We need you!

We are seeking volunteers to help during the Festival (24 Oct - 1 Nov) and at the Schools' Programme. Interested? More info about what opportunities are available, what to expect and how to register can be found on our volunteer pages.

Trafford Centre next week... and not for shopping!

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week we're taking science to masses at the Trafford Centre. Noisy toys will be there on Monday and Tuesday (apparently caused quite stir amongst the restaurants last year due to the noise!) and our famous science buskers will be wowing with their demos and tricks on Wednesday.

Pop along and see us at the Bandstand (next to the cinema) if you're heading that way to shop or catch a movie, or make a special visit to see us. Lots to do for kids, families and adults.

Monday 24 - Wednesday 26 August, 11am - 4pm at the Bandstand.

MSF moon and nature trailablazers coming up

We're continuing our series of summer trailblazers and we have two coming up in the next month...

Moon @ Conrnerhouse

We're taking part in the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Moon Landings. Francis French, author of In the shadow of the moon, will be giving a talk at the Museum of Science and Industry on Sunday. Later that evening, as a Manchester Science Festival trailblazer, Francis will be introducing a screening of the new film Moon, starting Sam Rockwell, at the Cornerhouse.

Venue: Cornerhouse
Sunday 26 July, 6.25pm

Tickets are available from the Cornerhouse for £7.00. Concessionary rates are available. The film is certificate 15.

Next up we're celebrating everything nature and Darwin related...

Big Saturday - Nature discovery day

A day of exploration and adventure! Visit the new Nature Discovery exploration area for younger children and their families; explore and create a giant cave and discover the many animals and plants that live there; recreate Charles Darwin's voyage to the Galapagos islands and encounter some of the animals, sealife and birds Darwin saw; learn about the local ecology outside the Museum; meet experts from the Museum and The University of Manchester; listen to storytelling or watch a family friendly film screening. Part of The Evolutionist Darwin extravaganza at The Manchester Museum.

You will also be able to go on a Darwin related walk brought to you by the Manchester Science Festival and Manchester Tourguides.

Venue: Manchester Museum
Saturday 8 August, 11am-4pm

Most activities are free and drop-in. Some activities may need to be booked on the day and may cost up to £1.50. All ages

This event is sponsored by the British Ecological Society and is part of Manchester Science Festival series of trailblazers.

Moon landing anniversary celebrations

This week, unless you've had your head buried under the sand, you will probably know that today is the 40th anniversary of the first moon landings. To celebrate this loads of events and projects have been popping up all over the place... Jodrell Bank have been running a really interesting Moon Bounce competition - what would you have said if you had been the first person ever to land on the moon? They sent messages through their Lovell space telescope to the moon, so they would bounce of the surface and return again to Earth. Just brilliant. I would have probably said... "oh, it's not made of cheese then".

The Museum of Science and Industry have and are running a week of activities with talks Moon 40: History or Hoax running tomorrow, looking at the evidence behind the moon landings and some of the conspiracy theories behind this huge achievement. Author Francis French will be giving a talk and book signing about his book In the Shadow of the Moon on Sunday, detailing his first hand account of interviewing the first men on the moon.

Moon celebrations - Festival trailblazer

After this talk at MOSI, Francis French will be heading to the Cornerhouse to introduce a screening of the new film Moon, staring Sam Rockwell. This sci-fi film follows Sam, who is alone, working, on the moon. Strange things start to happen after an accident and the story unfolds. Film critic Mark Kermode is excited about this new film. In this clip he takes a look at the film and other moon based movies. Why not get yourself down to the screening at the Cornerhouse on Sunday 26 July at 6.25pm and benefit from a warm Manchester Science Festival introduction by Francis French. Tickets are £7.00 and can be booked online through the Cornerhouse.

Call for nominations for 2009 Josh Award

Nominations for the 2009 Josh Award are now open. The Josh Award recognises excellent and innovation in science engagement and is open to anyone to anyone involved in science engagement.

Previous winners include Chris Smith from the Naked Scientists and Karen Bultitude from the science communication unit at the University of West England.

The award is named in memory of Josh Philips, Science Communication Officer at the Museum of Science and Industry, who died in November 2006. Josh was an excellent and much respected science communicator, whose outstanding career is recognised with this award.

