PINT OF SCIENCE FESTIVAL
19-21 MAY 2025
.png)
One evening, four organisations, four recipes to make science the addictive party snack it deserves to be!
There are many great initiatives that cater to our daily needs of tasty science bites, it is sometimes hard to keep track. Some like their science served with pints (guess who), others with stand-up comedy, music, cocktails or astronauts. So why not bring a few of them together in one awesome place and try all the flavours? That's how we want to spend our launch event this year, before the Pint of Science festival… with friends!
(The event is free but registration is required)
Love, brain, and... voles??
Elodie Chabrol
Neuroscientist
International Director of Pint of Science
We will talk about love and faithfulness of prairie voles. No, the voles are not a metaphor for people, we do mean the rodent. Unlike other species, these cute creatures mate for life, share household duties and take equal roles in raising their young. Yes we know, you are probably thinking "what is wrong with them? ". Oxytocin, that's what. This is the hormone of love and social bonding, responsible for many social phenomenons. What can the voles tell us about human love? Will oxytocin make you fall in love? Be ready for a live experiment and find out by yourself!
The music of the stellar symphony
Dominic Bowman
Postdoctoral Researcher, member of an ERC-funded team
Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven
Stars are the building blocks of galaxies in the universe, and are responsible for making most of the chemical elements on the periodic table. Star quakes in vibrating stars cause their surfaces to twinkle and shimmer, which astronomers use to study what is going on inside them, similarly to how geologists study earthquakes on the Earth. From pulsars to even our own star – the Sun – there are many different types of pulsating stars in the universe, each providing a different piece of the puzzle to understanding the cosmos.
The reef, my friend, is blown away by the wind
Marc Kochzius
Professor of Marine Biology
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
It’s serious. Climate change is serious. Greta and her young followers realise it and demand action. Conservative and liberal politicians ignore the scientific facts and don’t want to act. It’s not funny, it’s ridiculous. Let me take you on a sarcastic trip to threatened tropical coral reefs with a big portion of black humor.
