A weekend of science, part 2

The Imperial College Festival of Science is in its third year. It has a huge programme all over its South Kensington campus, showcasing what faculty and students are researching -

For instance, microwavable cutlery - warm cutlery and warm hands make children eat more slowly, which is a good habit to have -

 Here's a week's worth of fibre - the optimum being 30g a day -

 but in the UK the average intake of fibre is only 11g.

Science and art - how environmental changes - eg urban lighting - would change the look of some famous scenes, such as this starry sky by Van Gogh -

Unfortunately the caption neither helpful nor accurate - "...effects of increased urban light pollution. Paris is of Europe's most light polluted cities with further intensification preventing astrological [!!] observations and artistic impressionism."

But that is a mere quibble. Thousands of people - 15,000 last year - were taking part, enjoying themselves, and learning "science stuff".

I now know a bit more about lipids, glycans, and schistosomiasis, and that cells have a coating of sugars, like m&ms ... but far, far more complex ...

Everyone likes to know about fire. Here's why the Old St Pauls cathedral caught fire in 1666 - broken tiles on the roof let embers fall on wood, which burned - whereas if tiles are in place, the embers don't catch hold -

 And then there are Fire Whirls, aka fire devils, fire tornadoes, etc -