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“We are very strongly convinced that we require sciences to achieve the state that all the people can live without poverty and in prosperity, without having to destroy the earth.”

The Science Express will visit three cities in Tamil Nadu. Chennai: February 29 to March 5, Coimbatore: March 11 to 14 and Kanyakumari: March 20 and 22.

Photo: AFP

Future science: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Science Express train at the Safdarjung Railway station in New Delhi on October 30.

The Science Express is a joint Indo-German venture, providing a fascinating expedition into the mysteries of our world — to groundbreaking discoveries, emerging issues of cutting-edge science and future-oriented technologies.

This exhibition on wheels will travel throughout the country and attempt to take modern research out of the lab and reveal just how relevant science is to everyday life. Visitors of this futuristic exhibition can learn how science is enabling society to face the global challenges of the 21st century.

The Science Express invites young Indian students and researchers to take a journey through the world of “Made in Germany” cutting-edge science. Therefore, the exhibition delivers more reasons for studying in German universities, to earn a doctoral degree or pursue a postdoctoral research at Max Planck or other international research institutes in Germany.

Science Express has 12 thematic ‘Stations’. Apart from this, India and Germany will present their strategies for science and technology at the beginning of the 21st century.

Science Express is a multimedia exhibition by the Max Planck Society (MPS) on its way through India. The exhibition enables visitors to get in touch with the latest breakthrough in science.

Dr. Peter Gruss, president of the MPS, says, “The Science Express is a multimedia and hands-on exhibition by MPS. It has — for the first time — been put on a train in order to bring science directly to you. I am convinced that the Science Express will help to build bridges in science and technology between Germany, ‘the land of Ideas’ and ‘Ingenious India’, thus allowing us to meet the common challenges that lie ahead.”

The Science Express will travel 15,000 kilometres within 210 days and stop at 57 cities throughout India.

The exhibits, including more than 300 large-format images, over 150 video clips as well as a chemistry lab, will be showcased in the train’s 14 coaches.

All the exhibits were shipped from Germany. Each rail car is equipped with an interactive video station and is 26 metre- long. The topics covered by the exhibition are:

• On the way to the Big Bang

• Nano Cosmos

• Buidling Blocks of Life

• From gene to organism

• Architecture of the mind

• The World of Senses

• Technologies for the future

• From data to knowledge

• Global challenges

• Spaceship Earth

• Our home in the cosmos

• The Universe

In his speech at the inaugural ceremony on October 30, the Prime Minister said, “The Science Express should contribute to the propagation of the scientific temper among our youth. This venture will build new bridges of understanding and good will between India and Germany.”

German Chancellor Merkel said, “Our knowledge undergoes changes and grows at a breathtaking tempo. We shall see for ourselves whether the Science Express can take up such a journey that is symbolised by what science portrays today. The visitors can see the entire bandwidth of scientific possibilities and knowledge before their eyes.”

“We are now already over six billion people on earth and will be definitely be much more in the future. We are very strongly convinced that we require sciences to achieve the state that all the people can live without poverty and in prosperity, without having to destroy the earth,” she said.

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