Last week I attended the first Midlands science festival, Science In The Peak, 30th June - 4th July. Set amongst rolling hills and sweeping valleys, the iconic and dominating dome of University of Derby, Buxton was the primary host, with additional events held in the neighbouring 4 star Buxton Palace Hotel.

The central focus points were the stands in the dome, which featured RCUK's Darwin exhibit, The Grant Museum of Zoology and their collection of skulls from human ancestors, a moon landing exhibition (of particular significant as the 40th year anniversary of the moon landing fell during the week), medieval machines and my personal favourite a high speed camera from the University of Derby. 

Quentin Cooper, from the radio 4 show Material World, talked on the image of scientists in the past and currently. He highlighted the need to create a positive image of science to encourage the next generation of scientist.

Johnny Ball was the star on Saturday with his talk The Science of Life. The family fun day attracted almost 3000 people to the science festival, a staggering amount considering it was only one day. The family fun day featured extra activities including lectures on exploding custard, Lab in a Lorry and the University of Leicester I-science's Mars Landers workshop. I have a personal bias towards the Mars Landers workshops, having run one of the workshops myself. The aim of the workshop is to construct a planetary lander that will safely land the lifelong work of a eminent scientist (a water bomb) from outer space (a first floor drop) on the surface of Mars (the bottom of the first floor drop). I particularly enjoy seeing the competitive parents think they have all the answers followed by the spectacular demise of their landers. 

Guest Blogger: STEM Student Journalist, Henry Lau, University of Leicester