Newbie Picks

I've just joined the Manchester Science Festival team and thought I’d begin with a blog about what I’m most excited about in the programme this year. I've picked my favourites from each section. Let me know yours!

Family Fun

Meteorite day 

Some of you may have been lucky enough to see the meteorite streaking through the sky in the UK last weekend. This event gives you the chance to get your hands on real pieces of space rock over 4 billion years old and look at moon rocks brought back to Earth by the Apollo astronauts. We’ll also hear about the ways in which scientists are using these ancient rocks to explain the mysteries of our solar system! Can’t wait! 

Make, Do and Hack

Culturing bioluminescent bacteria 

I remember watching the King of natural history Sir David Attenborough on Blue Planet, exploring the wonders of the deep, and being fascinated by the wondrous creatures living in our oceans. Creatures that can create their own light in order to repel predators or attract prey, seem very ‘other-worldly’ and I’m dying to recreate this phenomenon in our MadLab! 

Art Meets Science

What am I worth? 

The issues of organ donation generate a vast range of opinions affected by many factors but it’s a subject that could potentially affect us all during our lives. This performance explores the subject in a light-hearted way and there’s even an opportunity to test our views in an after-show debate.

Science After Dark

Science on the Screen 

As a film fanatic who loves a good sci-fi movie, I can’t think of anything better than gathering to watch this diverse range of flicks exploring the implications of scientific developments in the pop-up HD cinema in MOSI’s 1830s warehouse. Picks: GATTACA and Contagion. 

Join the Conversation

The battle for the internet 

Social media has exploded in the last five years. With many of us living out our lives online, this discussion (led by technology strategists Norman Lewis, Mindy Gofton and Keith Teare, explores the future of the internet and the controversial topic of regulation.

Walks and Tours

The archaeology of a revolution 

How many of us have walked along a street in Manchester or Salford and wondered about the history of the impressive buildings - some of which still proudly declare their origins? With so much fusion between industrial heritage and new developments, this tour takes us along Salford’s Chapel Street through to Manchester. Put on your cosy coat and enjoy as the story unfolds.

Gabriella

Request a brochure: info@manchestersciencefestival.com
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How and why to look after your Turing's Sunflowers

Our project Turing’s Sunflowers is in full swing. We’ve had some brilliant planting events at MOSI and other partner venues like Manchester Museum and over 8000 sunflowers have been pledged on the Turing’s Sunflowers website. It’s been such a fantastic response.

The next step of the project now everyone’s seeds are in the ground, is the “nurturing phase”. Every day the Festival team are checking our sunflowers at MOSI and at home, watering them, removing pests and trying to prevent slugs. Some of them are also getting a little heavy and leaning over, so we’ve been lightly tying them to stakes in the ground. We need you to do the same!

In this hot weather keep your sunflowers well watered, but be careful not to over-water as this can loosen the soil and your plant might lean over. Mix in some liquid feed about once a month for good health!

As well as inspiring people with maths in nature, and Alan Turing’s work, what we’re really trying to achieve is lots of data from everyone’s lovely sunflowers. When they are in full bloom, we’ll be launching the next phase of the project with details of the information we need from your you. The main things to look at will be the Fibonacci patterns in the seed heads, the petals and the bracks (the green bits on the back of the flowers).

It’s fairly well documented that you can see Fibonacci patterns in nature, but it really is anecdotal. There have only been a few small scientific studies on this and we want to collect a large amount of data (from about 3000 sunflowers to be precise) to form the largest study of this phenomena. The reason for doing this is the data will be useful to tell us how often this pattern is found in nature. We’ll make this data and photos available to others, so plant scientists and others can use the large data set for their own work. One of the principles underpinning science is experimentation and the replication of such experiments. It will help to further our understanding of the frequency of this pattern, what pattern or shift from the Fibonacci sequence we get if the sequence doesn’t occur, and perhaps why they appear in nature so ordered and regimented.

More information about how to spot the Fibonacci patterns in your sunflowers and how to count these patterns will be coming over the summer here on our blog and the Turing’s Sunflowers website.  

Are you planting a Turing Sunflower yet?

It's been an exciting week at Festival HQ. The new Turing's Sunflowers website launched, people have pledged to grow over 2000 sunflowers, we've had 18,000 seeds delivered, and of course we've been beavering away making plans for the Festival programme in October.

I took some time out from the week to plant some more seeds and look after my sunflower seedlings. It's been a little cold, but with a bit of warmth and a few rays of sun they've starter to sprout! 

So now is the time for you to get planting and join our big experiment... 

Head over to the Turing's Sunflowers website which will tell you loads about the project, how to plant your sunflower seeds, tips for the best flowers and more. There's also more information about what we're doing and why. More will be added to the site over the next month or so and we'll be getting to grips with the maths! You can share your stories with us online too. There will also be planting events and counting events taking place which will be listed on the Turing's Sunflowers and MSF websites. 

Turing's Sunflowers is inspired by maths and nature, and the links between the two that Alan Turing was exploring before he died. There's been such a fantastic response to the project from across the globe - from families wanting to contribute to some real science research to people really connecting with local hero Alan Turing. It's a brilliant project, but it takes people like you and our partners to really get behind something, make it exciting and make it happen. So thank you for such an enthusiastic response and your support. Please do spread the word... we need you to grow over 3000 sunflowers to help us collect the data we need! That's a lot, but we can do it. So get your seeds at the ready and get planting!

Happy planting!

Natalie, Manchester Science Festival Director