George Stephenson (inventor of the steam locomotive) talks robots

Me and George Stephenson (credit: Elfy Chiang)

In starting my MSc Science Communication at Imperial College I didn't know quite what to expect. And when confronted by essays and critical analysis of articles, I was completely out of my depth. Thankfully, amongst the philosophy of science essays and semiotics there is a large amount of fun!
Our core practical involves making a TV interview and radio clip about a certain aspect of science. Our group got the surprisingly difficult task of explaining Artificial Intelligence.

 This week my core practical group and I (thanks guys!) went out with portable radio equipment to interview the public in the Science Museum. We asked them what they would like robots to be able to do for them ('housework' was the most popular answer) and in the process encountered a strange figure.

Dressed in a top-hat, tails and with mutton-chops to rival Wolverine, he looked like he'd stepped straight out of the 1800's. Turn's out, he had! It was George Stephenson speaking to us from 1840, desperate to share his knowledge of  the first steam locomotive, The Rocket. Listen to what he had to say here:

Much love to the rest of my core practical group who I did this with.