Popular Lectures in December

This month’s Popular Lectures series hosted by Popular Mechanics magazine will be held at 7:30 pm on Dec. 3, 10 and 17 at the 35MM movie theater at 47 Pokrovka Street in Moscow.

On Dec. 3, behavioral economist Oleg Klepikov will present the lecture “Examples of Sensory Branding.” What is sensory branding? How does it work? Why do most people who switch from Mac to PC computers experience difficulties? Why did the creators of Windows 8 admit failure? Which mistakes did Apple make when it released its iPhone 5? How do different fonts increase sales, and how does musical sensory branding “work” in the Moscow metro system?

On Dec. 10, psychologist Sergei Mats will explain how well the human defense mechanism protects us from day-to-day problems. Who teaches us to cope with life’s challenges, and under which conditions? Do some people’s mental properties make it easier for them to cope with life? Consciousness and unconsciousness — cooperation or competition? Why do some people look for “the purpose of life” and is it even possible to find?

On Dec. 17, astronomer Sergei Popov shares his list of the most important astrophysics discoveries of 2013. How did astronomers discover the smallest planet in our solar system — a celestial body with a radius smaller than Mercury? What is the meaning of mysterious flare-ups appearing in different bandwidths? How many extremely powerful supernovae were found this year? Which enigmas were discovered in the data from the Planck satellite?

Tickets cost 350 rubles and can be purchased at the movie theater or online at the kino35mm.ru and popmech.ru websites.