The penguin has landed !

University of Bristol's Discover exhibition
11 to 13 March 2010

Free, interactive, educational and fun!

A public celebration of the latest research at the University of Bristol is taking place right now at the Mall Bristol, Broadmead. With a wide variety of interactive exhibits covering arts, science, medicine and engineering, along with teams of researchers on-hand to discuss the research, there's lots to learn and enjoy.

Today is the first of two special schools days, when groups of Bristol school children get a chance to find out more at close quarters.

Making music from the Department of Music's giant penguin ice sculpture as it slowly melts is proving popular. With an electric drill buried deep within the sculpture representing man's over-use of resources, this stimulates thinking about climate change and our impact on our world. The drill also changes the pitch and tone of the sounds of the ice melting.

Finding out about bats and how they 'see' in the dark by way of echolocation is also a hit - as children can test out their own echolocation skills with a bat mask and set of headphones!

"I enjoyed looking at bats, they're cool - this is a once in a lifetime experience!" commented one school pupil.

"My favourite game was when we shone lights over the cars and raced" said another, referring to the Engineers Without Borders' solar-powered cars. This opens up their eyes to exciting ways in which the earth's resources can be used sustainably.

But it's not just school children finding out about University research today.


"I'm 74 years old and I have enjoyed the exhibition tremendously" said one passer-by. "Keep it up!".

By mid-day, around 300 children had already visited Discover. "The response has been fantastic" said University events officer Diane Thorne. "The children have been so enthusiastic and inspired by the research on display. They are really enjoying themselves."

With lots more to explore including DNA, sonic tweezers, being a palaeodetective, reliving history in virtual world Second Life and discovering how animals use camouflage to survive, there's so much to discover at Discover! Thank goodness it's on for a few more days!

See: www.bristol.ac.uk/cms/cpe/discover2010/ or follow us on twitter for updates.