Some of the world’s best minds will discuss humanity’s most challenging issues with the return of the World Science Festival to Brisbane. Now in it’s third year, the festival kicked off today.

Jessica Riga reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Steve, Street Science: “It’s starting to bubble up and those bubbles are actually getting caught.”

It looked like a colourful scientific experiment, beakers bubbling over and gasses changing colour.

But this was about bringing science to Brisbane with the launch of the third World Science Festival.

Brisbane is the only city in the world to host the international event outside New York and it will for the next three years.

Leeanne Enoch, Science and Arts Minister: “That enables us to continue this great work, to excite people about science to see that great collision between arts and science.”

This year’s theme is ‘humanity’, with workshops and panels discussing everything from how science can build the ultimate athlete, to how the brain can believe in both science and religion.

Tracy Day, World Science Festival co-founder: “When we think about and talk about the World Science Festival, we envision it as an event that spans the globe, with two powerful anchors, one in New York City and the other here in Brisbane, a thriving city of science and innovation.”

Organisers are also busy setting up Street Science, two free days of interactive experiments on offer for the whole family.

And here at the Queensland Museum is the heart of the World Science Festival. Over the next five days hundreds of activities will transform Southbank into a science playground, with performances, panels, films and even interactive experiments taking science out of the labs, and into the streets.

Other Queensland cities also will get a taste of the festival, including Gladstone, Toowoomba and Townsville, and for the first time, Ipswich.

Jessica Riga, QUT News.