The fine line between science fiction literature and real-life space activities provides the backdrop to the European Space Agency’s video lesson for schools, “Science Fiction – Science Fact”.

“There’s no real objection to escapism, in the right places… We all want to escape occasionally. But science fiction is often very far from escapism, in fact you might say that science fiction is escape into reality… It’s a fiction which does concern itself with real issues: the origin of man; our future. In fact I can’t think of any form of literature which is more concerned with real issues, reality.”
- Arthur C. Clarke

The video compares factual and fictional space stations and spacecraft, and explains how science fiction interplanetary travels could inspire our future generations of scientists and engineers.

It is aimed at upper secondary school students and their teachers, and offers a starting point for further individual or classroom investigation. The video is accompanied by lesson notes, including detailed scientific explanations of key concepts illustrated in the video.

Learn more

Check out “Science Fiction – Science Fact”

The spacecraft is on a mission to study the atmosphere, surface and subsurface of Mars, and its instruments are now being used to investigate Phobos too.

The spacecraft is carrying a unique gravity experiment that may reveal the distribution of mass within this intriguing moon.

It made its closest approach – just 50 kilometres above the surface of Phobos – on 3 March, and several other fly-bys will take place in March 2010.

Overall mission

The Mars Express has been in orbit around Mars since December 2003. One of its main objectives is to search for traces of water from deep underground up to the highest layers of the Martian atmosphere.

In addition, Mars Express has trained its instruments on Earth to study our own place in the universe, and the spacecraft also provides relay communication services between the Earth and the two NASA rovers which have been on the surface of Mars since 2004.

Learn more

Find out more about the Mars Express mission

Watch an animation of the Mars Express making its closest approach to Phobos (based on actual orbital data)

Check out Astronomy Ireland’s Facebook page for its “Mars month” activities

Get mission updates from the European Space Agency’s Twitter feed

These include scholarships to attend the Summer School Alpbach in Austria’s Tyrol region. The ten-day event provides in-depth teaching on space science and space technology. The theme for this year’s summer school is “New Space Missions for Understanding Climate Change”.

Applications are made directly to Summer School Alpbach, and the closing date for applications is 31 March 2010.

International Space University

Enterprise Ireland and the European Space Agency are also jointly offering scholarships to programmes run by the International Space University, which is based in Strasbourg.

These include:

• An intensive two-month Space Studies Programme, starting next June (closing date: 30 April 2010)
• A one-year MSc in Space Studies and an MSc in Space Management (closing date: 30 June 2010)

Learn more

Read further details on Enterprise Ireland’s website

For information on applying for any of the above programmes contact Dr Bryan Rodgers
International Technology Programmes, Enterprise Ireland, telephone (01) 7272471, or email bryan[dot]rodgers[at]enterprise-ireland[dot]com

So they did some detective work and the owner turned out to be a Finn called Esa Alanen (Esa is a common male name in Finland).

Mr Alanen agreed to give the agency his Twitter name, and in gratitude the space agency gave him and his family the VIP treatment at European Astronaut Centre in Cologne last Friday.

Social media

Mr Alanen took the Twitter account some years ago. He follows new social media channels as part of his work at Finnish telecom giant Nokia.

“I was surprised to find that no other Esa had taken the account,” he recalls. “Only later I realised that ESA existed and didn’t have that address.”

As part of the European Space Agency’s thank-you present for relinquishing the name, the whole family – Esa, his wife Katja, son Johannes and daughter Matleena – were welcomed and given a guided tour of the training facilities by former astronaut Michel Tognini, head of the space centre.

“The full-size model of the ATV cargo vehicle was impressive,” said Esa. “Visiting the Columbus module and being in the real space station module was really interesting.”

Learn more

Read the full story on the ESA’s website

Follow the ESA on Twitter

The “That’s Why!” club will take place every Saturday and Sunday from 3-4pm in the Science Laboratory at BCO.

Children with an interest in all things scientific will have the opportunity to participate in fun filled discussions, exploring themes such as technology, astronomy and science.

Topics for March include time travel, space travel and how CERN’s Large Hadron Collider may change our understanding of the Universe.

“That’s Why!” will continue weekly throughout the year. The cost per child is €5 and the club will hold its first get-together on Saturday 6 March at 3pm.

Members of BCO enjoy advance registration and a 10% discount on the programme.

Clair McSweeney, Facilities Manager at BCO, said: “The programme’s aim is to demystify science and create an awareness and understanding in areas such as technology, astronomy and the sciences generally.”

