A look back at the Bluedot Festival

Our partners Social responsibility 12th October 2016

Earlier this year, Dalton Nuclear Institute staff and students ran an interactive stand for visitors to Bluedot festival, hosted by Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre.

A giant banana drew in the crowds to find out why exactly a banana is radioactive.

Collaborating under the Manchester Energy banner, Next Generation Nuclear PhD students and alumni and PhD students from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering joined forces to talk about energy with hundreds of family festival goers at the event.

They joined other University of Manchester scientists in the ‘Star Field’, an exciting space in which to showcase research just beneath the iconic Lovell telescope. Interactive activities and props from the lab intrigued children and adults, prompted questions and dialogue, and aided explanations by the enthusiastic and engaging students.

According to one student, “People seemed really interested and wanted to talk and understand more, especially with respect to nuclear power and radiation. Many came armed with questions!”

Bluedot, supported by the UK Space Agency and the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), is a three-day festival of music, science, arts, technology, culture, food and film, with a mission to entertain and inspire visitors with ground-breaking encounters.

In the run up to the event, Professor Tim O’Brien, Associate Director of Jodrell Bank, together with Professor Teresa Anderson, one of the festival’s science directors, said: “Bluedot is going to be special. We want to blow people’s minds with some amazing music and some incredible ideas.

“A nod to Carl Sagan’s pale blue dot, the festival celebrates our planet in the vast cosmos, showcasing humanity’s creative achievements in arts, science, technology and the exploration of space.”