Science Fest 2010

Helping to wrap up the World Science Festival was Sunday morning’s presentation “Astronaut Diary: Life in Space” at NYU’s Rosenthal Pavilion, featuring NASA astronauts Sandra Magnus and Leland Melvin (notably the only pro football player to become a NASA astronaut) in person, and Tracy Caldwell Dyson in a pre-recorded segment from her current mission at the International Space Station.

The "Faith and Science" event was so popular that World Science Festival had to move it to a larger venue. NYU’s Kimmel Center played host to a provocative discussion on the relationship between faith and science, two seemingly intractable opposites. Or, are they actually two sides of the same coin? While much of New York City melted in balmy weather, the esteemed panelists on stage were cool in the assessments of their own passions and crafts. Faith, it seems, is what both science and religion have in common.

When I look back at the World Science Festival and its "Food 2.0" presentation Friday night at Baruch College, I don’t necessarily view it as an experience that provided the audience with any more fireworks than the usual. Yet, if anything, it did reinforce for me how much we take for granted, especially in the developed world, when it comes to our access and availability of food.

These feelings didn’t resonate with me harder than when I heard the sentiments expressed by panelist Dr. Monty Jones, a Sierra Leone native, and agricultural geneticist who has devoted his livelihood to solving hunger in Africa. Jones, who has accumulated numerous accolades and awards for his creation of NERICA, a higher yielding and higher protein based rice, exudes a certain humbleness and a passion for solution, but he also speaks with a certain air of awe when it comes to disclosing the culture shock of walking around a place such as New York city where food can be acquired from seemingly limitless outlets.

Listening to Jones’ words, I could hear in his voice the desperation that he had witnessed in his time in Sierra Leone and in the developing world. Moreover though, I could sense that these public forums were his opportunities to sing less of his own praises and more about the work that needed to be done in order to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots.

It was the type of perspective that I know made an impact, because at the conclusion of the event, a woman whom I had happened to strike up a conversation with earlier in the night, found herself divulging to me just how guilty she felt for even having the nerve to crave dinner following such a poignant display.

I can’t sit and say I didn’t feel a little of my own shame as well after heading to my go-to Chinese spot shortly thereafter and “scarfing” down some beef and broc, knowing that countless millions suffer from far fewer luxuries. However, slightly contrary to what my fellow attendee might have felt, I moreso came away with the sense that this was a good wakeup call, and that the more we are reminded of how lucky we are, maybe we’ll think twice about not finishing that plate or ordering in excess the next time we’re eating out.

Friday was a cloudy night but that didn’t stop astronomy fans, young and old, from checking out the model of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan, another attraction at World Science Festival. The night before, at Our Genome Ourselves, I received a tip that the JWST looked “really cool” at night. And it did. But that wasn’t the best part of this free and family friendly event.

The World Science Festival brought three leaders in the field of genetic medicine together on June 10th for an event that provided the packed auditorium with the feeling of just having sat in on an intimate discussion between friends like George Church, Francis Collins and Robert C. Green. Richard Besser moderated the conversation, "Our Genomes, Ourselves," which, dug into the key themes, questions, opportunities and barriers surrounding the promise of Genetic Medicine.

Ever watch an episode of Star Trek and wonder when you might get your hands on some of the gee-whiz technology from the show? Based on Friday night’s “The Science of Star Trek” event held at Brooklyn’s Galapagos Art Space as part of the World Science Festival, here’s a brief idea of what to expect in the future: Transporters – forget about it; Warp Drive – perhaps; Time Travel – maybe; Sentient Robots – definitely.

The amphitheater and stage at Baruch College glowed blood red. Space age, frenetic pop music percolated in the background. The tone was set for World Science Festival’s panel on “Brutality and the Brain.” A sold-out, attentive audience came to learn about humans and our propensity toward violence. Is violence hard-wired in our brains? What is the psychology behind violence? Why are we drawn to violence in entertainment? These and other questions were addressed by a very brainy panel. Here are some highlights.

Despite the lecture hall’s bandbox environment, and the heatstroke humidity that suffocated me for nearly all of the 90 minutes, World Science Festival's Modern McGyvers presentation at the Museum of Arts and Design was an interesting introspection into what creativity, modest translation, and fundamental good will can achieve in the developing world. Below is a quick rundown of each of the innovations highlighted from this talk as well as the story behind them.

GREEN AND CLEAN STOVES

Benjamin West’s StoveTec cooking device is a technology with multiple benefits. Using 50 percent less fuel and burning 70 percent cleaner than the open fire alternatives being used in many developing countries, the stove has a positive effect on decreasing deforestation and from a human health perspective, cuts down on pneumonia and the the casualties of overexposure to smoke. Already present in 45 countries and going for no more than 20 dollars tops (8 dollars sans a fan), StoveTec certainly is a basic, yet vital improvement on the developing world's cooking regiment.

(I so sounded like an infomercial there)

Make sure to check the vid spotted over at Solar1 for more on how these super stoves work.

CAMEL POWERED FRIDGE

Dr. Winston Soboyejo’s solar powered camel refrigerator, which I highlighted and spotted at Inhabitat months back, is clearly not available at your local store, but its certainly some of the most innovative and groundbreaking tech out there. Kenya and Ethiopia have already started using these "camelfied" fridges to deliver vaccines and medicines to remotes areas, a reality that was practically an impossibility in the past due to the damage caused by the desert heat.

INDESTRUCTABLE SEEDS

Pamela Ronalds’s work with biotechnology in the rice rich regions of Bangladesh and the Philippines, have shown the advantages of what science can bring to the future of our food. The manipulation of super seeds isn't only creating tastier and long lasting crops, it's also making them immune to things such as flooding and disease.

You can find out more on Ronald’s work at FORA TV.

DIRT POWERED BATTERIES

Hugo Van Vuuren’s dirt powered batteries was by far the highlight of the night for me. At under ten dollars, the battery lasts 8-12 months and is the closest thing to Richard Dean Anderson you can get in terms of ingenuity. The batteries are already being used in electricity starved areas of Namibia and Tanzania, where the presence of outlets and nearby electric sockets are pretty much non-existent.

For a more charismatic and "geniusy" breakdown of this innovation, listen to his lecture over at PopTech.