Where Dr Karl really gets his loud shirts from: Burning questions answered at World Science Festival
Great artistic and scientific minds will come together next month at Brisbane’s action-packed World Science Festival, with Curiocity set to fill the city with interactive installations
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At the World Science Festival Brisbane this year they will be asking the big questions. Such as … what’s in a black hole, and is ageing curable?
And where does Dr Karl get his colourful shirts from?
The first two of those are tricky but we can help you out on the third. As he prepares for his appearance at the groundbreaking Brisbane event Australia’s favourite and most accessible science interpreter, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, lets us in on his secret.
“My wife Mary makes them for me,” he says.
“The latest have tiny little walruses and puppy dogs on them.”
He tries not to blind us with science but he does with his lairy attire which gets attention, all in the cause of science. Dr Karl is an author and science media star and he’s thrilled to be heading back to Brisbane for the festival. He’s been a regular guest since its inception in 2016.
He will be talking about everything from those elusive black holes to matters concerning whales. He doesn’t always have all the answers though.
“A kid said to me – how big does a whale grow? And I didn’t know,” Dr Karl says. “I’m finding things out myself through these questions. It’s not the answer that gets you the Nobel prize. It’s the question.
“I’m looking forward to having a chance to mess with the audience’s heads. And making them laugh.”
Dr Karl, who says he will be wearing his signature shirts (he has a “floating library” of about 40), will appear at a number of events including a Science Communication Soiree, a lunchtime Q and A session in Brisbane’s CBD, a panel entitled Night of the Nerds hosted by comedian Mark Humphries and an event dubbed Everything you Need to Know About: Comedy with Dr Karl.
He recently visited New York and met up with the festival’s founder, the theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist, Professor Brian Greene, well known for his books and documentaries.
“We recorded a podcast about String Theory, which hurts my head just thinking about it,” Dr Karl says.
Greene and his wife, journalist Tracy Day, founded the World Science Festival in New York, then establishing a franchise in Brisbane in 2016.
It turned out to be a big hit. Covid cancelled the 2020 event but last year a hybrid festival was a success and this year there will be live and virtual events.
Launching the program, Queensland’s Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch pledged $9m to keep it happening for the next three years. It ticks all the boxes regarding STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts and Maths) and has been hugely popular with nearly a million visitors since inception and through
a regional program. “It is very exciting to see this popular festival continue to evolve,” Enoch says. “Since its introduction in 2016 it has generated more than $32m in economic impact for the state.”
The first festival had some star power to help get everyone’s attention. Greene brought his friend, the celebrated actor and science communicator Alan Alda of M*A*S*H fame along for the ride.
Alda’s presence put the festival in the spotlight and he attended the performance of his play, Dear Albert, in which Albert Einstein’s personal correspondence was given new life on stage.
Greene and his team have been keen to make sure their festival in the US and Australia isn’t just for science nerds and from day one there has been arts content to explore the nexus between science and creativity.
There have been concerts, public events, screenings and a cinema program at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and Curiocity, a festival within a festival, featuring art installations around the city with science themes.
Using the arts makes science clearer according to Alda, who talked up the connection between art and science when he was here.
“I feel that art and science are long lost lovers yearning to be reunited,” Alda says.
Curiocity exemplifies the science-art nexus with 16 artworks and installations spread across the city.
Curiocity curator, Brisbane artist and academic Jay Younger, says one of the major works, OCHE/ECHO by Georgie Pinn is a perfect example of this.
Pinn’s work, a 7m high aluminium face will “mirror the audience” according to Younger.
It will be placed on Brisbane’s main public recreational area by the Brisbane River, South Bank, and will use live generative animations, high-end facial capture technology and projected mapped storytelling to “look at empathy as well as prejudice and make us aware of our choices and perspectives”.
“The audience can embed themselves in the artwork as their portraits are captured and manipulated creatively in real time into the continuously changing face projection,” Younger says.
“They then get to shapeshift by stepping into another’s story.”
Interacting with the works is a major aim of Curiocity according to Younger who says art “only exists if you interact with it”.
The art and science nexus is important according to Greene, although his work is more at the pointy end of science. He won’t make it to Brisbane his year due to the pandemic.
But he will be here virtually for the opening night event, Einstein and the Quantum: Entanglement and Emergence, which will be presented in The Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank, not far from the festival’s main venue, the Queensland Museum, in the heart of Brisbane’s cultural precinct.
Greene will be patched in live from New York to chat about Einstein, relativity and other matters that may make our brains hurt – joined by astrophysicist Tamara Davis and the ABC’s Jonathan Webb.
Greene says it won’t all be impenetrable.
“You will totally understand it,” he promises when I phone him in New York.
“You’re going to find out that the staple of science fiction called wormholes and quantum entanglement, which Einstein called spooky, are two notions that are connected.”
Greene says he is thrilled at how the public has embraced the festival he and his wife created. “It has been so wonderful to watch the enthusiasm for it grow over time,” Greene says.
“I think in general we humans are in search of the truth or how the world works and science reveals that reality is stranger than fiction.”
There’s plenty of serious science on offer with events and talks exploring all aspects of science … even the science of sex. Sexologist Chantelle Otten, girlfriend of Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott, is one of the guest speakers.
Among the other presenters is also Brisbane’s own Ranger Stacey (Stacey Thomson) known to millions of Australians for her work over nearly three decades on Channel 10’s Totally Wild program. She’ll be hosting The Super Smart Slightly Silly Seriously Sensational Science Spectacular.
“I love this festival because it’s not just serious people in lab coats,” she says.
“It’s very accessible and it is wonderful seeing children getting inspired by science.’’
Qld Museum Network chief executive Jim Thompson says the festival has expanded and he hopes to attract visitors from interstate this year.
