“Discover, be curious, don’t wait for diplomas to come.” This advice was given to the 250 middle school students present for the occasion by Jean-Claude Hardouin, the academy rector. The science village is a paradise of discovery and with a hint of curiosity, the visit quickly turns into a paradise of knowledge. The numerous stands allow visitors to familiarize themselves and tame this discipline. For this purpose, the presenters combine knowledge and pedagogy. This is the case with Cédric Jacob, a doctor in Universe Science and president of the AQUILA association (University Quality Association for Initiation to Astronomy). This specialist on the planet Jupiter manages to make himself understood both by academics with their pointed questions and by children. “For us, the Science Festival lasts all year. We intervene in middle and high schools, and the AQUILA association regularly organizes sky observations at the Calern sites in Nice, as well as on the Valrose campus,” says Cédric Jacob. What is the use of a Coronagraph? What material is Jupiter composed of, or what makes the sun hot? So many questions to ask until Saturday at the AQUILA association stand, and just as many answers will be given with passion.
A little further on, a little higher, another passion: video games. Marc Monticelli, an engineer at CNRS, is not glued to his controllers all day long. What interests him is the technology used for designing game consoles, and he laments: “I would like to use it for research. There should be a data exchange to advance research.” The room is filled with small instruments that will remind many thirty-year-olds of their youth: Atari, Sega, and Nintendo consoles with cult games… Attention to enthusiasts. Marc even found the first of them dating back to 1972. He has a project to create a video game museum by associating a research department for both computer creation and establishing a sociology of video games. This exhibition presented by the Robert Hooke Institute shows and explains the phenomena of movement, the use of Foucault’s pendulum… and as with all the stands, curiosity is not a bad trait. All the questions posed will bring their author a little more knowledge.
The science fair is the essential meeting place for anyone who wants to go to bed a little less ignorant!
Additional links:
-AQUILA Association: https://www.aquila.free.fr/ or www.aquila-asso.org
-Robert Hooke Institute: https://irh.unice.fr/
