Shouting science from the soap box

11:04 27 July 2011

CultureLab

Liz Else, associate opinion editor

(Image: Aidan Weatherill)

What makes crows smart? Can Twitter help us improve software? What has space got to do with me? Is there a smarter way to monitor biodiversity?

Damn fine questions. But they don't hold a candle to this one: just what were 12 women in white coats doing on a blustery Friday afternoon, on soap boxes, at the heart of London's South Bank?

It was the second outing for Soapbox Science, an event that takes an in-your-face approach to public science communication. There the women were, with nothing more than a sunflower, a few bat headsets - designed to give you the experience of eco-location - and some large boards, to help them withstand the cruel whims of the passing trade.

But this steely crew of top scientists chosen by organisers Nathalie Pettorelli and Seirian Sumner of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), and the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Programme was undeterred from their mission: to challenge the public's view of women and science.

That they did. Despite the L'Oreal lab coats (OK, let's get it over with: "Because They're Worth It") passers-by were quickly engaged with the actual science.

For nearly four hours, the public tuned in to bravura performances of all types: from space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock of University College London (UCL) taking a tour of the universe via the sun's hotspots, to Cambridge professor of comparative cognition Nicola Clayton's well-rehearsed show about the minds of crows to the politically charged Naomi Chayen's discussion of crystals and new medicines. (The politics were not too surprising considering she's at the sharp end of medicines development at Imperial College London.)

(Image: Aidan Weatherill)

Bat lady Kate Jones of the Zoological Society of London had people going batty, literally. They stumbled around blindfolded in headsets equipped with echolocation devices - so they could see what it felt like to be bats for a few minutes.

It was great stuff, if a bit disturbing, and I did learn that it's really hard to distinguish between bat calls (try the Ibats app) in 2D. Jones wants to build a 3D model of bat calls in order to make it easier.

University College London's cheeky geek software systems engineer Sue Black was also a bit of a star turn with her quiz:

7 billion people are...
2 billion people are...
750 million people are...
200 million people are...
62 million people are...
20 million people are...

But of all of the scientists spouting from soapboxes, my favourite had to be quiet, but utterly steely Ottoline Leyser, professor of plant development at Cambridge. Clutching a fine sunflower as her only prop, she took serious issue with the way we see the world. We think plants do nothing when they're actually very, very busy; we are seduced by the obvious movement of animals. As for couch potatoes - don't get her started...

Maybe, just maybe, getting up on a soap box and talking about complex science and tech is a step toward normalising the sight of women in science - and perhaps challenging the notion of science as the realm set apart for beardy-nerdy blokes. And maybe it might encourage us all to question why so many fine young women are deterred from pursuing science to begin with.

Answers to Sue Black's quiz:

7 billion people on the planet
2 billion people on the internet
750 million people on Facebook
200 million people on Twitter
62 million people in the UK
20 million people on Google+ after just 3 weeks!