Cafe Scientifique is a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to have a conversation about the latest ideas in science & technology.
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The Minories
The Minories
74 High Street, Colchester, CO1UE
Admission: SOLD OUT
Please Note: - For the first time since starting in 2010 we will have to ask for a donation of £1 per person, payable in cash at the entrance, to cover our speaker's travelling costs.
Doors Open: at 6:30pm for 7pm start
Capacity: is limited
Contact: Bob Kemp or John Ratford
We monitor air quality in order to reduce the spread of flu and other airborne infections. The café doesn't have air conditioning, so some windows and doors may need to be kept partially open to ensure a sufficient supply of fresh air.
14th October 2026
The Common Cold:
30,000 Years of the Sniffles
Speaker: Dr. David Miles
Everybody knows what a cold feels like: miserable. The first cold virus was detected in a milk tooth shed over 30,000 years ago and ever since, the common cold has been a bane. Yet while sore throats and blocked noses are annoyingly familiar, the processes that lead to them are not widely known and often misunderstood. Processes like the misdirected immune response that makes us ill with a cold instead of protecting us from illness. Like the way heating a building enhances cold virus transmission. Like the way that most cold viruses can only exist at all thanks to the society we’ve built over the last few millennia.
And, most importantly, what we can do about them.
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This is a welcome return for David Miles, who spoke to us in May '25 about 'Influenza, 'From the Spanish Lady to the Winter Sniffle'.
David is an infectious disease immunologist who spent ten years researching immunity to infections and the vaccinations that protect against them in various parts of Africa. He now lives in London and teaches on the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s online postgraduate course.
His first popular science book, How Vaccines Work, was published in March 2023 and his second, Sneeze: The History and Science of the Common Cold, will be published in March 2026.
FULL HOUSE
We do operate a waiting list should cancelled tickets become available. To be added to the list contact: - Bob Kemp
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