Computer Science: New Scientist Live Festival

Year 10 Computer Science pupils attended the New Scientist Live Festival, where they had the opportunity to speak with scientists, attend lectures, and experience the wonders of science. From learning about sea creatures, nuclear fusion, hospitals of the future, quantum computers, and CPR, to controlling robots and using VR headsets to fly a plane—there was so much to explore!

Here’s what some of the pupils had to say after the event:

“Every stall, workshop, and stage was full of interesting people who loved sharing their science and engaging activities like Virtual Reality Roller Coasters and a real RAF plane. There was even a life-sized dinosaur roaming around the stalls.”

“I tried an experiment where we played a card game to try to eliminate the bad variants of mosquitoes. Overall, I had lots of fun and learned that all sciences are related in some way and have correlations with each other.”

“We learned about how ultrasounds work and how they are used across the body. It was fun to use an ultrasound machine ourselves on the demonstration. We listened to a talk about dog behaviors and learned a lot there. We watched the robot displays, which were really interesting, and I particularly liked the robot that you could control the arms of. We also saw a solar display and used a telescope for the first time.”

“We were lucky enough to be taken to the New Scientist Live Festival, where we had the whole day to walk around, attend lectures, and learn new things about the world we live in. My friends and I attended several different talks, which were all very interesting and entertaining. There was a large range of topics to learn about, from mosquitoes to nebulae to medicine. There were many fun activities to do, the most popular being a virtual reality roller coaster ride. It was so inspiring to see so many successful people using science to do incredible things and help us progress as a society (while having lots of fun doing their dream jobs). It made me realize just how much I can do thanks to science.”