If you know a scientist, practitioner or presenter who excells in science communication and you would like to consider nominating them for this award, more information and the nomination form can be found here: http://www.manchestersciencefestival.com/news/joshaward

Sign up for the MSF schools programme...

The Manchester Science Festival schools programme is back for a third year this October and we have an exciting scientific treat in store…

Our secondary schools programme will run on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 October. Each day will include entertaining, engaging and educational workshops, shows and activities exploring science, engineering, technology and maths. Students will have the chance to meet and question enthusiastic scientists, enjoy hands-on activities and develop their problem solving skills.

Specifically for year 8 students, the schools programme will be FREE and will take place in a Manchester city centre location that will be easily accessible by public transport. Bookings will soon be open, so register your interest by emailing stempoint@mosi.org.uk quoting ‘Science Festival’ in the subject line. Don’t miss this chance to reserve a place on the guest list.

Manchester Science Festival 2009 will take place across Greater Manchester Saturday 24 October – Sunday 1 November http://www.manchestersciencefestival.com/

From astronauts to physicists...

It's a busy week for the Manchester Science Festival!

Last night we were rubbing shoulders with astronauts from the STS-119 space shuttle that flew to the international space station in March. They gave various talks to school students and an evening event at the Museum of Science and Industry and got interviewed by students at the BBC 21st Century Classroom in Salford who made podcasts and videos about space. They were really inspiring and gave a great insight into their experiences in space. My favourite bit of the evening event was a video clip of one of the crew sucking some floating water into his mouth. There were lots of great questions about careers as astronauts and what it's like to go into space. The astronauts were here as part of a mission to enthuse young people about science and to take up careers in science, engineering, technology and maths.

And tonight we have our second MSF trailablazer. Physicists Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw take to the stage to talk about their new book Why does e=mc2? (and why should we care?). Why Does E=mc2? (and why should we care?) is a groundbreaking journey into the real meaning of Einstein’s iconic equation, E=mc2. Raising lots of questions along the way – what is energy? what is mass? – the enthusiastic scientists take us to the site of the infamous ‘big bang machine’, the 27km Large Hadron Collider.

QI host and professional genius Stephen Fry praised Brian Cox. He said: “I can think of no one, Stephen Hawking included, who more perfectly combines authority, knowledge, passion, clarity and powers of elucidation than Brian Cox.

“If you really want to know how Big Science works and why it matters to each of us in the smallest way, then be entertained by this dazzlingly enthusiastic man.”

The launch is on Tuesday July 7th 7.15 – 9.15pm in the Cardwell Auditorium at the Museum of Science and Industry (Liverpool Road, Castlefield, Manchester M3 4FP).

Tickets are £1, redeemable against one copy of the book on the night, and are available from Blackwell University Bookshop, Precinct Centre, Oxford Road, Manchester (telephone 0161 274 3331).

Image credits: Astronauts: Chris Foster/MOSI, Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw

Rock star physicist launches book as Manchester Science Festival trailblazer

Television physicist and ex- rock star Brian Cox will launch his first book with Manchester University’s award-winning scientist Jeff Forshaw at the Museum Of Science And Industry on July 7th at 7.15pm as part of the Manchester Science Festival's series of summer trailblazers.

Why Does E=mc2? (and why should we care?) is a groundbreaking journey into the real meaning of Einstein’s iconic equation, E=mc2. Raising lots of questions along the way – what is energy? what is mass? – the enthusiastic scientists take us to the site of the infamous ‘big bang machine’, the 27km Large Hadron Collider.

Brian Cox was in the band D:Ream: his last appearance with them was at the 1997 Labour party conference. He now splits his time between experimental physics in Manchester and the CERN labs in Geneva, Switzerland. He was also science adviser on Danny Boyle’s stunning film Sunshine. Jeff Forshaw, like Brian, is one of the youngest professors in the UK. He teaches Einstein’s theory of relativity to first year students.

The launch is on Tuesday July 7th 7.15 – 9.15pm in the Cardwell Auditorium at the Museum of Science and Industry (Liverpool Road, Castlefield, Manchester M3 4FP).