“There will be great conversations about science but we have built up other elements so there are bars and food and fun and entertainment.”
Thompson says one of the major attractions, The Hatchery: Turtle Conservation Experience, is back. The man in charge of that is senior curator of reptiles and amphibians at Queensland Museum, Patrick Couper.
Since the first festival in 2016, crowds have flocked to see baby Loggerhead Sea Turtles hatching at the museum.
“To see people queuing to get in is very satisfying,” he says.
“It’s an event that teaches people about conservation and research and people respond to baby turtles in the most amazing way, everyone is just transfixed.’’
TOP 10 EVENTS TO SEE AT WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL AND CURIOCITY
NIGHT OF THE NERDS
Two all-star teams of scientists, tech whizzes and funny people go head-to-head in the Festival’s very nerdy variety game show. Hosted by comedian Mark Humphries with the wit and wisdom of guests including Dr Karl, Clare Bowditch, Dan Ilic and Lawrence Leung.
●When: Saturday 12 March, 7.30pm
●Location: Playhouse QPAC
● Tickets: Adult $60, Concession $55 from worldsciencefestival.com.au
CONVERSATIONS
In the past two years medical science has been at the forefront of our daily lives, environmental scientists have shared startling new discoveries and advances in technology have provided new challenges and opportunities. World Science Festival Brisbane’s program of conversations and talks give voice to science, as experts share the latest evidence, discoveries, theories and practical applications.
● When: Thursday 10 – Sunday 13 March
●Location: Various locations & times. Livestream options available.
● Tickets: From $10, bookings via worldsciencefestival.com.au
HOLOGRAPHICS EXHIBITION
Travel back in time and walk among breathtaking prehistoric animals made of light and imagination in a world-first holographic experience described as Star Trek meets Jurassic Park. The fully immersive encounter features a two-kilometre virtual landscape and fenced pens corralling the ancient giants.
● When:Wednesday 9 – Sunday 13 March.
30-minute sessions, 9.30am – 3pm daily
●Location: Level 3, Queensland Museum
● Tickets: Adult $20, Concession $15, Child $10 (3–15 years), Family of 4 (2A, 2C) $50 from worldsciencefestival.com.au
THE SUPER SMART SLIGHTLY SILLY SERIOUSLY SENSATIONAL SCIENCE SPECTACULAR
Griffith University’s Science on the GO! program brings the smartest, funniest and cutest science entertainers to the stage for a mind-blowing feast of demonstrations and experiments. Ranger Stacey headlines a stellar cast including First Nations artist Tjupurru, dancing queen Nerida Waters and kids’ rock band Red Rocket 3.
● When: Saturday 12 – Sunday 13 March, 10am – 11am and 2pm – 3pm
● Location: South Bank Piazza
● Tickets: Adult $25, Concession $20, Family of 4 (2A, 2C) $70 from worldsciencefestival.com.au
LUNCHTIME LABS
Work smarter not harder with a series of fun, free Lunchtime Labs in the Queen Street Mall. Learn how to juggle, watch things go bang, discover the science behind happiness, make music and have life’s big questions answered by Dr Karl – all in the time it takes to eat lunch.
● When: Wednesday 9 – Saturday 12 March, 12pm–1pm
● Location: Queen Street Mall upper stage
● Free, non-ticketed
EINSTEIN AND THE QUANTUM: ENTANGLEMENT AND EMERGENCE
Festival founder Professor Brian Greene joins leading researchers to explore the quantum threads that may stitch the fabric of spacetime. In a stunning demonstration of “big science” Prof Greene – streaming live from New York – Queensland astrophysicist Tamara Davis and ABC’s Jonathan Webb investigate the secret connections between Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and the frontiers of Quantum Mechanics.
● When: Wednesday 9 March, 7.30pm–9pm
● Location: Conservatorium Theatre, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University
● Tickets: Adult $40, Concession $30, Livestream $10 from worldsciencefestival.com.au
CITY SYMPHONY
Walk to your own beat with a personal soundtrack inspiring you to explore Brisbane City. Delivered via smartphone, City Symphony responds to a person’s location, orientation and the time of day to generate music and story experiences unique to each listener.
● When: Wednesday 9 – Sunday 20 March
● Location:Goodwill Bridge
●A collaboration between QMF and Textile Audio for Curiocity Brisbane
OCHE/ECHO
Part interactive sculpture, part giant storyteller, OCHE/ECHO uses live generative animation, high-end facial capture technology and projection-mapped storytelling to help people put themselves in the picture. Digital portraits are captured and embedded in the artwork then manipulated and shapeshifted into another’s story.
● When: Wednesday 9 – Sunday 20 March
● Location:Riverside Green, South Bank
● Artist Georgie Pinn will engage with audiences on-site from 6pm—8pm throughout Curiocity Brisbane
ACKNOWLEDGING PLACE
Artist Carol McGregor creates a space for physical reflection; a large-scale artwork designed for audiences to consider an Indigenous perspective of caring for Country. The sculpture comprises large Cottonwood Tree leaves in the colours of the Aboriginal flag designed to prompt audiences to sit and ponder what previously occupied the same space.
● When: Wednesday 9 – Sunday 20 March
● Location:Maiwar Green, between the Gallery of Modern Art and State Library of Queensland
● Part of Curiocity Brisbane
AMPHISONIC
Listen to the music created by nature in a large-scale immersive sound environment by electronic sound artist Panos Couros. AmphiSonic brings together the poetry and songs of First Nation artists, the knowledge of bio-scientists, the pulses and beats of electronic music and the mating calls of frogs to tell the life-giving stories of the natural environment.
● When: Wednesday 9 – Sunday 20 March
● Location:Riverside Green, South Bank
● Artist Panos Couros will mix sound onsite throughout Curiocity Brisbane
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