At the Science Fair 2018 at the International School Eindhoven (our new Neighbour!) we introduced the Curiosity Cultivator. Students and their parents made ‘microbial portraits’ by putting their nose, finger or even their lips or toes into a breeding plate for microorganisms. We let the breeding plates rest for a few days in a controlled environment so that the microbes which came off the visitors got the chance to grow into colourful colonies. The results came out really beautiful! Students also got a chance to look at micro-organisms present in surface water through a microscope. Eyes grew wide when they saw the smallest of organisms crawl a few centimeters under their noses!

The day ended with an exciting talk by Barry Fitzgerald (BW Science) on superpowers, and how close we are to achieving them. The audience was introduced to two superheroes – the Hulk and Ant-Man – and the possibility of replicating their powers using modern science. Nowadays, the superhero genre is incredibly popular at the modern cinema. The films are abundant in characters possessing astounding superpowers that many people may wish to attain. While the general consensus is that such powers are fiction, advancements in science and engineering could facilitate the duplication of superpowers in the future.