Gabriela Albandes de SouzaInnovaSpace Culture & Education Project Manager The InnovaSpace outreach projects Valentina and Astronaut for a Day had another edition in Brazil last week, with company founder, Dr. Thais Russomano, giving two space science talks to students from the state school Olegário Mariano, in Porto Alegre. The first lecture, watched by 48 teenagers from the 9th year (aged 14-15 years), focused on the Valentina initiative, which aims is to raise the interest of girls in the sciences and to break gender prejudice by highlighting those women who have made important contributions to the development of the space program since its inception. Following a final Q & A session in which the curious students asked many interesting questions, the group were asked to use their creativity to build a rocket using simple materials provided by the school, such as fizzy drink bottles, cardboard boxes and aluminium foil. Chatting with the students afterwards we found that, while some said they already intended to pursue careers in the STEM areas, others became interested after getting to know the many possibilities that these fields offer. The second lecture of the day, called Astronaut for a Day and attended by 25 5th year students (aged 10-11 years), explained how astronauts live and work in space, the impact of microG and radiation on human physiology, and the importance of the spacecraft and spacesuit in keeping the astronauts alive and well in space. The students also watched a video about the life of the crew aboard the ISS and were amazed by the differences between life in space and on Earth. These inquisitive young people actively participated in the event, raising their hands to answer questions posed by Dr. Russomano (five raised hands when asked who wanted to be an astronaut), and coming up with questions of their own about many aspects of life in space. At the end of the presentation, this group were set the task of making a spacesuit from the materials provided, while a group of young ladies resolved to create a spacecraft.
The tagline of the InnovaSpace Valentina project is ‘Science is for girls too!’ – an ideal we very much support, and an excellent example of which is Space Physiologist, Dr. Julia Attias, who is a PhD Researcher at King's College London. I had the pleasure of meeting Julia a few years ago when she was doing her Master’s degree in Space Physiology and Health (2012) at King’s College London, which then led on to her completing a PhD in Space Physiology (2018). Julia is passionate about inspiring young ladies to pursue a career in the STEM areas, and dedicates some of her time to writing blogs for websites such as WISE (Women In Science and Engineering), and a charity, GlamSci, aimed at breaking down perceived stereotypes and barriers to STEM areas. We asked Julia a few questions about her life and path to becoming a space physiologist: What sort of child were you? I can say I was a very energetic child and very focused on sports activities from a very early age. My Mum was a tennis coach, so from about the age of about 4 years old, I could be found running around a tennis court, gripping my first racquet in hand, on which someone had spray-painted the letter ‘J’. Naturally enough by the time I started school my favourite subject was PE (physical education), at which I was always very competitive indeed! What were your school years like? I was lucky enough to go to great schools; I enjoyed my school years and made some good friends. At primary school I sometimes used to get in trouble for talking too much, but in fact it wasn’t just idle chatter for the sake of it, it was my constant curiosity about anything and everything that made me ask questions and comment out loud - too loud sometimes! I loved music (probably inspired by my Dad who was a drummer) and being in plays at primary school, and continued this on into my teenage years when I joined the Pineapple Performing Arts School in Covent Garden. I learned street dance, singing and acting there, and grew up wanting to be in front of the camera - this ambition I have since achieved through participating in a Discovery Channel series called 'Meet The SuperBrains' and more recently in the Channel 4 series 'Food Unwrapped''. Albert Einstein changed classical physics by stating that time is not an absolute quantity, but rather it is relative, as it depends on the speed of the bodies that measure its passage. This relationship to movement is called time dilation, where time passes more slowly to rapidly moving objects. To illustrate this theory, Einstein created a story about two identical twins, in which one travels to a distant planet at the speed of light, while the other remains on Earth. On returning from his cosmic journey, the twin who travelled is younger than his brother who remained on solid ground. The Flux Phase theatre group has transformed this complex physics theory into a creative and entertaining play, which bears the same name as given by Einstein - Twin Paradox. Six actors give life to the Theory of Relativity, combining aspects of Einsteinian physics with the body alterations suffered by the twins after three decades of separation, and the emotional conflicts generated by a reunion after so many years. This theatre group has already taken the Twin Paradox to various cities in England, including London, where it was part of the Camden Fringe Festival. Recently, I had the opportunity to watch it at The Albany - my first play seen in an English pub. After the show, I sat down for a celebratory drink with the actors, who were already known to me, as a few months previously I had the chance to talk to the group about how the human body and mind behave in an extraterrestrial environment, and upon return to Earth.
