Robot basketball among innovations showcased at Triangle SciTech Expo, April 8
For immediate release ‐ March 27, 2017
Contact: Jon Pishney, 919.707.8083. Images available upon request
RALEIGH, N.C. — Would you like to control a basketball-playing robot on a drive to the hoop? Use forensic science to solve the age-old question, “who’s your mummy?” Or help rebuild downtown Raleigh out of LEGOS? You can, when the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences hosts Triangle SciTech Expo, Saturday, April 8, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Free.
Featuring more than 50 hands-on exhibits, games, crafts and activities, plus several presentations, Triangle SciTech Expo is a unique event that assembles scientists and technical professionals from universities and industry to engage visitors of all ages in the excitement of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. Visitors will learn about the Triangle area’s history and promising future as a leader in these fields, as well as why these fields are important to their daily lives.
New this year, Play-Well TEKnologies instructors will help guide builders of all ages to create a LEGO® version of Raleigh, from skyscrapers and museums to houses and parks. Plus, members of Duke Outreach in Genetics and Genomics will use microscopes to show common model organisms — zebrafish larvae, nematode worms and fruit flies — used in labs to study human diseases.
Visitors can also build a working Super Mario Brothers controller out of Play-Doh, use a friend as a keyboard, or try their hand at the duct tape challenge. Find out how spit from a venomous lizard, the Gila monster, is used to help treat diabetes. Or learn how science, engineering and technology is used to discover, explore and document shipwrecks off North Carolina’s coast.
Then at 1:30 p.m., keynote speaker Dr. Joseph L. Graves Jr. will explore and explain the confusion between biological and social conceptions of race, and how while humans do not have the former, our societies are powerfully influenced by the latter. Graves is Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Biological Sciences at the Joint School for Nano-sciences and Nano-engineering, North Carolina A&T State University and UNC Greensboro.
Triangle SciTech Expo is a Signature Event of the NC Science Festival and is sponsored by Biogen Foundation. Find out more at naturalsciences.org, or follow #TriSciTech on Twitter or Instagram.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (11 and 121 W. Jones St.) in downtown Raleigh is an active research institution that engages visitors of every age and stage of learning in the wonders of science and the natural world, drawing them into the intriguing fields of study that are critical to the future of North Carolina. Hours: Mon.– Sat., 9 a.m. –5 p.m., and Sun., noon–5 p.m. Visit the Museum online at www.naturalsciences.org. Emlyn Koster, PhD, Museum Director.