From fossil remains to satellites, the wonders of EU-funded research were on full display at the Science is Wonderful fair in Belgium, awing children and adults alike.
By Zoran Radosavljevic
What if there was a place where young people could learn the basics of coding, analyse fossil remains, assemble a wind turbine and learn how to predict earthquakes? The two-day Science is Wonderful fair in Tervuren, near Brussels, was just that.
On entering Tervuren’s imposing Africa Museum, which hosted the 10th iteration of the event on 13 and 14 March, it was clear that visitors were in for a dazzling display of what EU-funded research can do.
As excited chatter spilled across the halls, it was equally clear that both the children and the researchers, most of them in their late 20s, were having fun.
Just before the main hall, dozens of kids queued to fly a mini drone through suspended hoops. Dozens more scrambled around in a sandbox full of hidden fossil remains and artefacts that they tried to find using tiny brushes and spatulas.
Nearby, a macaque monkey (a life-size doll moved by a researcher) was explaining how terrible it is to find heaps of plastic waste in its habitat in Sulawesi, Indonesia, and what to do about it.
And one of the obvious favourites: a chance to be rescued at sea – with virtual reality glasses simulating a dinghy surrounded by raging waves – thanks to Galileo, the EU’s global navigation satellite system.
“The main idea is to inspire the next generation of researchers so the knowledge is passed on, together with the passion and curiosity, to the next generation. And for children to see that research can be for anyone,” said Sybille Luhmann, project manager for the event.
The annual science fair, launched in 2015 by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the EU’s doctoral and postdoctoral research training programme, attracted around 5 000 primary and secondary school students.
At their disposal were about 50 booths, with projects ranging from music and space to medical imaging and ancient Egyptian artistry.
Making group space calls
Alessandro Mastropietro, an Italian PhD research engineer at Kongsberg NanoAvionics in Lithuania, soon had his hands full with curious visitors.
At his booth, visitors were able to assemble their own small satellite while learning what’s inside it and how it works in space. They were also able to send and receive radio messages using personalised 2.4 GHz antennas.
“It is a difficult topic, but everyone was fascinated. Boys and girls were both involved in the same way,” he said.
“There was this little girl this morning, she was so involved in understanding what we are doing, how to assemble a satellite, how it all works when the satellite is in space. I told her ‘I’ll be waiting to see you as a space engineer’.”
He also praised the opportunity to network with other young researchers. “It is great for us to meet so many passionate people who have a similar life, similar vision and dreams.”
In real life, Mastropietro is part of an international team working on an initiative named HARMONY. Its aim is to develop new technologies and solutions for space-related services by building a “constellation of satellites in space that speak with each other and with us on the ground, like a big group call”.
Was EU support important in his pursuit of a research career? “100 percent,” he said. “EU funding gave me an opportunity to do what I wanted to do: design satellites. My dream is to design missions to the Moon and Mars.”
Getting under the skin…
Dahiana Mojena Medina, a Spanish post-doctoral researcher working in Germany, was in charge of a booth explaining how human skin functions. Using cornflakes, muesli, yoghurt, chocolate sticks and chia seeds, children were able to recreate the different skin layers of the human body.
Chia seeds emulated nerve endings, and chocolate sticks represented hair follicles.
“Children build their own skin model layer by layer from edible ingredients, and they can eat it and enjoy afterwards,” she said. Kids could also try on haptic gloves that simulate the sensation of touch, helping them understand the connection between skin and brain, and how signals travel.
In the adult world, Mojena Medina is the co-principal investigator of a research initiative named BioKIN. She is developing bioengineered skin with mesh electronics: sensors designed with tissue-like structural and mechanical properties.
“Our ambition is to develop a technology that not only treats chronic wounds and supports natural skin regeneration, but also integrates sensors to monitor the healing process and provide doctors with real-time information,” Mojena Medina said.
“The idea is that once the skin has repaired, these devices are so light and unobtrusive that the body can naturally shed them.”
…and saving democracy
In one of the final rooms of the fair, a different sort of science awaited. There were fewer gadgets, but it still sprang a surprise.
In one corner, two polling booths – one resembling a standard booth and the other with a glass partition looking onto the garden outside – was waiting for children to cast their votes. They had to decide what they see as a priority for making the world a better place.
They could then use a new computerised tool called CODE, which allowed them to express preferences on any issue in their own words and translate them into collective preferences.
Overseeing the booth was Michael Bruter, a professor of political science at the London School of Economics (LSE). Together with Sarah Harrison, he also directs the Electoral Psychology Observatory at LSE.
“I was worried about the little ones, but they got quite excited to vote for the first time and be able to voice opinions in their own words,” said Bruter.
He is the principal investigator of ELHO (Electoral Hostility), an EU-funded initiative running from 2019 to 2026 that studies the changing nature of democratic crises in 27 countries around the world.
What gave rise to the project, explained Bruter, was the realisation that average voters are increasingly hostile and vote “because they hate one of the options and try to prevent it from happening”.
EU funding, Bruter said, enabled researchers to discover things no one has discovered before about the critical question facing society: “Democracy is in a big crisis, and somehow we need to find a way to reconcile citizens and give them back hope about democracy.”
Encouraging children and teenagers to think about what they want is the first step towards this goal.
The final stop of the fair was a Science Wall where children could describe why science is wonderful. Most answers were similar: “it teaches us many things”, “it is interesting”, “it saves lives”.
However, one stood out: “It answers your questions with more questions and it makes you so curious and in awe of the world you live in”.
A sure sign that science is wonderful indeed.
The views of the interviewees don’t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.
More info
This article was originally published in Horizon the EU Research and Innovation Magazine.
