Comedian Dara Ó Briain with Ellie Mc Aleer and Dara Gill at the National Botanic Gardens. The gardens will host a Free Leaf Watch-Family Phenology Trail as part of the Dublin City Science in the City festival
A fusion of 60 events will be taking place in Dublin City over the next 10 days for adults and kids alike to learn all about science through creative mediums such as film, comedy, and theatre, as well as live experiments. The aim of Science in the City is also to help inspire the next generation of scientists in Ireland, according to the Government’s chief scientific adviser Prof Patrick Cunningham.
Science in the City is taking place from today until 15 July to celebrate Dublin hosting Europe’s largest science event, the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF), this month. ESOF is part of Dublin’s year-long tenure as the European City of Science.
As well as this, there will be experts in the scientific space giving talks, including the scientist Dr J Craig Venter, who is renowned for his contributions to genomic research.
Venter will be giving a talk entitled ‘What is Life? – A 21st Century Perspective’, drawing upon the discovery of the structure of DNA.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden and scientist Dr Eric Karsenti will also be hosting talks, to give young people insights into their work during an event called Mini-ESOF: From the Stars to the Sea.
If you fancy a mixture of comedy and science, comedian Dara Ó Briain will be presenting a lunchtime event at Trinity College Dublin called the Age of Reason: How Logic Can Save Us … Again. Along with a panel of speakers, Ó Briain will be taking a humorous journey through logic, reason and scientific thinking to see how humans solved problems in bygone days.
As for film, the IFI will be hosting a Family Festival to explore the science and technology of music, sound, filmmaking and animation.
And Science Gallery will be holding a day-long community event, the Dublin Mini Maker Faire, on Saturday, 14 July, where creatives will be showcasing their work.
For kids, the science museum Imaginosity will be hosting ‘Big Science Weekends’ to explore areas such as how we breathe and how our bodies fight infection. There will also be a chance for children to carry out fun experiments.
“The Science in the City Festival celebrates where creativity and great science meets. We hope that it will show the relevance of science to our everyday lives and inspire the next generation of scientists in Ireland,” said Cunningham, who is also leading advocate for ESOF 2012.
