NEW YORK—Children of all ages, parents, and teachers came together at the Washington Square Park for the 2010 World Science Festival Street Fair, where booths teaching kids about science were set up along Washington Square South. The five-day fair concluded Sunday.
The event managed to bring much excitement for the attendees. Booths such as “Mad Science: Phreaky Physics Pavilion” and “Canine Cognition with Marc Hauser” were swarmed with children and their parents.
A few steps down at the LaGuardia Place, one could not miss the brightly painted BioBus. Inside, the youthful Dr. Ben Dubin-Thaler, chief scientist of the BioBus and a cell biologist, was letting a group of 10 kids watch paint dry—through a microscope.
“The paint is made of the same thing as this rubber glove—latex,” said Dubin-Thaler, wearing a frog-spotted shirt.
The event managed to bring much excitement for the attendees. Booths such as “Mad Science: Phreaky Physics Pavilion” and “Canine Cognition with Marc Hauser” were swarmed with children and their parents.
A few steps down at the LaGuardia Place, one could not miss the brightly painted BioBus. Inside, the youthful Dr. Ben Dubin-Thaler, chief scientist of the BioBus and a cell biologist, was letting a group of 10 kids watch paint dry—through a microscope.
“The paint is made of the same thing as this rubber glove—latex,” said Dubin-Thaler, wearing a frog-spotted shirt.
Dubin-Thaler, who received his Ph.D. in biophysics from Columbia University, said that he chose to lead the BioBus because “he was excited about bridging the gap between people and experiments.”
The BioBus, which travels around New York City and surrounding areas to teach kids about biology, comes equipped with a basic scientific lab and a bed for the traveling scientists.
The festival attendees were also treated to a showcasing of the James Webb Space Telescope, believed to technologically surpass the Hubble Telescope in its development, and had the opportunity to meet NASA astronauts.
The festival ended with a sold out adaptation of “Icarus at the Edge of Time,” based on a children’s book written by Brian Greene. The adaptation, which was said to bring “Einstein’s concepts of relativity to visceral, emotional life,” included a 40-minute, 62-piece orchestral work by Phillip Glass, a script adapted by Brian Greene and David Henry Hwang, and a film produced and directed by Al+Al.
The film’s producers, Al Holmes and Al Taylor, were among the first producers to use computer-generated technology to join live action performance with 3D backgrounds to produce a dream-like atmosphere in films. They were awarded the 2009 Liverpool Arts prize for their work.
Greene, whose book “The Elegant Universe” popularized string theory and created a wave in the scientific world, and his wife Tracy Day are the co-founders of the World Science Festival.
According to the World Science Festival website, the event was launched in 2008 “to cultivate and sustain a general public informed by the content of science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.”
The BioBus, which travels around New York City and surrounding areas to teach kids about biology, comes equipped with a basic scientific lab and a bed for the traveling scientists.
The festival attendees were also treated to a showcasing of the James Webb Space Telescope, believed to technologically surpass the Hubble Telescope in its development, and had the opportunity to meet NASA astronauts.
The festival ended with a sold out adaptation of “Icarus at the Edge of Time,” based on a children’s book written by Brian Greene. The adaptation, which was said to bring “Einstein’s concepts of relativity to visceral, emotional life,” included a 40-minute, 62-piece orchestral work by Phillip Glass, a script adapted by Brian Greene and David Henry Hwang, and a film produced and directed by Al+Al.
The film’s producers, Al Holmes and Al Taylor, were among the first producers to use computer-generated technology to join live action performance with 3D backgrounds to produce a dream-like atmosphere in films. They were awarded the 2009 Liverpool Arts prize for their work.
Greene, whose book “The Elegant Universe” popularized string theory and created a wave in the scientific world, and his wife Tracy Day are the co-founders of the World Science Festival.
According to the World Science Festival website, the event was launched in 2008 “to cultivate and sustain a general public informed by the content of science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.”
