Professors getting close to the people on Thursday’s Night of Scientists around the country

At Rehovot’s Weizmann Institute of Science, visitors will be able to visit a brain exhibition in the Davidson Institution.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Jerusalem’s Bloomfield Science Museum (photo credit: Courtesy)
Jerusalem’s Bloomfield Science Museum
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Scientists at 13 universities, research institutes and science museums are set to climb down from their ivory towers on Thursday night and offer a layman’s view of the world at the annual Night of Scientists.
Among the many hundreds of questions that will be answered are: How do submarines work? How do fish breathe? Is the solution to Israeli population density in the Mediterranean Sea? Why do jellyfish sting? Are a group of people smarter than the individual? How much salt is in the Dead Sea? The free events across the country are organized by the Science, Technology and Space Ministry and the European Commission.
Detailed schedules have been posted on the ministry’s website at www.most.gov.il. The events will include workshops with scientists, experiential activities, tours, children’s programs, performances and scientific demonstrations.
At Rehovot’s Weizmann Institute of Science, visitors will be able to visit a brain exhibition in the Davidson Institution, take part in an improvisational play and ask scientists questions.
The Sami Shamoon engineering academy campuses in Beersheba and Ashdod will offer creative workshops, including the building of huge models of water molecules, preparing magnets and making bubbles, checking acidity after meals and bringing down the freezing point.
At the Technion’s Science Museum (MadaTech) in Haifa, visitors will be able to tour an exhibition of international boats, use a simulator to remove containers at the port, learn about the theory of waves and surfing and find out how creatures of the sea find their food.
Jerusalem’s Bloomfield Science Museum will also focus on water – pumping and spraying it, as well as showcasing a film on corals and presenting an opportunity to ask experts about the water supply and desalination.
Lectures on water will be integrated with music in the auditorium.
The University of Haifa invites visitors to control synthetic flying fish with remote controls, launch water missiles, make sailboats from clay, and learn about sharks and about tsunamis.
Activities are suitable for children as young as four through to adults who are full of curiosity.
The Open University campus in Ra’anana will showcase an exhibition on decorative fish, offer participation in sound experiments and present lectures on mythological heroes who conquered the seas.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem invites visitors to play beach games, tour labs, view maritime photos and hear lectures on water in space, amphibians in the Arava, dolphins and luminescent bacteria.
At Tel Aviv University, visitors can enjoy a water-themed piano recital and lectures on waves, Middle Eastern pirates and solving the world’s jellyfish problem.
An Israeli-Palestinian film project on water will be presented, and the zoological and botanical gardens will be open.
A “physics circus” and electrical and laser displays will be on hand at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan. Visitors will learn in labs about the use of gold to discover and treat cancer, the nervous system of leeches, artificial vision for the blind and why people make irrational decisions. Night of the Scientists, created to bring the general public – especially youth – closer to science, is the first Israeli project this year to receive funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 program.