Category Archives: Ball 2025

Markus Aspelmayer: Sharing fascination and curiosity!

Markus Aspelmeyer with ball organizer Oliver Lehmann / Photo: Sabine Hauswirth

Basic research means expanding the boundaries of our knowledge. My expectation? That the assumptions on which our theories are based do not contradict each other. In other words, our scientific world view should be consistent at its core. This is currently not the case. Continue reading Markus Aspelmayer: Sharing fascination and curiosity!

The venus flytrap snaps shut (again)

A reunion with an old friend that already decorated the tables at the first Science Ball in 2015: the Venus flytrap.

From the outside it looks harmless. Delicate, almost innocent. Like a leaf with braces, an alien smile in green. But beware if someone is careless. Then it clicks. Then it snaps shut. And while you are still amazed, it has already snapped shut – bang, game over. The Venus flytrap, botanically correct Dionaea muscipula, is a plant and a hunter, an ornament and a killer at the same time. And, as luck would have it, this year it is (again) a table decoration at the Vienna Science Ball. Continue reading The venus flytrap snaps shut (again)

What does chance sound like?

How does one make quantum entanglement resonate? A few young physicists and artists from Vienna have attempted exactly that. They call their project „Sounds of Entanglement.“ A show in which entangled photons take on the role of the conductor.

A report by Sebastian Lang

“Sounds of entanglement” in the Linz cathedral as opening act of the Ars Electronica festival / Photo: Ars Electronica

For a long time, physics was considered a realm of predictability. Everything neatly cast in formulas, a clockwork that one only needed to study long enough to fully understand the world. But then came quantum physics, along with chance. Suddenly, nothing was certain anymore. You can know a particle’s position or its velocity–but never both at the same time. Thanks to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. Einstein hated this, calling it „spooky action at a distance.“ Continue reading What does chance sound like?

Saki the Artist: Art from upcycled lab plastics

 

Saki the Artist in a self-sewn dress, primarily made of single-use gloves stitched together. ©SusiToma
Saki the Artist in a self-sewn dress, primarily made of single-use gloves stitched together. / Photo: Toma Susi

Saki the Artist believes that art has a job: to fight against waste. In her studio, leftovers from laboratories pile up like souvenirs of an industry that doesn’t think about tomorrow – pipettes, gloves, petri dishes. Things that would otherwise end up in black trash bags become dresses and installations. The artist, who moved from California to Vienna in 2023, combines her biotech past with creativity. It’s not about beauty for her. It’s about reimagining science in a more sustainable way. Continue reading Saki the Artist: Art from upcycled lab plastics

Photo op with the axolotl

Instagram-worthy species glamour at the Ball of Sciences. Beyond its significance for research, the subject holds a unique aesthetic allure that will be magnified on the evening of the ball.

The axolotl measures around 28 centimeters in average length, about the same as a golden hamster. It remains in its larval form throughout its life and reaches sexual maturity without the usual metamorphosis. / Photo: IMP-IMBA Graphics

The natural history collections of the Natural History Museum Vienna (NHM) are far more than mere exhibits. They are fragile time capsules, living laboratories, and places where the past, present, and future intertwine. With over 30 million objects, the NHM is a true archive of biodiversity and a source of inspiration for science and society. Here, nature is systematically recorded, its diversity documented, and the molecular signature of life deciphered. Every stone, every display case, and every specimen tells a story of the interplay between nature, science, and humanity. Continue reading Photo op with the axolotl

Maja Göpel: Lots of positive vibes

© Anja Weber

One thing we have realized in recent years is how important legitimizing narratives are for shaping social design and change. Science communication plays a central role if these narratives are to be supported by evidence. Particularly in times of upheaval, we see the temptation to ignore unpleasant changes in reality in order to offer known and simple solutions. Continue reading Maja Göpel: Lots of positive vibes

Sigrid Stagl: From the lecture hall to the ball room

Ball organizer Oliver Lehmann, Sigrid Stagl, Scientist of the Year, and Eva Stanzl, chairwoman of the Club of Education and Science Journalists, at the Concordia Press Club / Photo: R. Ferrigato

The focus is of course on the well-deserved award as Scientist of the Year 2024, which Sigrid Stagl received today at the Concordia Press Club from the Club of Education and Science Journalists. But the economist at the Department of Socioeconomics at WU Vienna was also delighted to receive an invitation to the Science Ball that came with the award. Continue reading Sigrid Stagl: From the lecture hall to the ball room

Ingeborg Zerbes: Communication without instructions „from above“

Photo: Universität Wien/Barbara Mair

For me, science – not just my own, but also and perhaps even above all the natural sciences – means the possibility of arriving at a rationally justified assessment in an increasingly less transparent, increasingly differentiated and increasingly conflict-ridden world: rational in the sense of being based on knowledge rather than rumors, rational in the sense of being balanced, rational in the sense of including other approaches, rational in the sense of being (as) objective as possible rather than headed towards individual interests. Continue reading Ingeborg Zerbes: Communication without instructions „from above“

Box office opens doors

It’s literally a box office hit! Again, this ball season the Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus am Karlsplatz is our host. Thanks to their hospitality we are distributing our ordered- and pre-paid tickets at this well-located address in the inner city centre from Monday, 6 January, to Friday, 24 January, on workdays from 15.00 until 18.00.

The exact address: Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus, 1010 Wien, Akademiestraße 13. You can reach the ticket office via U1, U2, U4; tram lines 1, 2, 62, 71, D; Badner Bahn; bus lines 3A, 4A, 59A; Regionalbus 360.

Photo: R. Ferrigato