News Release

Friday, October 22, 2010

NIH makes a splash at USA Science and Engineering Festival

Hundreds of exhibits and performances to be featured.

BETHESDA, Md. — The National Institutes of Health is making waves with exciting exhibits and special science performances at the inaugural USA Science and Engineering Festival this weekend, Oct. 23-24, on the National Mall. The festival is aimed at making science fun, intriguing, and accessible to people of all ages. NIH will feature a mammoth exhibit at National Mall section six, booth 620, and an additional series of engaging events at Freedom Plaza, booths 1500-1509.

Included in the many unique exhibits and stage shows will be a rock performance by NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins. On Sunday, he'll be strumming songs on his guitar that both delight the ears and educate the mind at the National Mall stage on 4th street at 2 p.m.

"This festival is exactly what we need to energize the next generation of young scientists in the United States," said Dr. Collins. "Hundreds of NIH scientists and staff have committed so much to provide challenging and interactive exhibits. I'm looking forward to taking part and sharing how rewarding science can be."

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®

Here's the lowdown on all of the exciting activities from NIH:

Special Stage Shows

Saturday, Oct. 23, 10:30 a.m. – A Winning Meal with the Biggest Loser (http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/expo/performances?age=&keyword=&qperf=loser) Wilson Plaza Stage

Sunday, Oct. 24, 2:00 p.m. - Dr Francis Collins, Scientific Rockstar (http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/expo/performances?age=&keyword=&qperf=NIH) at National Mall Stage

Freedom Plaza - Booths 1500 through 1509 http://www.usasciencefestival.org/images/expo/usasef_2010_expomap_85x11.pdf

Saturday, October 23

  • Infant Safe Sleep … How and Why
  • Beating the Odds for Better Health
  • Strawberry DNA Extraction and The Genetic Challenge
  • Infrared Imaging: Seeing the Invisible and Video Games to Image-Guided Surgery
  • More Than Meets the Eye
  • Are You Smarter than a Rat?

Sunday, October 24

  • Beating the Odds for Better Health
  • DNA Bracelets and The Genetic Challenge
  • The NIH Brain Arcade
  • It's a Noisy Planet. Protect Their Hearing. Find out if your MP3 player puts your hearing at risk
  • What's That S mell? A scratch and sniff exercise to test your sense of smell
  • The Eye Examiner
  • Supermodels of Science

National Mall - Tent NM-6 Booth 620 http://www.usasciencefestival.org/images/expo/usasef_2010_expomap_85x11.pdf

Saturday, October 23

  • Games to Rewire the Brain – Autism and Games that Teach Facial Perception Skills
  • Faces of Science videos
  • The Cool Spot Carnival
  • The Drunken Brain
  • The NIH Brain Lobe-oratorium
  • Ultrasound Backpack
  • Family Tree of Genetic Traits
  • Make a Difference in the World – Learn about Cancer
  • When I Grow Up...
  • Attack of the S. mutans 3-D game

Sunday, October 24

  • Health Zones
  • The Cool Spot Carnival
  • The Drunken Brain
  • Fooling the Brain
  • Pack a Lunch with a Punch for Kids in Research
  • Just Say Know: Drugs and the Brain
  • We Can! Eat Right, Play More, and Push Away the Screen
  • Safe Science the Cyber Way
  • Rocket Kids - How Science Soars at NIH
  • Attack of the S. mutans 3-D game

NIH Mini-Stage at Mall Tent, NM-6 Booth 620 http://www.usasciencefestival.org/images/expo/usasef_2010_expomap_85x11.pdf

Saturday, October 23

  • What Are You Made Of? game show (10:00 a.m.)
  • Who Wants to Be a Bioengineer? (12:00 p.m.)
  • Just Say Know: Drugs and the Brain (2: 00 p.m.)
  • Who Wants to be an NIH Scientist? game show (4:00 p.m.)


Sunday, October 24

  • Toxic Adventures (10:00 a.m.)
  • Meet Phineas Gage and Windows into the Brain (2:30 p.m.)
  • Are You Smarter than a Genome Scientist? (4:00 p.m.)

 

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