talk includes a demonstration of remote control of a couple of units in my van which is located some distance away. The talk will focus on APRS, and a theoretical and practical comparison will be made between APRS running over conventional AFSK and over LoRa. Other options including Meshtastic on the licence free and other frequencies will be covered. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/156-hacking-aprs-to-warm-my-camper-van-whilst-i-m-still-in-the

Boiling A Frog: Science & Ethics as TTRPG (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0200

Ethics: a necessary reign or a hindrance to scientific progress? An apocryphal story describes how if one drops a frog into boiling water, it will jump out. However, if the frog is dropped into warm water which is then slowly heated, it will boil to death. In science, leaving the lukewarm water means abandoning research that could lead to groundbreaking discoveries -- but when is the water too hot? How do we know that things are heading in an unsavory direction, and is it in our power to do anything about it? Join us to explore the ethics of science in a lively discussion, fueled by scenarios from a new science ethics TTRPG in development by our team at the University of Cambridge. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/125-boiling-a-frog-science-ethics-as-ttrpg

Rotundest Robin: Building a Smart Bird Feeder That Weighs Songbirds (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0200

How do you answer a question like "Is the particularly round Robin that visits my bird feeder huge or just fluffy?". This talk documents my attempt to answer this question by building a smart bird feeder that tracks the weight of visiting birds, which in combination with a custom computer vision model and a night vision web cam, helped me build a data set of all the visitors to my bird feeder. Come along for Python, micro electronics with the Raspberry Pi, machine learning, and a slow pigeon inspired descent into madness. And of course the answer to the ultimate question, how heavy is this robin? Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/147-rotundest-robin

Opening Ceremony (emf2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0200

The ceremony in which we open the festival. Hello! Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/278-opening-ceremony

Apollo 11 - Q&A With Stephen Slater and Helen O'Hara (emf2026)

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 21:30:00 +0200

Immediately following our screening of Apollo 11, Stephen Slater will be joined on-stage by Empire Magazine's Helen O'Hara to discuss the making of the film. Stephen worked as Archive Producer on Apollo 11 and is one of the world's leading NASA archivists. A chance to hear about the finding of never-seen-before footage and audio that was painstakingly catalogued and restored for inclusion on the film. You will also have your chance to submit questions to Stephen in advance. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ about this event: https://www.emfcamp.org/schedule/2026/364-apollo-11-q-a-with-stephen-slater-and-helen-ohara