Public Engagement is a vital part of the CSCT, and every year our first years go to one of the UKs leading Science festivals, Cheltenham Science Festival. This year, Cohort ’15 went with the theme of “The Energy Factory”, which included activities such as Bottle Rockets, Fruit vs Mud Batteries and making a Cloud in a Bottle. These activities aimed to engage the general public, as well as showcase some of the research we do at the CSCT.
The festival is particularly popular with families and science fans, so armed with a microphone we set out to get some ideas and thoughts from them. So what did the next generation of scientists think we should research next? Sustainability? Science in general?
What is sustainability?
"To my mind sustainability is making sure that we have energy sources for years to come, rather than rely on fossil fuels which have a finite period of time. We can only mine them whilst we have them. So, something like solar power and hydrogen is something that will pretty much always be there so I’m assuming that it will be there in perpetuity." Matthew, age 47
What do you know about energy?
"About energy? Well I was gonna go for... it can’t be created or destroyed it can only change form but, unless you count matter – depends what you count as matter I suppose." Colin, age 51
What device do you think we should come up with as scientists?
"A sewing machine. Erm…it would make clothes for people ehm…hm probably with a needle that is super powered, so you need no electricity. And ironing, you should try to do that less, for only formal occasions, so you use less power." Violet, age 10
What do you think about our activities?
"They were very interesting and I did learn quite a bit about their research from talking to them. It was very, very nice, I enjoyed it, thank you." Sarah, age 36
What do you think scientists look like? Do you think they come in all shapes and sizes?
"Yes, yes, I think they do. Unless they were mad scientists, then they have long hair and wear goggles. I would want to become a regular scientist, not a mad scientist." Freddy, aged 8
What did you enjoy the most?
"Being told I was too short for the bikes and proving them wrong!?" Kate, age 7
What is sustainability?
"It’s about not using resources that we only have a finite amount like hydrocarbons and preserving those for the future, and we don’t want to pollute the environment. Energy that comes from the sun mainly and doesn’t pollute the planet." Daim, age 13
What have you been to see today? What did you think?
"Nice." Ellie, age 4
Have you got any ideas about experiments that we should do in our labs?
"Just blowing anything up." Vicky, age 23
What do you see when you think of science and scientists?
"Different things you can experiment and different things you can make. People trying to help the world in a better way." Anni, age 9
If you saw us at Cheltenham, let us know what you thought in the comments below!
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