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SciFest Africa, the national festival of science taking place in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape from 25 to 31 March, has joined a global movement under the leadership of the United Nations to celebrate 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy.

"Our theme, 'Space to Explore', aims to highlight what's 'out there' and bring back to earth what we can't see beyond the blue of the sky," says SciFest director Vera Adams.

Adams says she is is looking forward to experiencing her first SciFest after moving from Cape Town to Grahamstown to head up South Africa's make-science-fun organisation.

"Astronomy can be something that people battle to understand, but this year the astronomy events at SciFest will enable visitors to see what they can't see with the human eye," Adams says.
Something for every age group

SciFest has plenty lined up to complement what the United Nations is promoting. With something for every age group, everyone will be able to learn about the space around us.

Charles McGruder, an astronomer from Kentucky in the US, will be at SciFest to engage with all stargazers about what makes him tick. He will also talk about extrasolar planets and how we can find our own.

SciFest will also welcome Hakeem Oluseyi, an astrophysicist from Florida, US, who will tell the stories of African astronomers and take a look at the broader social and political contexts that affected their research. He will also make sense of dark matter and dark energy.

"Our 2009 theme does not limit the festival to astronomy only, but to everything around us too," says SciFest manager Margaret Wolff.
Celebrating Darwin's centenary
"We are also celebrating Charles Darwin's bi-centenary, and I'm particularly looking forward to hearing what Daniel Dennett has to say about cultural evolution."

Visiting American philosopher Dennett will ask questions about where the future of humanity lies and how we need to embrace the challenge of running our planet. He will also addresses how science and philosophy are intertwined when it comes to the human consciousness.

Dennett's ideas are interesting and, for some, controversial. Dennett is an atheist who, in his research, says: "People will come to appreciate that all the beauty and depth and meaning they (rightly) crave in life is to be more truly found in a naturalistic worldview than in a religious or mysterian world view."

Dennett has written more than 15 books, including Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life and Freedom Evolves, which are available at Exclusive Books or other good bookshops.
Skin colour and evolution

Among other prominent speakers at SciFest Africa 2009, Nina Jablonski will talk about how skin colour is the product of evolution and what skin bleaching and tanning say about society.

"On the whole, we have made our thirteenth festival especially diverse, so there really is something for everyone's interests," says Wolff.

"At this festival you will learn about black holes, the origin of species, hilarious research, fossils, hyper-tension, naked science, sports drinks, vultures, lasers, pond slime - there is just so much," says SciFest festival officer Tina Moss.

"The festival is sure to be a hit with visitors of all ages."

The seven-day programme detailing all 550 events is available on the SciFest Africa website.
Source: [url=http://www.scifest.org.za/" rel="nofollow]Scifest Africa[/url]

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