Britain: A new adults-only science centre has opened in London where the public will be encouraged to debate the most controversial issues of the day.
Be it the implications of genetically modified foods, face transplants, sex over 60, male pregnancy, death or AIDS, the Dana Centre plans to tackle topical, sometimes-taboo subjects.
"It is only centre of its type in the world and it is certainly one of the very few . . . focused on adults," said Dr Lindsay Sharp, director of the National Museum of Science and Industry.
With three floors of exhibition space, state-of-the-art digital technology, online discussion boards and an electronic voting system housed in a striking €14-million building, Dr Sharp hopes to make science exciting and to take the public pulse on topical issues and relay it back to the government.
"There is no other museum in the world which is enabled in the way that this is in terms of state- of-the-art technology," he said. "It is effectively a walk-in broadcasting, narrow-casting studio on three floors. The reason we want to broadcast is that we can reach millions more people that way and we want to make it as interactive as we can."
The centre will feature stand- up comics, neuroscientists and researchers and use documentaries, discussions and even an MRI scan of a contortionist to show what happens inside her twisted body to delve into all areas and aspects of science.
The first public discussion at the new venue will be about face transplants, once confined to the realms of science fiction. It will follow a talk by a leading US plastic surgeon. - (Reuters)