Science reaches the pub with the cycle of scientific talks ‘A sea of Verne in Vigo’

Bringing science to the pub is a worldwide phenomenon, with initiatives such as Pint of Science, which was born at the Imperial College in London and today is a success in Oxford, Yale, Cambridge, Princeton or La Sorbonne. Using this format, last November the Vigo Oceanographic Center of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) organized a series of informal discussions called “At the heat of the sea in a bar.”

Now, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Nautilus arrive in Vigo, and 140th of Verne’s first visit to the city, the Jules Verne Hispanic Society and the Campus do Mar organize the cycle of scientific talks ‘A sea of Verne to Vigo’ with the participation of the University of Vigo, the Vigo Oceanographic Center (IEO) and the Institute of Marine Research (CSIC).

It consists in four informative talks, on four Wednesdays corresponding to the months of February, March, April and May. It will be at La Pecera pub, 35 calle Pizarro, from 8:00 p.m. There, for an hour, prominent researchers will help us discover the secrets of the Vigo estuary, just like Capt. Nemo did 150 years ago in Jules Verne’s novel.

The format of these scientific talks in the pub allows a relaxed atmosphere that facilitates dialogue, questions and discussion with attendees. In addition, all the talks are accompanied by audiovisual projections, in which we can discover from the bottoms of the Vigo estuary to the treasures of the Cíes Islands.

The dates and talks planned are the following:

– Wednesday, February 7: The Vigo estuary aboard the Nautilus. The biologist Manuel E. Garci, of the Institute of Marine Research (CSIC), proposes a submarine ride along the Vigo estuary, contemplating the same landscape as Captain Nemo on board of the Nautilus. Garci, winner of numerous underwater cinema awards, will show us images of Rande’s funds, where Nemo’s divers were submerged in the novel ‘20,000 leagues under the sea’. The oceanographer Lara García Alves, also from the CSIC of Vigo, will speak about this novel in order to analyze the great diversity of species that appear in this classic of Universal literature, where not only the Kraken is the protagonist.

– Wednesday, March 21. The fauna of Verne. Two zoologists are going to talk us about the underwater fauna that Jules Verne describes in ‘20,000 leagues under the sea’. Jesús Troncoso, from the University of Vigo, will enlighten usabout the fish that Captain Nemo met, while Ángel Guerra, from CSIC, will talk about the mythical ‘Kraken’, the giant squid that attacked the submarine Nautilus in a passage of the novel. The talk will end with images of the giant squid specimens studied by Ángel Guerra in recent years. And both scientists will try to satisfy the curiosity of those present.

– Wednesday, April 18. This was the Vigo estuary 150 years ago. A trip back in time to see how the Vigo estuary and its surroundings were towards 1868, the year in which the Nautilus visited it in the novel ‘20,000 leagues under the sea’. Through ancient cartography and images from different eras, we will know how the Vigo estuary has changed over the last century and a half. Gonzalo Méndez, teacher at the Universidade de Vigo, will be responsible for transporting us through time.

– Wednesday, May 9. A sea of colors for the Nautilus. In this scientific talk, we will discover curiosities about the algae mentioned by Jules Verne in several of his works, especially two species of microalgae that appear in ‘20,000 leagues under the sea’. These are Noctiluca and Trichodesmium, which have the peculiarity of dyeing the sea water or producing bioluminescence. Francisco Rodríguez, researcher at the Vigo Oceanographic Center (IEO) will take us on a tour of the seabed, together with the divers of Captain Nemo, to learn about these two fascinating species.

The entrance to scientific talks is free until full capacity is reached.

Pub La Pecera c/ Pizarro, 35
VIGO 36204



Project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education within the framework of the Campus of International Excellence program and by the spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, within the National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation.

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