From the science lab to the small screen

Science in the City, whichcombines the brainy and the artsy, culminates in an interactivetelevision programme to be broadcast live from Valletta. Paula Fleri-Soler finds outhow host Pawlu Borg Bonaci plans to deliver an explosive show.

Picture the excitement of discovery, as a variety of science experiments are brought straight to your living room.

Children at home can still take an active part by carrying out fun experiments while watching the show

This is exactly what a live television show that will be broadcast on our national station as part of the first edition of Science in the City proposes to do.

The television show being broadcast from St George’s Square is the main activity that will tie the whole festival together. Hosted by Pawlu Borg Bonaci and Angie Laus, the show will feature interviews with researchers, live experiments, and music and dance excerpts inspired by science.

Borg Bonaci says if one had to ask what science means to us, most would instantly remember childhood memories and go back to when science was seen as just an academic subject.

Many still believe science is for geeks and nerds. “We will challenge this misconception,” he explains enthusiastically.

“Science can be fun; it’s for children and adults; it’s everywhere.”

How will this television production help transmit this message?

While the show is being broadcast, “children at home can still take an active part by carrying out fun experiments while watching”.

A range of topics will be covered, from the mundane to the important, such as researchers’ studies on DNA or solar energy – “the kind of research that will eventually facilitate or can even change our lives and the way we think”.

A music band will play a repertoire of songs related to science.

“Whether it’s about robots, or the sun, there is a scientific link. So many other interesting things will be explained through different media.”

Being a unique event, whatare the challenges of hosting alive TV show featuring scientific experiments?

“Other than the risk of being blown up by an explosion, the challenges are standard ones. The most important thing is that the audience understands what is happening and why,” Borg Bonaci explains.

“There is no need to worry because the experiments are simple ones that can be carried out by anyone,” Borg Bonaci said.

Emphasis will be more on research. “Scientists do notjust wish for something and make it happen. Someone needs to think about how to make things happen,” he points out.

Science in the City will feature interviews with science personalities, so the audience at home and those who are present can follow what these people have been working on.

Borg Bonaci is keen on the study of robotics, includingthe construction of an intelligent robot that can actually think. Another equally fascin-ating topic is renewable energy: “these two areas will feature prominently on the show”.

Borg Bonaci is very clear about what he hopes to achieve fromthe show: “I want to have funand feel privileged to be meeting and questioning the researchers. Preparing for the show has been alearning curve.”

Before this opportunity came along, he never took note of what sort of scientific forces kept everything together, but now “I am more aware of everything scientific around me”.

What benefits can the audience derive from this experience?

“I want viewers to stop me the next day and tell me they were surprised and entertained and that they’ve learnt and discoverednew things.

“Who knows, maybe young viewers will decide to take up research as a career and will one day also make a discovery that will change the world.”

The live Science in the City broadcast airs on Friday on TVM at 8.40pm.