Photos: Virginia Tech Science Festival draws thousands to Blacksburg campus
Each year, the Virginia Tech Science Festival celebrates science as a way of knowing by providing community members an opportunity to engage with university research.
Held on Nov. 2, this year’s event brought more than 2,000 visitors to the Moss Arts Center and Newman Library to engage with 60 exhibits led by over 100 exhibitors spanning over 25 departments.
Based on the idea that “science is bigger than you think,” each festival is themed around interdisciplinary experiential learning, art-integrated research, the intersection of art and science, and supporting broader impacts.
For this 11th installment, the lineup of exhibits included projects from building DNA with candies and breathing life into an Egyptian tomb model to interdisciplinary projects and National Science Foundation-funded research.
Nano Earth
The U.S. dollar bill uses magnetized ink containing iron nanoparticles to help prevent counterfeiting. By holding a bill vertically and bringing a neodymium magnet near the bottom edge of any denomination, a legitimate bill will be attracted to the magnet. Photo by Rodney Kimbangu for Virginia Tech.
Carving out Creativity
The project Carving Out Creativity explores how creative bodies and brains connect while making art or visiting a museum. As viewers interact with the stone in one location, they simultaneously connect with another visitor in a different location, allowing for real-time interaction. Photo by Rodney Kimbangu for Virginia Tech.
4-H Life Science Mobile Learning Lab
Virginia Cooperative Extension’s mobile learning lab is an innovative outreach tool designed to bring educational resources and hands-on learning experiences directly to communities. This specific unit features eight exhibits. Photo by Rodney Kimbangu for Virginia Tech.
Virginia Wildlife Watch
This preserved specimen of a tri-colored bat is more than 80 years old. Tri-colored bats are among the smallest bats in North America, weighing between 4 and 8 grams, about the same as a teaspoon of sugar. They play a crucial role in controlling insect populations, consuming thousands each night, including mosquitoes and agricultural pests. Photo by Rodney Kimbangu for Virginia Tech.
ToySphere
Toys are often discarded when no longer used. However, as the ToySphere team works on reusing old toys, its members have found that one type of toy often kept into adulthood is plushies and teddy bears. Photo by Rodney Kimbangu for Virginia Tech.
The Future of 3D Printing
Imagine printing an object with all its components, such as chains, joints, and gears, at the same time without needing to assemble them later. This process, called print-in-place, allows users to print objects in their final positions with clearances designed for movement or interaction once the print is complete.
Modeling DNA with Candy
There aren’t many ways to explain something as complex as DNA sequencing to kids. However, using candies to show how each component of the DNA chain connects sparks their curiosity. Photo by Rodney Kimbangu for Virginia Tech.
Breathing Life into Meketre Tomb Models
The models from Meketre’s tomb are currently housed in various museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. They provide a rare 3D look into the daily life of Middle Kingdom Egypt. Using virtual reality, Virginia Tech researchers have brought colors and life to the tomb, offering a glimpse of what it might have looked like in its glory. Photo by Rodney Kimbangu for Virginia Tech.
She Leads, She learns, She Creates Her Lab
One popular DIY beauty product is the sugar scrub. By mixing sugar with oil, a few drops of essential oils, and a touch of food coloring or mica powder, enthusiasts can create an environmentally friendly exfoliating scrub. Photo by Rodney Kimbangu for Virginia Tech.
Stream Rocks
Crayfish have eight legs. They use one set of four to walk and another to swim backward, using this movement in combination with snapping their tails. To grow, they shed their exoskeletons in a process called molting. They molt six to 10 times in the first year, doubling in size with each molt. In the wild, they can live up to 30 years. Photo by Rodney Kimbangu for Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech Helmet Lab
The vintage leather football helmets, also known as leatherheads, were never originally designed for head protection. Instead, they were primarily meant to prevent ear injuries, such as cauliflower ear, which was common during the unregulated early days of football. They did very little to protect players from concussions or skull fractures. Photo by Rodney Kimbangu for Virginia Tech.
