Scientists ‘shock and awe’ show

A team of scientists from the University of Hull will be answering these questions and more, as part of National Science and Engineering Week, which starts today.

Academics and students will be taking live experiments to the streets, shopping centres and school classrooms in the East Riding, as part of a national celebration of science, technology and engineering, now in its 18th year.

At St Stephen’s shopping centre in Hull tomorrow ‘science buskers’ will be showing people magic tricks based on science, which shoppers can learn for themselves - including creating ‘balloon kebabs’ and ‘sticky books’ and freezing bottles of water in the blink of an eye.

Department of Chemistry lecturer Dr March Lorch, who has organised the event along with colleagues from the University’s Faculty of Science, said: “The schools and other audiences we interact with are always amazed and entertained by our ‘shock and awe’ demonstrations, but there is of course a very strong educational element to what we do.”