Crash, Bang, Squelch! Saturday 17th March 2012

On Saturday 17th March 2012 CHaOS will take over the zoology labs of the University of Cambridge for a day for Crash, Bang, Squelch!, inviting in over 2000 visitors to see lots of exciting hands-on experiments from all areas of science.

To add to the fun, in the lecture theatre next door, there will be a series of talks, with some high powered experiments that can't be done in the hands on lab! See below for more details!

Lots of hands-on experiments to try!

The hands-on event is open from 10am-5pm, and is absolutely free. Drop in any time, there's no need to book in advance, although in busy periods timed tickets may by issued for later in the day (we are likely to run out of tickets before the end of the day, so get here early to avoid disappointment). We'll have around 50 different experiments, each of which will be demonstrated by a friendly student volunteer!

Exciting demonstrations can be seen in our lectures!

This year we're running 7 exciting talks in addition to the hands-on activities that are part of "Crash, Bang, Squelch!" on Saturday 17th March 2012! These talks will be full of fun demonstrations that are too explosive/messy/tricky to fit into our normal hands-on sessions next door!

Each talk will last around 30-40 minutes, and is suitable for ages 8+. The talks run in the main lecture of the Zoology Department, and the directions are similar to the main "Crash, Bang, Squelch!" event. Last year these talks filled up fast, particularly towards the end of the day, and we run admission to the talks on a "first come, first served" basis.

The talks this year are:

09:45am - High voltage science: sparks and more! By Dave Ansell (also of the Naked Scientists!)
10:45am - What happens if you cut off a blood supply? By Alex Davies
11:45am - Roses are Red, Violets are Blue: a look at colour in the natural world. By Sonja Dunbar
1:00pm - The science of the atmosphere. By David Bebb
2:00pm - Sounds Like Science! By Philip Garsed
3:00pm - Living things: what's inside a cell? By Lia Chappell
4:00pm - Gases: just load of hot air? By Dave Ansell

About the speakers:

Dave Ansell is a CHaOS fanatic, also well known for his work with the “Naked Scientists”
Alex Davies is studying Biology at Clare College
Sonja Dunbar is a recent graduate in Plant Sciences
David Bebb is a recent graduate in Chemistry.
Philip Garsed is a PhD student in the Engineering department studying Electrical Engineering
Lia Chappell is a PhD student at the Sanger Institute researching the genes of Malaria parasites

Where to find Crash, Bang, Squelch!

The venue is fully accessible to those with mobility difficulties, and there are toilets on site.

See here for a map of the location of the departments on the New Museums site.

We'll have signs around the site on the day, but head for 27 on the map for the hands-on events, and 4 for the lectures. (15 and 14 on the linked map.) Please note that the Museum of Zoology is running an event that's separate from these CHaOS ones, so even if our event is full when you arrive there are other events nearby!