The intersection of comedy and science at Atlanta Science Festival's 'Jazz Hands'

When you picture Albert Einstein, is he smiling? The Atlanta Science Festival offers some events at the intersection of science and comedy. “Jazz Hands” is one of those sessions presented by Science for Georgia. Executive director Dr. Amy Sharma joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom, along with Dr. Meisa Salaita, the executive co-director and co-founder of Science ATL, to talk about this year’s Science Festival and its many fun, funny, and fascinating opportunities on offer for the science-curious of all ages.

This year, the Atlanta Science Fest will be back with in-person events, and it’s presenting several outdoor opportunities for learning and exploring. “One of my very last events in 2020, before everything fell apart, was called ‘ID the Trees,’ which is a fabulous walk-in, Mason Mill Park, learning about what the trees are around us,” said Salaita. “We have all sorts of events that we might normally have had indoors, that we’ve moved to the outdoors. So an event that I am excited about is one that is looking at mother nature; ‘Playing Mother Nature: Modeling Extreme Weather Phenomena’ …just looking at earth science and some of the crazy things our planet does.”

Sharma introduced the goals and philosophy of Science for Georgia, the Atlanta Science Fest’s parent organization, born two years ago to promote science education and interest across communities. “Our whole premise is making sure that science is out there serving society,” she said. “We really make sure that no matter what we’re explaining, be it volcanoes or how to clean up the ocean, we give people something very small that they can do to experience that science and apply it in a good way.”