On Thursday 8th December, London’s Imperial College opened its doors for one of its regular Imperial Fringe Events, “exploring the unexpected side of science.” It was held in the entrance hall of the Mechanical Engineering Building. The theme was All Around the World.
The aim of the evening was to educate and excite people, especially children. They succeeded in this, I came away from the evening with new knowledge; did you know they are investigating ways to store carbon dioxide in rocks underground?
There was a huge variety of exhibits, including live leeches and lessons in the correct way to wash your hands from a group of medical students, which was very popular. They used an ultra violet light and a gel sensitive to UV light to detect the bacteria on people’s hands - the results were disgusting!
This same group (in total made up of 45 medical students, although only a few were present at the fringe event) travelled to Nepal last summer to teach sexual health and first aid. They did the same demonstration to people there to teach them about the importance of washing your hands. According to one student, the experience was “very rewarding.”
Their next event is on 16th February 2017 and is called Money Matters, for more information visit: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/festival/fringe/ .
Susanna Whitlock, Charles Darwin School
