The Big Bang - Manchester Central March 2010
Build it. Ride it. Film it. Play it. You did it all at The Big Bang!
From gadgets to goo, farming to fashion and space to surgery - we had it all covered. We're sure you were amazed at just how much science and engineering affects your life, your world and your future.
- There were experiments, explosions, simulators and shows - plus the chance to meet a celebrity or two.
- Loads of scientists and engineers to quiz about their jobs and discover the perfect career for you.
- A chance to chat with finalists of the National Science and Engineering Competition and get inspired to enter for 2011.
Here are some of the highlights.....
Brainiac Live
Sky One's multi award-winning Brainiac arrived with a bang for the first time LIVE ON STAGE and was more mischievous than ever.
Science's greatest and most volatile show saw Brainiac Joe escape from Brainiac HQ - and with the audiences help - delve fearlessly into the mysteries of science. It's was a breathless ride through the wild world of the weird and wonderful.
Bang Goes the Theory
The team from the BBC hit the stage to test, stretch, explain and experiment with science. Bang Goes The Theory looked at how science shapes the world around us and put everthing to the test. A 'can't be missed' show for "anyone who is remotely curious about life, the Universe and pretty much everything".
Punk Science
Looking more like a stage invasion at Glastonbury than a science lesson, the Punk Science crew presented climate change in a whole different light.
The Punks took a look at what exactly climate change is with an enormous live demo of the greenhouse effect - and covered a range of topics from poo power to wind farms to nuclear energy.
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures at The Big Bang: 300 Million Year War
Prof. Sue Hartley from The Royal Institute explained the devious and terrifying ways plants protect themselves from attack by animals. She explained that by developing vicious poisons, lethal materials and even cunning forms of communication with unlikely allies - they have seen off everything from dinosaurs to caterpillars.
Curtis the Lemur hit the stage to show us how his paws have evolved to eat a particular spiny plant native to Madagascar. Whilst volunteers were invited up to investigate a cow's digestive system and watch amazed as an hours worth of its wind is exploded live on stage. Others helped conduct an experiment to discover how a plant can tell if it's been attacked by an animal, whilst a brave volunteer come face to face with one of the most fiery of plants and ate a red hot chilli.
The Zones
There were four zones for you to explore at The Big Bang: Power Up?; Go Global; BodyTalk and The NeXt Factor - which took you on a journey through science, engineering, technology and maths and the impact they have on the world.
Each zone had amazing interactive stands where you could discover tomorrow’s technology, cutting-edge medical care and answers to the world’s biggest challenges, like climate change, No doubt you had plenty of chances to get your hands on some mega gadgets and gizmos.
Find out more about the big household names who featured in the zones - and all the exciting things you saw.
The workshops
There were fantastic workshops lined up, from solving a murder with CSI Manchester, to designing a jet engine with Rolls Royce and filming yourself with The BBC. Did you get the chance to see some really cool science and technology in action - and take part?
The competitors
If you were inspired by the 11-18's showing their own projects amongst the big Household names in the National Science & Engineering Competition. Check out the winners here or find out how to enter for 2011
Find out more about The STEM Clubs Network, the STEM Challenges and Young Engineers that were also competing at The Big Bang here
Date Published: March 16, 2010
