Volunteering at the Bluedot Festival

We had three experiments showing chemistry in space for all to join in with, and participants were rewarded with glow sticks and UV face-paint to get them in the party mood. The first and by far messiest experiment was making bath bombs from bicarbonate of soda, citric acid and a whole lot of glitter – mimicking comet tails as they pass close to stars. The others considered UV light and how astronauts are protected from radiation when there isn’t an atmosphere.

One experiment used UV reactive beads to measure UV exposure on our toy minion 'Bob' and then tested how materials provided different levels of radiation protection, to determine which would be best for a spacesuit. The other demonstration used UV active invisible ink and UV lamps to show how sun cream works. People were riveted, and seemed to really enjoy learning about UVA radiation protection and the chemistry behind different wavelengths being absorbed and blocked.

Over the weekend, there were about 1,500 active experimenters with us. The bath bombs were especially popular with younger children and the shout of ‘who wants to harm minions with radiation’ got lots of the younger teenagers interested in the UV demonstrations. It was striking how many adults in the audience had a high level of science knowledge and interest compared to some other demonstrations I have participated in; that meant that at the Bluedot you could really get deeply into the chemistry – which for me was really rewarding. Hopefully many visitors will have left thinking chemistry can be fun and plays a huge part in many everyday products.

Honestly, it’s fantastic that the Royal Society of Chemistry takes part in events like this, especially with the ongoing and increasing popularity in science in general. Science is cool, and outreach events like this reinforce that, whilst allowing all of us to have fun in the process.