An Electric Car Show is one of the events on the calendar during Los Alamos ScienceFest which ends Sunday. Courtesy photo
SCIENCEFEST NEWS
Tonight at 5:30 p.m. Los Alamos ScienceFest is featuring a Science On Tap discussion at Fuller Lodge with Jessica Kubicek-Sutherland, who will talk about how public health scientists learn from the behavior of the body’s immune system to help develop universal approaches to combat infectious disease.
Then at 7 p.m., at the Los Alamos Nature Center Planetarium, come out for “Preserving Our Dark Skies” & Light Pollution Demonstration. Also at 7 p.m., Sancre Productions is hosting a ScienceFest-sponsored Friday Night Summer Concert at Overlook Park in White Rock featuring alternative country band Dusty Low, with influences with a dash of Folk, Americana and Jazz.
This Saturday, while not a typical ScienceFest Discovery Day, will be a miniature version of the signature event from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. in downtown Los Alamos. It will feature an Electric Vehicle Show in the Mesa Public Library Overflow Parking Lot with a combination of electric cars and electric bikes, organized by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC). There will also be some wildfire presentations and demonstrations, and some select organizations with booths set up on the North side of Ashley Pond Park, where they will highlight Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) information and provide some activities. For instance, telescopes with solar filters will be set up for viewing sunspots on our nearest star. Literature on mitigating light pollution and responsible lighting practices will be available for distribution, and meters for measuring night-time outdoor lighting will be on display. Crossroads LED will have multiple fixtures on display and be available to answer questions regarding the latest LED dark sky lighting technology.
Later Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at Fuller Lodge, ScienceFest participants can engage in an interactive backyard composting demo courtesy of Los Alamos County Environmental Services that will highlight vermicomposting with red wrigglers and the tumbler method. At 8 p.m. the community is invited to join at Bathtub Row Brewing Co-op for an outdoor screening of “The Astronaut Farmer,” which was filmed in New Mexico. There will be trivia before the movie and a chance to win prizes! Finally, PEEC volunteers and the Pajarito Astronomers will host a Dark Night Star Party at sunset (around 8:23pm) at Spirio Field, Overlook Park in White Rock. Telescopes will be on hand and hopefully attendees will have a chance to view the clusters and nebulae of the Milky Way. No tickets are required for any of the activities.
And just in time for Los Alamos ScienceFest week, the Bradbury Science Museum is open again. Hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and Gadgets Gift Shop at the Bradbury is also offering 10% off merchandise during ScienceFest week, including science toys. Several other local businesses have great ScienceFest specials, which can be viewed on the ScienceFest website or directly here.
On Sunday the highlight event is an 11 a.m. virtual presentation and conversation about NASA’s upcoming Lucy mission to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids with Kara Rock. Kara is a University of South Florida Physics and Education student and a Lucy Ambassador working with L’Space Academies through Arizona State University and NASA. She will be visiting with local Los Alamos students in-person the week after ScienceFest! Register for her virtual presentation on Sunday here.
At 1 p.m. on Sunday another virtual session will be hosted by RoboRAVE International for parents interested in helping their students navigate virtual robotics, ideal for Pre-K to 3rd grade. ScienceFest participants will get free registration in the Northern New Mexico Rally, a global event you play from home. The first 100 to register also get a ScienceFest sponsored team registration to a virtual robotics challenge at the RoboRAVE Global 2021 taking place Nov. 7-14. Those interested in learning more should register in advance for Sunday’s session or contact russ@roboraveinternational.org (Subject: LA ScienceFest).
Full details about these events, and more, is available on the website, www.LosAlamosScienceFest.com. ScienceFest organizers would like to thank this year’s sponsors, Los Alamos County, Enterprise Bank & Trust, Del Norte Credit Union, Los Alamos National Laboratory, UbiQD, UNM-LA and the New Mexico Consortium.