北京科学嘉年华

The first Beijing Science Festival debuted at the square to the west of the National Stadium or Bird's Nest on September 16th.

As Geng Jie, the executive secretary general of the festival organizing committee says, the one week international festival is committed to promoting scientific knowledge among the public via creative, interactive and fun activities.

"Altogether, 147 domestic and overseas institutions have joined this year's science festival. Five are from Germany, Singapore, Japan and the UK. The activities they bring range from life sciences, to environmental protection as well as the application of science in our lives. Traditionally, people's perception of science is serious, and that it is esoteric, but the activities here will present you with a vivid experience connected to daily life, which is also entertaining."

Sarah Renner is a presenter at a German science educational institution. She is presenting software. Visitors can take a picture of their faces and try to duplicate their appearance by using the data base as much as they like.

Sarah Renner explains, it's similar to what the police use to recreate a suspect's appearance.

"We want to show that it's really hard to produce phantom pictures. So if you have a criminal, like robbery or something, and people remember a little bit about the person who robbed you. You can remember like long hair or short hair, thick eyebrow, thin lips. That's here we want to show. They take their own pictures. They have their own picture template. Then they double the image of that. So how hard it is if you have your own picture next to you and create a template, this is so hard, you can imagine it is if you see a person for only 5 seconds."

At another booth, which presents an electricity application, a six year old boy is counting how many mini solar panels he needs to run some small electric gadgets, like a a radio and a musical birthday card.

"One panel generates 0.5 volts of electricity. The appliances require multiple panels. Both the small radio and the music card need 2.5 solar panels. So I need five for each of them."

At another booth, a presenter is using live electricity sparks to demonstrate how dangerous static electricity can be.

From an android which can take films of people, to an explanation of how paper can be recycled, from 3D glasses to astronomical observation, all the presentations need YOU to get involved.

Indeed, besides learning, having fun is also a main feature of the Science Festival. A presenter is demonstrating how a high-end remote control toy car can jump over a slope.

Origami doesn't sound like too much science, however, Yu Yaqin, presenter with the Singaporean pavilion says there big aeronautical science behind making a good paper plane. The folding method is the traditional Nakamura Lock.

"If look from the rear, the wings of the paper plane should shape like a letter 'Y' rather. Because the up-turned wing shape may generate more lift power. Plus, you should hold the front part when you throw it. And if your plane drops to the ground, you can fold the back of the plane up a little bit. These tips may help your plane fly straighter and a longer distance."

We all know about lab rats, but how much do you know about lab FISH? Wang Hong with the Chinese Association of Laboratory Animal Animals Science says that lab fish have a wide range of applications.

"Aquatic laboratory animals can be use to monitor the water environment for toxic elements. Lab rats can be used in water. They can also be used to make illness models like tumors. It's easy to reproduce the effects, and it's cheap. These characteristics make fish like the zebra fish ideal specimens for gene, pharmacy and medical research."

The Beijing Science Festival runs until September 23rd, this Friday.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.