Brian W. Pulling
Brian W. Pulling is a science writer based in Adelaide, South Australia.
National Science Week will sweep across Australia this August, and New South Wales will celebrate with the fifth annual Sydney Science Festival.
From August 6 to 18, the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) is producing a suite of discussions, exhibitions, workshops, and events on a wide array of topics.
The festival “celebrates Sydney’s diverse and multidisciplinary science community” according to organisers, and will take place at various venues throughout the city.
This year, the event promises to take on such crucial topics as climate change, space travel, and the future of the internet. The central theme explores how science is helping to create humanity’s shared future.
Australian mathematician Eddie Woo is the ambassador for the project.
“The festival’s continued growth each year has provided a fantastic avenue for our city to discuss and explore issues together,” he says.
“With questions about gene editing and artificial intelligence at the forefront of the news agenda, it’s a pivotal moment to look to science and question how our society thinks about these matters”.
Organisers highlight an evening stargazing event called Science and Music in the Park, where visitors can enjoy a performance of The Planets by Gustav Holst, performed by the Sydney Youth Orchestra.
PlantBank, a research group based at the Australian Botanic Garden in the Sydney suburb of Mount Annan, will host a panel discussion called “The Future of the Australian Space Agency” with key players in that effort.
At last year’s festival, more than 85,000 visitors attended 200 events.
Researchers, scientists or educators wishing to host an activity at this year’s event have only a few days left to submit expressions of interest. They can do so here. Deadline is April 26.
More information about the festival also is available here.
