In Chennai, solve a puzzle and learn about astronomy as Science at the Sabha returns

Science at the Sabha, an annual event at IMSc, Chennai is back for its seventh edition. It offers free lectures on various scientific topics to the public like plastic and astronomy.

All through the year, the campus of Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc) in Chennai’s Taramani sees young school-going students attempting to improve their scientific acumen by trying their hand at experiments.

However, this is usually never enough. The lot is uncontained and does not hold back with their questions at IMSc’s annual disquisition, Science at the Sabha. Here, the lectures are about a wide range of topics, held for free and open to the general public.

The seventh edition of Science at the Sabha is back, this time with a change in venue. Mid-career scientists who are experts on the subject, will be attempting to make astronomy, plastic, puzzles and the seas around India, accessible to the public through discourse and data at the Anna Centenary Library. The organising team is gearing up to field questions.

“Last year, there were many interesting questions about blackholes . The children have the most questions and are unhindered. We would, however, like to invite everyone — lawyers, doctors, journalists, to take part,” says KN Raghavan, Professor, IMSc.

Back in 2016, professors Raghavan and Gautam Menon (now, professor of Physics and Biology at Ashoka University) were discussing how India lacked an ‘open Science day’ where the public could freely access the country’s top institutions and understand their inner workings. This was unlike the West where cities like Munich would throw the doors of its universities open to a scientifically curious lot. Ahead of National Science day (February 28) that year, the institution decided to throw their resources open to the public and organise lectures that make complex scientific questions accessible for rumination.

Over the years, the famed halls of the Music Academy where Carnatic music would play, ended up hosting conversations about neuroscience, ecology and condensed matter physics.

Although there has been a change in the venue, the format of Science at the Sabha remains the same. There will be four sessions of 40 minutes each, with five minutes of questions in the end. Raghavan says that they expect active participation in the session titled The Art and Math of Puzzle Solving by Saket Saurabh, a professor at IMSc. There will also be sessions on understanding the dynamic nature of the North Indian Ocean by D Shankar, chief scientist at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography; on an update to the frequently used adage: Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-Reinvent with respect to plastics by S Ramakrishnan, professor, Indian Institute of Science; and on a wide-ranging scientific output on astronomy from India by Annapurni Subramaniam, director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.