I'm not sure how long we were sat there sipping our drinks on that hot English summer Saturday. "Time really is relative", I thought. However, it is not only the speed of bodies that matter. Emotions also affect the way in which we measure their passage. (Translation of the original article, written by Thais Russomano, and published in the Diario Popular journal, Pelotas, Brazil. Version in Portuguese can be found at https://www.diariopopular.com.br/index.php?n_sistema=4059&id_noticia=MTM0NTg4&id_area=MTUw ) Thais RussomanoInnovaSpace Founder, CEO & Scientific Director Set your imagination flowing and just consider the following scenario: "What's your preference? Cultural holidays? Something more adventurous?" asked the travel agent. The clients would think for a moment and then, slightly hesitantly, they would respond. "We like extreme sports, like mountain climbing, parachute jumping, or diving into the depths of the oceans." "Excellent - and so I suggest Mars! On the Red Planet there is an extinct volcano, Mount Olympus, the highest in the Solar System, three times taller than our own Everest!" recommended the agent. "And there the gravity is just one-third that of Earth, which reduces your body to just over 30% of what you weigh here. Therefore, it's even easier to climb mountains there." I added, as the Space Medic of the Intergalactic Travel Agency. This conversation and many others like it could be heard during a summer festival in London's Brockwell Park in late July, thanks to the creative thinking of Guerrilla Science, who wanted to present the idea of the possibility of experiencing holiday trips to different planets. Children and adults entered into the game, discussing possible destinations, the activities that could be offered on each planet, or on the moon or an asteroid, the distances to be travelled, and the costs of such a vacation to places far beyond the limits of the Earth. Actors played the role of the travel agents, while I introduced aspects of space tourism that can affect the health of intergalactic adventurers, such as exposure to radiation, the absence of gravity, and confinement within a spacecraft. Projects, such as this, still belong in the realms of science fiction for now, but they will begin to take shape in the not-so-distant future with the political, scientific and technological advances of Space Tourism. And in response to those of you who do not believe such a thing, Albert Einstein would say - "Something is only impossible until someone doubts it and ends up proving otherwise.” Gabriela Albandes de SouzaInnovaSpace Culture & Education Project Manager InnovaSpace took another step this week towards achieving its aim of bringing space closer to society, to reach out to underserved communities, and to make science and space more accessible and inclusive, when InnovaSpace founder Thais Russomano gave a virtual lecture about the participation of women in the space programme to an audience of 39 young ladies, aged between 10 and 12 years from two state-run schools in Gravataí, Brazil, as part of a project called ‘Elas no Lab’ (Girls in the Lab). This project is the brainchild of three high school students from the Escola Sesi de Ensino Médio Albino Marques Gomes, a private high school in the same city in southern Brazil. Eduarda Rosa Ferreira, Indáia Pereira de Matos and Júlia Alvares Missel had the idea of creating workshops to raise the interest of young girls to pursue scientific careers, as part of a project led by their Physics teacher Cláudia Fraga Germano. Cláudia set her students the task of developing projects that would benefit state-run schools, which often do not receive sufficient funding to invest in the sciences, and lack proper laboratories and equipment. The activities also involved a rocket building workshop using recycled materials, a VR glasses experience that allowed the girls to virtually “travel around the universe”, the photo and video recording of the activities, and an exclusive Q & A session about space science with Thais Russomano at the end of her lecture. Feedback from the girls who attended the event was very positive, with many celebrating this unique and fun experience of learning about science. Another mission accomplished successfully due to a collaboration of working ideas and ideals in partnership! However, consider this just a first step – as InnovaSpace is proud to announce the launch of a new outreach project called Valentina – more details to be posted soon! Thais RussomanoInnovaSpace Founder, CEO & Scientific Director The ancient practice of yoga has its roots deep in the ancestral traditions of India. The word comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which has countless meanings, such as controlling, uniting, concentrating, or integrating. Yoga is seen as a way of harmonising the body and mind, through meditation, breathing techniques and postural exercises. Despite its influence on various cultures over time, and it being practiced on a daily basis all over the world, I have to confess that I knew very little about this centuries-old practice, that is, until I was invited by Guerilla Science to take part in their Space Yoga class at the Brighton Yoga Festival, held on the weekend of 14th-15th July this year, at the Sussex County Cricket Ground in Brighton & Hove, neighbouring towns on the English south coast. Rather luckily, my invite did not involve me personally having to perform breathing exercises or adopt certain body positions, as my hosts may have been a little disappointed! It was, however, to talk about the changes undergone by astronauts when they spend time in microgravity, as yoga therapy has been contemplated and researched as a possible complementary activity that could benefit astronaut health and emotional wellbeing, as discussed in a 2012 article published by Joan Vernikos et al*. and a 2013 interview, hosted on the YouTube channel YogiViews.
Thais RussomanoInnovaSpace Founder, CEO & Scientific Director The importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) education has long been talked about, with education policy and curriculum choices targeting these areas to improve competitiveness in science and technology development, and to try and address the shortage of skills in the workforce. While these subjects are extremely relevant in today's world, they do not underpin the innovative process in isolation, often requiring a streak of creativity and imagination to set an idea free. History demonstrates well the productive link between the STEM areas and Art, with Leonardo da Vinci being a classic example - both a great scientist and astounding artist. The practice of art in its numerous senses, such as, language, physical art, music and design, among many others, can provide imaginative opportunities for communication and expression and inspire the young to be creative with their ideas. Blending art into the STEM areas can also provide a conduit by which to attract the interest of those who might not normally consider the sciences. Although a scientist and doctor myself, I have always been drawn to the arts and am equally as happy writing an article on space physiology as I am writing a romance novel. So when I was contacted by a gentleman from a theatre group wanting to know if I could share a little space knowledge with them, I was delighted to say yes! The FLUX Phase theatre group brings together a diverse group of actors in training, currently completing an MA in Acting at the E15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex. Their latest production is based on Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, which states that as you travel close to the speed of light, time passes more slowly. So imagine if one identical twin makes a journey into space on a near light-speed spaceship, leaving the other twin at home on Earth, and then returns from 30 years space travel. Will the twin who stayed home have aged more? Will one look much older than the other? This is the Twin Paradox! |
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