Physics Busking
You know those street artists that have a cart full of props, and do tricks and magic that boggles the mind, and then ask for money? Physics busking is like that, except the "tricks" all involve physics, science and optical illusions, and instead of taking payment afterwards we give understanding. It's aimed mostly at younger audiences- people do it in schools and museums- but also at older people too. There's a stall at some festivals for example.
I first heard about all this at Gregynog when I was drinking and playing giant jenga supervising a 2nd year undergrad careers trip. One of the speakers was Angharad Thomas, the Institute of Physics' national officer for Wales, and in the bar that night she told me and the other postgrads about busking, and how we might get trained in it. So I emailed her later and tried to set things in motion...
~~~~~~waveylinesindicatetimepassing~~~~~~~
So the training went well! Just short of the maximum group size of 20 turned up, with a good mix of under/postgrads from different years. Some of the tricks we learnt were truly mindboggling, and we eneded up with 200 quid of props for us to keep and use. Hopefully the open day here will be our first big event. The guys who turned up for it took it in their stride too- you don't expect a group of physicists to instantly leap into such an imaginative and extrovertive activity, but they were all fantastic, and we ended up teaching the trainer a few cool things, and he seemed to thoroughly enjoy it too.
So if anyone wants a fully trained, fully insured troop of science performers (all with CRB checks), let me know! We can travel a reasonable distance, and visit schools, fairs, festivals, science clubs, street corners, you name it.
I first heard about all this at Gregynog when I was drinking and playing giant jenga supervising a 2nd year undergrad careers trip. One of the speakers was Angharad Thomas, the Institute of Physics' national officer for Wales, and in the bar that night she told me and the other postgrads about busking, and how we might get trained in it. So I emailed her later and tried to set things in motion...
~~~~~~waveylinesindicatetimepassing~~~~~~~
So the training went well! Just short of the maximum group size of 20 turned up, with a good mix of under/postgrads from different years. Some of the tricks we learnt were truly mindboggling, and we eneded up with 200 quid of props for us to keep and use. Hopefully the open day here will be our first big event. The guys who turned up for it took it in their stride too- you don't expect a group of physicists to instantly leap into such an imaginative and extrovertive activity, but they were all fantastic, and we ended up teaching the trainer a few cool things, and he seemed to thoroughly enjoy it too.
So if anyone wants a fully trained, fully insured troop of science performers (all with CRB checks), let me know! We can travel a reasonable distance, and visit schools, fairs, festivals, science clubs, street corners, you name it.