Tag Archives: 2012 World Science Festival

World Science Festival 2012

I’ve been writing about the World Science Festival in New York City for a few years now (here’s a May 5, 2011 posting about Baba Brinkman and Fotini Markopoulou-Kalamara at the 2011 festival)  and the 2012 edition is about to launch.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012, a 5th anniversary gala celebration will be hosted by Alan Alda (mentioned in my Nov. 11, 2011 posting) and Brian Greene (who co-founded the festival) at the at The Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center at 7:30 pm. From the May 22, 2012 article by Dan Bacalzo for TheaterMania,

Performers will include Joshua Bell, Paige Faure, Drew Gehling, Rose Hemingway, David Hibbard, James Naughton, Momix, Debra Monk, Eryn Murman, and Abby O’Brien.

In addition, Festival co-founder Brian Greene will conduct two rarely-seen-in-public Physics experiments: the “Quantum Levitation” and “Double-Slit” experiments.

The 2012 World Science Festival runs from M1y 30, 2012 to June 3, 2012. I took a brief glance at the event listings and estimate that 25 to 30% are sold out. Tickets are still available for Cool Jobs, Cool Kids, Hot Contest, which features Baba Brinkman, the Canadian rap artist who performs the only peer-reviewed science rap in the world and was featured in last year’s Cool Jobs presentation.  From the Cool Jobs event page,

This spectacular double feature shows science in a whole new light: pure, imaginative, mind-bending fun! The big event heats up as Alan Alda hosts The Flame Challenge, a contest conceived by Alda and Stony Brook University’s Center for Communicating Science, that calls on scientists worldwide to give their best explanation of how a flame works—but in a way that makes sense to a kid. Cheer for your own favorite as Alda announces the winner chosen by hundreds of 11-year olds around the country. The excitement continues with the Festival’s ever-popular Cool Jobs, a jaw-dropping show that brings you face-to-face with amazing scientists with amazing jobs. Imagine having an office that’s a zoo and co-workers that are lemurs and porcupines. How about getting paid to build machines that can read people’s thoughts. Or imagine your desk was a basketball court and your clients were superstars trying to improve their game through biomechanics? Well, you don’t have to just imagine. Hear from scientists who have these jobs—find out what they do, how they do it, and how they got the coolest and weirdest gigs on the planet.

There will also be a street fair on Sunday, June 3, 2012 from 9:59 am to 5:59 pm (what is the significance of those hours?). From the Ultimate Science Street Fair webpage,

The Ultimate Science Street Fair returns to Washington Square Park with another action-packed day of interactive exhibits, experiments, games and shows, all designed to entertain and inspire. Visit a telepathy lab and control a computer just by thinking about it, learn the science tricks to shooting perfect free-throws with NBA stars, create your own fragrance at the Smell Lab, ride a square-wheeled tricycle, and much more!

Admission to the street fair and some of the other events are free. Of course, you do need to be in New York City.