Chemists are fed up with the not very positive image that their discipline has among society at large. Therefore, the 2011 International Year of Chemistry sets out to improve the reputation of a scientific field that is expected to provide important advances in the future

ÀNNIA MONREAL | JANUARY 17th, 2011

For another year, the nights of June, July, August and early September have been made a little more enjoyable thanks to the chance to dine with the stars offered by Barcelona’s Fabra Observatory in an outreach activity that combines scientific and astronomical observations with a one-of-a-kind dining experience

ÀNNIA MONREAL | AUGUST 4, 2010

It’s Saturday night. Hundreds of people are watching you while you walk onto stage. You are only allowed to use what you can carry with you. You have five minutes. Now explain to the audience what your research is all about. This is, in brief, the formula of FameLab, a talent contest for young scientists. In the end a jury made up of science journalist will decide which of the ten participants scored best on the three "Cs": content, charisma and clarity.

18 May 2010

Oliver Hochadel, Vienna

Can you explain with a scientific argument that Dr. Manhattan, from 'Watchmen', can be in several places at once? Or the speed from Dash, the boy from 'The Incredibles', who even runs on water without sinking? Or the strength of Superman? Actually the interesting thing is not whether there is or not an explanation, but the mere attempt to find it. Doing so has led to a physicist at the University of Minnesota (United States) James Kakalios to become an author of a highly recommended book, 'The physics of superheroes' ('Ma non troppo', Madrid, 2006), a teacher of a seminar at his university and scientific adviser of the film based on the comic 'Watchmen'. On this, the University of Minnesota prepared a video of 8 minutes with Kakalios explaining, among other things, the ubiquity of Dr. Manhattan which in just a few months was seen on YouTube more than 1.5 million times.

Mònica Salomone | 29 March 2010