As part of National Science Week, BeakerStreet@TMAG returns from 6pm on Friday August 16 and Saturday August 17. A pop-up science bar with 200+ scientists, artists and musicians, it’s sure to satisfy your thirst for curiosity.
If you miss pouring chemicals into beakers and watching things explode in science class, yearn no longer as BeakerStreet@TMAG is returning to Hobart this National Science Week to bring the lab to you.
Margo Adler is responsible for launching the pop-up science bar, which has now grown into a festival of science, art and live music. Adler, the event director of BeakerStreet@TMAG, has a background in evolutionary biology and was driven by the simple desire to bring science to the public.
As Adler explains, “The main goal of the event is to make science really accessible and to invite people into that world which usually feels quite exclusive.
“One of the things that we really try and do is get people along who wouldn’t normally go to a science event. A lot of people probably see various national science events and think, ‘oh, that’s not for me’, but we try to offer so much variety and interesting things that we get people in who wouldn’t normally come.”
So what exactly will BeakerStreet be putting on when it returns to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery? “We have all sorts of talks and workshops, live music, science photography and this year we’re setting up seven bars within the Tasmania Museum and Art Galley with all sorts of interesting things,” says Adler. “For example, MONA is doing an invasive species cocktail bar, and we’re collaborating with Tasmania Whisky Week to do a distiller’s bar.
“We have workshops on the science of winemaking and the science of beer and cider, and at night, astronomy walks. We have a science chocolate-making workshop this year, where you can watch the whole journey from bean to bar with a glass of wine. And we’re going to have a retro video game lounge where you can sit down and play video games like Space Invaders and Super Mario.”
It’s safe to say that whatever your cup of tea (or whisky), there’ll be something for you at the event. As Adler says herself, “There’s heaps of cool stuff happening,” and it’s hard to argue with that.
Along with all of the interactive things happening, there’ll also be a lot of opportunities to just sit and absorb the world of science through your eardrums.
“We’ve also got really amazing speakers this year,” Adler says. “We have a partnership with the Australian Academy of Science and we’re doing a series of talks over at Town Hall. We’ve got some of their fellows coming down; they’re some of the most incredible scientists you’ll see anywhere in the world, and they’re all coming for just one night.
“We have Mike Archer, a palaeontologist from the University of New South Wales and has a program to try and resurrect extinct species such as the Tasmanian Tiger from ancient DNA. So, it’s super controversial and really interesting stuff. Also, we have a scientist named Jenny Graves who’s coming down to talk about male extinction. The Y chromosome is slowly shrinking and she theorises that males at some point may actually go extinct.”
The reason for such an onslaught of diverse activities and talks is that Adler wants the festival to be accessible to anyone and everyone. “We’re trying to open up and give people a sort of in-depth look into everyday things and show them that there’s very interesting science in all of them.”
The best bit is that most of the event is free. As Adler explains, “Entry to the Tasmania Museum and Art Galley is free and almost everything inside is free. There are some ticketed events, so we are encouraging people to take a look and get their tickets because everything that’s ticketed has limited capacity.”
BeakerStreet@TMAG takes place from 6pm-midnight on Friday August 16 and Saturday August 17. Pop over to the BeakerStreet@TMAG website to view the whole program and then book your plane ticket to Hobart.
