Natural History Museum, Oxford, Saturday March 11th 2017
A scientist in training receives a briefing (copyright OUMNH)
ERGO group members made a return to Super Science Saturday at the Natural History Museum, where they showed young (and young at heart) scientists-in-training how to spot viral infections and prevent epidemics.
Visitors had the chance to meet mosquitos and bats in the flesh at the stall, and learn first-hand from these real, live disease vectors how epidemics spread. With the help of a microscope, they had the opportunity to come face-to-face with a variety of mosquitos and ticks -- and then to hear about the research ERGO does to learn about how they spread disease.
A mosquito presiding over the day's events (copyright OUMNH)
Finally, enterprising scientists were encouraged to stop by the human brain -- as represented by a loop-the-loop racetrack -- and witness the effects of different infections as they sped around wreaking havoc.
The event was a great success, with a record-breaking 5,000 attendees visiting the museum throughout the day! Those who weren't able to attend can check out the Facebook Live video created by Oxford Sparks on the day, which gives a glimpse of some of the great activities on display.
The brain was under constant attack by viruses! (copyright OUMNH)