[DISCLAIMER: This is a new series which will be concurrent to normal Draw Curiosity content]
So, back in September I went to this two day science popularization conference in Bilbao
called Naukas, and it was so great that I had to take you with me.
[INTRO]
Naukas was fantastic, I was incredibly impressed, and I think its success was down to three
reasons:
It was free, there was a great atmosphere, and there were great people.
It’s hard to find a free conference of this calibre, but it meant that anyone who was
able to travel to the city was able to attend at no extra cost, perfect for attracting all
of the science enthusiasts – of which I was pleasantly surprised to find out there
were many.
The main room had a capacity of around 500 people, and queues formed well before the
sessions started, in fact, the main room was always over capacity. In addition to the main
room, there were also up to three other rooms where the sessions were being livestreamed
and there were other parallel activities and workshops as well. The conference as well
could be watched online, so I would hazard a guess that around 2000 people were probably
following Naukas live.
So although I was waiting in queues up to an hour in advance, which might sound a
bit boring, that couldn't have been further from the truth.
The atmosphere and the people were fantastic – I was consistently surrounded by people
fascinated and passionate by all aspects of science, discussing the panels which had just
happened and the ones that were about to come in the next session. I was very lucky
to meet and hang out with Martí from C de Ciencia, and Crespo from Quantum Fracture,
and if you hadn’t heard of them, they are the two of largest Science YouTubers based in
Spain, with fantastic content and wonderful personalities to match. I always love meeting
other fellow creators, and I was really interested to learn that many of them also had the same
male to female audience divide as me, sort of 80-90% male, 10-20% female, and honestly,
this is something that I've noticed amongst many educational creators, and it’s always
made me wonder why.
Anyway, moving on! The slogan for Naukas is Ciencia, Escepticismo y Humor, or Science,
Scepticism and Humour, and there were many quick, snappy, ten minute talks, and all of
the speakers covered those bases exceptionally well, from solid science to dressing up -[bueno,
alguien ha visto un fantasma por aquí / well, has anyone seen a ghost round here?]- to jokes
[esto es una noche muy guay vista de cerca / this is a fun night viewed up close...]-
to encouraging critical thinking, their talks ranged from topics such as how infections
spread, -[Infectado número cuatro/infected person number four *streamer bang*]- , how
aeroplanes fly, [Oooooh], and using critical thinking to show how Bernoulli's principle
doesn't cover the whole truth, how we see, how to do astrophotography, physics, nutrition
and dieting, plants, language, and so on and so forth
Not only that, but there were talks which bridged the gap perfectly between art and
science, combining the two, as well as providing endless examples of just how many ways science
can be communicated. It’s not only presentations, podcasts, blogs, books, and videos… but
musicals… dance… theatre… photograpjy… workshops… the list went on and on, and
honestly, I came back feeling incredibly inspired of, perhaps, new things that I'd like to try
sometime.
Perhaps one of the major highlights of Naukas was an interview with astronaut Pedro Duque,
who if you haven’t heard of him, he is basically our Spanish equivalent of Chris Hadfield or
Tim Peake, and I leave you here with the question which made me think the most.
Javi: Don't we need a bit more competition and less cooperation?
Pedro: From the results obtained, I think that competition is what works best.
Javi: Ah, you're like Buzz Aldrin! Pedro: And in fact... There is always competition
even when you're collaborating over who does the part of the project with the greatest
repercussions into knowledge and technology. Competition exists even within collaboration.
I'd be interested to know what you think, do you think collaboration or competition
is most important when pursuing and furthering science?
Overall, Naukas was an incredible time, it was great to catch up with old friends as
well as make plenty of new friendships. I have been inspired in many ways to keep making
science content here on Draw Curiosity and finding new ways to communicate science – and
above all, I can’t wait to be back next year – so Eskerrik Asko to the organisers
(thank you in Basque) – muchísimas gracias por tenerme (thank you so much for having
me) – and to you, thank you so much for watching me, and I’ll see you in the next
one, with a science video! Bye!