Physicist Stephen Hawking and astronaut Buzz Aldrin are among the world-famous names attending the Starmus science festival in Trondheim this summer.
Some of humanity's greatest scientific thinkers will come to Trondheim from 18-23 June for the Starmus Science Festival, a unique global event that mixes scientific debate with live music.
Top of the bill is famous physicist and mathematician Stephen Hawking, who will give several lectures at the festival.
Starmus is an important and very unique interdisciplinary festival of people working in different fields — astronomers, astronauts, cosmologists, physicists, philosophers, musicians, artists, and biologists who share an interest in the universe, how it began and is now, and how we may explore and use its many facets – Stephen Hawking
Buzz Aldrin is the most famous of the 10 astronauts who will be in attendance. He and fellow moonwalkers Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt will tell the stories of their adventures, and share their views on the current state of space exploration and plans for missions to Mars.
British physicist Brian Cox of “Wonders of the Universe”, economist Jeffrey Sachs, and Swedish neurophysiologist Torsten Wiesel will also be in attendance, while filmmaker Oliver Stone will join a debate with American broadcaster Larry King titled “The Era of Post-Truth and Fake News.”
The full list of speakers is available here.
Three-time Grammy award winnner Steve Vai, Portuguese guitarist and former Extreme member Nuno Bettencourt, and the chamber ensemble Trondheim Soloists are among the artists scheduled to appear at Starmus.
Festival passes don't run cheap. A full pass costs 800 Euros, while city residents can get a pass for 5,000kr and students for 3,200kr until the end of May. While most of the action takes place at the Spektrum arena, Torvet (the city's market square) will host a “Starmus in the City” programme of free exhibitions, lectures, concerts and other events throughout the festival.
Life in Norway reader Elise Aasen is coming to Trondheim for the festival. I asked her why:
“I love the interdisciplinary concept of the Starmus conference – the mix of various sciences and music. Let's hope it will spark inspiration and new collaborations! It is an opportunity of a life time to see such prominent people as Stephen Hawking, the astronauts and many other stars of science and the arts on Norwegian soil.”
“I'm looking forward to get updated on disciplines I studied years ago, with the added bonus of meeting visitors from many countries within the environment of the acclaimed NTNU university in beautiful Trondheim!”
