Oral communication to #sciyou2021

1. Online magic struggled in pandemic times, but it
overcame difficulties. Science communication should
too.
Miquel Duran and Sílvia Simon (Univ Girona),
and Fernando Blasco (Univ Polit Madrid)
@miquelduran
@silviasimonr
@fblascoxyz
16 Nov 2021
#sciyou2021

2. Online Magic
Like many theatrical activities, physical distancing has brought about a
strong disruption to magic.
Not only magicians have lost a lot of face-to-face shows, but the very
type of magic act (generating the illusion of impossibility) has faced
strong challenges.
Interaction with people hindered
Misdirection hindered.

3. Online Magic
However, after some hesitancy, magicinas quickly developed new skills and
designed improved methods to reach a remote audience, especially (of
course) in the field of mentalism.
Actually, magicians have provided clues to improve communication over the
Internet.
Science communication groups and teams may benefit from magicians’
attitude.

4. Unfortunate fact #1
Linear combination of:
●
Misinformation
●
Disinformation
●
Fake News
Reporters with various forms of "fake news" from an 1894 illustration by Frederick Burr Opper

5. Unfortunate fact #2
We have realized (at least in our regional area) that Science Literacy is
much lower than we thought.
Perhaps we took for granted that in case of a crisis like that of a pandemic,
Society would turn easily and fast to Science. It did not.
Not people’s faults: contradictory policies, lack of proper science education,
despise of math literacy, lack of computational thinking...
#GroMarch –
March for Science Girona

6. Magic turns out to be fun… and also useful
Indeed experience shows that proper use of magic in informal and formal
educational environments is useful.
Our experience has also shown that magic is useful to increase the quality
and efficienty of science communication – i.e., public awareness of science
– even public understanding of science.
But magic may provide an unexepected benefit: if performed openly, thow
practising it improve their psychological expertise, improve their problem
solving skills, and increase their empathy with others.

7. Successful examples of online magic ...
- Mentalism, using a return channel: via zoom e.g., or using
instant messaging, even posting in social networks.
- Automatic games, especially related to mathematical ones:
spectators follow instructions – that lead to a prediction stated
in advance.
- Collective games, where many people seem to take free
choices – yet arriving at the same place.
Hocus Pocus, a new series of comic pages
by Richard Wiseman

8. Similarly: Successful examples of online
science communication ...
- Conversations with the public, after a short talk, video, etc.
- Educational resources, which the remote audience may link to learn
something or become aware of a key concept.
- Collective science promotion: games, contests, short pieces via a return
channel, etc.

9. And thus, a new paradigm: hybrid magic,
hybrid science communication
Magic (outside large theatrical events) will benefit from new experiences learnt
during the pandemic.
Similarly, science communication will benefit from new ways of communicating
(bidirectionally!) developed during the pandemic (by innovating, of course!).
For example: isn’t Science & Yoy 2021 a hybrid meeting?
By the way: Science Education is a particular case of Science Communication.
Let’s use the new skills acquired during the pandemic.
Bus rapid transit of Metz, a diesel-
electric hybrid driving system by Van
Hool

10. A hybrid science experience: Magic and
Science Campuses in 2020 and 2021
Those campuses were held online and offline (indeed at a different level in 2020 and 2021)
In summer 2020, with a remote audience, we combined online lectures and exercises with
live street-level games and magic.
In summer 2021, with a face-to-face audince, we combined classroom activities and
lectures, with remote lectures and activites, along with live street-level games and magic.
All in all – activities are recorded and assessment of outcomes is now easier – and
participants may recover and improve their learning process.
Streaming live from a bridge in Girona

11. Science Week in Catalonia (12-21 Nov 2021)
All events organized by our Group are nowadays hybrid!
Gathering for Gardner Celebration of Mind (17 Nov)
ScienceZine, a Science Magazine (18 Nov)
Wikiproject "Locate Science on your Map" (18 Nov)
- Local studio with 3 cameras, mixing table and interview microphones
- Livestreaming through StreamYard towards Youtube (and recording, of
course) with remote online participants along with local ones.

12. Thank you very much!
http://c4d.udg.edu and http://magsci.eu
@c4dudg @magsci
Miquel Duran and Sílvia Simon (Univ Girona),
and Fernando Blasco (Univ Polit Madrid)
@miquelduran
@silviasimonr
@fblascoxyz
16 Nov 2021
#sciyou2021
Images CC-BY-SA from Wikipedia