Anyone who wants to explore the mysteries of the universe and maybe even find out what the processes for exercise and making beer have in common can pose some probing questions over a pilsner at Nanaimo’s first Pint of Science festival.
Pint of Science is a non-profit organization that brings brilliant scientific minds to local pubs to discuss their research and findings.
The event originated in London, England, with research scientists Michael Motskin and Praveen Paul who thought if they wanted to share and discuss their work with the public it might be a better idea to bring science to the people instead of bringing people to a laboratory. The idea became the first Pint of Science in 2013 and it now happens in close to 300 cities around the world started hosting Pint of Science in Canada in 2016.
Nanaimo’s first Pint of Science festival happens over three nights in Piper’s Pub and one night at White Sails, May 20-22.
“Monday we have two people talking about different aspects of, sort of, the larger universe,” said Stephanie Archer, local Pint of Science organizer and one of the festival’s speakers.
“We have Gregory Arkos, who’s a professor at [Vancouver Island University] speaking about the search for life beyond Earth and then Gail Conway [from] Discover Montessori School, and she is talking about what time actually is and the quantum mechanics behind time.”
Each night of discussions has a different theme, such as living in the digital age and our amazing bodies.
“Our last one on Wednesday, back at Piper’s, is talking about how amazing the body can actually be,” Archer said. “So, we have Janelle Curtis, who’s a research scientist here at Fisheries and Oceans, and she’s going to talk about an accident she had in 2016, where she fell off a a cliff in Strathcona and broke a whole bunch of things and was in a coma for several months, and what she learned about the body’s ability to heal and how the brain can recover from trauma. And then Louis Mattar, who’s at VIU, is going to talk about the similarities and what’s going on in your body when you exercise and the process of making beer.”
Each speaker has prepared a 15- to 20-minute talk, but 40 minutes has been allocated for each engagement to allow for lots of questions and discussion.
Tickets became available May 1. The White Sails event is already fully booked, but there are still tickets available for Pint of Science talks at Piper’s Pub.
To learn more about Pint of Science and book tickets, visit https://pintofscience.ca/.
photos@nanaimobulletin.com
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