Scientific American comes to Washington, D.C. for the Nation’s first Science Festival

Scientific American is proud to be a media sponsor for the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival, which opens Sunday in Washington, D.C.. The Festival represents a collaboration of 500 of the nation’s leading science organizations culminating with a two-day Expo on the National Mall and surrounding areas October 23 and 24. For the Expo, Scientific American will have a booth at the Wilson Plaza area. Parents and kids can come and learn about photosynthesis and find out whether algae could generate biomass fuel.

“Scientific American is excited to be part of the first national science festival,” says Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina. “Initiatives like this help remind us that science explains the world around us, and is not confined to mysterious activities in a laboratory.”

In conjunction with the hands-on area focused on photosynthesis, the booth will also feature a “talk back” board. With prompts such as “I didn’t know that...” and “It’d be cool if...", the board will give visitors a chance to participate in the exhibit. Visitors will have access to laptop computers to explore the October issue’s cover story feature interactive, “Reinventing the Leaf: Artificial Photosynthesis to Create Clean Fuel." The booth will also have a video area where visitors will be encouraged to share their thoughts on being a scientific American.

The USA Science & Engineering Festival begins on October 10 with a concert of science songs performed by 200 children and adults at the University of Maryland. Events follow on each day ending with the two-day Expo. The Expo will feature some 1,500 fun, hands-on science activities and more than 75 stage shows and performances on four stages. Exhibitors will host talks and performances.

In September 2010, Nature Publishing Group announced it joined President Obama’s Change the Equation initiative. As part of the company’s commitment to support STEM education, Scientific American in 2011 will launch “Bring Science Home”, a major new effort to provide parents simple experiments they can do with their children. “We all have a responsibility to foster children’s curiosity into a love of science,” says DiChristina.  “Our participation in the Festival and our involvement with Change the Equation resonate strongly with our mission to engage the public on the power of science.”

Links :
Nature Publishing Group Joins Change the Equation (16 September)
USA Science & Engineering Festival: www.usasciencefestival.org.