Snakes in shopping centres, dancing bees, forensic fingerprinting, and live music and mathematics are among the events bringing science out of the laboratory for National Science Week in Canberra.
National Science Week, Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology, is underway until 23 August, with more than 2,000 events being held around the country.
The ACT program includes films, talks, workshops, encounters with wildlife, and hands-on activities for children and adults, ranging from astronomy and biodiversity to computer programming.
Brook Clinton, Inspiring Australia ACT program manager, said the breadth of this year’s program was one of its strengths.
“Science is in everything. We’ve got ways to go in convincing people of that, but when you think about it, anything that you enjoy in your daily life or in your hobbies does have a scientific basis, whether that’s the science of gardening or the science of pigments, paint, and music.”
Events on Tuesday include a screening of The Platypus Guardian at the National Film and Sound Archive, followed by a Q&A with Tasmanian wildlife advocate Pete Walsh about urban platypus conservation, and an ANU public lecture about the mathematics and physics behind music, accompanied by live instruments.
On Thursday, an ANU workshop will use Microsoft Excel to show how mathematics underpins image filters and is used to analyse satellite imagery and manage bushfires.
On Friday, ANU will hold its public Three Minute Thesis event, where researchers and students have three minutes, one image, and no jargon to explain their work to the public and why it matters. The audience can vote to save or eliminate a presenter.
“If you’ve always wondered what sort of research goes on at ANU, you can come and hear short three-minute snippets and get across some of the fantastic science that’s happening,” Ms Clinton said.
On the weekend, Science in the Centres will bring researchers, wildlife and hands-on activities into shopping centres.
On Saturday, visitors can meet native reptiles at Marketplace Gungahlin; discover rocket launching and space rocks at South.Point Tuggeranong; meet exotic invertebrates, reptiles, and squirrel gliders at Majura Park Shopping Centre; and build and program robots at the Canberra Centre.
On Sunday, the Canberra Reptile Zoo comes to the Canberra Centre, and there are more wildlife encounters at South.Point Tuggeranong. A science scavenger hunt at Canberra Centre gives participants the chance to win tickets to Questacon.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the Australian Federal Police will be at Questacon, teaching visitors how to match fingerprints, decipher hidden messages, and try forensic science activities. Police vehicles will also be on display. Buzzz ACT, an inclusive dance and science performance about bees, will also be staged at Gorman Arts Centre on Saturday.
On Sunday, ANU researchers will invite participants to examine insect specimens under microscopes and help identify and sort them. The NFSA will screen The Dish, followed by a Q&A with radio astronomer Mark Price, who worked at the Parkes Radio Telescope during the Apollo 11 moon landing. The Space Faring Civilisation Film Festival at Dendy will show science-themed movies from around the world.
Ms Clinton said organisers hoped to reach people who were curious about science, from youngsters wondering about a career to retirees who never studied science and wanted to learn something new.
“I would love these events to reach people that already do appreciate science, but they’re not sure if they’re personally involved in science,” Ms Clinton said.
“I hope that they have a renewed sense of wonder in the natural world, whether that be the soil, the plants and the seeds around us, or whether it be the universe, space, and what you can see at the end of a telescope.
“That’s really the starting point for all of these wonderful things. That sense of wonder starts within us.”
