Over the weekend I took my son to the excellent ‘Bang goes the Theory’ Live road show which is part of the Festival of Science in Bradford. If a similar event is near you I recommend you go along, fun for all the family even if science is not really your thing. The whole event makes the subject very accessible to all.

image  

Even if I had not known this was on I might have guessed something as afoot in Bradford as virtually every Radio 4 news program has had a short article on some new scientific advance from Bradford University. Today a lie detector using facial analysis and a new cancer treatment to name just the ones I remember. Now I went to Bradford and I know it is world leader in biomedical science, but I do wonder if they have been saving press released to get the biggest bang. Or is it the BBC and other media outlets are in Bradford at the festival so it is easy to get Bradford stories?

It is great to see more positive news articles on science and technology, but the danger is it is just a headline. We need to look behind the headlines to be better informed. Events like this road show a great step to get people interested to find out more, and always to keep ‘asking why is that……’