World Science Festival

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew at the press conference.

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew with Alan Alda and Brian Greene.

Brian Greene and the doc.

The first World Science Festival was held in New York City from May 23 until June 1, 2008.

At the April 2 press conference at New York University announcing the event, Alan Alda, serving as an advisor and speaker at the event, was joined by festival co-founder, Columbia University physics professor and author Brian Greene, Chancellor Joel I. Klein of the New York City Department of Education, and a special guest from Muppet Labs, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (who posed for photos with Alda and others, and sprayed Klein with silly string).

On May 30, 2008 the Muppet Mobile Lab strolled around the WSF Street Fair, which took place in and around Washington Square Park, on the New York University campus.

“As the presence of the Muppet, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, on the program suggests, another large segment of the festival includes programs featuring magicians, robots, a “mathemagician” and the Disney Imagineers, who will explain how science and engineering are used to create illusions.

Popping up from behind the lectern, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, who described himself as being from Muppet Labs, extolled the family-oriented programs. The most important thing they could show, he said, was “that science can be as explosive and violent as any TV program.””

“The Muppet reinforced [television journalist Tracy] Day's claim that the event would, "communicate real science, with integrity," as he pointed out that Greene's field, string theory, had about as much experimental support as his own silly-string theory, which seemed to involve spraying Greene with lots of the stuff.”

Notes

• A framed photo of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's appearance at the World Science Festival is featured on Beaker's desk in the Muppet viral video Beaker's Ballad, during Honeydew's assistant's performance of "Dust in the Wind."

External links

• Official Site