Tickets are £1, redeemable against one copy of the book on the night, and are available from Blackwell University Bookshop, Precinct Centre, Oxford Road, Manchester (telephone 0161 274 3331).

Why Does E=mc2? (and why should we care?) is a £12.99 hardback on Da Capo Press – available on the night for £10.99 less ticket price. More information on the book here: http://bit.ly/CoxForshaw

From rockets to astronauts...

It's been all go on the Festival front... the cutting room experiment was great fun at the weekend... was a bit drizzly upon arrival, but as soon as we started making our alka seltzer rockets, the sun came out! Loads of people joined in - mainly kids at first, but the adults were desperate for a go once they saw rockets being let off. Got some great footage on video which we will hopefully share soon.

After all that fun, we'll hopefully be doing it again in the summer and special mention goes to Charlie who brought his home made rockets down on the day and wanted to change the experiment to see what results he could get... a scientist of the future I think!

If you enjoyed that, there's an event at the Museum of Science and Industry coming up featuring Astronauts from a recent space mission... get yourself along to find out all about their mission, what it's really like to go into space and if they miss space food... http://www.mosi.org.uk/whats-on/an-audience-with-the-discovery-space-shuttle-crew

Trailblazers launch with a whizz, a pop and a bang!

To kick off our series of summer Festival trailblazers, we're heading to the cutting room square in Ancoats tommorrow to get involved in the cutting room experiment, which is celebrating the opening of the new space.

Activities such as musical statues, clothes swapping and a

silent disco will be taking place throughout the day, but at 3.30pm we'll be there with the museum of science and industry for Alka Seltzer Rockets! We'll be making them and learing about the science... there'll also be a launch pad to launch the rockets simultaneously.

Get yourselves down there early to bag a space at the rocket making table and we'll see you there!

Oh and if you'e got your own film canisters and alka seltzer (or indeed anything you want to use to decorate your rocket), bring them on down.

British Science Association new Manchester branch launch

Are you interested in organising events that engage & inspire the public with science and engineering? The British Science Assocaition is launching a new Manchester Branch and the branch will organise some events as part of the Manchester Science Festival! If you're interested, see below...

The launch meeting for the Manchester-based group of the British Science Association is taking place this Thursday (June 11th), at 5:30pm in Kro Bar, Oxford Road. Please join us to find out more about the Association and help with the planning of future public science events in the area. If you are unable to attend but would like to be kept informed about the group please e-mail natalie.lane@britishscienceassociation.org.

Where: Kro bar (upstairs), 325 Oxford Road When: June 11th, 5:30 – 7:00pm Who: Anyone with an interest in science that they would like to share!

For more information about this meeting, or the British Science Association, please visit our website (www.britishscienceassociation.org) or contact Natalie Lane (natalie.lane@britishscienceassociation.org, 0161 306 1599)

MSF at the Cutting room experiment

We've been a little quiet of late, but you'll be pleased to hear we're back and ready to go! You probably can't wait for the Festival in October, so help us help you by getting a little bit of MSF now...

Be part of the biggest user generated event in the world.

1 day. 12 events. You create.

Cutting Room Experiment is the world’s first completely user-generated event. The Cutting Room Experiment is an attempt to use a new public space to bring together the creativity of Manchester. Each individual event throughout the day will be decided by you - the audience - and Manchester Science Festival is getting involved!

The Manchester Science Festival and MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) have posted an event idea on the Cutting Room Experiment website and we need your votes to make it happen. We want as many people to gather together to create their own alka seltzer rockets and 1,2,3... blast off simultaneously.

For our idea to be picked, we need votes. Visit cutting room experiment to register and be counted in. Then you'll get a little pice of the Festival a little bit earlier!

Keep your eyes peeled for other trailbalzer events over the summer in the run up to the 2009 Manchester Science Festival which will take place across Greater Manchester from 24 October - 1 November.

SciBAr

A nice article on the newish Didsbury SciBAr here.

Twitter tweeting

Jon Copley is a marine biologist and is currently on a research ship in the Southern Ocean, just off Antaractica, exploring the deep seabed to find hydrothermal vents and cold seeps--deep, chemical oases that are home to a variety of bizarre creatures.

