Bangalore to host world’s biggest science festival

The widely celebrated Edinburgh International Science Festival will be on from August 30 to September 8 at Bhartiya City.

You may not be a surgeon, or a perfumer, or even a scientist; but here’s a chance to play one and have a gala time while you are at it. Come August 30, and the world’s largest science festival—Edinburgh International Science Festival (EISF)—will be in town.

For the first time, this well-known science event will be held India in the form of EISF-India. Bangalore is hosting the EISF-India at Bhartiya City near Hebbal and the event will go on till September 8.

According to the website www.sciencefestival.co.uk, which has details on the ESIF-India, the crowd pullers at the show are expected to be the four engaging workshops—ER (Evergreen Room) Surgery, Splat-tastic, Pongy Potions and World of Bubbles—which promise to keep people of all ages, especially children, engrossed with almost real-life situations in the science and medical world.

In the ER Surgery, visitors can actually go through all the steps of performing an emergency surgery in a simulated conditions on a ‘patient’ and actual surgeons will provide details on how to go about it.

Splat-tastic will lure you to experiments involving the generation of slimes and learn about polymers, and also test the viscosity of your slimy creations on a ‘splat-o-meter’; while Pongy Potions will transform you into a chemist who can actually produce, say, perfumes on the go using a fair amount of chemistry.

Children may get a real kick out of Bubble Magic, which involves creating various interesting shapes out of bubbles ranging from the tiniest of them to unbelievably huge ones.

Over the past 25 years, the festival has been making science fun, exciting and engaging for young minds, EISF and Bhartiya City officials said.

They have planned an array of interactive workshops, live shows and exhibits, besides a science circus, an international nature photo exhibition, forensic science experiments, illusion room, smoke bonanza and lego robosports, which will keep people belonging to all age groups enthralled.

Eight of EISF’s specially trained science communicators will travel to Bangalore to deliver the workshops and train the local teams ahead of the event.

EISF–India is being presented jointly with Bhartiya City, in association with Art Konnect and MyCity4Kids, and is being supported by the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund.

According to EISF, the Bangalore event could be a starting point to create and develop more science festivals across the country over the next five years.

Simon Gage, director and CEO, EISF, said: “This festival is a bold first step in our plans to present more work in India and to bring our science festival to a nation that is currently making incredible advances in science and technology.”

Snehdeep Aggarwal, founder-chairman, Bhartiya City, said: “It (EISF’s foray into India) will engage our youth and spark their curiosity in science and technology.”

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Bangalore> Report / by DNA Correspondent / Place: Bangalore, Agency: DNA / Friday, August 09th, 2013

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