Yesterday saw the start of Science Week 2012 when more than 5,000 people converged at the Institute of Technology Sligo for its annual science fair. This week, more than 600 events will be happening around Ireland to show how science plays a role in our everyday lives.
Science Week itself is run by Discover Science & Engineering, a Government initiative that’s managed by Science Foundation Ireland to promote more interest from both students and the general public in the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.
The theme of this year’s Science Week is ‘everyday experimenting’ and colleges, museums, schools, libraries and researchers will be hosting events between now and 18 November.
Highlight events this week will include a careers event focused on the gaming sector that will take place at Dublin Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 2, tomorrow. The event is targeted at students who are interested in learning more about careers in gaming. Speakers will include Conor Winders, founder of Redwind Software, and Jen Carey, who is studying programming at Carlow Institute of Technology.
For those with an interest in astronomy and space, astronaut Paolo Nespoli, who works with the European Space Agency, will be giving a free lecture in The Little Museum of Dublin on Saturday, 17 November. Nespoli has been in space twice, first in 2007 aboard the space shuttle Discovery, and again in 2010 during a spaceflight to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft.
Limerick comedy duo The Rubberbandits are also getting in on Science Week, and have created their own video guides to physics and chemistry. Here’s a taste of their chemistry guide, which features TCD’s Prof Luke O’Neill:
Lile Hensey holds a barn owl, from the ‘Eagles Flying’ exhibit at the annual science fair at the Institute of Technology Sligo, yesterday
