The competition that took place last night (Monday) in Hamada was the first of three. The three winners will advance to the final which will be held on May 2, together with the first three at the Weizmann Institute and the three winners at the Science Museum in Jerusalem
Contest participants and organizers (standing) and the four judges (sitting), Hamada, 26/3/07. Photo: Avi Blizovsky
Michal Dekal, Dr. Eran Shankar andRoey Tsezana are the three winners of the FAMELAB competition - a competition during which the participants are asked to explain a complex scientific topic to the general public. The competition, whose first stage was held yesterday, took place in the "Kohav Nold" format, when during the morning the auditions stage took place, during which dozens of candidates competed for the hearts of the four members of the judging panel. Nine of them advanced to the final which took place in the evening.
Roi Cezana explained what stem cells are, and the importance of their research for improving medicine. Dr. Eran Shanker from the Fisher Institute explained why mouse embryos sent into space failed to survive the cell accumulation stage and did not develop into embryos - mainly due to the lack of gravity, while Michal Dekal, from the Genetics Institute at the Sheba Medical Center, told how they cloned Dolly the sheep, and said that in Israel It is allowed to clone human embryos for healing purposes, and it is making progress in this respect from other countries.
The FameLab competition is the brainchild of the Cheltenham Science Festival and NESTA (the British National Foundation for Science, Technology and the Arts) and is held in the UK with the support of Pfizer, the Daily Telegraph, the British Research Councils, the British Council and Channel 4. In Israel the competition is held under the auspices of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and the magazine Scientific American Israel.
Those who want to try their luck are invited on April 4 to the Weizmann Institute, as part of the science festival that will be held there. Three of the participants there will also get to advance to the finals, as will the participants later in the third competition that will be held at the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem.
FameLab Israel competition
FameLab encourages scientists to excite the public's imagination with the scientific vision of the early 21st century. In the early stages of the competition, which will be held in March and April 2007, the contestants will receive only 3 minutes to prove to a team of expert judges that they have the ability to make science a lively and fascinating subject. Nine competitors, who will choose the various competitions, will advance to the finals. They will participate in a professional workshop in scientific communication before competing in the finals held on May 2, 2007 at Hamada - the Center for Scientific Education of Tel Aviv-Yafo. The Israeli winner of FameLab 2007 will win a fully funded trip to the Cheltenham Science Festival in June 2007.
The initial notice of the competition
* Note - it is clear that the scientific information is not intended only for the youth but for the general public, but the MZB scientist is the closest.