Science cafe

BCO will also be hosting the Cork Science Cafe, which is affiliated to the international Café Scientifique.

Anyone can drop in and explore the latest ideas in science and technology. The cafe will feature guest scientists talking in layperson’s terms about their work in topical and controversial areas.

The meetings will take place on the first Friday of every month at 7pm.

Learn more

Read more about “That’s Why” and the Cork Science Cafe on the BCO’s website or telephone 021 4357917.

The Science Zone will feature a fun science show for all the family, which will run every half hour from midday to 6pm.

There will also be a mini science fair, including Discover Primary Science, a K’Nex Challenge Workshop, Smoothie Bike, Dublin Zoo, Galway Atlantaquaria, Energy Bike, and Sustainable Energy Ireland’s “Energy Game”.

Ruth Deeney, a fourth-year student from Loreto Community School in Milford, has won the contest to have her drawing displayed on the search engine’s homepage this Wednesday.

Ruth Deeney's prizewinning Google Doodle

Ruth also receives a €10,000 technology grant for her school and a laptop for herself and her teacher. Her  futuristic drawing won the contest to design a logo on the theme of “My Future”.

“This is our second year running of the Doodle 4 Google competition in Ireland, and the standard of doodles from all entrants was again very high,” says Alice Mansergh of Google Ireland.

The three winners in the other age categories were:

• Ellen Hayden, Scoil Bhride, Ballyboy, Co Offaly
• Savannah Bergin, Scoil Rois, Galway
• Ciara Hayley, Loreto Community School, Milford, Co Donegal

All of the finalists’ doodles will also be on display in Dublin’s Science Gallery until next Thursday.

Applicants are likely to be current students/graduates of an MSc Science Communication course or any other suitably qualified individuals.

The MSc Science Communication work placement at the RDS includes:

• Working on aspects of the annual RDS Young Science Writers’ Competition
• Becoming involved in running RDS Science Foundation events. These evening lectures for a general audience cover topics such as immunology and science communication

Those interested in a work placement should submit a covering letter and CV to Michele[at]rds[dot]ie or post to Michele Collins, Royal Dublin Society, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

Closing date: Wednesday, 7 April 2010.

The museum recently got a new home at Foster Place, just off College Green. Among the pioneers and inventors in the exhibition are:

• John Holland, inventor of the submarine
• Ernest Walton, who was involved in the splitting of the atom
• Sir Charles Parsons, inventor of the steam turbine
• John Tyndall, who discovered why the sky is blue and studied the impact of gases such as carbon dioxide on the world’s temperatures

The “Science in Wax” exhibition also has live and interactive experiments, and displays of some of these scientists’ greatest achievements.

These include a model of the world’s first metropolitan rail line, designed by William Dargan, and the three-point hitch for a tractor, designed by Harry Ferguson of Massey Ferguson fame.

Besides the science and technology exhibits, there are plenty of other things to see at the museum. You can experiment with the “floor of music”, make your own video and send it live to YouTube.

Or you can explore Irish history from the Bronze Age right up to the Good Friday agreement, and meet some famous faces from the worlds of sport, theatre, TV, music and film. Don’t forget that you can also have your picture taken with them.

Learn more

Find out more on the National Wax Museum’s website

In the 10-part series, which originally went out on RTÉ Radio 1, the Royal Irish Academy’s Pauric Dempsey explores the ideas of eminent Irish scientists whose work has had a global impact.

The programmes look at the following scientists:

1. William Rowan Hamilton, who discovered quaternions
2. Ernest Walton (1903-95), who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1951 for his part in splitting the atom
3. Charles Parsons (1854-1931), inventor of the steam turbine
4. George Boole (1815-64), who invented a revolutionary way of translating abstract ideas into algebraic equations
5. Nicholas Joseph Callan (1799-1864), a pioneer in the development of electrical science and inventor of the induction coil used in every motor car
6. George Stokes (1819-1903), who laid the foundation of the modern engineering science of fluid mechanics
7. Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who detected the first pulsar
8. Professor Patrick Cunningham, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, who developed the first test for CJD
9. Dr Peter Butler, a pioneer in the field of plastic surgery
10. Dr Garret Fitzgerald of the University of Pennsylvania, who exposed the dangers of the drug Vioxx

Listen to the podcasts on the RTÉ website

Learn more

Read our list of 10 great Irish engineers and inventors