The 11th Polish Radio BIS Science Picnic, which is the biggest open-air science happening in Europe was celebrated on Saturday, 26th May 2007, on the New Town Square and the Podzamcze area in Warsaw.
This time the whole event had the motto “Mathematics and Us,” and the European Union was the special guest of the Picnic. As usual, the organisers of the Picnic met the challenge and provided the participants with many fascinating shows and experiments.
199 institutions from 19 countries all over the world (China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Morocco, Portugal, The Federal Republic of Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, The United States, Sweden, Hungary, and Italy) made their presentations in over 200 tents.
Among many attractive presentations one could see the display of “nanoTruck, that is the world measuring one billionth part of a millimetre.” NanoTruck is the project of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), prepared by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its aim it to popularize the knowledge concerning the application of nanotechnology in the economy and private life. During the 11th Polish Radio Bis Science Picnic, some experiments and practical solutions to the problems from various fields of science and technology were demonstrated, the experiments and solutions that are based on the application of an amazing potential of nanotechnology. There was the first exposition of this kind, presenting the phenomenon of nanotechnology in Poland.
Another interesting exposition, involving surprising experiments with the use of household appliances was prepared by Heureka, the Finnish Science Centre. The visitors had a unique opportunity to see how one can obtain sound effects, and chemical changes of colours, or at least a mini-rocket using things present in every house. With the use of domestic accessories, Finns demonstrated small wonders of science in a fascinating way. For instance, they presented how to play jazz using a straw, how to put an egg into a bottle, or how to make an electric belt out of a broom.
At the exhibition stand of the Andrzej Sołtan Institute for Nuclear Studies everyone could become a constructor of the cosmic rays detector, and the calculating machines enthusiasts saw how the famous cipher machine, “Enigma,” presented by the Polish Army Museum, looked like. In the “Technical University Town” prepared by the scientists form the Faculty of Physics of the Warsaw University of Technology, one could measure the speed of light using a microwave oven and raisins in chocolate. The Materials Science and Engineering Student Association, “Wakans,” from the Warsaw University of Technology grabbed the visitors’ attention with their superconducting maglev train levitating above the rail. Moreover, the Microsystems Science Student Association, “Onyx,” from WUT showed how hot plasma is created, and what it has in common with a popular “plasma sphere.” During extremely interesting presentations by the Marceli Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Laboratory of Neuropsychology, and the Laboratory of Psychophysiology one could also get to know how to count the number of cells in the human brain, and see how to check the result. Also, visitors could get to know if left-handedness has some neurobiological background, and with what exactitude the human brain is able to evaluate the duration of three seconds.
As far as children are concerned, they seemed to enjoy the experiments presented by the Palace of Wonders in Budapest. The wonders of science, presented in a form of an interactive show, attracted many viewers, who discovered with bated breath many mysteries of children’s toys, household appliances, everyday objects, and of some special materials. They also had a chance to observe the reactions of these materials to extremely low temperatures.
Physikanten, a special group of German scientists, invited by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany was a special guest on the stage situated on the Podzamcze area, and on the main stage on the New Town Square. The group presented wonders of science in an inspiring and thrilling way, and proved that science can be a great fun!
For the first time in the history of the BIS Science Picnic, the Internet users could see the recordings of the most interesting presentations, prepared by the Polish Radio New Media, during the very picnic.The recordings could be watched on the web-site www.polskeradio.pl/nauka, and the Polish Radio BIS broadcast an extensive all-day coverage of the event.