Discover the bluedot at Jodrell - special offer for staff
29 Jun 2016
Over 200 scientists, thinkers and innovators announced alongside some of the world's best musicians
The Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre is one of the University’s Cultural Institutions and works hard to engage the public not only with the research at Jodrell Bank but also with the research of colleagues across the whole University.
One of the ways in which we are doing this is via our new bluedot festival. The inspiration behind bluedot comes from a speech made by iconic scientist Carl Sagan at Cornell University, New York, in which he coined the phrase ‘pale blue dot’ to refer to our home planet, Earth.
The bluedot festival invites you to camp out under the stars and to explore a stellar programme of music, science, arts, technology, culture, food and film. Bluedot’s mission is to entertain and inspire through a weekend of ground breaking encounters, including performances, DJ sets, comedy, talks, workshops and live experiments.
We at the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre are particularly excited to present the Star Field – a space jam-packed with scientists from the University of Manchester showcasing their research to the festival attendees. You will discover a world of wonder and discuss the latest discoveries in the interactive, intergalactic Star Field, featuring tents and stalls packed with displays and interactions for all ages.
The following groups from the University of Manchester will be part of the Star Field:
- Explore the Moon, Mars & Meteorites with Dr Sarah Crowther and scientists from the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and the Isotope Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry Group;
- Plants that Bite Back with Professor Amanda Bamford and scientists from the Faculty of Life Sciences;
- Discover more about energy and the journey electricity makes to our plug sockets with scientists from Manchester Energy and Dalton Nuclear Institute;
- The Science behind Music with the volunteers of the Manchester branch of the British Science Association;
- The Evolution of Climate and Landscapes with Dr Christine Lane and scientists from the School of Environment, Education and Development;
- Britain Breathing with Dr Sheena Cruickshank and scientists from the Manchester Immunology Group in association with the British Society for Immunology and the Royal Society of Biology;
- Exploring the Big Bang in 3d and Virtual Reality with Planck ; Understanding ALMA, Exploring the Universe and Pulsar Hunters with scientists from the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics;
- Discover graphene with Dr Cyrill Bussy, Dr Ivan Vera Marun, and scientists from the Centre for Doctoral Training in Science and Applications of Graphene and 2D materials and the National Graphene Institute;
- Climate Change Synaesthesia presented by Tyndall Manchester, the Manchester Museum and the Manchester Climate Change Agency;
- Exercise like and astronaut with Dr Alex Ryan and scientists from the Faculty of Life Sciences;
- Virtual Reality and Nao robots with Dr David Rydeheard and scientists from the School of Computer Science;
- Photon Science with Professor Phillip Dawson and scientists from the School of Physics and Astronomy;
- Chemistry in Space with Dr Katayune Presland and scientists from the School of Chemistry and the Royal Society of Chemistry;
- Seeing into the Invisible – Amazing Light Sources with the Public Engagement team and scientists from STFC Daresbury Laboratory and the Cockcroft Institute;
- Science Superheroes with Dr Heather Williams and the Science Grrls.
You can find out more about what they’ll each be doing at:
We are also including a plethora of scientists from the University to deliver an innovative programme of dot talks.
As well as all this science, there will be a whole host of other entertainment at the bluedot festival and we’re really looking forward to seeing you here in July. We are delighted to say that we have been able to organise a special offer for University colleagues who would like to join us for the weekend – please visit the webpage below and click on the links for the offers: