Bigger bangs and squishier squelches at Science Festival

Kicking off the first week, on Monday 9 March, Cambridge Science Centre opens its exhibition, Extreme engineering. Kids and adults alike will be able to build and test their engineering ideas, get hands-on and build towers, find out how engines work and discover the secrets of circuits.

The first Science on Saturday, 14 March, is the busiest day of the Festival with close to 100 events taking place across the city. The Science Festival returns to the Corn Exchange, following last year’s roaring success. Across the city, there are a huge range of talks, exhibitions and demonstrations to choose from, including the chance to make a solar-powered car; hands-on biology, which involves identifying creepy crawlies; looking at your own cells under a microscope; and bottling your own genes.

Over at the Guildhall, Anglia Ruskin University are presenting more events to tantalise any budding scientist; discover the amazing tricks the brain plays with the eyes by journeying through a gallery of optical illusions; balance testing; discover how clean your hands are; and light up your blood with infrared light.

In addition, Airbus Defence and Space will be exhibiting a working Mars rover prototype called Bruno. It will move around on a simulated Martian surface – with members of the ExoMars rover team on hand. ExoMars is the European Space Agency’s (ESA) flagship mission to the Red Planet due to launch in 2018. The entire Mars rover will be manufactured and integrated in Stevenage UK. Also on display will be a model of the Gaia spacecraft observatory. Gaia is an ESA mission launched in December 2013 and is currently cataloguing a billion stars to create a 3D map of the Milky Way.

Throughout the day, a huge favourite with children and families, Dr Peter Wothers, the Modern Alchemist, returns for his action-packed demonstration, The chemistry of Light. Due to popular demand, Dr Wothers will also be repeating the demonstrations on Sunday 15 and Monday 16 March.

At the New Museums site, CHaOs and Crash, Bang, Squelch will provide a range of tantalising demonstrations, including vacuum bazookas and custard fireballs, when plants fight back, discover what the Universe is made of, and a plethora of weird and wonderful science that will have children spellbound.

The Grafton Centre will also see some of the family action. Science Buskers from the British Science Association Cambridgeshire branch will be helping members of the public to make their own cell model.

The Scott Polar Institute opens its doors for a family day, Look into the Polar light. The day is brought to the public by the British Antarctic Survey, Polar Museum and the Museum of Zoology. Those visiting the Institute will be able to learn how the Northern Lights work, why birds migrate with the light, and how plants in the ocean store up a greenhouse gas. Real animal specimens from the Zoology Museum will be available to touch and visitors will be able to find out what changes occur in polar region animals as the light changes with the seasons.

The first Science on Sunday will see the doors of the Corn Exchange and Guildhall reopen from 11am for more family-friendly science. There are a series of wonderful talks for families at Lady Mitchell Hall, including a talk on what happens to your body when you push it somewhere it’s not built to go, ie Everest. Madingley Hall is also getting involved and will be hosting the event Springwatch Madingley, which involves a tour of the Madingley Hall grounds to see some of the plants and animals that call Madingley their home.

The second Science on Saturday is at the West Cambridge Site. The Institute of Astronomy, Centre for Mathematical Science, Cavendish Laboratory, Institute for Manufacturing and various departments all open their doors for an entire day of non-stop science demos, talks and exhibitions. Highlights on 21 March include the Schools Zone, a range of exciting demonstrations from our next generation of scientists and engineers; an interactive talk, Ten things you didn’t know about icecream, visitors will discover why icecream is not just a cool dessert; hands-on physics; more from CHaOS; and an open afternoon at the Institute of Astronomy to get those young minds marvelling at the stars, planets and the Universe.

The Institute of Manufacturing is always a popular venue with a range of games, demos , talks and hands-on activities, such as laser lab tours, and the opportunity to make laser etched metal ID cards and a watch from scratch.

Back in the city centre, the Cambridge University Library will be hosting an event that investigates The final frontier of fiction: space exploration in popular literature. This promises to be an engaging display of science fiction books and magazines from the University Library's vast collections. Visitors will be able to explore how the fears and fantasy of space travel have fuelled the imagination of writers throughout the 20th Century and beyond.

For the second Science on Sunday, and the final day of the Science Festival, Cambridge Biomedical Campus will be holding a day bursting with all things medical. Visitors will be able to learn about the wondrous way of cells and what can go wrong; try their hand at simulated surgery; enjoy climbing into a ginormous nose, learn why and how we make snot; walk through a giant inflatable colon; and see a demo of the da Vinci robot, which takes surgery beyond the limits of the human hand.

Dr Lucinda Spokes, Cambridge Science Festival Coordinator said: “There are just so many fantastic events for children and families to enjoy this year. I’m really looking forward to my own children are coming along. They’re already getting excited!

“Our aim is to enthral and hopefully get a whole new generation interested in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine.”

For further information about the Cambridge Science Festival or to browse the full range of events, please visit: www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk

Other news stories: www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/news

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