• University of Edinburgh professor wins Brain Prize
  • Edinburgh Airport celebrates 100th birthday
  • TedXPortobello
  • Scottish Government on future tax reforms
  • Ballet with a carpet

Professor Richard Morris has been awarded the €1m euro Brain Prize with fellow neuroscientists Tim Bliss and Graham Collingridge.

The neuroscientist works on projects to understand the mechanisms of memory and the mechanisms which hold our ability to learn and remember together.

Photo ©
Photo © Neil Hanna

The discoveries the trio have made may help understand conditions such as autism, schizophrenia, depression, chronic pain, epilepsy and addiction.

Richard Morris, professor of neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh: “I am naturally honoured to receive a share of this prize.  It has all been made possible through the longstanding support of the Medical Research Council, superb facilities in a fine University, great colleagues in the lab at the Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems and in Edinburgh Neuroscience, who together constitute one of the finest neuroscience communities in the world”.

Edinburgh Airport is 100 years old this year. They are planning to celebrate with limited edition giveaways and competitions for local school children.

On 2 March 2016  the airport began as Royal Flying Corps Turnhouse. It was a major military base for the rest of WWI.

British Airports Authority took over ownership on 1 April 1971 when the terminal building began to be redeveloped. The Turnhouse Road building designed by Sir Robert Matthew was opened by Her Majesty the Queen on 27 May 1977.

The new building has been a spur to growth and in 2015 Edinburgh Airport dealt with 11.1 million passengers.

Gordon Dewar, Edinburgh Airport’s Chief Executive, said: “How time flies when you’re having fun! Today is a landmark date as we set out our plans in the months ahead to celebrate 100 years of air travel at Edinburgh Airport.

“Although clearly focused on delivering future growth at Edinburgh Airport we have a rich and long history here, and we aim to involve as many people as possible in celebrating this great centenary story.

“We will be planning a series of events including parties, limited edition giveaways and competitions to come in the months ahead.

“Our passengers and adults and kids in the local community will be invited to get involved as we offer limited edition giveaways, host competitions and hold a major party to come in the months ahead.”

Doing anything on Sunday 15 May 2016? Perhaps you would like to go along to a TedX event in Portobello?

The organisers explain: “TEDxPortobello is coming back for its second year on Sunday, 15 May, 2016. TEDxPortobello will open up the stage for eight speakers from a range of different disciplines to share their big ideas worth spreading around the theme FIND US HERE. We had a very successful first year, selling out in under 4 minutes and reaching over 400 people through live streaming and engaging with thousands more through social media. We are excited to once again create a platform and build community around the stories, experience, and knowledge that exist in our neighbourhood and beyond.

“TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events licensed by TED – an international platform that believes in the spirit of ideas worth spreading. TED provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized. You can read more here: www.tedx.com.”

The First Minister is taking advantage of the last few weeks of this government by getting as many messages out as possible.

2015_04_20 SNP Manifesto Launch-17Later today she will visit Lasswade High School Centre to set out in detail how the Scottish Government will enact more local tax reforms following recommendations from the cross-party Commission.

The council tax will remain frozen for 2016-17, but the First Minister is expected to announce some immediate reforms and longer term changes. One of these will be to incentivise local government to boost economic growth by assigning them a share of income tax revenues.

Speaking ahead of the event, the First Minister said:

“Over nine years, the council tax freeze put in place by this Government has helped to keep bills affordable during difficult economic times while ensuring councils are properly funded to provide public services.

“When I established the cross-party Commission on Local Tax Reform in 2015 I wanted to ensure that our commitment to fully understand the impact of taxation on Scottish communities was fulfilled.

“I will outline our proposals for the future of local taxation which build on the findings of the Commission’s report.”

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We met Linder who created this beautiful rug shown below during the Press View at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art where it is currently on display. Although she would not let us interview her directly we found out that the rug had been created to take a role in an upcoming ballet. Click on the image below for ticket details for the single performance.

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.