Big ideas and daring conversations take centre stage in Brisbane from 24 to 28 March, as the best and boldest from Australia and around the world come together at this year’s World Science Festival Brisbane, which opens today.
Now in its sixth year and hosted by Queensland Museum, the program offers more than 120 events across 10 venues spanning deep science, in depth conversations, high energy science experiments, discoveries, exploration and innovation, education programs, music and interactive workshops.
Leading the charge on opening night is World Science Festival New York co-founder Professor Brian Greene, with the world premiere of his new film, Until the End of Time, followed by Q&A live from New York.
The 2021 program also includes a stellar line-up of audience favourites and industry leaders, including Australia’s favourite science communicator Dr Karl who will share science’s most Extreme Moments, explore some of the most burning scientific questions in A Night at the Museum and lead a panel of trustworthy scientists, historians and communicators to examine how we arrived at this place of mistrust and how we can do our bit to stand up for science in Why Trust a Scientist?
Professor of Global Biosecurity Raina MacIntyre from the Kirby Institute and Wendy Zukerman, creator and host of the internationally acclaimed podcast Science Vs, who will take to the stage in The Pulse of the Pandemic, as they draw out the lessons of the past in order to pandemic-proof the future.
First Nations Scientists will also bring their expertise to the festival program this year including Corey Tutt, a proud Kamilaroi man and CEO and founder of Deadly Science, who will join other brilliant young minds and global-influencers to share their visions of a brighter future and how we can all play our part in How to Change the World.
Sasha Purcell, a Torres Strait Islander human rights lawyer, Fulbright Scholar and NYU Human Rights Scholar in the climate change program, who will take part in a discussion about the Rising Tides, Searing Heat: Indigenous Australians and the Climate Crisis.
And Indigenous writer, filmmaker, musician Victor Steffensen, a descendant of the Tagalaka people in north Queensland and co-founder of the Firesticks Alliance and the National Indigenous Fire Workshop, will join a panel of environmental experts look to the past, present and future for ways to survive the current ‘Pyrocene’ in Disrupting Bushfires. Can we truly disrupt the battle of the blazes?
The year is 2030 and space tourism is now a thriving reality. But one company is setting its sights slightly further afield with a mission to mine the Moon. But who owns the Moon? This question will be debated in a lively panel discussion featuring international guest, Richard Garriott whose explorations have taken him across all 7 continents, to both poles, the deepest seas and outer space as a private astronaut.
From Wednesday 24 March to Sunday 28 March City of Science will make the festival accessible across 10 Brisbane precincts with 86 events, including live performances, conversations and experiences bubbling away across suburbs from Mount Coot-tha to the Queen Street Mall, Kingston to Carindale, West End to Fortitude Valley, the Queensland Cultural Centre and more.
And while the festival itself has grown to cover suburban Brisbane, the Cultural Precinct and Queensland Museum, will continue to be the epicentre of World Science Festival Brisbane with The Nucleus, on Sisters Green, set to be a central hub bursting with fun-science themed activities, discussions and trivia.
Another festival highlight returning is the ever-popular attraction The Hatchery: Turtle Conservation Experience, which showcases and supports turtle conservation, as well as giving visitors the opportunity to view baby loggerhead turtles hatching from eggs. This year, audiences will be able to tune into a round the clock 24-hour live stream of turtles hatching.
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