TWO scientists walk into a bar with a jar full of parasites.
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It might sound like the start of a joke, but science has often battled to get its message across to the masses, so now it is being taken out of the labs and in to pubs. No joke.
Tamworth will play host to its first-ever “Pint of Science” event, giving people access to scientists to the coalface of research in Australia.
Running across two nights at Wests Leagues Club, organisers said the event should give people insight into the role of science into animal and human health.
Dr Peter Hunt from the CSIRO and Dr Tracy Schumacher from the University of Newcastle’s Tamworth department of rural health gave The Leader a taste of the show.
“The whole point is to have scientists like Peter come and talk and to the general public about what they doing in words that they understand so they can see the relevance to it,” Dr Schumacher said.
“We promote amongst ourselves, all of the time, our research, but we don’t necessarily get out amongst the public.”
Dr Hunt, will be talking on “the changing world of human and animal gastrointestinal parasites”, which he insists a perfectly reasonable topic of conversation over dinner.
“It’s about letting people know how important science is,” he said.
“Just about everything we see came from a science project, it might have been hundreds of years ago, but it came from there.”
Who do they want to go?
Dr Schumacher said the event was open to absolutely everyone, but she did admit it was important to get kids thinking about science at a young age.
“We’ve chosen this venue so minors can come,” she said.
“We want to put it on their radar.
“Most people have chosen their careers by very early on by what they are exposed to, so this is a chance to expose younger people to science and show that it is a valid and relevant career and one that can be extremely exciting.”
On a broader level, the event gives all people almost unprecedented access to the region’s scientific minds.
“This is a really good chance to get face-to-face and ask a scientist themselves, most people don’t get an opportunity to that in their normal lives, but at this event, you can come and ask questions of the researchers themselves,” Dr Schumacher said.
The Tamworth event will be held on May 16 and 17, with tickets available online at www.pintofscience.com.au.
What you can expect to see
The organisers have tried make the event as engaging as possible, bringing along a number of gadgets and specimens.
One scientist will be bringing tasting strips which tests people for a “super-gene” when it comes to tasting bitter things.
“We’re also bringing one of our gadgets with us that tests the colours of your kin to see whether your eating your vegies every night,” Dr Schumacher said.
Why they want you see it
Having built a career in science, Dr Hunt said the event was not aimed at simply recruiting youngsters into science.
Dr Hunt said the scientific field gives people a different way of thinking about the world and to seek out ways to improve things.
“It’s not just attracting people to become scientists,” Dr Hunt said.
“It teaches to be sceptical when it’s appropriate, it teaches you to trust certain sources, which is important because otherwise you end up trusting nothing.
“It also teaches you to be curious, ask questions and go ‘maybe we don’t have to do it that way’.
“All this innovation stuff the government is talking about, it’s the core of that as well.”
Who will you see?
> Mitch Duncan (University of Newcastle): Mitch looks at the links between how well we sleep, and which diseases might develop if we aren’t getting enough good quality sleep.
He also has some tips about what we can do to sleep better.
>Emma Beckett (University of Newcastle): Emma’s research looks at how our genes affect the way we taste food and how this relates to the types of foods we choose to eat.
She will talk about why some people like to eat their vegies and others struggle.
> Yolanda Surjan (University of Newcastle): Yolanda will talk about how radiation therapy treatments for cancer in humans has been translated to help our animals who might need cancer treatments too.
> Peter Hunt (CSIRO): Peter’s topic is on the changing world of human and animal gastro- intestinal parasites and how they continue to evolve and this will have an impact on how well the medicines work, on both our animals and ourselves.