San Faustino Open Day, the BioRobotics Institute of the Scuola Sant'Anna organises a day dedicated to science and technology

San Faustino Open Day, the BioRobotics Institute of the Scuola Sant'Anna organises a day dedicated to science and technology

Research is at home in Pontedera thanks to San Faustino Open Day, the traditional event repeated every year on the occasion of the festivities for the city's patron saint. The Polo Sant'Anna Valdera, headquarters of the BioRobotics Institute of Sant'Anna School, opens its laboratories to the public for a day dedicated to research and scientific dissemination.

From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday 10 October, the laboratories of the Institute of BioRobotics and the Center for Material Interfaces of the Italian Institute of Technology will show visitors (free admission, no reservation required) recent research activities in the fields of biorobotics, soft robotics, surgical robotics, artificial organs, and the fight against climate change through the use of sustainable technologies.

The planned initiatives

Guided tours of the Institute's research areas, workshops for children, informative stands, conferences on some of the most innovative frontiers of scientific research, such as space biology and the contamination between art and biorobotics. These are the initiatives scheduled during the San Faustino Open Day. The two conferences address projects conducted by the Institute of BioRobotics and future challenges of great importance for scientific research.

The conference programme is as follows:

• 15.00 'Space biology: the science that is both in heaven and on earth' by Debora Angeloni, associate professor of molecular biology: 'Now that the world's space agencies are preparing the return to the Moon and the mission to Mars, it is important to understand well how space acts on the human body, both to protect space crews and to learn more about how we are made, to improve the lives of all of us on Earth: this is what space biology is all about. Presentation for all the curious.
• 17.00 'BIOROBOTIC POP' by Alberto Mazzoni, associate professor of bioengineering: From Leonardo da Vinci's automata to the Cyborgs of Teen Titans via HAL from 2001 Space Odyssey and Ghost in the Shell. Biorobotics explained (also) with the Avengers films. The way we imagine robots and artificial intelligences has influenced the way we build them, and vice versa. Presentation for ages 8-99 like puzzles.

San Faustino for kids!

How are cells made? The youngest visitors will be able to find out thanks to the Biology workshop 'Sweet as a Cell', scheduled at 4 p.m. in Room 4 and curated by Debora Angeloni. Cells are all different, depending on the organs in which we study them, but they have many characteristics in common. We will build a prototype using candies, chocolates and whipped cream...

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