A montage of scenes from demonstration booths at Science on the Square on State Street in Madison, Wisconsin.
Rock and roll and unleashed curiosity with Science on the Square
Wisconsinites shared collective jaw drops as they explored the kickoff event for the 15th annual Wisconsin Science Festival.
By Elise Mahon and Jeff Miller
Families shared collective jaw drops as they explored magnetic rocks, learned about the wonders of physics, held a human brain and more during Science on the Square, the kickoff event for the 15th annual Wisconsin Science Festival.
The trademark event was the first in over 650 science engagement events that will take place across the state during the 10 days Governor Evers has declared Wisconsin Science Week from Oct. 16 to Oct. 26. This year’s festival will explore the theme of “Rock and Roll” and invite Wisconsinites to explore the science behind music, motion and our state’s geology.
Take a stroll downtown and explore some of the fun hands-on science and art explorations that lined State Street between the capitol and campus. And be sure to find an event near you, from punny talks with state geologists, to live music, to the science-in-a-bag take-home experiments, to a science and art fusion variety show.
The Wisconsin Science Festival is all about unleashing the public’s curiosity by bringing science out of the lab and, in the case of Science on the Square, into the streets. The Wonders of Physics group has been a staple of the festival for years, and this year was no exception. In keeping with the theme of “Rock and Roll,” this year’s booth invited passersby to explore the many ways sound waves and frequencies can influence the world around us. Here, University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate student Mitanshu Thakore uses tuning forks to describe how they can use sound waves to move a ball suspended from a thread a few inches away, without ever coming into contact with the ball. Photo: Jeff Miller / UW–Madison
At left, members of the public handle human brain specimens as students from the University of Wisconsin–Madison Neuroscience Training Program answer questions about brain synapses, the place where two brain cells meet and pass electrical signals throughout the brain. They also are able to point out what regions of the brain are connected to vision, auditory processing, and even where most of our thoughts, hopes and dreams occur. Photo: Jeff Miller / UW–Madison
Haddie McLean (left), the program’s outreach manager, and graduate student Raheem Hashmani conduct a science experiment involving the creation of sound from a heated pipe during the first of the night’s Wonders of Physics shows. These shows have become a staple of Science on the Square, featuring live demonstrations near the capitol for crowds of families. This year, accompanied by lights and fog machines, they helped the crowd visualize sound waves, understand magnetic currents and how they interact with gravity, and even created a cloud on stage. Photo: Jeff Miller / UW–Madison
Attendees who stopped by the colorful Phun with Pharmacy booth learned that changes to the stomach’s acidity are the cause of most stomach aches. Using clear cups, a color-changing solution to indicate acidity, and some store-bought stomach relief medication, students from the Pharmaceutical Science Division of UW–Madison’s School of Pharmacy demonstrated how important it is to balance your stomach’s pH. Photo: Jeff Miller / UW–Madison
As the sun disappeared and booths flicked on small lights under their tents, the popular Science Brite glowed like a beacon near the top of State Street. Parents gathered to watch their children create brightly colored patterns and pictures on the oversized Lite-Brite. Photo: Jeff Miller / UW–Madison
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