Bengaluru: India’s first ‘mega-science’ exhibition ‘Vigyan Samagam’ began at the Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum in Bengaluru Monday. The travelling exhibition has come to Bengaluru after a successful two-month stint in Mumbai.
It seeks to raise awareness about the physical sciences, with a special focus on theoretical physics and astronomy.
Organised by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), the multi-city exhibition has been facilitated by the Ministry of Culture.
Agenda
From the story of the Higgs boson particle, gravitational waves from the mergers of black holes and neutron stars, to the origins of the Universe and the Big Bang theory, the evolution of stars, the Vigyan Samagam exhibition intends to take visitors through the discoveries that have helped humankind understand the universe so far.
“The exhibition will also aim to connect with students and science aspirants who want to pursue fundamental science and research as a strong career option. It also provides a unique platform to all stakeholders for cross-fertilisation of ideas,” Praveer Asthana, head of INSPIRE & Mega-Science Divisions, DST, had said in a statement earlier this year .
The exhibition will also talk about the role that India and Indians play in ‘mega’ science projects that are international collaborations.
This will include projects like the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), India-based Neutrino Observatory’ (INO), International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory’ to be set up in India (LIGO-India), the ongoing controversial Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) and Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
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Each discussion surrounding the projects take up a week in the schedule, with lectures, interactions, games and quizzes organised around them.
“The exhibition will have theme-based galleries of posters, working models and exhibits, informative audio-visual content and electronic displays and interactive kiosks will be setup for each of the mega science projects,” Arun Srivastava, secretary AEC and chief of DAE’s Institutional Collaboration and Program Division, had said.
“The inaugural event at every venue will be followed by a two-day scientific event comprising invited talks and lectures by eminent speakers from the field of science, technology and industry,” Srivastava had further said.
The exhibition is open to all members of the public on all seven days of the week, including holidays, between 10 am and 6 pm. More details for the exhibition are available at www.vigyansamagam.in as well as https://vismuseum.gov.in/vs_2019_index.html. Registrations for lectures in Bengaluru can be made at https://vismuseum.gov.in/vsvitm/.