Imperial students and researchers joined forces with musicians from the Royal Albert Hall to bring science to life on the streets of South Kensington.

As part of Creative Quarter 2016, organised by Discover South Kensington, groups of ‘science buskers’ lined Exhibition Road to demonstrate the science of music and sound.

Dr Jess Wade, a researcher from the Department of Physics, partnered with Gemma Johnson from Albert’s Band – the Royal Albert Hall’s resident education & outreach ensemble to explore soundwaves. As Gemma played a piece of music on a cello, Jess used an oscilloscope app to demonstrate how changes in sound waves refer to changes in pitch or volume.

Ksenia Solovieva and Paul Munday demonstrate soundproofing

Jess said: “Children at school learn words like ‘wavelength’, ‘frequency’ and ‘amplitude’, but don’t necessarily see how sound waves work in action. Music is something we can all relate too, so this really helps bring it to life”

Physics undergraduate student Ksenia Solovieva paired up with musician Paul Munday to show how soundproofing works. Passers-by were invited to try and muffle the sound of Paul’s trumpet by covering him in blankets, wrapping the end of the instrument in bubble-wrap, and encasing him in a cardboard surround.

Ksenia explained how the different materials can be used to soundproof spaces by absorbing, reflecting, or refracting soundwaves. The Royal Albert Hall, for instance, has large acoustic sound diffusers made of fibreglass on the ceiling. These both improve the acoustic experience in the Hall, and prevent the sound from escaping.

Ksneia said: “It’s great to bring science and the arts together in this way, especially on Exhibition road - surrounded by such incredible museums, galleries, and scientific institutions. This area really symbolises a meeting of minds“.

Creative collaboration

Creative Quarter is an annual event in South Kensington which offers young people the chance to explore the latest developments in the creative industries and gives an overview of career paths in art, science, design, technology, music and drama.

Imperial hosted an array of talks, workshops and hands-on science activities over the course of the day.  Dr Jenna Stevens-Smith explained what it was like to be a bio-engineer, while Dr Erik van Sebille from the Grantham Institute gave a talk about the effects that plastic waste has on our oceans and what we can do to address the problem. Dr Sara Rankin explained how milk teeth could be used sources of adult stem-cells, which are used in regenerative medicine to stimulate the body to repair itself.

Jose Teixeira-Monteiro from the College’s Outreach team gave visitors a tour of the night sky in the College’s inflatable planetarium, which displays stars and constellations that are usually obscured by light pollution in a modern city.