Jon is posting regular “tweets” on Twitter every few minutes (when possible) about the expedition’s progress - the idea being to give people an insight into the process of how science is done, give them the opportunity to interact with scientists in more of a ’real-time’ setting, and hopefully share the thrill of discovery when they find something new.

You can do follow his posts at: http://twitter.com/expeditionlog

UK Schools Computer Animation Competition 2009 - now open!

Now open! The UK Schools Computer Animation Competition 2009

The competition is open to all UK schoolchildren aged between 7 and 19. The deadline for entering is Friday 1 May 2009. For full details, and to register your school's interest, please visit the Animation09 website. Register now, with no obligation, and keep in the picture!

About the competition

The School of Computer Science at The University of Manchester is running the second annual UK Schools Computer Animation Competition, in association with Electronic Arts and the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

For the 2009 competition, entrants can create their animations (maximum duration: 1 minute) using any of the following programs: Alice, Scratch, or Flash. There are some great prizes, and the Animation Festival and Awards Ceremony will be held at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

The inaugural 2008 competition attracted over 230 entries from 55 schools, with over 400 children attending the Film Show and Awards Ceremony day at The University of Manchester. Visit the 2008 Winners Gallery.

Key dates
19 January 2009: Competition launch, and the website opens for registration.
1 May 2009: Deadline for submitting entries.
22 May 2009: Shortlisted winners notified.
26 June 2009: Film Show and Awards Ceremony day at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

Key contacts
Animation09 website
Enquiries: Animation09@cs.man.ac.uk

Happy 2009!

Happy new year!

So we can confirm the rumours are true - the festival will be back in 2009 and the dates are likely to be 24 October until 1 November.

And whilst you're waiting for that date to roll around, of course we'll be back blogging on here, as well as updating the main site with developments.

For now, you can entertain yourself with the video of the 2008 highlights that has just gone up on the site. Spot yourself or be inspired in time for this year...

Upcoming...

Big Science Read is coming towards its finale – and we’ve got some great author and writing events across Greater Manchester in the coming weeks. For instance, Chris Turney’s talking about his book “Ice, Mud and Blood: Lessons from Climates Past” and Michael Boulter’s exploring and explaining “Darwin’s Garden” as well, just in time for Darwin200.

You can find all the events on the BSR website - http://www.bigscienceread.org/events/ - along with the lists of books for you to vote for, and other information.

Hope to see you at an event and receive your vote soon!

Let's hope this isn't true for festivals...

"You only go to a science centre three times in your life... Once when you're eight years old; once when your kids are eight years old; and once when your grandchildren are eight years old."

National Science and Engineering Week (only 17 weeks to go)

For those of you who can't wait the 51 weeks for your next dose of science festival fun, it is only 17 weeks until National Science and Engineering Week. (Sorry, shameless bit of plugging!)
The BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) and the Manchester Museum ran an information session for NSEW on Wednesday 29th October. The event was really well attended with quite a diverse audience; local school science teachers, science societies, students, researchers, along with representatives from a range of industries and businesses.
The evening was designed as an informal gathering which we hoped would spark a frenzy of idea generation and develop a support network for those people interested in becoming organisers for NSEW.

There were several presentations to get things going. The first was given by Joanna Rooke from the BA and provided a large amount of information regarding NSEW. Much of this information and the resources she promoted can be found at,
http://www.the-ba.net/the-ba/Events/NSEW/

Following the presentations there was a nibbles-fuelled ideas/networking session. The cafe had a great buzz to it during this time and I am optimistic that collaborations were formed, ideas formulated and that NSEW 2009 is going to be the best yet.

Unfortunately there are no more information sessions planned in preparation for the 2009 event. However, it is not too late to get involved! Whoever you are, NSEW is an opportunity for everyone to get involved in science, engineering, technology and maths events. Any audience, any format, any topic (although the broad theme for 2009 is 'Change').
If you want any more information don't hesitate to get in touch with the BA through their website.

Four snapshots...

Poppy Adams reading from The Behaviour of Moths, Manchester Museum

Busking at Piccadilly station

The 3D EARTH mosiac at the Trafford Centre

The sold out Blade Runner screening