Chemistry Beasts, Vikings and wolves, dogs and cats
Midlands Science Festival
Science Week was back in-person this year and the Midlands Science Festival, funded by Science Foundation Ireland, included an event in Mullingar looking at the science of cosmetics.
Titled ‘Beauty and the Chemistry Beasts; it was held in association with the Royal Society of Chemistry and one of a number of activities during the week. It was filmed and will be circulated online and to schools next week.
Other events included a family Discovery Day, supported by Integra, that drew more than 1,200 people.
The National Museum of Ireland continued its partnership with Midlands Science and this year the school and family workshops and public event focused on items in the national collection in Offaly and the Vikings in the midlands.
Participants had the chance to inspect a wolf skill, Viking hack silver and amber among many other things.
A swim in Lough Ree this year in association with Swim Ireland was also part of the activities and that was followed by food and drinks in the Lough Ree Inn with a talk by author of the book ‘Blue Spaces’, Dr Catherine Kelly.
Other events included exploring the science of golf in Athlone Golf Club, the science of stress and resilience with psychologist Dr Andrew Magee, the science of cats and dogs with Pete the Vet, and a unique hands-on event looking at the science of sustainable living.
Every participant at that made soap, shampoo bars and wax wraps and seed bombs to take home. Forensic Science Ireland and UCD took part in The Usual Suspects in Portlaoise looking at the role of science in solving crimes, including cold case; the day included some well-known Irish crimes.
Participants in the festival also looked up to the night sky to ponder the wonders of the universe from Lough Boora Discovery Park with Midlands Astronomy Club.
Dead Centre Brewing was the location for Hop to It, a unique event looking at the science of beer with Prof John Morrissey, a fermentation expert from UCC. Participants also tried a Dead Centre Beer and a new product from Bia Sol, the circular economy enterprise that makes products from spent fermented grains.
There were more activities in schools across the region, such as the Exploration Dome and Superhero Science, and a number of workshops exploring careers in science.
Online activities included a series of videos looking at the science of climate action, including a programme that Midlands Science undertook with youth club participants from the Monsignor McCarthy Complex in Athlone.
Those interested in car racing were also part of the festival and driver Paul O’Connell examined what it takes to be a Formula 1 driver in an online event that included the opportunity to win a family day in the pit with him and his team on a race day at Mondello Park.
Book clubs across the region were also encouraged to take part in Science Week by reading a popular science title from a list curated by Midlands Science.
Midlands Science runs science outreach all year around to schools, and runs a number of special projects such as Quiet Science, Innovate for Climate Action and Everyday Science.
It reaches an average of 16,000 people per year and is supported by the Ireland Funds Private Donor Network, the Medtronic Foundation and a variety of private, public and philanthropic funders for different projects and activities.
More information can be found on www.midlandsscience.ie.